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Going by train to Stockholm

When I visit my sister in Gothenburg I take the train going south west from Stockholm. I like taking the train because you get to see a lot more of the country than if you fly. There is a lot more space and if you have problems being disconnected to the world for three hours you can use their wireless network and write your emails. But the best is just to bring your ipod, listen to your favourite music, make yourself comfortable and just enjoy the ride. Living in the city without a car makes trips to the country side rare. So I like watching the farms, fields, forests and small towns pass by. Since I was brought up in the country I get a special feeling and some flashbacks when I see the farms and small country roads that remind me of the roads that I used to cycle or walk on. Although it is nice being away, coming back to Stockholm is in this case a real treat. When you emerge from the tunnels under the southern parts of the city you find yourself on a bridge in the city center with a wonderful view of the old town and the City Hall. It only lasts for a few moments but it is time enough to fill me with love for my home town. So if you ever approach Stockholm from the south by train do not be too fast gathering your things, do not forget to watch the scenery just before you reach the Central Station.

Göteborg – Gothenburg

During spring in Sweden there are a lot of holidays which gives you the opportunity to go somewhere 4-5 days without actually taking any time off work. It is excellent, really. This weekend I was going to see my sister, Helena, and her family (husband Mikael and son Joel) in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. It does have a bad reputation of being very rainy and it really lived up to it too… It is nice visiting Gothenburg though, the thing that struck me this time was the amount of cafés with tables on the streets giving me a central European feeling. You could just as well be walking around Paris or Florence. Unfortunately I didn’t get to visit one but my sister and I did find a fantastic wine bar (SoHo wine bar, go there if you get the chance!) which is set in an old furniture store. It has a wine cellar, a patio with sun chairs and where the glass walls can be opened on a fine day, dining tables and sofas for the after work champagne. The place has a very relaxing atmosphere, great decoration and their motto was simple and excellent: “every day is a wine day”. The very bad thing about visiting this wine bar was that none of us felt like drinking wine!? And those of you who know me would also find this very odd. Thing was that a stomach flu had affected all of us more or less this weekend. We had all been looking forward to shopping around at the local fish market, cooking three or more course meals and drinking beer on the sun drenched veranda. Yeah, right… Instead we spent a lot of time in the sofa watching videos, looking out at the rain and taking turns being more or less sick. Well, it never really turns out the way you expect. I did get to see my sister though, which was the whole point in going so I am happy anyway.

Airplane crush (not crash…)

Whenever I see the tracks from an airplane against the blue sky I get this fantastic feeling. You know, similar to being in love and suddenly discovering the subject just before your eyes. You can feel a mix of butterflies in your stomach, total happiness and/or agony because everything might not be exactly the way you wanted it to. Maybe he is walking the other way and did not even see you or he is accompanied by someone and you wanted him all for yourself. Looking at that airplane in the sky I can’t help but thinking about where it is heading, what the people on it are going to do when they get there and how I would feel if I was there. Where would I like to be heading? For how long? With whom? Or would I go visit someone who lives far away? All these questions start spinning around in my head and I end up day dreaming for a minute. When I catch myself doing this I take a deep breath and find that I am a little happier than I was just a minute earlier and anything that might have been bothering me is gone. The image is of an airplane that I saw from my sofa where I sit typing this.

Memorable flight

Often it is the trip itself to somewhere which is the most memorable. One example of such a trip is when I was flying to Geneva. There were four of us going hiking in Chamonix, France, so the plan was to rent a car in Geneva and drive there. Since we were four we did not fit on one row in the plane and I ended up next to a newly wed couple who were on their way to Mauritius for their honeymoon. This was of course something to celebrate and so we did, drinking wine and chatting all the way to Geneva. All three were in a brilliant mood, this was the trip of their life time and I was simply happy because I was going somewhere. It was lovely meeting this generous, happy couple who shared a part of their trip and life with me. I really hope they had a fantastic time and I wish that if I ever get married my honeymoon will start off like that. My three friends looked at me after the flight and wondered what happened. I was very happy both from the nice company and the wine. On our way to the car rental it was obvious I was not driving…