Euro 2009

September 1st-7th 2009

So as I said we are working backward now, and this part of my travels begun on the 1st September 2009. Having left Singapore on the Long haul to London flying British airways, I had high hope it was going to be a great flight, perhaps an upgrade.... or atleast just a comfortable exit row seat... I don't ask for much... im not terribly fussy. But the least I could have hoped for was an entertainment system that worked... Does anyone realize how painful it is to listen to 2 babies cry for 12 hours while you have no means of distraction.. Unless you ask the flight attendant who all they can do is offer you a newspaper... (For 12 freaking hours) It would want to have the review on peace and war inside to keep me occupied for that long. But no... sadly I just endured the pain... Hahha it is funny when I think this out loud because I previously spent a week in cambodia... so ok the plane was perfect and the service was fantastic and I really didn't mind that I didn't have a tv...(the only one on the plane) But thats not important... The important thing is I got to london ok... And it was time to begin draining my bank account.. starting with breakfast... Yep.. For those of you who never thought they could spend 12 dollars on a sandwich and a coffee... you have never been the england... Although the time I was there was very very short.. I still managed to make my card very very hot... So word of advice.. stay hungry until you get someplace cheaper... Haha.. That for me will be in 1 months time.. maybe I will just live off air and water.. oh no I wont.. water is more expensive then petrol here.. God damn... lol... So I headed for Stockholm straight after I arrived in London, and began my tour of scandanvia... Meeting me at the airport was my old friend Therese, who as usual even after having a lil monster, still looks stunning. It was like there was no time between visits.. We began catching up on old times and feeling comfortable in an instant. Arriving back in stockholm after 6 years was a little weird at first but it was great, we had lunch at Therese;s mums home and then headed to my bachelor flat where I would be staying for the week I was in stockholm. The apartment was kindly donated by Marcus, who is Therese's oldest brother and I was then on my own to relax and sightsee at my own leisure. For me... visiting stockholm for the second time round, I wanted to really spend time with therese and her family and friends which is what we did. I got the typical updated photos of the places I visited, but I really just wanted to make this entire trip about meeting local people making new friends and embracing the culture. So that is what I did, spending my days strolling through the backstreets of stockholm looking for interesting places to sit and people watch, have a nice coffee or simply just lay down on the cool grass and watch the world go by. Now some people may think that's just wasting time and money, you could do that at home. And it is true, you could do that at home, but the feeling of being completely surrounded by a foreign culture is surreal... The sounds, the smells and the events which take place. I was privileged enough to witness the world's longest petition which was set up along the stockholm foreshore to protest against the election of the knew iranian president. 2 km's long and completely filled out from one end to the other with an average width of about a meter.. this is huge and very impressive... I felt compelled to run into it and rip it... just for a giggle.. but i restrained myself.. that would be very unaustralian... lol Meeting Max, Therese's little baby was so amazing, he is tiny and so cute... It made me clucky... but only for an instant... It took him a little while to warm to me, but before long we were walking around the park and having a great time... Provided his little booties stayed on his feet.. and I kept moving he was fine... Strapped to my chest like a baby joey... they little guy just chilled out and slept all the way until we got him home. The moment I walked in the door... he awoke and Jonas, Therese's Fiance was there to take over from my.. Thank god for that.. because it is actually really hard work to get those little critters to fall asleep... i was tempted to assist the process with some valium.. but i figured the valium would be better used on me... Sharing stories both old and new, meeting friends, hanging out with Madeleine, freddie, jonas and Max, hopefully next time I don't fall asleep during an important football match so I could spend more time hanging with marcus.. ha-ha and socializing with the elite of stockholm... (Matthew Maconahagh) ok... it was freddie (another of Therese's brothers) idea for me to pretend I was a famous actor from LA... The only one we could think of that we both kind of agreed I could get away with was mathew.. But I think the bouncers seen right through it.. Mind you they still let us in... But only after a fair bit of convincing.. and I think a few notes for bribes where passed to just to get into the infamous 'spy' bar. But really it was all hype and no cigars... We paid about 30 euros to get into this place.. even celebrities have to pay.. 'i know im shocked'... and it was over rated... But we still had fun... strolling home at about 5am... it was worth the funny stories in the morning. To sum it up... stockholm is a place of beauty, fashion, fast cars and volvo's. You could love it.. or you could hate it.. But me, I loved it... the old town, soda... Djursholm... they are all beautiful places... And it was great to catch up with an old friend and see her new creation into this world...