For a travel day, I was pretty low stress. Which is interesting because I had the most reason for concern today. The cleaning man showed up 10 minutes late which made me miss the last bus to the station. I was able to catch the taxi by chance but when I got to the station, the trains were delayed. Again, it all worked out and after a 15 minute wait everything ran smoothly. Being stuck at a train station with no means to get across town is a daunting prospect though. The delay board said a possible 2 hour delay, so the 15 minutes was nothing compared to what I was thinking, The airport was easy and I even got to see one of Paris' soccer teams in the terminal, Paris Saint-Germain.
I arrived in Stockholm a little after 5pm and made my way through the airport. Hans, Ulla, and Hanna met me at the airport and we made our way South towards home. It’s an odd sensation to be with people you’ve never mat but have known of your whole life. I guess I met Hans at my Aunt Leslie’s wedding, but seeing as I wasn’t walking yet, my memory is a little shaky at that age. The weather in Sweden was great, much better than what I left in Paris. The house is about 45 minutes from the airport so I had a short time to see some of the country around Stockholm.
We got to the house and I met the boys, Martin and Jakob. It was the last day of school for the kids and we were all going out to dinner to celebrate Hanna’s belated birthday. They picked a restaurant near the house that was an old, converted house that was a mental hostpital. Well, the restaurant was actually located in the Doctor’s residence that was part of the hostpital. They changed the surrounding land to a park and it was all very nicely done. I had bleak roe and steamed cod and rhubarb and cream for dessert. Delicious. The caviar was served with buttered toast, or more accurately butter with toast. I can only imagine the fat content, but it was amazing and I’ll just go on an extra run this week. It was my favorite dish of the night. The house’s interior is kept as a house with dining in the different rooms and seating outside. The food was presented with a modern twist, in contrast with the traditional rooms. I liked it very much.
We headed home and talked a bit more before heading to bed. Being summer, it never gets pitch black outside. For about an hour around midnight. The sky turns dark blue, but by 2am it’s already starting to lighten up. It’s very hard to get used too, slightly eerie too. This is officially the farthest North I’ve ever been though and I’m not sure how much farther North I’ll make it. Not a lot going in North of the 59th parallel.
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