Scandanavia

Stockholm, like most of Scandanavia I assume, is very clean and pleasant. Big surprise - Sweden is a very blond country. Everyone is blond and tan, and if they're young they look like they just walked out of H&M (also from Sweden), which makes it feel like a bizarre offshoot of Southern California.

In Goteberg, we were in town at the same time as the European Championships for track and field - like a mini European Olympics. I'd been watching shotput trails on TV in France, and had no idea I'd be going to the city where it was held. The crowd was very international there, and everyone was very fit.

Swedish is one of the strangest languages out there. It took me about a day to get over the urge to speak french to people in public. We spent a day or so on the coast, in Smogen (Smurrrgen!), which has very rocky shores and really fresh seafood.

In Stockholm, we visited the Vasa museum, which houses the only surviving 17th century warship. It was salvaged from the bottom of the bay, after its horrific maiden voyage, where it sank 10 minutes after leaving port, with water rushing in its open gunports. However, thanks to the less salty conditions of the Baltic Sea, the ship was preserved and salvaged, and now is the most visited attraction in Stockholm. I feel heartened by it - in life it's the biggest mistakes and worst shipbuilders in Sweden that go on to greatness.

Flying back was also a bit of an ordeal - for security reasons. No one quite knew what was going on about luggage. We' called ahead, as obedient travellers, but of course what we heard on the phone was compleley different once we arrived at the airport. No carry on luggage was allowed for international flights, but they did give you clear plastic bags to carry things on with. There was no way I was parting with my research, so it took 3 plastic bags to fit it all in, with my laptop in one of them. People thought I was a little nuts taking all those bags through security. Also, the fleur de sel salt that I had in one of the bags (hello, it's fragile stuff) caused a bit of a stir at a checkpoint. I guess if you're carrying a big bag of clear white powdery stuff, it doesn't look very good...

And with that, it's back in the states...