Severely Jet-Lagged, But In Stockholm

Hi all,

Well, I made it. The flight from Ottawa to Toronto was uneventful. On the flight from Toronto to Reykjavik, I chatted with Felix, a young university student from Laval who was going to Stockholm to compete in an international paintball competition.

A wise philosopher of Asian descent -- no, not Confucius, but my good friend Nick -- once said that when it comes to flights, you get what you pay for. I guess that is true. Not only were the seats most uncomfortable, but the row I was seated in was in front of the row where the emergency exits were situated, so for this reason, I could not recline my seat. As a result, I did not sleep very well. We got into Reykjavik at 6:20 this morning (2:20 a.m. Ottawa time). No problem making the connecting flight to Stockholm.

In Reykjavik, we were joined by a large group of evangelical Christians who were part of a choir and heading to Stockholm and Oslo to sing in a choir in various churches. Oh, and they were Americans, so very loud... Despite this, I managed to sleep the entire duration of the flight to Stockholm. Three hours later, we arrived. It was 12:45 p.m. (6:45 a.m. Ottawa time).

I eventually made my way to my hotel, the Clarion hotel on Ringvägen in Södermalm. It is a very designer hotel, nice and chic, but my room is tiny. That is OK because I do not plan on spending much time there anyway. Just to sleep.

I am amazed at how I can communicate fluently in Swedish. The main problem is that people think I am fluent and speak way too quickly for me to catch what they are saying. I was even able to ask them where the computer was: Kunde du tala mig om det finns en dator jag kan bruka?

When I got to the hotel, I unpacked and, because I do not have a cell phone, I decided to walk to Hans´s house to meet him. I managed to find the house, but I could not find the entrance. So I walked back to the hotel and called him from here. He was very happy to hear from me, and he told me that he was just going out to see the opera "Macbeth" tonight, which I happened to see two months ago. He says that after the opera, which should end at 9:00, he might ring me so we can have a drink, if I am not too tired. That will be cool.

I had my first meal in Europe at the hotel tonight at 5:00. I wanted to eat something traditional, so I got the menu, which was adventurous, yet delicious. For starters, I had the beef carpaccio, thin slices of cured, raw beef with pine nuts and mixed greens. The entree was a patty of wild game served with lingonberries, mashed potatoes and snow peas. When I asked the waiter what game it was, he told me it was a mix of boar, elk and reindeer. For dessert, crême brulee.

So, here I am safe and sound, no need to worry. The only slight mishap is that I lost the tag for my luggage at the airport. No big deal.

Hugs and kisses to all...

M.