To Stockholm!

The cab arrived at 0715hrs and I was on my way to Gatwick airport's South Terminal to catch a 1015hrs flight to Stockholm (Norwegian Airlines). The weather was changeable: rain one minute, sunshine the next and always cloud, it's been this way for some time and when you consider it's now mid-June, it's not good, certainly not the summer I was expecting.

Arriving at Arlanda airport in Stockholm...

My weekend had been a bit fraught as mum took yet another fall and this time it was recommended that she go to hospital, something that proved to be a complete waste of time as paramedics have previously established that mum is in tip top condition, there was (they said) no advice they could offer her in terms of keeping herself fit and healthy. When I say it was a complete waste of time her going to A&E I can only say that I was right and she should have simply stayed at home and gone to bed. By not doing so, she was left in a corridor on a gurney, not hooked up to anything, and basically left there. She travelled by ambulance to hospital and I followed behind in the car, she got there some time after midnight and was left until gone 0200hrs before being given a blood test followed around 0300hrs by an ECG, none of which she needed and both tests proved there was (again) nothing wrong with her, except that being left in a corridor all night and not getting a good night's sleep did nothing for her wellbeing. I spent the entire night wandering back and forth through interminably long corridors. There were only vending machines available for sustenance and all they contained was junk: fizzy drinks and chocolate bars. In fact, the food offering at St. Helier Hospital in Carshalton, even during daylight hours was piss poor: a Subway for heaven's sake! A Costa was a little better but still, considering it's a hospital, the level of 'healthy' eating was very low. I managed to find a bottle of mineral water but that was it until around 0700hrs when the Costa opened and I could eat a healthy breakfast of granola (or something like it) with raspberry compote and natural yoghurt plus a cup of English Breakfast tea. Prior to that I could find nothing other than a faulty vending machine and the aforementioned machine containing fizzy drinks and chocolate bars.

My Norwegian Airlines flight at the gate at Arlanda

Furthermore, as I said, she was basically left on her own once those tests had been completed, and wait she did, until the morning when a doctor arrived and I had to explain exactly what had happened: a soft fall, they happen a lot, she's already been given a clean bill of health by paramedics and that was it.  I resolved to leave around 0830hrs and I probably hung around for a bit longer, I went to that Costa and then left and went home. I slept a bit during the day on Saturday, but it was a bit like arriving home from a transatlantic flight except that the rule about staying up until the night time of the country you're in didn't apply. In the end I simply lolled around, watched a Planet of the Apes movie, "Caesar is home," and then I hit the sack for real around 2130hrs and managed a full night's sleep before awaking around 0530 and having breakfast ahead of the cab arriving to take me to the airport. I was feeling fine, certainly rested, and the journey to the airport was uneventful. My driver was from Pakistan where, he informed me, it was current 48 degrees (that's hot). He still has brothers living there but has been in the UK a long time, working initially in security at a bar and, for the past decade, as a cab driver, which he enjoys because (as a lot of them say) he's his own boss and can work the hours he chooses.

View from room 3324, Hilton hotel

Getting through security was smooth-running, a quick squirt of some after shave and then it was time for breakfast at the magic Wonder Tree. I chose healthy options, granola with yoghurt and fruit, an English Breakfast tea and a couple of slices of brown toast. I know, all toast is brown, but mine was toasted brown bread with a couple of portion packs of butter. Then the usual waiting game. A visit to the washrooms and then to Gate 14. The flight was delayed due to some mishap or other but eventually we got away, through the cloud and off to Stockholm. It was a reasonable flight, a little bumpy on the climb out of Gatwick but otherwise fine. The weather in Sweden was better than in the UK and after checking in at the Hilton in Slussen we, that is me and my colleague Catherine, went for a stroll around town, stopping at Café Fatöljen (there's supposed to be an accent over the 'a' but I can't find it on my laptop) for, in my case, a cappuccino and a slice of apple pie, actually it was more a kind of apple crumble slice with vanilla cream, much needed. On the flight over a paper cup of tea and a chocolate bar was all I had and all I needed. Dinner later consisted of pasta and tomato sauce, surprisingly good considering we were in a sports bar with sticky laminated menus and a couple of large screen televisions which were showing England's opening game in Euro 24 against Serbia. I left the game at 1-0 and couldn't be bothered to watch any more. As I write this I still don't know the result as when I returned to my hotel I simply couldn't be bothered to watch it. I'm not a football fan and couldn't care less if we won or lost.

Prior to dinner, however, I did take a walk around Stockholm. Not so much a walk, perhaps, but a stroll in the sunshine and it was good. There was something inspiring, something positive, something evocative about the part of the city I wandered through. People were at peace, sitting on very comfortable and reclined park benches, children played, people wandered around enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon and while I was part of it, I realised that I needed something like this myself, a bit of peace and quiet and not thinking too hard about anything. I suppose all I really want is a holiday, a break, a change of scenery, a reboot close to the sea with nothing to do but read and chill out and enjoy just living rather than all the stress and bother that accompanies day-to-day life. In other words, I must book a holiday.

Inside room 3324, Stockholm Hilton, Slussen

I hit the sack around 2300hrs and awoke around 0500hrs, not bad, and now here I sit, at my desk in room 3324 which, I have to say, is fairly pleasant. I've got a week at a conference here, one that I developed, and it's full-on until the end of the week when I fly home. I like Stockholm and I like the Swedes. It's a great city, especially in the warm weather and everything, give or take, takes place in the hotel, even the gala dinner on Tuesday night.

Cappuccino and a slice of apple crumble and custard!

I'm still reading Sonic Life by Thurston Moore, a great book, and I'm hoping I'll get time to read more of it during my stay here in Stockholm. Right now it's time to hit the shower and prepare myself for the rest of the day. I'm thinking I might have dinner in the hotel tonight, but I'm not sure as I've spotted an Italian restaurant a short walk from here and that might be a better option.

Apple crumble with vanilla cream in the sunshine...