Börk Börk Börk!

This is the sign warning motorists about children. Notice Pipi Longstocking, and the kid riding the cat!

Hej! (one of the few words we picked up on our recent Scandinavian trip north) We just returned from our fabulous week in Sweden, finally a place where Mike looks like one of the locals (until he opens his mouth). Since the Swedes all speak such immaculate English we only absorbed a couple words of the Stockholm dialect.

Since our last update in May we have been busy with work, and attempting to squeeze as much Scottish culture out of our few days off together as possible! We have made it cycling around the isle of Arran that runs parallel across the water from the Kintyre Peninsula so that Carli-Ann can dutifully report back to her mom that she saw Paul McCartney's beloved "Mull of Kintyre". Yes, Arran and Kintyre are those strangely anatomically correct bit on the map west of Glasgow. It's known for being a miniature version of Scotland, so can we claim that we have cycled over the highland mountains? We were especially impressed that while crossing through a mountain pass at the centre of the island, just after a magical moment when the sea sparkled on the horizon both in front and behind us, we clocked in a descent on her bike spedometer at 70kms per hour! What is that over here in imperial land...43 miles per hour? Impressive and terrifying! We also hiked the final two days of the West Highland Way, and camped out the night in the ruins of a stone cottage from several hundred years ago. The sheep bleating curiously at our tent was our wake up call that morning. I think Mike will soon get a few more photos in our Scotland folder.

Our Lonely Planet travel guide 'Australia and New Zealand on a Shoestring' just arrived this morning, so we are already scouring it for material to stoke our dreams of our next adventures. All our train and plane tickets are bought: a short visit to the Orkney Islands, Wales, up up up to Iceland when we leave the UK on August 18, France and Spain, and then to New Zealand on October 1! Everyone we meet who has visited there says it is paradise...Wikipedia.org just informed us that "barring three species of bat (one now extinct), there were no non-marine mammals" until humans arrived! But tons of birds and the heaviest insect in the world, which can be as big as a mouse!

It is a good thing that we travel light and that we are mobile, because reminiscent of our final weeks in Ireland, our flat here in Glasgow was just sold and we have to move again within the week! But the letting agents say they have a place for us in the city centre, and the quality of accomodation can only improve, so there we go again. So don't send anything in the mail, we won't get it! Sigh.

And an even deeper sigh: one of our friends, hospitality club hosts and profound inspirations, Kinga Freespirit, has passed away from cerebral malaria during her solo hitch hiking journey on the final continent of her explorations, Africa. Everyone was shocked that after overcoming so many obstacles (she hitch hiked around the world for five years!) that she would be taken like this...there is not much that I can say that can express our emotions at her passing.

So, on to more upbeat topics: our trip to Sweden to celebrate our sixth anniversary! It's not the North Country Fair, but what can you do when you're in Europe.

We spent the first three nights with Carolina, our HospitalityClub host near the centre of Stockholm. She surprised us on the metro ride home when we asked what she did for a living. "This" she said. She drives the subway! She said our reactions fit the norm. The man's eyes twinkle and fill with technical questions, while the woman wants to know how cool it is to drive through tunnels. She said she feels like a "monkey in a cage" and is in a constant struggle to not close the subway doors on some unthinking metro-zombie passenger. People are always trying to squeeze through the closing doors which, closing under 30kg of force, can do some harm. We had a great few days with Carolina and her boyfriend Richard.

Our first sunny, roasting afternoon was spent on a long, squat boat motoring through locks and between the many islands that make up Stockholm. Sitting between a large lake, and the Baltic sea, central Stockholm is made up of several islands all linked by bridges. The rocky cliffs and shores were overflowing with sunbathers and swimmers resembling the unfortunate annual fate of Sweden's lemmings.

Carli-Ann was thrilled to frolick around the Junibacken: a creatively crafted museum built for children all about the characters and stories of Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking). Houses, shops, and a farm – all scaled down to the size of a 6 year old - were available to explore. The experience was made complete by all the Swedish children running around shouting "Hej Hej!" to catch their parents' attention. The nearby Vasa museum houses the 69m (226 ft) long Vasa warship which, on her maiden voyage in 1628, tipped over in a gust of wind and sank to the bottom of Stockholm's harbour. In 1961 the boat was pulled back out of the water almost completely intact. It is a beautiful ship covered in hundreds of sculptures. The museum was very well made too, one of those that close and kick you out before you're ready to leave!

Carolina and Richard had been planning a trip to Stockholm's Skansen zoo & open-air museum. We were pleased to join them to see the Swedish reindeer and the historical buildings at the park. Being severely arachnophobic they wanted to hold a tarantula to help overcome their fears. Amazingly, all four of us ended up holding the big hairy spider! It was very docile and we all came out unscathed.

Since Carli-Ann doesn't like beer, she was happy to see the wide variety of Swedish ciders in the Systembolaget (liquor store). Aside from the internationally famous Kopperberg Pear cider, she sampled strawberry and star fruit ciders. All alcohol sales stop at 3pm on Saturdays in Sweden, so we were forced to lug our spoils around during the day's sight-seeing. It's a rough life.

Our second (that we should be so lucky to have two hosts!) HospitalityClub hosts were Swedish/American Nicole and Lithuanian Romauld, who lived just outside of Stockholm in a rural forested cottage village. We camped out under their trees and enjoyed the rustic lifestyle along with three Lithuanian girls and an Italian also staying there. The hot weather allowed for a morning swim in the lake, just a 10 minute walk down the road.

Our last night in Stockholm was spent at an impromptu midnight-sun forest party. Our HospitalityClub host's brother is in a band and they organized the small party on the banks of the huge lake Mälaren. A portable generator supplied power for the spotlights and guitar amps, and the tolerant neighbours supplied their lenience in not phoning the police. We arrived just after the sun set at 22:10 and stayed until it rose again at 3:30.

As our travels are beginning to pick up momentum again (it feels like we just arrived in Scotland...especially confusing as the weather is the same as it was when we did arrive in January) we hope to continue our updates. And we are praying for a wireless internet connection in our new flat!

By the way, we saw plenty of Swedish chefs, but none with the same animated flair as we were hoping for!