On the road to Köln

Tuesday morning, 26th June, and my alarm goes off at 8… time to get up and get ready for the big trip, to go to Köln to collect Caroline and all her belongings and bring her and everything back to Sweden. Josip collects me at 9 and we go to the Statoil garage to collect the van. My friend Josip is driving with me on the way down and were taking his Kawasaki with us, more on that later. We throw our things into the van, plus my old sofa, which gets dumped at the tip on the way. It’s soon going to be replaced by Caro’s nice red sofa. We load his Kawasaki into the van and by 11 were on the road, on our way, only another 1400 km to go! We share the driving and have a plan to do the trip all in one go. Hit some rain in the middle of Sweden, but it cleared up as we got nearer the coast. We changed drivers every few hours and stop only for fuel and snacks. Its not long before were in Malmö and driving over the enormous Øresund Bridge, linking Sweden to Denmark. Its very impressive with its 8 km cable bridge, 4km artificial island and 4 km tunnel. Its two pylons are 204 m high and the highest in Sweden. We cross Denmark quite quickly via the islands and bridges and cross into Germany as it starts to get dark. As one is driving, the other tried to sleep a bit, but it’s not so easy in the front of a van. I called Caroline and told her we will arrive in the early morning and she was pleased to hear that we had made good time and was preparing for us to arrive. We filled up for the last time on the autobahn just before Cologne and drove into the city at about 4 on Wednesday morning. Josip and I were very tired and pleased to be parking the van and ringing Caro’s door bell. She was also sleepy but very please to see us. We all went straight to bed and had a long and much needed sleep.

Kiruna midnight sun

For some strange reason the heavy-haul railway industry decided to have its conference and exhibition in Kiruna. Kiruna is in the very north of Sweden at a latitude of 67.53 degrees North (the Artic circle is 66.33 degrees north). I suppose the fact that they have one of the largest Iron Ore mines in the world can contribute to the choice of location, so here we are to present our products to the industry.
I have never been quite so far north and as to be expected, there is daylight 24 hours a day as its summer and above the artic circle. Midnight sun is quite a special feeling. Having soon seen most of what can be seen in Kiruna, I decided to hire a car with my colleague and go and see some of the Lapland countryside. We drove over the mountains to Narvik in Norway, a 180km drive which takes 2 hours from Kiruna. It’s very pretty and the combination of snow covered peeks, reindeer, sun, snow, rain and great views make the drive well worth it. This view is of what’s called “Lapporten” which means door to Lapland.
Now I’m tired after 4 days here I’m and looking forward to going back to Stockholm and the coming weekend with Caroline, who’s coming to visit from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

Montreal in the rain

There are times when it would be nice to not have to travel. This week seemed like one of those weeks, with a short notice trip to Canada and the USA turning up just when I wanted to be at home. Having been away for two evenings last week in England, and missing Hannah and Emma at the weekend, as they were at a weekend leader group with their church group, I wanted to be able to spend time with the girls. I took my bike and joined them for a picnic with their group on Sunday afternoon. It was sunny and I shared their picnic food and we at least had some time together before I would be away in the week. It was a week since I was in Cologne with Caroline and I miss her already. She should have been in Stockholm, but due to an SAS strike, her flight to Stockholm was cancelled. I managed to divert there on the way back from Madrid and we had a special weekend together in Cologne. My flight to Montreal began early on Monday morning (I hate these early starts) with a flight to Frankfurt to connect with a direct connection to Montreal. I was pretty tired when I checked into the hotel and managed to mail and call the contacts in there in connection with the planned meetings. I took a stroll in the light afternoon rain, around the old town of Montreal, which I guess has been restored and looks very interesting. The old stone buildings and cobbled streets give it an old English look and the area is used a lot as a set for filming. I found a bar with its own micro brewery and had a few beers and a meal before getting back to the hotel to sleep. The next day was taken up with a meeting all day. I was driven to the airport and took an evening flight to Chicago. I like Chicago, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I worked and did some shopping for me and Caro and managed to get a place on an earlier flight home. There is a direct flight from Chicago to Stockholm and I usually try to get this flight to avoid a connection on the way home. I was a bit late to the airport and the queue to security was unbelievably long. I managed to jump the queue a bit and only had a few minutes to speak to Caroline in Germany before I had to go to the gate. Called Hannah too and said I’d be home a day early. Caroline sounded as if she’s missing me as much as I’m missing her. It will be another week before she’s in Stockholm for a weekend and I am really wishing time will go by quickly, we have so much to talk about and I miss her not being by my side. I’m on the plane now and just writing this before I try to get some sleep. Looking forward to getting back and having a few days at home.

Helsinki becomes Madrid

I’ve been in Helsinki since Sunday at a transportation exhibition. I have so much on at work at the moment, so I would have happily avoided being away, but it was all arranged in advance, so here I must be. I had this feeling that it would be a tough week and as the e-mails poured into my laptop I had more and more to do. Being away from the office can be a real pain sometimes.
Helsinki is not my favourite city, its ok but the food nothing to write home about and it can be hard to find places to go to in the evening if you’re not a local.
Now my business partners in Spain need me in Madrid, so I have had to leave the exhibition early and fly to Madrid. Just arrived at the hotel in Madrid and am tired and ready for bed. We shall see what Madrid has to offer. I have to fly home on Friday, Caroline is flying to Stockholm on Friday night and I have to be there to meet her.

Caro's party weekend

I was flying to Cologne a day earlier than usual, as I wanted to be there for Caroline’s Birthday and her Birthday Party. For a change I took the SAS flight to Dusseldorf. It’s a turbo-prop plane and it takes a little longer. It was arriving an hour late and Caroline collected me in her friend’s car. It’s a longer drive but with light evening traffic were home in 45min.
Caro opened the little presents I have with me for her and she seemed very pleased and happy with this moment together… another first, a birthday together.
On the Friday morning Caro was working at her school and I went to meet her at lunch time so I could see the place she’s been at for the last few years. We got home after some last minute shopping and we made the final preparations for the party in the kitchen.
Soon all her friends are arriving and immediately there’s a very friendly atmosphere in the flat. It’s interesting to meet all her friends, who all seem very keen to meet me and talk to me. Most are speaking very good English and after a few drinks they relax even more and I have some really good conversations with some of them, which surprises me with the language differences, but we manage just fine.
There are some immediate differences between a party in Germany and Sweden. First the drinks are supplied free by the host and the guests bring food. This is almost always the opposite in Sweden, as drink is so expensive I suppose. Second the guests have their shoes on in the flat! This never happens in Sweden. Funny how these small cultural differences are so intriguing. There is so much good food and we only manage to eat half of it…lots in the fridge for the coming days.
In the evening we visit various art exhibitions and gallery open days as part of an art event in Köln. We go with Mattis and it’s nice to see and meet Caro’s art teacher too. I enjoy this art world and like the art too.
Sunday is an easy day with a bike ride to a flee market, a “fika” and lots of good talking about all sorts of things and planning for her move to Sweden. Home to Sweden and lots of things to look forward to over the coming months with Caro’s move to Sweden in June.

Ducati at Barkarby

The sun was shining, so what better to do than go out on the bike. Today was mc day at Barkarby airfield, where several motorbike makes were on display and available for test. Hannah and me and my friend Josip rode over to see what was happening. There were some queues for the more popular bikes, but we decided the Ducati 1098S was well worth the wait. Both Josip and I tried out the Ducati on the short test track. What a bike… loads of low end power and great exhaust tone and easy to lift the front wheel with a twist of the throttle. Hmmm a nice mc but expensive… the TT600 will have to do for now.

Easter in London and visiting family

Wednesday 4th April
The plan was to fly to London and meet Caroline at Stansted Airport… but not all plans workout. Emma and I were in good time to arrive for our Ryanair flight, only to find that it was delayed from 18:00 to 23:30! Called Caro to let her know the bad news and that she should find her way to Michaels flat without us. Me and Emma did some work, listened to music and read books for hours and eventually left Sweden at midnight. Our late arrival in Stansted meant we took the coach into London and Michael collected us outside Liverpool St. Station. It was very late when we got back to his flat and Caro was waiting for me in bed… hugs… very tired… long sleep.

Thursday 5th
What a sunny morning to wake up to in London… our first trip to London together. The Easter weekend is looking good with about 18 degrees warm and no wind. Take it easy and chat and then Michael, Emma, Caroline and I take the walk along the river to Canary Wharf. It’s so sunny and Caro is looking good and happy and is relaxed chatting to Michael. We have a pub lunch outside with another first; me and Caroline share our first fish-n-chips at an English pub…mmmm delicious. In the evening we all cook together and have a very casual end to the day.

Friday 6th
Mum, Ross and Zoë come over and we have lunch together on Michael’s sunny roof terrace. We take a walk in the other direction along the river and visit a Borough Market, which is a great farmers food and produce market where we buy some Italian ham and Swedish salmon for evening snacks. Caroline seems quite at ease with my family who are all making an effort to chat and get to know her. Hannah arrived in the evening from Stockholm, having left later than us as her school holiday is the week after Easter. Michael’s assistant cooked dinner for all seven of us and we enjoy eating around Michael’s big dining room table in his almost fully renovated flat.

Saturday 7th
Hannah and Emma go shopping on Oxford Street. They just love being big sisters shopping together in London and seem to find all that they want there. Caroline and I go into London on our own. We sit on the top of a double decker bus and enjoy the views of London. We decide to take a small picnic to Green Park. It’s quite warm and mainly sunny and we pay for deck chairs in the park and eat and chat in the spring sunshine. Then we walk past the palace and through St. James Park to Westminster. We all go over to Zoë’s new house for dinner.


Sunday 8th
Having borrowed Zoë’s car, Hannah, Emma and Caroline and I drive up to see my Dad. We make it in a few hours and get to the pub at lunch time. We have a drink and chat to him outside the pub. The girls are very please to see him and he’s looking well. He practices a bit of his German on Caro and she’s please to see he can still remember it so well. We have lunch in the pub and then take a walk in Ashby and look at the remains of the village castle. On the way home we stop at my Auntie Carol’s and have an unplanned afternoon with dinner at her place. Carol’s pleased to see us, even though it’s a short visit, we have fun talking and looking at some old photos of us and her family.

Monday 9th
We drive down to Elstead to see Penny and Less and their family. Its good to see them all and we go to the pub for a drink and lunch, where we meet Viv and Graham. It’s nice to walk on the common with Caroline and have some moments to share this beautiful English countryside with her. It’s again warm and sunny and I’m reminded what a lovely part of England this is and how I remember this area so well. We have a big family dinner at Penny’s and then drive back up to London.

Tuesday 10th
Caroline and I take a short trip into London and I get some books and a German/English dictionary and CD language course. I have to get started with my German and need some help. We take the train to Stansted and fly “on-time” home to Sweden together with Emma. Hannah is staying in England for the week to visit her friend who is living there.

Weekend in Köln

Had a great weekend with Caroline in Köln… every weekend with her is great. After a long flight from Hong Kong, I was so pleased to be in her arms again. The Saturday was spent with her girl friends as it was Katja’s Birthday. We had a really good brunch together and then went for a walk along the bank of the Rhine. I like them all very much and even though I know they are a little sad that I’m sort of taking their Caro away from them, they are very warm and caring girls. I’m looking forward to them all coming to visit us in Sweden in the summer. We had a pub evening with Katja and her friends.
I left on Monday morning to catch a train to Frankfurt and then my plane to Rome. I will be there until Thursday for another rail event. Hmmm… two weeks away from home, now my heavy case is getting boring to move around.

Hong Kong part2

It’s been an interesting and fun week in Hong Kong and a whole heap of late nights. In addition to attending the rail conference here in HK, I have a lot of work on in other parts of the world, which requires my attention despite the time difference. The conference ended at around 5 or 6 most days and after this, Olle and I generally returned to our hotel first to get some work done. I spent a few hours answering e-mails, calling the office and partners etc. Then we took a sauna up at the top of the hotel and had a few beers. There was also a small pool, but the water wasn’t warm, so we used this as a cooling down dip between the sauna and a beer. Then out to eat at restaurant and taste some more Chinese food. Back to the hotel and time for the last batch of e-mails as the rest of the world wakes up. I chat with Caroline is she’s in and a Hotmail message for her…then to bed… getting pretty tired after 4 days of this. I did manage to fit in a little additional shopping, getting some things for Caroline and a shirt, a pair of shoes and some DVD’s for me. Which trip to the East is complete without some low priced copies (sorry film industry, I just can’t resist it).
Finally its Friday and a few extra hours sleep. We catch the airport express from Central on Hong Kong Island, which goes direct to the airport. Now there’s only a 12 hour flight from HK to Frankfurt between me and my girl.

Hong Kong

This is the first of two weeks away from home. I’m in Hong Kong working all this week with some customer meetings, a rail conference and spending time with Olle, our guy based in Singapore who’s also with me here this week. Were staying on Hong Kong Island and the hotel has a good view out over the water and the Kowloon Peninsula. I like visiting Hong Kong… it has an interesting mixture of old and new and a crazy fast pace. I have just bought a small digital Camera. I’ve been meaning to do this for ages as I’ve been borrowing Emma’s for ages on trips like this… so I finally did some haggling here in HK and here are some of the results. Typical views of HK with its impressive skyline.

Sunny Weekend

Caroline’s plane landed on time on Friday evening and I was there to meet her… and waiting to see her, I was so much looking forward to seeing her smile and getting that “I need you” kiss. She had an enormous package with her… big surprise… she had the new painting with her, all wrapped in plastic.
At home we unpacked it and I’m proud to say she’s produced another great two piece painting, which is already on the wall in the living room.
We had a great weekend together and spent lots of time talking and catching up with each other after 3 weeks apart. The weather was also good, so on Saturday we went for a long walk around Djurgåden and ended with a “fika” in Rosendals Trädgård (garden).
Another first for Caroline… a Semla, which is a traditional Swedish cake with a cream and marzipan filling.
In the evening we went to cook and eat dinner together with friends Aaron and Ann. They are an American/Swedish couple I know and they have 2 very sweet children. Caro was enjoying this evening and seeing their wonderful little bilingual daughter, who’s mastered speaking English and Swedish at an early age, just like Hannah and Emma did.
Sunday was also a sunny day and we drove over to Drottningholm and walked in the gardens of the royal palace. In the afternoon we had an early dinner with Hannah and Emma, who had been away most of the weekend. As usual, we had our cosy sofa moment at the airport and we were both happy to know its only 2 weeks before we will see each other again.

Almost Friday

Now it’s almost Friday and only a short time before Caroline will be arriving. We haven’t seen each other for 3 weeks now and this is too long… I miss her loads and can’t wait to collect her from the Airport tomorrow evening. I spoke to her this evening and she’s longing too, so I’m looking forward to a cosy weekend together.

Hannah’s Birthday

Today was Hannah’s 18th Birthday. She’s already a very grownup and a very responsible girl already. Here in Sweden its very official and celebrated at 18, you can buy a drink and no doubt do all sorts of other things legally. She had a good selection of cards and e-mails and quite a sum of money, which she had been requesting to help finance her plans to take driving lesions this year. We’ve already been doing some driving in my car and she is progressing quite well. We went out to a really good Lebanese Restaurant in the evening in Stockholm, which was a big success as she’s vegetarian at the moment and we ate an enormous meza meal with 23 different small dishes.

Survived IKEA!

Hannah and I found what we wanted at IKEA, and managed to come away without spending much more than we needed. Our bag included candles, a must in Sweden; we burn them almost every evening in the winter, and a new ceiling lamp for my room. Hannah got a picture frame, candles and a wall clock. At last we seem to have found a system for going to IKEA which allows us to remain calm and collected and exit within an hour!

Saturday morning

Hannah and Emma came home from their skiing trip on Thursday and seemed to have had a really good time. Hannah’s knee (she had an operation on it last year) had held up and she was able to ski all week. Emma was very tired and slept all the following day. We had a good family dinner together on Friday evening and caught up on all that’s been happening with us all. It’s not so often we’re all in at the same time these days.
Caroline is away this weekend with her girlfriends. She just called to say hi, it’s good to hear her voice…this 3 week break from each other is defiantly too long… we’re both missing each other. They’re staying in a cottage in Niederbreitbach, which I just checked out on Google Earth, looks like a nice village in the countryside.
I’m planning to go to IKEA today with the girls… I must be mad... but we need some candles and other stuff…we shall see if I survive!