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!

BLOG NEWS

NEWS! Now I have done some serious entry tidying on this blog and made it readable for everyone. All my more intimate entries have been moved to my private diary blog for me and Caro only. This means family and friends can now read it and get an idea of what I’m up to in my life, enjoy!

A long week

It’s been a long week at work and very busy. Still very frustrated with all the organisational changes going on at work and the stress this creates for everyone, not least me. My key projects and customers are all pushing for products, information and assistance and with everything else, some serious prioritising is needed to even keep slightly ahead at the moment.
I had a good evening out with Josip on Friday and although I lost the snooker match, it was great to play again after a long break following my trip to India. I need the practice.
Hannah and Emma left for their Skiing trip up to Idre in Sweden. There off for the week with their Church group and all their friends… hope Hannah’s knee lasts the week!

I spent all morning in bed talking to Caro on Skype. It’s just a great way to spend the morning and we can talk as long as we like about what’s happening in our life, and for free, good for Skype. Had a log discussion about what to move and where some of her things will fit in my flat… its fun to plan for this move. As usual I’m longing for her and thinking it’s going to be a long 2 weeks before we see each other again. At least we can chat as much as we like and when we want to. Love this girl so much.

More Carnival weekend

It’s Sunday and we get up quite late, fix a little stuff at home and then go for a long walk across Cologne to the cinema. There are more carnival processions going on and we have to take a lot of diversions to avoid the crowds and closed streets. We decide to see a film based on the true story of the original superman actor and the uncertainty surrounding his death. Quite a good film, but the story was a little unclear in places and the ending was disappointing. We take the tram home and Caroline fixes us some dinner and we relax on the sofa and watch some TV. Later on I get a stomach cramp and I have the feeling I’m not 100%, so I go to bed early alone! Another first! Caro joins me in bed and we very quickly fall asleep, both tired and in need of a good nights sleep.
On Monday we decide to go and join in with the continuing Carnival. We watch part of the procession along the streets where Caroline lives. Again in our pirate outfits, we mix with the celebrating crowds, catching the sweets and flowers that the precession is throwing to the people lining the streets. We meet up with another friend of Caro’s Marko, and have a few beers before his friend joins us and we all go on to the bar. Again were quickly into the ongoing party in the bar with more dancing and singing. We leave the others when we’ve had enough for the night, happy we can go home and enjoy the rest of the evening on our own. Caro’s a bit sad when I actually check when my flight is due to leave on Tuesday and we realise we don’t have as much time as we’d both thought.
I get up to make coffee on Tuesday morning and at the same time get on the phone to check if there’s a later flight. My agent manages to re-book me on a later flight in the evening and when I tell Caro she’s so happy. We decide to go for the Health Spa which Caro had suggested at the start of the weekend. It’s in Cologne in the North part of town. The Spa is in a Japanese style with loads of saunas, pools and steam rooms. We have a great time and its very relaxing, although it takes a little concentration as it’s mixed and everyone is very nude… quite typical for Germany.
When we get home we have just a short time before I need to leave. We take a taxi to the station and said our goodbyes on the platform… no airport sofa this time… but hugs and kisses and a wave as the train left the station. Two and a half weeks till we meet again… in Stockholm next time… can’t wait.