Wobble-girling down the streets of Sweden’s capital, debate as to whether Stockholm Syndrome was a case of when hostages became emotionally attached to their kidnappers. Opposing this theory was the one that the syndrome resulted in the sun rising at 4am and setting at 11pm and making everyone’s body clocks blank ’12:00′ like a digital clock after a blackout. Lucky the Scallywags had Google to sort out that issue.
These types of questions of life is what always ‘swedens’ our travels and makes the long journeys more bearable.

Two nights and one full day (with maybe some half days depending on arrivals and departures) is the way I’ve always travelled. This amount of time allows you to see exactly what you want and forces you to have big days to fit in as much as possible. Stockholm was no exception.

The Scallywags scallywagged their way around the old town of Gamla Stan and moseyed up the hill to MosebackeTorg to have a bevvy while looking over the view from Sodra Teatern. This place seemed to be a bit of a local hangout, with people there letting off steam to prepare for the weekend. It’s their version of Sunday arvo beverages at Wharfy.

If the ‘stock home’ is anything like the royal palace in this city, it’d probably be the only thing that would convince me to stay.

A trip to Solna to watch locals AIK beat Kalmar 3-0 in the football (soccer). A few cheeky goals and a fight with everything but a punch thrown had the stadium standing and eager with anticipation. Watching football in Scandinavia is not something I thought I’d ever do.

Cheeky stop into the Fotografiska – photography museum – on the way back. Many of the photographs were taken in places I’ve been half thinking of going to; the Middle East and Antarctica. Quick thought: how do you half think something? Do two half thoughts equal a complete thought? You think something or you don’t think it. You can’t half think something. People.

So many activities in one day, proof that you only need two nights in a city. The day we spent exploring Stockholm felt like it was divided into two days. By the time we were walking back to our hostel in Sodermalm, it was a struggle to believe that what we had seen that morning had happened the same day. It’s that old chestnut of going to the bathroom and ten minutes later, questioning yourself as to whether you remembered to flush. You almost certainly have flushed but just in case you forgot, you go back and check.

The Suitcasers were a bit disappointed that we weren’t able to go for a traditional Swedish dinner at IKEA. This might sound strange, but the company is founded in Sweden and it can only be imagined that they have the best IKEA in the world.

Nothing terribly funny or exciting happened that I can write for you to have giggles at. Except perhaps the fact that a middle aged man with English as a second language knocked my dinner down the bin shoot. That was pretty average. Or maybe you’ll find entertainment in the fact a middle aged weird Swedish couple kept getting too intimate with each other in a 12 bed dorm in the middle of the night. I’ve counted my lucky stars on several occasions already that I don’t speak the same language they were speaking during ‘special hug’ time. But that’s nothing a pair of headphones and 22 minutes audio repeat of a thunder storm can’t fix.

Oslo is the next place. No idea what wacky adventures that place will have for us!