terrible train ticket

The other evening I sat down in front of the computer to book train tickets up north, as I was planning to visit my father. I booked a ticket for the 2nd March and emailed the confirmation to my dad to show him the dates.


On Monday evening he phoned me and asked me what I wanted to eat on my arrival, to which I snapped a bit.

“Surely we’ll have time to discuss that closer to the date” I snarled.

“But it is only 2 days away until you arrive?” he said, rather confused.

I checked my email confirmation and sure – I’d booked the ticket for the 2nd February instead of 2nd March. I tried to rebook the tickets, but wasn’t allowed. I tried to get a refund. I wasn’t allowed. I asked customer support if I could sell my tickets on eBay and let the buyer change the name of the ticket. Nope, no, niet, bugger nothing.

On Tuesday morning I reschedualed all my meetings for the week, cancelled appointments and made room for a visit up north a month sooner than I’d originally planned. It was doable, however I had to work my arse off all Tuesday to make it so.

After a long day at work myself and the Mr. went to the pictures to see a preview of “The King’s speech”. Back home late in the evening I treated myself to a glass of wine and chilled.

…When it hit me. The tickets! I needed to print out the tickets from the internet! Bollox. The train was due to leave 7.20 am the following morning and there was no chance I’d manage to print them off anywhere before then.

I phoned customer services who were closed for the day. So I got up at 5.30 am on Tuesday, phoned them and explained my predicament.

“No problem” a very friendly voice said to me. “I’ll change it on the computer so that you can collect the tickets at the train station”. He gave me a booking number and off I went to the station.

Standing by the ticket machine I typed in the booking number several times without receiving anything but a message on the screen saying “no tickets found on this number”. I went to the customer service desk and waited in the queue for a good 15 minutes before I could explain my dilemma for the woman at the desk.

“Ooops”, she said whilst looking at her computer screen. “He must’ve clicked on the wrong button when he tried to help you over the phone this morning. Your ticket is gone”.

With 6 minutes to spare before the train would leave the station I nearly cried. The woman at the desk quickly wrote a few lines on a piece of paper, signed it and gave to me. “Give this to the train host and you’ll be fine”.

So I legged it to the train and made it with a minute to spare befoe departure. The train host accepted my piece of paper. So really I should be happy. But truth be told I’m sick and tired of things not ever going smoothly. And there was no tea on the train either.

weekend activities

We've been pretty good at doing fun stuff over the weekends lately.

The other weekend the Mr. and I headed into the city to go ice skating in the park. At first it sounded like a great idea - after all I used to be good at ice skating as a kid. But when counting I realized it was approx. 25 years since skating around the ice...

... I was useless at it. And terrified. But it was hilarious! The Mr. succeeded better than myself getting around the ice I have to admit.

I, on the other hand, managed to fall over whilst standing still, which surely is an achivement not everybody manages! :-)

 After skating, laughing and falling over (me at least) we went to "Sky Bar" and had a chili coctail before heading home. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

We also went to see the Modern Dance Theatre "XPSD" over a weekend. Quite frankly I thought it was bad, but still it was fun to see. To compensate for all the fine art that evening we had a stroll through town afterwards, and stopped off at McDonalds to have a big Mac...

... One needs balance in life!

This weekend we visited the Museum of Technology. Their exhibition about NASA and spaceships newly opened, and it was really interesting. After the exhibition we went to a little wok place and had lovely supper before heading home.

It's nice to pretend to be a tourist in your home city!

plant a tree

A couple of years ago I started to plant trees instead of buying presents to friends and family.

Today I arranged to have a monthly direct debit to ViSkogen, who plant trees around the Victoria Nyanza area in Africa.

When was the last time you planted a tree? Go on, buy some trees for Christmas! The world needs it.

farmlife

I've been looking after my sister's farm for a week. It's a wonderful farm full of wonderful creatures. Well, some not-so-wonderful creatures as well: mosquitoes, flies, ticks, snakes and all that jazz, but wonderful animals living there too, as I said...

The hens and the cock didn't like me at all at first, but after a couple of days of bribing them with breadcrumbs I befriended the cock who followed me around whenever I was outdoors.

The farm cat is one of the nicest cats I've ever met. His name is Elis Karlsson and despite being a world class hunter, he is also a world class Bon Vivant! Gorgeous Elis has cuddled and purred...

"Please stroke me! Please tickle my chin!"

The horses are just as friendly. Not to mention their friendliness when I brought them apples and carrots!

"Stay where you are! We're coming! You are bringing food, aren't you?!"

The only animals I didn't seem to bond with were the sheep. They couldn't care less of my extistance, and I think they even started to dislike me after I tried to feed them bananas one day. Note to self: sheep do not like bananas.

"yuk! That's disguisting!"

gates

A wonderful blog that I'm following (http://pocolococreativo.blogspot.com/) has published a few photos on doors. And I have to say there's something special about them.

doors

gates

entrances

Don't you agree?

When travelling I usually end up with loads of photos of gates (and animals. Of course). Can you see which countries these are from?

my friend

My friend Lizzie and her baby came to stay with me for a week. Lizzie and I have known each other for about 15 years, and is by far one of my best friends who knows me inside out.

We used to work toghether for a few years. The management used to call us Piff and Puff. We were never put to work in the same unit, which was probably for the best, as we infamous for chain smoking, drinking loads of cups of tea and talk when together.

Lizzie, Paula and I back in the days

But as time went on I decided to move to Australia. Then Sweden. And so the last time we saw each other was three years ago at Lizzie's wedding. And since those three years loads of things have happened. The biggest of changes must be Lizzie having a little daughter called Macy Mabel - that I hadn't had a chance to meet until last week!

But isn't it weird? Three years have passed, Lizzie is now a mum, we live different lives in different countries, and yet it felt like we've never been apart. We have drank loads of tea (and wine, I will admit), chainsmoked and talked. We have chilled in front of the telly, gone shopping (even though that's something we used to be much better at years ago!), cooked and eaten loads of nice food and just enjoyed each others company. Yes, there have been more nursery rhymes sang, more baby food talk and earlier mornings than in years before, but apart from that nothing seems to have changed.

Myself, Lizzie and little Macy last week.

And so now they have left, and I'm sat in my flat all alone missing her like crazy. Wishing she lived next doors and not an ocean apart. It's times like these I wonder why I ever left...

licence trouble

I've been trying to get a Swedish driver's licence in exchange for my UK one for years now. It's proving to be more or less impossible: up until this year one had to apply at the Police office (who did the exchanges). They said no, due to "Jersey not being in their register". I explained several times it was part of the UK. They said it wasn't. I gave up.

But from this year the Traffic Department is in charge of foreign driver's licences. They said they would perhaps be able to exchange mine to a Swedish one. First I had to pay them £60, fill in a couple of forms and send them proof of me living in Sweden for the last year.

I asked them what kind of proof - would an employment attest be ok? They said no, they needed a certificate from the states telling them I have been living on a Swedish address and paid taxes for the last year or so.

I phoned the tax office. Asked them if they could help me with these certificates? A lovely woman said she could print out a letter stating where I've been living for the last year. I thanked her and sat quiet on the phone whilst she typed something on her computer.

The woman on the other end of the phone suddenly sounded a bit confused: "... but", she said "according to our files you've always lived in Sweden? How come you've got a foreign driver's licence?" I explained that I lived in the UK for nine years and in Australia for one year before returning to Sweden. "What?!" the woman cried out, "are you telling me you've been abroad for 10 years without telling us?!"

Judging from her voice this was not a good thing, and I asked her if I was in trouble for mentioning this to her. She huffed and puffed for a bit, then said "well, yes, but how long have you been back for?" I answered that it's been a few years now. "Ok," she said with a sigh of relief "then I'll pretend I didn't hear that". Bless.

Now I'm just waiting for all my papers to turn up in the post, then I will - once again - try and get that damn Swedish licence. My guess is, however, that I will lose £60 and still be declined the exchange. But I reckon it's worth one last go. At least it's cheaper than taking a new driver's test.

a simple act...

I just love this sign. It was placed on a very old tree in a garden in China:

A simple act of carelessness

leads to the eternal loss of beauty.

It goes for everything in life, doesn't it?

essentials

My friend and I went to Uppsala to see a play. On the train back to Stockholm late at night we realized we had all the essentials with us in our bags:

gin

tonic

mugs

toothbrush

mobile phone

chewing gums

tickets

What more does a woman need?

weekend away

I spent the weekend up north, visiting my dad. As always the place is next to magical in winter time.

The dogs enjoyed long walks. I enjoyed the fresh, crisp air and the silence. 

Aaron the cat enjoyed being indoors under my duvet.

fluttering memories

I have had a week where I’ve been more sentimental than usual. This is all to do with me deciding to visit Jersey in May. It gets me sooo excited. I can’t wait to get there.

That feeling of getting off the airplane and smelling the smell of Jersey is indescribable.

Some people say tattoos are addictive. Like nicotine and drugs. But Jersey is my drug for sure. My high. This time I might get a hire car so that I can get around the place as much as I want to, drive around like I used to.

I went through a phase of not sleeping very well. I had gotten my driver’s license a year earlier, and was a proud owner of a little Mini Mayfair. I covered the car in colourful flowers to hide the rust, and inside the car I had my wetsuit, a towel, my boogie board and a battery driven tape recorder as the car had no stereo.

The ashtray in the car was always over full, and the passenger seat full of empty cigarette packets, mixed tapes and empty diet coke cans. I always carried a bag of gym stuff in the back, as well as a change of clothes. I also kept a little bag with pens, colours and paper which I used for writing and drawing whenever I got the urge to do so. Which was very often.

The car was all I needed, and during those nights I couldn’t sleep I jumped in my little Mini (wearing nothing but my pyjamas, my slippers and a woolly jumper if it was chilly) and drove around the island. I used to drive around for a while, and stop off at Les Land where I’d sit on my favourite cliff half way down the steep rocks. There I’d have a fag and write a poem or draw some arty farty painting which were to symbolize my tortured teenage soul. Then I’d drive home again and fall asleep for a couple of hours before it was time to get up again.

It isn’t any wonder that Jersey has made such an impact on me. It’s were I grew up. It’s were I found out the meaning of freedom.

And I’m soon heading over to visit again. Ooohh, my heart flutters with excitement!

the last decade

And so we have entered a new decade. I can't say I'm finding it to be such a big deal. I mean, 10 years ago we entered a new millennium. Now THAT was a big deal if you ask me!

However, it has been quite some eventful years, and I thought I'd try and sum up important steppingstones over the last 10 years.

2000
Was one of my best years so far. Me and my then boyfriend were living in a beautiful cottage in Jersey together with our rabbit. I studied nursing whilst working, we had lots of friends who got married that year, and it seemed like life was one big, happy party. However, I got ill and were in and out of hospital alot. It took it's toll on me, not to mention the relationship.

2001
Was the year I travelled to South America and Easter Island for a few months. I travelled with the then-boyfriend, and at times it was fab and at others it wasn't . We split up during our trip, went our separate ways and reunited on Easter Island. Back in the UK I decided to head over to Sweden to visit my dad before going back to Jersey and work/studies. I found myself in Sweden COMPLETELY broke, and had to take a job as a window cleaner for a month before I could afford a ticket back to Jersey!

2002
I split up from the same boyfriend again, packed up my life in Jersey and moved to Australia. I had managed to get into uni, doing nursing. And how I regretted it! I only got to the airport in London where I phoned my best friend Lizzie, sobbed and said I wanted to come back home. Not the best of starts. The fact that I didn't like the uni where I started studying didn't help. Everything was wrong. I decided to move back to Sweden. Because I was determined to get that damn degree of mine, and I couldn't afford studying in the UK.

2003
Back in Sweden (after over 10 years abroad) I found it hard to fit in. I started studying archaeology as I didn't qualify for the nursing degree due to Swedish bureaucracy. I did my first archaeological dig. Whilst on excavation my grandfather died, which was heartbreaking. I adored him. I spent three months back in Jersey during the summer and thought I'd move back as soon as I'd finished my Bachelor's degree.

2004
I hated Sweden. I hated where I lived but I LOVED studying. I took 2 full time courses at once to keep myself busy from hating everything so much. And I did really well and loved the fact that I rocked at the academic stuff! I spent the whole summer in Jersey, back at my old job yet another summer and kept thinking I would move back there soon.

2005
The summer was spent in Jersey again. This time I noticed that friends had moved on, and that I in fact didn't have "my old life" left in Jersey. But at the same time I didn't have a "new life" in Sweden. I kept taking two fulltime courses at the same time to make life bearable in Sweden. They still weren't. However, in November, I got the honour of attending the Nobel Prize Gala. Unfortunally, I was too bitter to fully apreciate it all.

2006
Was the year when I finished my Master's degree in theoretical Archaeology, got a lovely little flat and started to feel alive again. I loved it. I got a few small freelance jobs as an archaeologist, but supported myself by working as a care worker. I also carried on studying a couple of evening uni courses in Rethorics and Cultural Environment Pedagogics.

2007
I landed a job as a Project Coordinator, which I thought would be perfect for my future career within archaeology. But I hated the job, and lots of bad things happened to me there. I ended up being signed off work for 3 months at the end of the year. Still, I enjoyed studying and took evening classes at the university all year. I only spent a couple of weeks in Jersey this year.

2008
Still signed off sick, my Jersey friend Lynda and I decided within a day or two that we were going to Morrocco. We met up in London first and had the best holiday. When I got back I was offered a job as a project manager at the Social Services, which I hadn't even applied for. I took it and loved it. I also bought two Cornish Rex cats, moved into a huge flat and realized that I probaly were getting a little settled in Sweden after all.

2009
I plodded along at work quite happily, and spent most of my spare time renovating my new flat. I spent a month travelling around China, and then a couple of weeks at my dad's place in the summer arranging my brother's wedding. I enrolled yet another university course (this time through work and getting paid whilst doing it!) studying Leadership and Psychiological Management. I loved it.

And now it is the beginning of 2010. Let's see what it has in store. I'm hoping something fantastic, of course!

famous people

I've never been one to read gossip magazines or know who's who in the famous circle of people.


Once, when a friend's mum told me something about someone apearantly famous, I asked her who it was and what she was famous for. My friend's mom looked horrified and asked me "Don't you know who Farrah Fawcett (or whoever she was talking about) is?!" I shook my head and said "I'm pretty sure Farrah Fawcett doesn't know who I am either?"


See, I don't get it. Why is someone famous more interesting than our next door neighbours?


Once, I went into my friend's coffee shop and ordered a coffee. The place was mobbed and I couldn't find anywhere to sit, but then spotted an empty chair next to an old man. I asked him if the place was taken. It wasn't and so I sat down.


No sooner than I had done so as I noticed all eyes were on me. I asked the old man why everyone was staring, and could he please tell me if I had a bogey hanging out from my nose or something else that was getting everyones attention.


The man laughed and said "Don't worry, they're not staring at you. It's me they're looking at!"
"Why? Are you famous or something?" I asked him, half joking. " Kind of..." he replied, and then we went on talking about my new tattoo and the weather. He was lovely and asked me lots of questions about my life and why I was living abroad. Then some woman turned up, and he excused himself and left with the woman.


The following day my friend (who owned the coffee shop) came up to me and said "you've got some balls! Sitting next to John Cleese and chatting away!"


And, well, I do know who John Cleese is. I just didn't recognise him...

country air

This weekend was spent on a farm quite a few miles north of Stockholm. Me and my three "sisters" (don't ask - it's a long story and we're not related at all really) decided to have a get together-weekend on one of my sister's farm.

I was full of cold on my arrival. A high temperature, aching muscles, snotty nose, sore throat and the whole palaver. But soooooo well worth it! It was a lovely weekend, and the countryside air must've done me good as I feel more or less fine today.

The weekend was filled with good food, good wine, lovely animals, leisurely strolls in the woods and plenty of rest. We tagged a couple of lambs, picked loads and loads of chanterelles and cuddled horses, dogs and cats. Just what the doctor ordered!

I will be so kind and share the recipies from our 4 course Saturday dinner with you another day. Tonight I will love you and leave you with a couple of pictures from the fabulous farm.

the latest fashion - yellow tags in both ears

The biggest chanterelle I found. Isn't it amazing?!

Have you EVER seen so many chantarelles?! We picked 8 kilos!

playing the game

During my years when travelling was a major part in my life I made sure I always had a deck of cards and a game of backgammon or scrabble in my backpack.

I remember once in Madeira, I hooked up exploring the island with a British girl named Lucy. We used to play a special type of backgammon on my homemade gameboard (that I had made out of pieces of driftwood found on the beach. It was beautiful, if I may say so myself). Lucy told me she had learnt the rules whilst in the middle of nowhere in Mexico, where she had been stuck for a couple of months without money:

This old woman had let Lucy stay at her house whilst working on a closeby farm to earn money for a ticket out of Mexico.The old woman didn't speak any English and Lucy not a word of Spanish. So they spent their evenings playing Mexican backgammon and drinking tea, mostly in silence.

I remember thinking Lucy's story being amazing and exotic. But the more I travelled the more I got to see for myself the connection a game of Gin Rummy can create. I found myself pretty much washed away when it rained (!) in the Atacama desert once. I was travelling with only a tent and a gas cooker, and soaked to the bone I took shelter under a wall nearby. Where another traveller did the same. We shared his cigarette (as mine were soaked as everything else I had) and then he invited me to his room in a hostel nearby:

He was French. His English was bad, but not close to as bad as my French is. So we played cards, smoked cigarettes and drank coffee until the rain had eased off. It is one of my fondest and strongest travelling memories.

I don't get to play many games these days. But today I realized there's nothing stopping me, is there? So if you fancy an evening of Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scrabble or a game of cards let me know. Because an evening of games and food is happening in my flat soon. The more the merrier!

the past week

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to get a lift down to Gothenburg with the fantastic Lisa, who was driving there after a few days in Stockholm.

We left mid morning, and stopped off at a couple of gloomy looking resting areas for coffees, cigarettes and food.
In the car, during our trip, I noticed how hairy my legs were. But Lisa, clever as always, drove into the nearest town we were passing by and off I went to buy waxing strips. And 30 minutes later I had legs smooth as a baby's bottom.

The trip to Gothenburg was fab. And I will write more about the seeings and doings when I get the photos from my days in the area. However, yesterday it was time to head home again, and truth be told I missed the boys something silly (who were well looked after by Katarina and my brother: thank you both!!). It was great to be greated by cuddles galore!

And when I opened the fridge, I noticed that someone had left me a cake with a candle in. Because it was my birthday yesterday. Kif, Tylor and I ate cake on the floor in the livingroom last night and sent grateful thoughts to my brother. Because he bought it for me.

The wedding party

The wedding party last Saturday was fab. Really nice, really intense, with lots of impressions and fun loving memories.

My father and I got on really well and enjoyed each others company, which was nice.

Jannas family is just as lovely as she is, and below is her and our family gathered.

it't that time of month again

About once a month I start thinking about being back in Sweden. To some of you this might sound very often. But for those of you who knew me back when I first arrived back here knows that once a month is a reduction of about 99%.

But today I'm longing. Aching for my backpack, my tent and sleepingbag. No phone, no computer, noone who knows me or reach me. Just me and wherever my heart has taken me.



On the other hand, I love my flat and the fact that I've been able to unpack stuff that's been in boxes for ten years. I love the fact that I have walls where I can display my treasures from previous adventures.

I love the fact that I bought my beloved cats. I haven't regretted it one day.

But I don't like the way I've conformed. The way I've become. I sometimes resent that I've spent so much money on the flat and on furiture. That money could've kept me travelling for a year solid.

I wish I could have it all. But it just isn't possible. But how I miss those days where new experiences and people came in and out of my life on a daily basis. The days where it took a whole day to make a meal after collecting the wood to cook it on. And the fact that it was ok that it took the whole day, because I had nothing better to do. Today I miss it alot.

things that make me happy

TAKING A LONG BATH.





















JERSEY. ALWAYS JERSEY.


























SLEEPING.



















BBQ WITH FRIENDS. PREFERABLY IN JERSEY.

HORSERIDING.

My trip in pictures