What would six months in Scandinavia be without at least a second trip to Halden, the town of memories, where the Tista river meets Iddefjørd under the watch of Fredriksten fortress, where Norway remembers it many defeats of Swedish invasion attempts (including one where the Swedish King was shot dead), and where I have some of my own earliest ( Read more... )

Göteborg was the low-light of my July trip, but for three reasons that can't really be blamed on the city itself. I spent 2 1/2 days in the city, and certainly it was pleasant, but it first of all couldn't compare to the other stops because of Strike 1: I didn't know anyone there. But I had an agenda: see the city, check out the nightlife, and go ( Read more... )

The big summer tour began on buses. I took the Oslo line as far as Karlstad, the capital of Värmland, then switched to a local bus that went north for another hour before meeting Lars-Göran, my advisor from Stockholm, at his vacation home, which is actually his family's old farmland. Lars-Göran and his wife took me straight out on a driving tour ( Read more... )

I finally took a day trip into Stockholm's Archipelago (or skärgården) for some hiking on one of the least developed islands, Gällnö. It has a bit of farmland, but is mostly unused meadows and dense pine forest. After on-and-off rain for the first couple hours, the weather finally cleared up enough for some photos.

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Since Stockholm hosted the olympics in 1912, the Olympic Torch passed through on its way to Greece, making a round tour through all the neighborhoods and passing only a few blocks from my home. On my way home from work, I stopped by Västerbron to wait and watch as it went by.

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Yes, it's the event you've all been waiting for! Midsummer's Eve! What can I say, there was food, drink, traditional dancing, and even a little sun! Marcus invited me and visiting Seattlite April to join him, his girlfriend, and another friend at his place in the 'burbs to the north.
( Click to see the photos... )

I've re-booked my flight back to Seattle. For those of you that may need it, I'll be coming into Sea-Tac on August 2nd at 5:25pm. The last leg is on United flight 575 from Chicago O'Hare.

13 Januari 13 Februari 24 Mars 16 April 21 Maj 20 Juni Över 159 Dager Solljus varje dag i Seattle 8h, 48m 10h, 11m 11h, 26m 13h, 43m 15h, 23m 15h, 58m +81% Solljus varje dag i Stockholm 6h, 47m 9h, 5m 12h, 35m 14h, 37m 17h, 25m 18h, 35m +174% Differens i Solljus, Stockholm relativ till Seattle -23% -11% +1% +7% +13% +16%

Some random photos from around Stockholm:
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Smaka på Stockholm is the local version of the whole "A Taste of..." phenomonen that has swept major cities as a way for restaurants to promote themselves (I think it started in Chicago). This one, in fact, was until this year called Restaurangersdag, but they recently expanded it to 10 days and gave it its new name, which is simply a Swedish ( Read more... )