Of course you have a piano in your room sir ....

Even though I tried there was just not way for me to add a significant post whilst I was away, so here I am back
in the grind with stories to tell, a new inspired outlook and a desire to make the most of my opportunities.......what the ? I'm not entirely sure what I mean either, other than the fact that whilst I was away the people that I met were fantastic and a small number of them indirectly gave me large clues as to want I want to do with my life. I was also fortunate enought to pick up a little inspirational book in Vienna written by Paulo Coelho called the Alchemist. Call it fate or a 'good omen' but that read caught me just at the right moment. Anyway, here's a brief on how the rest of the trip went.

Stockholm - After the week away in Hemavan I had a couple of days in Stockholm before moving onwards and southwards. Jay had unfortunately taking a solid mountainside beating on his first day snowboarding and was finding it hard enough to breath let along show me the sights so I hit the city streets with no given plan. Before I continue I do have to say that Jay is one tough hombre. Some of the hits I saw him take and then shake off were a painful experience even for me. Still to his credit he got back up and continued on the 'get burnt and learn' snowboard learning curve - that guy truly will never give up.

Stockholm located on the east coast of Sweden where Lake Maralen meets the Baltic sea is an amazingly beautiful city. I think its beauty caught me a little unawares but surprises like that are always welcome. I spent two days just walking around, taking photos and trying to absorb all the sights. May favourite part (and I'm the favourite of many people) is the Stockholm old town (Gamla Stan), with the main part located on the islet of Stadsholmen. This area is a medieval type feel, filled with small alley ways, great bars, cafes etc...it was pleasure just to walk around and take in the sights at will.

Stockholm harbour , like all other parts of Stockholm, is amazingly picturesque. It's not hard to figure out why Jay wants to stay here. If I had the chance I'd probably do the same thing .....although, Vienna might have a say in my decision making process should the opportunity arise somewhere in the future. Unfortunately my time in Sweden ended all too quickly and due to certain circumstances I did get to spend as much time with Jay as I would have liked. Needless to say that I will be making the trip back to this part of the world sooner rather than later.

....flight # 6 and I'm back in Vienna

2.5 hrs flying time south of Stockholm and I was in my Grandfather's home town, a city of culture, music, huge schnitzels and Saher torte. I had been in Vienna once before, back in '91, so I remembered bits and pieces from my last visit but for some reason had not recalled how attractive a city it was. Only a few hours earlier I would have credited Stockholm as being one of the most beautiful European cities I've seen but a few hours on foot in Vienna changed my mindset pretty quickly. Damn, why did my Grandfather leave this place ??? Oh yeah, because 90 yrs ago there was no work here, a lot of poverty and Belgrade seemed like an interesting option !!!? (LOL) - how times change.

Once in town I checked into the Astoria hotel which was located down a side street 50 metres from the main pedestrian thoroughfare , Kartner Strasse. A quick shower and change later had me out and about, walking the streets and absorbing all that Vienna had to offer. Architecturally the city is a mix of Roman, Baroque, Classical and Modern styles (so said the guide) - now I truly can't tell the difference between one style or another, although if pushed I could probably pick out the 'Modern' style in a line up. Still, 5 -6 hrs on the streets had me heading back to the Sacher hotel for a slice of their famous torte and a Vienna coffee (or should that be just understood to be a coffee whilst in Vienna ?). Unfortunately reflecting on all these experiences a month or so on has me missing a lot of things that I would I would have written about at the time but EH, that's what happens......and as I'm currently supposed to be working it means that this review will also need to be continued at a later date. So until then....then...

Sunset at 1pm, Copious amounts of Jagermeister, pissed Swedes walking down a hill
..........This must be the north of Sweden

*From somewhere near the Arctic Circle *

The last week of my life has been spent in the little hamlet of Hemavan, north west Sweden, approximately 80kms south of the Artic Circle. I can easily say that it was one of the best weeks I've ever had whilst on holiday. Whilst the town and the surrounding mountains where extremely picturesque and about as close as you can get to snowboarding heaven, it was the people themselves that made the week that much more enjoyeable. Most evenings was spent on a mountain side hotel where you could either ski or board into at the end of the day - which around here was 3:30pm or so as the sun tends to set about 2 hrs prior to then. From that moment on the poison of choice is Jagermeister and beer, either seperately, together or however way you'd like to consume it. Another amusing thing is that that the line 'Hi I'm Australian' still holds its value reasonably well up here - it's usually followed up with the response, 'Australian, what the F**k are you doing here man, let me by you a drink'. Let me tell you, you can get pretty toasted by just speaking to people with the right accent. You can also get toasted by simply walking down the main slope back to the village and 'trying' to stay as upright as possible. One of the more memorable moments was seeing Jay taking a 3am run on my snowboard, having never snowboarded before and seeing disappear into the night only to hear 'Awww - sh*t' a few seconds later.

Now, for all the snowboarder and skiers out there, let me just say that the last two days here was spent snowboarding in knee deep powder snow, making turns through trees and doing jumps that were altogether big for my liking but still going for glory anyway. They were easily the best conditions I've had in the 10 years that I've been boarding.

Another sport that a few of us got into on New Years morning was the new Olympic sport of 'snow swimming'. The rules of this sport are to get absolutely drunk, strip off to your underwear and run out of your cabin into a freezing cold night jumping straight into the snow. Freestyle tends to be the stroke of choice but backstroke was also a strangely popular option ....... usual responses after the event was 'Oh F**k ... Oh F**k' and 'Why did I let you talk me into that'.

I'm still in Stockholm tomorrow before heading off to Vienna after that - more from me in a few days !