Stockholm Getaway

Welcome to Sweden! Land of Pippilongstocking and the ever infamous IKEA phenomena.

Here are a few snapshots of my adventures in Stockholm with buddies Matt and Keely (formerly of Greco fame).

Firmly anchored into the frozen lake, many of the boats along this stretch serve as restaurants and hotels. We stayed in one called the Rygerfjord! It didn't quite feel like a boat because there was no rocking...but it was still a pretty awesome experience.

Our first evening in Stockholm. We walk through part of Gamla Stan (the old city) just in time to see the striking sunset...What a welcome! 

Ahh, Stockholm..the hot dog state. The real reason we all go to IKEA...for those tasty little buns at the end. I swear, what this country lacks in pubs it makes up for in cheap, processed snacks. There were 2 of these on every corner. And boy were we loving it!  

Matt and I show off our gorgeous Swedish hat hair. What can I say - there are some of us who can just pull this look off... 

Things over here appear to be way more relaxed than in London.  

I know the Swedish have a strong accent, but this is ridiculous. A bizarre chocolate 'kancowroo' dessert for your eating pleasure.

How convenient (if you want a chilly willy). 

Mr Plough, Mr Plough that name again is Mr Plough.

Yep...this is it - it's the reason we came. It was our calling. Project Snowman. We got so caught up in the spontaneity of the moment that we failed to recognise how pathetic he actually looks. Oh well. I could just say it wasn't a very good shot, he's clearly been caught completely off guard and without a carrot.

A proud moment for me...my very first snow angel. Who would have thought it - Gils really is an angel! I have a fantastic video of me making it if anyones interested. So cute! 

Snow boot sisters take some time out to chill (literally) on a nice cold park bench. It's still lovely enough to sport the sunnies though :) 

Snow snow snow your boat gently down the stream...this boat aint going nowhere! 

The three of us on the 'haemorrhoid' bench. 

Another absolutley magnificent Stockholm sunset...It was as if the sky had been tie-dyed. 

'DRUNKEN AIRPORT SHENNANIGANS' proudly brought to you by Ryan Air

We rushed madly to get to the departure gates on time clutching passports and stuffed animals only to find out our flight from Skavsta to London had been delayed due to 'technical difficulties'.


Before we met the Skavsta crew (other stranded travellers from oz and england) we enjoyed a 'get to know you' session with our furry friends. These guys sure know how to party!

About an hour into the delay (that's 3 pints, 3 jagermeisters and 3 martinis later) we were accosted by a spritely young lass named Kasey (Aussie Aussie Aussie) who had noticed our frequent bar visits and lured us back to her table where we met Leighton (crazy photographer guy) and Chris (essex boy maths whiz). And that's when it all started to get very interesting...

Chris, Kasey and I return to the bar to secretly discuss 'the delay'. One of the rules in our game of 'Kings' was that we were not permitted to talk about the rescheduling of the flight or make any reference to how long we have been waiting at the airport because of the delay. But it's gotta come up sometime, I mean heck, we were waiting for 7 hours!

Aww best of mates! You'd never tell we'd only met these randoms just hours before. We're all just so comfortable together, I mean just look where Keely's got her hand! (from left - matt, leighton, kasey, chris, keely and me)

This guy has gotto be the most photographed man in the world - even with his pants on!  

Kicking off London Jazz Week in style!

Enjoyed a funky evening at 'The Red Lion' Jazz Club in Twickenham with Matt and a handful of locals. We sat back, had a few drinks and listened to an exceptional performance by Martin Shaw (trumpet player from Jamiroquai!) and The Alex Hutton Trio.



I can highly recommend this place, it's a gem. On most days it's just your average English pub, however Thursday evenings see the place transformed into a groovy, candle lit, live jazz hub! The atmospere is relaxed and there's a real friendly vibe. Not only are the live performances outstanding, but the bar staff are cuties and you get free peanuts on arrival!

It's a bit of a trek out to Twickenham but well worth the effort.

Matt and Gilli's Shaun Of The Dead Day Trip Tours

We decided to take a trip to 'The Winchester' - the pub out of Brit zombie flick Shaun of the Dead.

The area deserted, windows boarded up, doors barred, old woman staggering like zombie down the street, wires ripped and dangling from the remains of the neon sign, it happened to be Halloween and the initials of the actual pub were D.O.A. Eerie coincidence???

Talk about feeling like you are part of the movie!

"Can I get any of you c**** a drink?"

Apparently not! After Matt drags me across London for 2 hours in search of 'The Winchester' there was definately no pub grub and not a pint to be seen *sigh*

High Wycombe Weekend High

London is a terrific place, but sometimes a weekend away can be really refreshing. James (jolly good chap!), invited Claire and I to High Wycombe for the weekend. And he even threw in a delightful tour of the countryside, visiting pictureque Marlow and Naphill on Sunday.

My 2 favourite Wycombe Adventure Scouts - James and Claire! 

Claire and James took me to a pub called The HobGoblin, where we sampled some beverages...Claire reckons they used to serve a lager there called Dog's Bollocks, but it has since been replaced with The Village Idiot.  

A day out in the english countryside just isn't complete without 'Cream Tea'. Here I am tucking into Buckinghamshires finest scones, with fresh cream and delectible jam. Rather lovely I do say :)