04:36 Urg. Can anyone say ‘body clock’ ?

09:20 ee that’s better. Today is djurg�rden (the royal hunting ground, which is on an island all its own), buy Lotta a CD and look into hiring bikes that will do long distances. I know in my heart I will not end up cycling anywhere much.

Interesting fact about Sweden: the Prismas English-Swedish dictionary has the Swedish for “funk-hole”.

12:29 on the train to stockholm central. Spot my first Ulrika. Countryside and architecture are gorgeous.

12:54 than God they all speak English in Stockholm. The names for things are not at all easy. I figured tonfisk = tuna and kypling = chicken, but osk, lax, and myriad other things remain a mystery. I’ve made the job a little harder by tryinf to find sthg healthy while avoiding shellfish/prawns, which they seem pretty keen on here.

15:13 made it to djurgarden . I’m going out for a meal again tonight so holding off the cycle hire for today. En route took some wonderful waterfront pictures and made two unsuccessful attempts to use a public loo. Needing to avoid spending cash is not so compatible with needing small change all the time for the john…

As I pass Nybroplan (new bridge place I think) I was distracted by an exhibition of huge photographic prints, entitle Earth From Above, by a french photographer Tann Arthus-Bertrand. Subjects ranged from volcanoes to power stations but nearly every caption gave an ecological perspective. I came away from there with a few extra details in my BIG LIST.

17:39 vegging out in Djurgarden after two hours in the excellent Vasa museum. I’m only a half-hour’s walk from central station but there are canoeists, power boats, joggers, people walking dogs and prams, and people skinny-dipping in the brackish water of the archipelago. The skyline is 60% trees - the Stockholm guide claims the city is 1/3 water 1/3 greenery and 1/3 buildings and I can believe it.

Spent the evening at a meal with Lotta and her diving buddies. Food was good and I now know the swedish for full-face mask and octopus.

SCORE TALLY, DAY 1
volvos: 21
meatballs: 3 (but turkish)
m��se: 0
royal buildings: 7
fierce kings: 1
alcoholics: 3
rune stones: 4 (on TV)
skinny dippers: 3

Pack in the morning, realise I haven’t yet contacted Lotta. Send an SMS. Read that the bikes you can hire are not good enough for touring and have a last check through SAS’s website to see about taking my own bike. Horror stories appear showing that the fee varies from 0 to 300 US dollars to take a bike on a plane. Resign myself to fate and realisethat should the holiday turn into a hiking holiday I have no decent shoes either!

16:30 our street throws a party. much fun is had by all. Miark and Tim visit and we amaze the residents with our juggling prowess. Paul from up the street sets off a couple of fireworks so we whip out the torches and drop them all over the tarmac (sorry Tim)