Sweet in Sweden

Last week I had the chance of going on a mini trip to Sweden. Even though it was literally Airport-Factory-Airport sort of a trip, it did have its moments, and since I had never been to Sweden before, guess it deserves a bit of a blog!

London Stansted Airport

I had an early morning flight which meant I had to get to the airport fairly quickly. Evidently it was the first time I was flying from/to Stansted so it always going to be bit of a discovery mission. Stansted Airport comes under the London wing of airports, but I think it is the farthest; and it is pretty much far from every where else in the country apart from Cambridge! The decent way to get to it from MK is either down the M1, through M25, and up M11 again, or go all the way to Cambridge and down the M11. Either way, something that is only around 45 miles as the crow flies is actually 75-80 miles by road.

So I decided leaving my home around quarter past 5 would get me there by 7, giving me around 90 odd minutes to check in and all that, and have a decent meal at the airport. As luck would have it, I only woke up around half past 5, and I have no idea why good old alarm had absolutely no effect on me that day!

Anyways, rush rush, I take a quick shower and head out to the airport. Thanks to early morning drives the M25 is not a car park and I manage a good speed of 40-50 odd mph there, which believe me, by M25 standards, is fairly good. Somehow I managed to get to the airport at quarter past 7, giving me plenty of time to check in. My manager and a customer who were going to accompany me on the trip soon arrived after, and though we did not have time for a hearty breakfast, we all got ourselves something from Starbucks. I felt like trying a Chocolate Banana Vivanno, and though it tasted nice, it did not really keep me up!

Amidst all this we managed to land at Stockholm, one of the Ryan Air airports, the smaller ones. As I observed that it was small, my colleague informed me that the one we were flying out of was even smaller. He was right! That has to be the smallest airport I have ever flown out of!

Technology… or failure of ?

So as we boarded the plane the hostess made an announcement on the sound system (there is a proper term for it but just cannot remember it),  but instead all we got to hear was a sharp shrill sound. We have come so far in technology, but we still have that sharp screech out of mikes every now and then! WHY !!!! Sound Engineers out there??? Tell ME !!!

PS. I may google on this later and put up the reason why… lol!

Trees

Do not want to sound stupid or anything, but I expected to see a huge sign saying ‘Welcome to the land of IKEA!’. Instead, I only saw one Ikea in the two days I spent there. Yes I was not about a lot but still, I expected a few big ones.

All you will see is trees!!! I was warned by one of the colleagues. They were right. Sweden is nothing but trees. That does mean the air is much fresher than you have in a lot of places in the world, so its all good. Also, although its not very prominent in the picture below, but they planted them in a way that autumn had browned out a few patches in between while the rest were green. Looked quite good they did. From the plane, and from the Motorways!

Swedish meatballs are a myth!!!

Lack of Ikeas wasn’t the only let down. The few meals I had there clearly lacked meatballs on the menu. Not that I am crazy about them, but any traditional dishes there were definitely not meatballs. They may serve them at Ikea calling them Swedish, but heck the Swedes don’t really eat them I guess!

Pancake Thursday

What they do have religiously are pancakes every Thursday! All around Scandinavia actually! We had some and loved them !!! 

I look OLD!!!

Newsflash!!! I look old! Mid 30s! For a guy who is 24 that is not good news.

Apparently you have had a hard life… said my manager.

Not good!!!

Sex and the City…

Apparently Sex and the City is about to be released in Sweden. Or the DVD is. Or just has been! Either way we spent two days watching huge posters of Carrie and the girls being printed. Gosh I know the name of SJP’s character in SATC. Also not good! Gay? Almost there!!!

    

Walk in the rain…

Don’t know why, but I felt like  taking a walk in the cold chill, but fresh air and rain Sweden had to offer that night. I stumbled about randomly around  the hotel for a little while before I hit this track. I took a picture, and though the place looked awesome and awfully romantic to my eye, the picture came out rubbish. All dark and what not. However, thanks to Paint.net, I have managed to air brush it and it looks good. I am actually kind of proud of  the picture now. It was a good relaxing experience though. As the clock struck midnight and the thought of another heavy day at work the next day took over, I decided to head back. We were in the middle of nowhere and I did not really know if the place was safe or not.

Chuffing Rain !!!

The next morning greeted us to chuffing rain!!! And some cold winds! Not much to write about in this heading but thought the picture deserved some sort of an explanation !!!

I spy with my lil eye, a Lamborghini

Another heavily photo-shopped picture this! In the car park we spotted this absolutely wicked car, but with a battery charging module plugged into this (note the wires on the floor). There is not funnier sight than a super car not working properly. LOL!!!

Friendly Ladies…

I was told of the friendly Swedish ladies I was! It turned out to be true. I did not run into many and the only ones were the waitresses and the receptionists but they had smiles on their faces and a certain charm you do not find in England.

Smallest Airport I been to!

We took off from the Stockholm Vasteras Airport. That has to be the smallest airport I have ever been to. Was the size of a decent pub/restaurant I would say!

This is all there was to see from the outside…

 

That is what the doors inside led to. Even the toilets were unisex! Why do they call  them unisex by the way?  Shouldn’t they be called bi-sex because they apply to both the genders???

 

And this is all there was inside. A couple of check-in counters and an information desk hosted by Ryan-Air. Sorry about the sucky focus!

Su-Doku!

On the journey back a stupid statement in front of my manager made me go through a bunch of Sudoku puzzles. I had never tried it before, and now I am hooked.

I always thought of you as  the kind of guy who would really enjoy Sudoku. Said my manager!

I am sort of above that crowd! I made a bold statement.

Arryte then, half an hour to land… lets see you solve these!!!

I have a big head on my shoulders and it does  get me in trouble at times, but all in good humour I suppose !!!

Anyways, guess that wraps up a heavily work-loaded couple of days I spent in Sweden!