Time to leave. Sigh.

Of course it was a beautiful sunny (although windy) morning on Saturday when I left! That usually seems to happen.

But I made it to Marcia & Rutger's house with no problem, and we spent a fun weekend together. On Monday I want into the city to do a bit of sightseeing and shopping. I also met up with Marcia, who took me to the Kaknäs tower for lunch. Lots of photos on the flickr page.

Today, I am heading home to Texas, but not without stopping through Manchester on my way back. There is the small matter of a derby tonight. I am hoping to board my flight tomorrow in a jolly mood!

UPDATE: I was in a very jolly mood, indeed!

My next visit is set!

I'll be coming to Sweden on the 13th of March, and I plan to spend around 10 days in Sweden with Marcia & Rutger, but mostly spending a week out on Aspö.

Astute readers will note the "I" in the previous sentence. This is a solo trip for me. Sooz has a chance to go skiing with friends during that time. I've also been spending most of my time at home these days, so she could probably use a break from me, too!

It's also a bit cold for her liking out on the islands. Weather history for the past few years indicate a 46% chance of snow, and temps around freezing at best.

The other reason I'm going at this time is that I'm going to be in Europe anyway, Barcelona, to be precise, on March 12th. I was able to buy a cheap ticket on Norwegian Air to fly direct from there to Stockholm. The timing was perfect.

And why, might one ask, would I be in Barcelona on March 12? The UEFA website gives a clue!

England v Sweden

...no, I'm not comparing my two favourite international cities, but instead previewing the next match in the Euro 2012 football tournament. The two teams play tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a well-played draw, and for both to advance to the next round. (How's that for diplomacy??)

This is the first tournament I've experienced outside of the UK, and it is a bit strange to be so far removed from all of the emotion of the England national team.

However, I'm finding lots of fellow travellers at work; expats are revealing themselves with scarves and posters dotting the workplace. For example, I had a good chat about the day's Germany-Holland match on my way out of the office last night, which was nice.

UPDATE: England won 3-2 in a thriller. All they need now is a draw against Ukraine to progress to the next stage. Sweden, sadly, no longer have a chance to progress out of their group after two losses.

Sunday, May 30, 1999

I'm just about to head out this morning on my big 20-mile training run. I'm not leaving before dawn to beat the heat; rather I have to be back by 9:00 to watch the season's final match in the English Premiership: Manchester City vs Queen's Park Rangers.

As sport sometimes does, this match sets up a brutal binary: win, for glory and an end to 44 years of humiliation and suffering; lose, for yet another tragicomically heartbreaking failure, and, even worse, to hand triumph to our great rivals.

I ran 20 miles on that May Sunday in the previous millennium, through the Windsor Great Park. When I got back, a friend took me to my first City match, at Wembley stadium. In almost inconceivably dramatic fashion, we managed to win and scrabble out of the potential oblivion of the old Second Division. In a few hours, the same friend and I will watch the match on TV here in Texas; we live just a few miles apart. Funny how life works out.

I have a few videos I always keep on my iPhone just in case I need cheering up. This is the one, from that day, that I've watched the most over the years:

 

Let's hope, that a few hours from now, I'll have a new happy video to put on my iPhone. 

UPDATE: My run went very well, 20.5 miles in a bit over 3 hours, and I'm feeling pretty good, if I say so myself. And as for the football, well let's just say that after a dramatic repeat of that match in 1999, I have a new happy video: 

Manchester City 1-0 United

City captain Vincent Kompany with the winner. Hallelujah.

Took this shot of my TV set this morning

Yes, it really says that. City 6, United 1. At Old Trafford. Surreal.

The day has started out very well!

For the first time in 42 years, City are the winners of the FA Cup. Thank God!

Now all I need is a Swedish or English win at the Eurovision tonight and it will be a perfect day.

May 14

...is the date of the Eurovision Song contest, and long-time watchers will know it's fairly early this year. Typically, it's the last Saturday in May. It was moved up this year because the Champion's League final is on May 28, which is the second most-watched television event in Europe! So Eurovision had to move.

The final is at Wembley Stadium in London, and there's a rule that the field can't be used for a minimum of two weeks before the final. This has caused the English Football Association to move up the date of their FA Cup final from its traditional late May to the 14th as well.

And the reason I mention that date change is that it's suddenly become important to me. My beloved Manchester City are in the final and will be playing for their first Cup victory in 42 years.

May 14 has the potential to be a very good day for me!

We're Here!

The flight into Stockholm was great, and with only a bit of confusion, we made our experimental train connection to Marcia & Rutger's. It worked as advertised, and it was only 60 kronor, a lot cheaper than the airport bus.

One wrinkle is that it's hot here, much warmer than we expected. I think it's in the high 80's and muggy and I was expecting 20 degrees less. Rutger lent me a pair of his shorts but they're a tight fit, to say the least.

The big neighborhood party is about to start so I must go. More tomorrow.

UPDATE: The City match was on TV here! So I watched us draw 0-0. Frankly, I'm happy with that.

Friday morning Grab Bag

We leave in 24 hours. Grant is going at the same time, but he's heading west, to Minnesota to see his family there for a couple of weeks, before he heads off to university. A post on that subject is forthcoming.

Janne sent me an email that the electrician has come and installed a few extra outlets for me. He also mentioned there was work remaining from last year regarding the water system's heating. I talked to Anders, and it seems there was a small bit of plumbing and electricity left undone from last autumn. He is getting that finished today and I'll take a look when I'm there.

The IKEA lamps I bought for our shelves above the couch didn't fit, as the shelves were far too thick. A friend of mine contacted a friend of his at a metal fabrication shop, and voilà! I have a couple of custom-machined stainless steel fittings. Very cool. I will be sure to put a photo on the blog when they're installed.

My friend Rick sent along an article from MSN about traveling in the archipelago. It's always good to see press on my favourite part of the world!

Lastly, my beloved Manchester City are taking on Tottenham tomorrow and as luck would have it, the match is on TV and I'm going to miss it. We usually (but not always) lose to Spurs, though, so it would be good to get it out of the way early. I would be in an exceptionally cheerful mood on Saturday should we win, however!!

Bleargh

England was hammered by Germany 4-1. Glad I'm not in London tomorrow! Ugly. Also Göran the electrician didn't show up and we're out of gin.

However, the weather remains perfect and I successfully felled a few trees and cleared some brush so that part of the day was good. Tomorrow, our excursion to Värmdö!

Another perfect morning

At the risk of jinxing things, I have to say the weather has been super these past 10 days. We've been pretty lucky with that.

We watched US - Ghana last night. I have to say Ghana were the better team, scoring two beautiful goals. This afternoon is the big one, England-Germany. There's a lot of history with this fixture, at least from the UK point of view. In a way, I'm glad I'm over here. I'm sure the hype back home is feverish. But we'll be watching anxiously ourselves.

Tomorrow, we're going to the Värmdö shopping center at Gustavsberg for a day trip. Sooz needs to top up the groceries and I want to get a few building supplies at Bygg-Ole. Grant, uncharacteristically, wants to get his haircut; I'm really looking forward to that. We'll leave on an 11:00 taxi boat which should get us to Värmdö by noon. That leaves us, at most, 2½ hours before we have to get back for a 3:15 boat. This will be an interesting logistical exercise!

England v USA

The World Cup is underway. Tonight is the big match round these parts, England vs the USA. As an American, everyone has been asking me who I will support tonight.

Honestly, I'll be supporting England. I have over a decade's worth of emotional investment in the team here, and there's no way I can switch that. But the US will be my second team for sure!

UPDATE: A 1-1 draw. The press in the US is much happier than that in the UK, to say the least.

The World Cup

I've mentioned that I brought a TV out to the house. I should come clean now about why I wanted one for the summer: the World Cup.

It's hard to explain to Americans what a big deal the World Cup is. It really does take over most everyone's daily life during the tournament. Imagine a Super Bowl every day for a month, culminating in a Super Super Bowl at the end.

We will be on Aspö during most of the World Cup. The first match is June 11, and the quarter-finals will be during our last weekend there. The games are on free TV almost everywhere in the world; Sweden is no exception, so I'll be able to watch with no problem.

A key match for me is England vs the United States on June 12, which is before we leave, but we'll be in Sweden to watch England play Algeria on the 18th. The Netherlands play Cameroon on my birthday, and I am sure Marcia will be in her orange shirt.

Sadly, Sweden won't be participating this year. They didn't qualify for the finals, being pipped, annoyingly, by the Danes. There is no love lost at all between those two countries, especially in terms of football. Should Denmark go on a run in the tournament, I plan to keep my Danish heritage quiet, at least while I'm on Aspö.

Russia 3-1 Holland

Russia defeated Holland pretty comprehensively last night. They are a young, fast, aggressive team, fun to watch.

Russia joins Turkey, Germany, and the winner of tonight's Spain-Italy match in the semi-finals. They might go all the way.

Rutger's text to me after the match was not printable in a family blog.

Russia 2-0 Sweden

I'm posting from a sports bar in Moscow, a very interesting place from which to just have watched Russia comprehensively beat Sweden and send them home. I kept my Swedish support quiet, to be sure.

At least now there'll be no conflict Saturday night in Marcia & Rutger's household! Most Swedes will be supporting Holland, I think.

Skit också!

Sweden were all over Spain in last night's game and should have been leading, but instead the match was heading towards an acceptable 1-1 draw until Spain scored in the 92nd minute. Now their chances of progressing are under threat.

What's worse is, if they do still qualify to go forward, they'll have to play Holland, who are on a tear right now, having demolished France 4-1 the other night. Looks like Marcia will have bragging rights in Marcia & Rutger's household.

PS. The title to this post means "damn it" in Swedish. At least I'm pretty sure it does. I trust Margaret to correct me if I'm wrong!!!!

Euro 2008

What with all this house-building stuff, I haven't mentioned the European football tournament going on right now.

Every four years, the best teams in Europe play in a tourney that is second only to the World Cup. This year, it's hosted by Austria & Switzerland. Shamefully, England did not qualify, and in embarrassing circumstances (losing at home to Croatia in the final game.) It is fun traveling in Europe during the tournament; every country is really up for it.

Anyways, Sweden won convincingly 2-0 last night against the 2004 winners, Greece. Zlatan Ibrahimović (pictured) scored a great goal. The Swedish keeper, Andreas Isaksson, plays for my team here in England, and he kept a clean sheet last night. The crowd was a sea of yellow; I wish I could've been there.

For the sake of Marcia (Rutger's gorgeous Dutch wife), I should mention that Holland crushed Italy 3-0.

Update: My mother asks why no posts about Denmark? I reminded her the Danes, too, failed to qualify, under even more tragicomical circumstances than England's.

Manchester United 1 Manchester City 2

It has nothing to do with building a house here in Sweden, I know.

But, damn, am I happy!