June 8, 2024: Stockholm 1

Hallå
Hälsningar från Stockholm — Greetings from Stockholm—1:00 a.m. (Saturday night/Sunday early morning).

So, for those whom I have not spoken with for a while…. We had planned a trip to South Korea and rural Japan for this past April (2024). We worked really hard on figuring out our routes and means of travel (driving, train, plane, boat). But alas, in late February I managed to slip on wet pavement (actually I think I was running because of the rain – to mail something at the post office—and the sidewalk had a deep crack.. My shoe got caught in that canyon of a crack and I fell——hard!) and wound up breaking two bones in my wrist, requiring surgery. I’m a total wimp when it comes to medical things, so I tried to avoid surgery. But it became obvious that was the only real solution. As a result of the fall, surgery, healing, and hand therapy (a very special form of PT) we postponed the Korea/Japan trip until 2025 and stayed home. We wanted to rebook for early fall 2024, but I have a book coming out in October so that month was already hectic. Didn’t want to go in the winter when it’s pretty cold…. So we set the trip for spring 2025. But as a consolation, we decided to head to Finland, where we had lived for a year (and where we have returned at least every five years. The last trip to Finland was in 2019; if you do the math, 2024 is the five year anniversary. We love Finland, so it all made sense. Still it’s been a long time since we traveled in a developed nation (as the main focus)… so we shall see.

As usual it was messy getting ready. At least I had finally finished all the editor and proofreader recommended edits to the book, final photo selections, and review of indexing decisions. It was hard to let go; I suppose like raising a child for many years and then seeing them head off without you. But… it’s all gone. Book publisher release date is in October. Big party in Oakland in December, and hopefully many invitations to do readings or book signings in the fall and winter. And then there were preparations of budgets, scopes, and contracts for several new projects both in California and beyond. Packing was a nightmare since the weather in Scandinavia kept changing by the hour.

But finally, we got the trip figured out and we left California yesterday (Friday, June 7). We headed to Stockholm (via Frankfurt). The plan is to spend three days in Stockholm (a city we have not been back to in decades). And then we will take the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki on Tuesday. We last took that overnight ferry decades ago and have fond memories of seeing Helsinki for the first time from the boat. So a bit of nostalgia there. We’ll immediately go from the Helsinki port to the airport to fly up north to Oulu where we will really begin our trip. We fly to Oulu (spend a few days) and then drive further north to Rovaniemi at the Arctic Circle. Then we head to Inari (further north still) which is smack in Sami country (Lapland—land of the Sami people). After a few days there, we’ll drive back to Rovaniemi and then fly directly to Helsinki to visit the places we frequented and see some friends. We had a wonderful year living and working in Helsinki and each return visit has enabled us to keep up with friends and see how the city has changed. We’ve actually been to all of the places we’re going to on this trip, but still we are anticipating a great trip.

What’s not to love in a country declared “the happiest country” and possessing the best public education in the world?

My daily travelogues will tell a lot about Finland…. Then… and Now.

But for now we are in Stockholm. We left SFO at 7 pm and it seemed fairly quiet at the airport. Our route took us to our least favorite airport (Frankfurt) with a four-hour layover, and then we had a Lufthansa flight to Stockholm. We arrived around 9:30 pm and it was still very light out, despite a slight drizzle. After checking into the Bank Hotel, we headed across the street to eat a very late (11:00 pm) dinner at Arsenalen Bistro which turned out to be across the street from the hotel. Steak tartare, fries, salad, and a ½ order of a simple pasta with some sun dried tomatoes and a raw egg.. Finished it all off with some nice Cabernet and a chocolate mousse.

Heading to bed.. Tomorrow begins our adventure (probably the most calm travel we have done in decades). I’m sure it will be lovely, but it will likely lack the excitement of places we’ve never before explored and developing countries where the cultures are more unique or more different from our own.

Stay tuned— the one thing about travel to places you already know is that you can really explore new areas and return to old places with the wisdom of previous knowledge.
We’re good … and anxious to explore Stockholm tomorrow.

I promise more newsy pieces in the days to come with photos…
Fern