First full day in Stockholm

So here we are, waking up to our first full day in Stockholm.

I feel very very strange indeed. The last days have been pretty dan freaky frankly. James & Prima's wedding was totally great at the weekend, both nights were amazing fun. Sunday night then we went out with Tom, Karen, Steve and Jon and had some tapas and beers and a few laughs together. It was a fine was to spend my last night. Since then I've been a huge mix of really string emotions ranging from excitement, fear, trepidation, sadness, and some which I don;t really have the vocabulary for which could only be described as "come on then - I'm mad for it" - and "we're here - we've done it".

Monday during the day was spent packing and we saw all our parents at various points during the day, which was nice, but difficult as we hadn't alot of time to devote to them at that point as we were just running around packing madly.

In the morning Airpets came and took the cats away, and that was pretty damn tough. Sarah was in tears and I was quite choked. I know they'll be cool - but we're just a bit soppy about them, it'l be good when they arrive here. But that'll be a few weeks yet I expect.

Up until that point I'd fairly held it all together, with saying goodbye to everyone and all the organisation. I was just treating it like a project of things to do I guess and some of the size of it all hadn't really hit me. That night my last task before going out to grab some food down the road for dinner, was to take the compost up to the top of the garden. Now the top of the garden is probably my favourite place of all within that house and I just lost it completely and was in floods of tears, standing looking out across the park and the downs, the sun was setting, the sky was orange and beatifully lit, the birds were singing a dusk chorus and frankly it was a stunning evening and seemed to encompass everything that was good about living there. For about 30 minutes I was just absolutely gone, couldn't talk, couldn't communicate, just sobbing incessantly (as I am now a bit writing this!). This just kinda brought out everything else for me, and I was wailing at Sarah and well, it was both good and bad. Good to get it out I think. I thought alot at that point about all the people I was leaving behind. The thing is however much I know I'll see the people the question, I will miss them terribly and i will miss being able to just give them a call and meet up that same day or whatever. That's a tough thing to let go. When you're feeling like that everything seems a bit intense eh.

anyway.....

So last night, having arrived and sorted out the car hire etc. We checked into our apartment hotel. Its right next to work and it's just like a normal hotel really, apart from only part time reception and no restaurant. Obviously the benefits above that are that we have a small kitchenette and a fridge / freezer etc, with various pots and pans. Basically most cooking is possible apart from there is no oven.

We then went off to see 2 houses. The first was nice but they wouldn't take cats (mistake by the estate agent there) so we left fairly quickly. The second was really nice in a fantastic location overlooking a big lake with loads of great woodland and lakeside walking right outside. the owners were the most friednly people ever and we ended up staying for 90 minutes having loads of tea , cake and ice cream with them, and they then took us on a walking tour of the local area!! It was quite strange at first because of not being used to the hospitality of that type, but once you get over that, then it was fine. The only thing was that we didn't really want their house, as its not available until the end of June earliest, and I don;t want to live in a hotel until then. But hey, it was a great evening, we chatted alot and asked them questions about life and stuff, it was useful, and they got to chat to us about England as well because their son was going to university there in October.

So then we came home, grabbed a couple of snacks, because we'd stayed too long in that house viewing and all the supermarkets were shut, and had an early night. It had been a long and strange and quite emotional day, but surprisingly I slept quite well.

Categories: stockholmlife, moving

Farthing Downs in Spring

Farthing Downs
Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

Our last day out walking in the UK for a fair old while, but what a day to go. We walked from the old house at Coulsdon, up farthing downs and then out past chaldon in the Downlands Circular Walk. As you can see the weather was spectacular and when we reached the farthest point, on the north downs way itself, we could look back towards London and see all the way to the West end and Docklands. Along this walk we saw many things that encompassed the thoughts and feelings of the past 7 years, 2 houses, working in the city, much beautiful outdoors, and a lot of silence and thought, setting your mind ready for the next stage. Its wierd I've spent all my time walking here in the last few years, thinking about what life may bring me as my mind wanders and meanders along, in a totally relaxed state, and now here we were realigning our thoughts for relocation and a big change. We then looped back the the fox for lunch and then the last few miles home. About 12 miles in all and a great great way to say goodbye to the UK. It doesn't get much better than that. Then its off to the weddings and to say goodbye to everyone.


Categories: londonlife, walking

Can I come to Stockholm with you?

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Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

Its the last day together for us and the cats. Kipper obviously wants to come with us which is why he's sitting in the packing box. Little does he know that he's off to stay in the cat hotel with Daisy tomorrow morning. They got their passports now, its just that we haven't got a house yet and they can't stay in our hotel. It'll be sad - we'll probably cry when they leave, but I met with people at Airpets last week, and they're really nice and super friendly with their animals, so I know they'll be in good hands. Maybe we'll give them tuna for tea as a treat....


Categories: cats, stockholmlife

The final BNY leaving party

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Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

So here it is - number 7 , the last blowout. The question here is, Am I?

1. celebrating a Crystal Palace goal from the game coincidentally on in the background of the bar we were in.

or

2. Attempting a ghost impression

3. dancing in a very drunken fashion

answers on a postcard....


Categories: londonlife

The winner

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Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

enough said - the iron gamer 2004 is settled.....it took 18 months but finally we're there - god it was close - last game, last round, everybody in it. blimey - it made mario kart special cup seem like a walk in the park.


Categories: londonlife

Cocktails, dinner and shots

then absynth
Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

4 of us from work went out last night for the latest round of my continuing leaving party. This was round 5 from work. The previous rounds consisted of:

1. Long boozy lunch at Plateau in Canary Wharf
2. Lunch an Ubon in Canary Wharf
3. Dinner at Aubergine in Chelsea
4. another lunch at Plateau

Its been a fine time indeed. Last night we went to the Oxo Tower for a quick cocktail, followed by dinner at Tas in Waterloo. It'd been a while since I'd been to Tas, but it was as good as ever, always worth a trip, and always such incredibly great value. We had the £10 set menu plus a couple of extra mains cos we were feeling. (You can see the photos of the food in flickr). So after a couple of bottles of wine we piled into the Wellington pub just opposite Waterloo and then got a bit outrageous drinking all sorts shots late into the evening. By the end all semblance of respectability had been dropped and we were drining black vodka, absynth, whiskey, and aftershock (washed down with a few fosters for Dom with typical Aussie style). What we didn;t realise was that they have a late licence there now - so we didn;t get chucked out til after midnight, by which point we were a bit of a state, and I had to jump in a taxi all the way home.

Frankly though a great evening, and that's what leaving parties should be about.

Parts 6 and 7 of the leaving do are to follow next week, with part 7 being the final blow out with the majority of my colleagues next Friday night in Canary Wharf. This time I've got a hotel room booked......


Categories: londonlife

House Hunting in Stockholm

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Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

Here's a picture of Sigtuna, which is the oldest recorded settlement in Sweden. Its about 25 minutes north of central Stockholm and is currently our favourite town that we'd like to try and get a house in next month. This picture is taken from a walking / skating track which has been cut into the frozen lake next to the town. We were out walking on Sunday afternoon with all the locals, who were out taking a stroll.


Categories: stockholmlife

A weekend in Spain

PICT0382
Originally uploaded by stvcr.

Me, Tom, James, Jon and Steve all went to the Oliva at the weekend to celebrate James' imminent wedding. We all stayed in Jon's fantastic house in the old town. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera, but here's a picture that Steve took last year from the roof terrace overlooking the town. We had a fantastic time and basically spent 48 hours eating and drinking. It was also pretty great to see everyone together in an easy relaxed environment before my imminent departure to Sweden.


Categories: friends

yet more domain reorganisations

due to bloggers' inability to publish active FTP - I've had to move all the domains back to blogspot again. Also Borrowlodge is now closed and forwarding to globalgoat.

If you want to see the wedding photo archive you need to be invited as a contact to view my private flickr archive. (The main public flickr archive is available by clicking on the link in the side bar.) If you want me to invite you, then email me at flickr@globalgoat.com.

Categories: blogging

Here's some pictures of my journey to work

journeytowork 010
Originally uploaded by pcgxk.

Here's some pictures of my journey to work..journey


Categories: londonlife