YRJÖ AND IRMELI

Last Thursday my uncle and his wife to be, Yrjö and Irmeli, came to visit. We met up in City, the unfortunate part of Stockholm that all tourists land in. It's all square and commercial, but I was happy to be a tourist in my own city for a day.

NK:s shop windows. Obligatory.

We snuck off from the 60's brass and concrete for a treat at my favourite café Sturekatten. The steep stairs up weren't appreciated by my company and we never made it out to the patio.
  Quietly we crossed the green lawns of Berzelii square. At Kungsträdgården we listened to a song sung in Wolof, an African language that Irmeli knew.
 
We avoided the bus hoards of tourists visiting the Royal Armoury and browsed through dark antique shops in Old Town. I almost bought a plastic coffee set for future picnics, but the plastic looked kinda... permanently dark finger print:y. Usch.

It was in another second hand shop... that I saw it!

A Kiku 16 Model II! My photo is really bad for size, but here is a better one, its so cute. It's a mini camera, or a Japanese subminiature.
  I tried enjoying a beer with my relatives afterward but my heart was racing, causing me to gasp and smile, make unanswered phone calls to friends and google 17.5 mm film. I want to be a 60s spy too, like Edna Dorff.
  Finally I came to the resolve that 17.5 mm film and all it entails is too much hassle and the camera as beautiful as it is, is too expensive for having as a toy. Its not a pet like the common Tamagotchi iPhone for chrissakes, it's a camera.

Edit: It's now 2013, and I still dream of this camera.

o n . l a n d i n g

As time goes by and you're caught up in the present, it gets harder to describe the last - these are the last! - Edinburgh pics. This moment is distant to me now. What I can say is, on landing I enjoyed making Sweden look as organized as possible - .

Three pics for my weekend!

Friday: I found an interesting book that turned out to be much too dry.

Saturday: Jocke turned 35! He'd dressed his teak table in Nasa moon lander gold foil. And filled a beer boot with nuts and a frying pan with crisps. And oh, yeah. We did give him a beer helmet. One of those jokes that don't transcend thought gracefully.

Sunday: Indian food and a slow walk through town. The day was windy, sunny, sleepy. In the evening we watched Foxes. I liked it so-so.

PS. I'm smittened. I'd myself love to be in a blog collaboration.

m ä r s t a . b i b l i o t e k - o r - o n . l e a v i n g . e d i n b u r g h

Some of these pics remind me of the youth fantasy books I used to read at Märsta Bibliotek, the library, one of the few places I actually liked. I wish I could remember the name of an authour, or a title - I wonder if those books are still there? They must be quite worn out by now. One was about a dog who was actually from Sirius, the dog star, and one was called Something's Castle and the authour had two l:s in his name - hey, I found him! His name is - was - Lloyd Alexander, and the castle in question is The Castle of Llyr. Imagine I grew up on 60's fantasy, hm! The dog star book seems trickier to find though.

Have a great weekend. I - want - to - sleep - and - not - go - by - car - anywhere - at - all. And kiss the Glenn a lot. Now I'll get to work.

o n . e d i n b u r g h . I I

Aye.

The Guildford Arms pub.

This is a firm I would not dare mess with. Imagine an alley fight with these two, I wouldn't be on the winning side, I'm sure.

The Glenn found in Elsie a train spotting friend. "Train! Hello-copter! Doggie!" Sometimes all at once! Confusion.

From a taxi we saw the rainbow's end - !

This is a hurried post, I have to rush to meet up with visiting relatives. See you later!

Working in the evening I thought I'd add some words, I need a break.

To avoid all the Edinburgh Festival tourists we spent most of our time in New Town. We took walks, had Mexican, played with Elsie and snuck into dark pubs for shimmering glasses of alcohol.

In the evening we went to Dave and Kirsties', and the redheaded viking came by as well. We had a lovely time, laughed, listened to music and sketched out could be:s. Edinburgh day two ended the same way as Edinburgh day one: we fell into a taxi and then we fell into bed.

o n . e d i n b u r g h

Look how different the light is from the photos of my Vimmerby trip! It's hard to believe they were taken with the same camera. That UK shaped cloud did indeed work its' magic.

My mother's suggestion was that we'd take a family trip to Copenhagen. The Glenn and I had been to Edinburgh and played earlier, and I knew my mother would love it. Looking at dates we realized we could go on my sister's birthday, yey! Happy we booked our flights - only to realize we'd be going during the Edinburgh Festival which meant no hotels and billions of people. Nooo...

Thanks to perseverance, Kirstie, thinking outside the box and paying silly much we solved the hotel situation. Happy we wandered the streets of Edinburgh again, and it was only drizzling slightly. The Glenn and I had our first veggie haggis: mash, a spicy mince with green lentils and turnip mash. It tasted quite Northern, and because of the mashed turnips, Christmas:y. I like.

In the evening we walked down winding roads, barely being able to tell the hills apart from the dark sky. We met up with Kirstie and Dave (Wee DJs, Being) at a pub. Saying goodbye to the family, it was club night! Wee DJs and Jerome Hill played, and to celebrate the Glenn and I had our first - and last? - Buck Bomb (Buckfast mixed with Red Bull, which tasted like Red Bull, a drink I loathe). Excellent music, excellent people. In the wee hours we happily tumbled into a taxi and crashed into bed. Day one of Edinburgh was over.

v i m m e r b y

After the wedding, we spent half a day in Vimmerby, a tiny, adorable town. Since it was a Sunday, only one café was open, and that's where we had our breakfast. Pretty soon the stillness started making us all fidgety, like overgrown teenagers. We decided to take a walk...

Outside the café we saw a glossy car...

...and there were several classy 50's shop signs.

In the park I fell in love with a small, chubby stage. If I had a garden I would love having it - imagine sitting in this stage during a warm summer rain, whispering each other secrets - mmm. Or using it for throwing a party, for that matter!

Thomas, Billy, Elizabeth and Peter. The Glenn and one more Thomas are out of sight.

The Glenn proved he could whistle and swing a broken speaker at the same time. In small towns you make your own fun.

The day was still.

Vimmerby Magazine - biggest and first, and Flowers.

Is that a mannequin's head I see in the window - ? A chubby triangle, like a plectrum or this window, is my favourite shape, I think.

Reluctantly we took to the road. We were keen to go home, but not on the actual drive. For a while we followed close behind this beauty. Theirs was a romantic drive indeed.

I admired our neat and tidy country...

...and my beautiful man. Just fill'er up, babe, oh yeah.

Järna Inn.

We didn't reach Sthlm until 8 pm. I was so happy to see our messy street corner! There's nothing quaint about it, just a noisy bundle of cars, police, people and nonsense. Tired, restless, happy and greasy we met up with Johnny Bobergotti for a glass and returned his car keys. Home.