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HP's Sweden Trip 2002 - Part 1 of 3
Jan 7, 2003

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Wednesday, October 9

Arrived Arlanda about 7:30 AM. Breezed through immigration - my bags among first off baggage carousel. Forgot on plane the SAS complimentary package of night blinders, etc..

Train ticket agent at airport gave me wrong info about Scanrail pass validation being done on train. She didn’t take any action or make offer to validate it. Purser/conductor on train said agent should have validated it (on board validation 500 krone apparently). She said she’d help me with the ticket agent at Stockholm Central station and not charge me the fee. She had to explain to the agent there how to validate my pass.

Direction signs not very clear at Stockholm Central station about catching buses, but I was able to get to bus info booth on lower level. Put luggage in locker, then made reservation for afternoon train. Took #47 bus for Vasa Museum (20 krone). The Vasa was a large sailing ship that sank minutes into its maiden voyage due to poor ballast (narrow hull). Raised in 1959 and mostly restored by 1970’s.

Lunch at cafe in Debenham’s department store, recalling England trip of a year ago. Good bread on plane and at lunch, just about everywhere.

Took the 14:15 X2000 to Alvesta. At 14:00, while waiting at platform, discovered I had lost they mystery novel I was reading. Quickly retracing my steps, I looked at the locker, the store where I stopped for a snack and the bench I sat on, but the book was not there. I figured that I last had it in the bath room and maybe left it on the sink counter.

Anyway, took the train to Alvesta, then transferred to the “coast to coast” for Växjö, one stop from Alvesta. Two women on the X2000 train chatted the whole time. It became quiet when they went to the bistro car for a snack. One was a taller blonde around 50 and a shorter brunette probably a little older. It turned out the brunette was from Värmland and is an actress well-known in the region, who has appeared on TV. She said she dreams of connecting wither her grandmother’s relatives in British Columbia, descendent from emigrants who left Sweden around 1910.

“Scandinavian design” in interior decor. Laminated floors in hotel room, sleek, “clean” furniture and cabinetry. Went to gas station/convenience store next to hotel and got some supper stuff. Ate in room. American sitcoms on TV in English with Swedish subtitles. Oh, so that’s why everyone speaks English in Sweden?

Noticed that the news anchor opened the program by saying “god kvelt” - which was the Swedish taught for “good evening” on the 1983 Berlitz tape I had borrowed from the Roseville library. “God afton” was the translation taught on the new Berlitz tape I bought at the bookstore just before the trip. But in reality, everybody just says, “Hej!”

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Thursday, October 10

Good breakfast. More good bread. Lots of cold cuts and cheese, but also cereal flakes and muesli, eaten with yogurt. Laminated floor in restaurant.

Took taxi to Avis rental location. Got a Ford Focus, manual transmission. Killed the engine only 4 or 5 times today (my car in U.S. is automatic transmission but I drove a manual in 1980s).

Drove to parking ramp near Emigrant Institute. Got time ticket for parking until about 12:15, unsure whether I would be there all day or not. Paid admission at Institute and went up to research department. Spoke with researcher who looked up info on computer. They did not have much more than what I already knew. No further info about my Öland great-grandfather, whose name did not come up on their “certificate of departure” listings. He might be on one of the lists they don’t have yet. But I got a list of several women with the same name as my Småland great-grandmother that were born in the 1850s and 1860s and emigrated in the 1880s or 1890s.

Toured a bit of the Institute’s exhibit about emigration. The late 1870s and early 1880s were a time of economic recession in Sweden but a boom time in U.S., so those were high emigration years. The display about religiously motivated emigration said that Småland and Värmland (where my two Swedish great-grandmothers came from) were “hotbeds of revivalism” during the first half of the 1800s.

Went back to parking ramp to get another time ticket since I was likely to stay longer. Put in 10 krone but nothing came out. So went back and wrote an explanation on the earlier ticket that I left in my windshield. Back to the Emigrant Institute for lunch.

Then to Småland Museum. Interesting overview of history of glassworks in Småland. But I couldn’t concentrate because I was a little tired and worried about my parking time ticket. Walked down the hill to Lake Växjö (across street from Emigrant Institute) and sat on a bench for a while, watching pedestrians and bicyclists go by.

Went back to car park and bought another time ticket until 16:15. Then crossed the railroad tracks to the train station and tourist information center. Made reservation at the train ticket office for my Sunday train to Örebro. Then headed into the shopping district. Found a couple of gifts to buy in a couple of stores, which the clerks gift-wrapped practically without asking.

Got a haircut at the “New Salon.” It was the only salon that advertised “walk-ins welcome.” My stylist was actually born in Denmark but one of her grandmothers was from Småland. She said that she wants to visit America some day, probably in her “pension years,” about 15 to 20 years in the future.

She told a story about her friend’s grandmother, who had won a lot of money. The old woman was looking for a way to use it and decided to take her grandsons, ages 14 and 16, for a trip to New York City. “Now I need to tell you,” explained the stylist, “that she was a very short woman.”

They stayed in a nice hotel (I would guess the famous one by Central Park). On one occasion, when they were going out for some shopping, when they got down to the lobby, the grandmother realized she had forgotten the shopping money up in her room. So she told the boys to wait in the lobby while she went to fetch it.

After getting the money, while she was waiting for the elevator to go back down, the doors opened and she saw two big African American men on either side of a smaller man of the same race. The diminutive grandmother was apparently intimidated by them, and when one of the big men said, “Down,” took that as a command and immediately crouched down on the floor in the hall. But the men in the elevator explained that they meant the elevator was going down, and were asking if that’s where she was going. When they cleared up the misunderstanding, they invited her in for the ride down.

Then she met the boys and they went out on their shopping trip. Upon returning to the hotel that evening, they learned that their hotel bill was being paid in full. The explanation for this was contained in a note that expressed apologies for frightening her in the elevator that morning. The note was signed, “Eddie Murphy.”

The woman looked at her grandsons and asked, “Who is this Eddie Murphy?”

“Grandma!” they exclaimed, and filled her in.

So they enjoyed their stay at the hotel with some extra services and fancy meals, all on Eddie Murphy. But when they got back to Sweden, my stylist explained, the grandmother still had this problem of how to spend all the prize money she won since she had been unable to spend it on the New York hotel. The stylist also said that the story had been in the local paper and some European papers, but I hadn't heard it before.

Somehow, it would happen to a person from Småland, and not from some other part of Sweden. The Smålander reputation for - shall we say - “fiscal prudence” carried over to North America.

Anyway, I can say I had my hair cut by a woman whose friend’s grandmother had her hotel bill paid by Eddie Murphy. Ah, my brush with fame.

After hair cut, went back to car and drove toward hotel. Decided to stop at Maxi ICA hypermart near hotel. Bought some bottled water (noncarbonated), chocolate macaroon cooke, apricot danish and and orange for - ta da! - 35 krone (seemed inexpensive for dollar equivalent). Then got some carryout pork lo mein with rice from the “Wokie Dokie” counter and took it back to my hotel for supper and ate while writing this journal entry.

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Friday, October 11

After extensively studying maps, planned a day trip to Vetlanda via Öhr, Höreda and Fröderyd. Upon arriving in Öhr, found Johansson’s Lantcafe closed, so went into adjacent Johnsson’s gas station. Found a display of Crabtree and Evelyn products but couldn’t remember which specific item of that brand one of my sisters especially liked. Bought nothing.

Drove north of Öhr a bit, then veered off into country roads. At Åsa, failed to turn left to go north, thinking I needed to go straight. But I discovered that road turning south toward the sun, so I turned around and back at the Åsa intersection turned on to the correct road.

Continued north and eventually arrived at Höreda. One of the women with my great-grandmother’s name on my list from the Emigrant Institute was born in Höreda. Took photos of the dwellings from across the lake but did not drive up the side road behind them. I suppose it’s possible there is another Höreda elsewhere in Småland, but this one will do as an example of where one of my ancestors came from.

Then on to Fröderyd, to take pictures of the Lena Sandell museum and statue. I knew the museum was closed for the season, but I wanted photos for a friend who has an interest in women hymn writers.

Finally to Vetlanda. The map on the county office building was out of date regarding the location of the post office (found it moved into ICA store). Bought stamps and mailed postcards. Shopped a little, walked a little, ate a little. Found some interesting items at the handicraft store, for myself as well as for gifts. Found that even Vetlanda has a KPMG office and a Deloitte Touche office. Imagine that. It seemed like a rather small town to have branches of well-known accounting firms.

Drove back to Växjö via main highways, with another stop at the ICA Maxi by hotel. Whew!

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Saturday, October 12

Boy, is my right foot tired from keeping the pressure on the gas pedal in the Focus. It must be in a different position from my own car back home.

Drove about 110 km west to Kalmar and saw the castle. Built in late 16th century to replace a 12th century structure, added on to and remodeled through 17th century, but lost prominence in 18th and 19th centuries.

Historic location from Union of Kalmar (Sweden, Norway, Denmark including Finland under Sweden, Iceland under Norway). It lasted only a few decades. The information about the battles in Kalmar mentioned the destruction of the city from the battles involving the Danish conquest and the later break-up of the Kalmar Union. But the information in the Läns Museum (county museum) focused more on the people of the city, reminding the visitor that most lost their homes when the city was torched by the Danes; and many lost their lives. Perhaps a proletarian effort to round out the message. Good for them.

In between the castle and museum, I had lunch at a mall on the harbor, built out of remodeled warehouses on what is probably landfill. Managed to park for free in Kalmar by taking a spot in the parking lot behind the library at the edge of downtown.

Afterwards, on to Öland, across the bridge. Drove around in Arentorp before figuring out it was all dead-end roads. Got back on the main highway and found the road that went to the east coast of the island. Stopped briefly in Gårdby to represent a town or village in Öland for my photos. One of my Swedish great-grandfathers came from a place like this.

The Kalmar Läns Museum exhibits I saw included an overview of the area’s prehistory and history, 12,000 years ago to 400 years ago. some of that history continued in the other exhibit I saw , which was about the warship Kronos that exploded in 1676 during a war against the Dutch and Danes.

The packet explaining the Kronos exhibit included accounts of what happened in Öland after the Danish occupation of that time. Many villages were plundered and destroyed. Also, the church registry for conscription began, in Öland focusing on men to serve at sea. Two hundred years later, my great-grandfather was one of those conscripts required to adopt a surname other than his father’s name plus “son,” and I know only his conscription surname. His father could have been named Anders, Lars, Johan, Hans, Peter, just about anything.

Left Gårdby and drove north to Norra Möckelby, then back across to Algutsrum (fancier-looking church than in Gårdby). Then down to Färjestaden and back across the bridge. Headed back west and drove a little into Smedby looking for a restaurant, but the one I saw seemed to be closed, so ended up driving all they way back to Växjö for supper.

Stopped at the gas station near hotel to fill the gas tank, but did not see ethanol “green” gas, which seemed to be the type encouraged or required for the Focus. So I just bought a bit of supper and started writing some of the postcards I had bought in Kalmar.

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HP's Sweden Trip 2002 - Part 2 of 3
Jan 7, 2003

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Sunday, October 13

Got the car back to the Avis rental place, but ended up not filling the gas tank because it appeared to require Ethanol E85 gas and I did not see it advertised at any gas station. So left it to the agency to fill and charge my credit card. Longish walk back to the train station but train trip to Örebro went okay.

Managed to find hotel in spite of being unable to find Jarnsväggatan on map at railroad station. Followed my nose, figuring that “Railway Street” should be near the station and ended up walking on it for a block before finding a sign showing I was on the right street.

Entered the hotel using the security code provided with travel agency voucher and freshened up before heading over to Örebro Castle. Stopped in at the tourist information center and picked up some maps and information about local attractions. Also saw the historical display that was set up on one of the turrets.

Next set out for the Svampen water tower. While walking by the Olaus Petri church, saw a couple of boys standing on the statue of the eponymous reformer and his brother. The boys’ skateboards were leaning against the base of the statue as they watched another boy skateboarding on the street. Seeing the the casual way the two boys seemed to treat the reformer’s statue as a mere piece of outdoor furniture, I found myself thinking that some “reformation” might be exactly what those boys need.

Arrived at the water tower and took elevator up, ten minutes before the cafe closing time. Quick snack with view form above city. Then back to hotel, with a brief shopping stop at ICA on the way, and rested in the hotel after 5:00 PM.

By then the front desk was open so went down and got myself registered. After returning to the room for a bit, headed out to find some supper. While walking by Olaus Petri church for the second time, noticed people were going in, and discovered that there was an organ concert scheduled for 6:00 PM. I had missed that poster when I looked at the listing of service times and saw no mention of an evening or vespers service.

Nice organ concert of pieces by Messiaen and Bach (one Bach/Vivaldi collaboration). And today was the one-year anniversary of the date I was at the Penistone Paramount Theatre organ concert in South Yorkshire on my trip to England.

After the concert, scouted around for a supper location and decided upon a chicken salad at a “salad and kebab” place. Looked over the materials I had picked up at the T.I.C. while eating, then headed back to the hotel.

Decided to add one activity to my schedule due to one of the information flyers - a visit to the Örebro county archives office to see if I could do some ancestry research.

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Monday, October 14

Cold, drizzly weather with temperature in single digits Celsius, upper 30s Fahrenheit.

After breakfast, first top was county archives office and ended up staying there straight through to 2:00 PM looking up records on family of my Örebro great-grandfather. Found quite a bit of detail previously unknown to me and identified a number of places I would attempt to see on Tuesday.

Next, walked back to centrum and stopped for lunch at a bakery/coffee shop for the usual ham and cheese sandwich. Explored some of the shopping areas before heading back to hotel to drop off some things.

Another trip to T.I.C. to attempt to use internet machine there, but it did not work with my credit card. So I gave up on that, but bought an Örebro T-shirt and some most post cards, and obtained a bus schedule book. Also went to train station to see if they had some type of pay internet terminal but did not see any.

Next on the shopping list was a detailed map showing the places in Ekeby and Sköllersta connected with my great-grandfather’s family. The first store I tried did not have any, but the clerk recommended two other stores for me to try. The second one didn’t have them, but the third one - Academie Bookhandel - did. Had supper at another “kebab and salad” place near there, this time a kebab sandwich (like a gyro). My guess about the proprietors of the two places I visited: Lebanese. One of those seemingly entrepreneurial ethnicities, though that could be a stereotype.

Then back to the hotel again and watched the movie Stranded (starring Tom Hanks) on broadcast TV. Hadn’t seen it before. The part about the character’s return to civilization was as interesting as the part about how he survived on the island. It also redefined what “stranded” means in a sociological and relational senses. But in the end, one knows that the man is going to be okay.

Tomorrow, I strike out on my exploration of the place where my great-grandfather was born.

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Tuesday, October 15

Continued cold and drizzly but I braved it anyway. Went to train station to reserve seat for Friday’s train from Arvika to Stockholm but found my first choice (X2000) was full. So reserved on a later train from Karlstad to Stockholm (Intercity). I may need to change trains twice from Arvika.

Then went to bus station ticket office to inquire about prepaid card, but learned that the minimum card amount is 100 krone. The attendant explained that the fare for the bus I planned to take would be 36 krone round trip. so even with the 20% discount for a prepaid card, I probably would be better off paying cash.

The tickets I got on the bus had what looked like short transfer period before they expired, so I ended up paying for three trips (one southbound, two northbound) of 38 kr, 24 kr and 19 kr for a total of 81 kr. Or if I had used a prepaid 100 kr card purchased for 80 kr, I would have saved only 1 kr. But I could have kept it as a souvenir.

Anyway, took bus to Pålsboda and disembarked at the north end of town. That is where the road to Stensbo was. Stensbo, located about 1 km east of highway 51 is where my great-grandfather lived just before emigrating to America in 1880. Stensbo turned out to be a collection of five residences and assorted outbuildings, surrounded by farm land. Some of the buildings could date from my great-grandfather’s time.

From Stensbo, walked part of the way back toward the highway until I came across a footpath I had not seen from the other direction. I took that and encountered a couple of groups of school children (but not all in a row like Madeleine & co). That path brought me out by the school. Walked around in that part of Pålsboda for a bit, just north of the railroad tracks - surprised to see no train station there or any sign that there ever had been one. Lunch at a fast food kiosk just north of the highway bridge over the tracks. Walked back north through town while looking down on Kärr, where one of my great-grandfather’s brothers had lived for a time. Ended my tour of Pålsboda back at bus stop near the gas station at the north end of town, to catch the bus for Ekeby.

In Ekeby, first got off at the church and walked through the graveyard. Looked at some of the grave stones and monuments, but saw no dates older than the 1840s and none for my ancestors. Several had small plastic signs next to them which I took to be the notices that grave markers were subject to removal for non-attention.

From there, walked a long 4 km round trip to Kappetorp and back. That was where my great-great-grandfather was born. Like Stensbo, it was a collection of a few dwellings and outbuildings, though only some of them appeared to date to the 19th century. Three in fact were one-story homes that looked like 1950s to 1970s era construction. One of the older houses was a larger, nicer looking 2-story that I thought was more likely to be originally a landowner’s residence than a tenant farmer’s.

Back at the crossroads with highway 51, stopped at the Handlar’n convenience store (which, surprisingly, did not have Mer pear juice, but I tried the guava instead). Caught the bus back to Örebro and took about an hour nap to recover from all that walking. Supper was at the Chinese restaurant adjacent to my Sunday supper’s kebab place.

Örebro is well-planned for bicyclists and pedestrians. Lots of Chinese as well as kebab restaurants and pizzerias. Small city by American standards but well-appointed.

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Wednesday, October 16

A little more than four-hour trip from Örebro to Arvika, including an hour or so layover in Karlstad. Boarding the one-car, diesel-powered Karlstad-Arvika train seemed to suggest Arvika was a remote place not many people must be interested in visiting.

But Arvika also has the (obligatory?) Chinese restaurant - in this case, Mu Lan, apparently after the Disney character - and salad/kebab places. The town square is right in front of the train station, which differs from where I have seen it in other towns I had visited on this trip. As I arrived, there was a little bit of a market going on - seven or eight stalls.

Checked into the hotel then went to the tourist bureau. Got some bus info for city buses but no info on the county buses, which is what I would want. When I talked about my great-grandmother being from the Arvika area, the attendant said something about an on-line archival project at a commercial building west of the train station.

Headed in that direction, first with a stop at the bus station to get info on buses to Glava and Klässbol, but saw that there were few trips, either early in the morning or mid-afternoon. Perhaps more run in the summer.

Next, on to that commercial building and discovered that the archival work was an archive data entry project (by volunteers) of the Arvika county census records from 1860 to 1930. They looked for my great-grandmother’s name and date of birth, but it did not come up because the records entered so far were from after the time she had emigrated. However, they provided me with the address of the Värmland province archive office in Karlstad where I could do further research.

Back to the centrum (downtown/city center), this time checking out the shopping streets. Stopped at Kontshandverk (art/handicraft) store and bought some gifts and a couple of things for myself. Took those back to the hotel, then went out again to check on renting a car for Thursday. Both of the locations I stopped at had none available, but the agent at the second place called the OK gas station about 1 km away and they had one, so I reserved it for pickup tomorrow morning.

Then back through the centrum again and up the hill for a brief look at Trinity Church, before going back down to Danny’s kebab/salad/pizzeria for supper. After that, back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest. I walked a lot more that I intended today, including a bit of exploring in Karlstad during my layover, which limited my recovery from all that walking yesterday in and around Pålsboda and Ekeby.

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HP's Sweden Trip 2002 - Part 3 of 3
Jan 7, 2003

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Thursday, October 17

So far, the best hotel breakfast still has been the one at my first hotel, the Scandic Hotel in Växjö. Overall in room, meals and amenities, the Oscar Stott in Arvika is definitely better than the Skomakren in Örebro but I’d say the Scandic Växjö was the best of the three. Not only was their breakfast superior, the room was of the most recent vintage and had the most space, and the TV provided both BBC World and CNN.

I started writing this in the restaurant at the Oscar Stott but just walked out after waiting about 15 minutes after being seated and saw no sign of the waiter coming to take my order (and no drink served yet). Instead, I went to Danny’s (where I had lunch on Wednesday). Got supper for under 50 krone versus the 249 krone three-course meal (not including beverage) I’d been contemplating at the hotel before I left.

Anyway, about today, this morning I walked to the OK gas station (maybe 1.5 km) to pick up my rental car, an Opel Astra station wagon. First drove to Rackstad Museum to check directions for getting there, then drove back to park by Trinity Church.

Quick shopping trip to Tourist Bureau. Got over 600 krone worth of stuff for myself, gifts for others plus postcards. Then dropped those off at hotel before heading back up to Trinity Church for brief Meditative Music Concert on the organ.

I’m glad I got to see the church inside as it shows a contrast, in its art noveau architecture and decor, with the Olaus Petri Church in Örebro, which has more of a neo-gothic style. Both churches were built in the early 1910s. Nice organ concert, too. Mix of Bach pieces and hymn arrangements by other composers, including “Children of the Heavenly Father” and “Thanks to God.”

Then back to the Rackstad Museum. Interesting display of pieces by the Rackstad Colony artists, some in an Impressionist style. I preferred the subtle way those paintings use light and shadow over the way Thomas Kinkade, American "painter of light and darkness," almost overdoes those as his signature theme. There was also a special exhibition of pieces by painter/sculptor Olle Bonniér, mostly paintings of swirls and vortices in various bold color patterns with strokes that struck me as looking like magnified Impressionist strokes.

I found the paintings to be an appealing representation of abstract art as the colors merged into or offset each other. I suppose I also prefer the dominance of a few large curves, rather than the busyness of many small curlicues, and am intrigued by the geometric patterns that are a complete departure from more conventional lines, polygons and ovals. The variety of sizes and shapes of even the canvas spoke of an artist who does more than merely “think outside the box.”

“Box? What box?”

Thank you, Sister Wendy. Bought a sampling of card prints from the museum gift store to carry the memory with me.

Next, on to Glava, about a 30-minute drive away. Got some photos of the parish church and walked through several rows of the cemetery. Noticed a poster indicating that monthly parish gathering was happening at that time in the parish hall across the street, with something about “Amerika” in the topic. Went over there and waited until it ended to see what it was all about.

Turned out to be a presentation by an Arvika Nyheter (newspaper) journalist, telling the crowd of 40 or so, mostly pensioners, about his travels to America. Got a bit of a chance to talk with him and he took a photo of me in front of the church.

Next, continued to “downtown” Glava (small collection of shops and gas station) to buy a snack because it was nearly 16:00 and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, just a muffin and coffee in an Arvika cafe before church concert.

Back on the road, continued south until the T at Highway 175, then crossed the lake to the Klässbols side. Missed Klässbols going north so turned around and found it heading back south. Saw the textile mill from the outside but few cars in lot and not much seemed to be happening, so went to back to highway and continued north to Dottevik, where my great-grandmother lived as a young working woman just before she left for North America in 1878.

Dottevik turned out to be what looks like a “tony” subdivision set apart from Arvika city proper, with a mix of both newer (1950s to 70s) and older (19th century) houses near the water front. Only one small dock and grassy beachfront there, but I suppose it gets some summer usage. On the peninsula was a larger house that might have been a hotel in the past.

Then on back to downtown for another stop at my hotel and some shops. Finally, drove back to OK station to drop off car (with assist in filling the tank - no buttons to push to start the pump or select gasoline grade like we have in the U.S.). On the way back to hotel, took a route looking for a pizza/kebab place I had driven by, but when I found it, saw no customers inside, so went back to hotel. Then back to Danny’s for supper when I seemed to be abandoned in the hotel restaurant.

Early start tomorrow to catch 9:05 train to Karlstad. Hey, it’s snowing!

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Friday, October18

Caught the train to Karlstad, put my luggage in a locker at the station, and set out for another brief exploration of Karlstad (following up on lunchtime stop on Wednesday). Tried to find maps indicating location of Värmland archive office from address given me at the Arvika archive project office, but couldn’t find the street. It took a bit of exploring and following signs to find the tourist information office at the edge of the centrum.

Picked up a few info brochures, but did not see anything like a handy map of Karlstad. But from a map in one of the free tourism info books, finally found the street I was looking for. Way on the other side of the centrum and railroad tracks, wouldn’t you know. So after about 45 minutes of walking around, trying this way and that, finally found the archive building.

Nearly a dozen people seemed to be doing research here - more extensive operation than in Örebro archives office. Larger number of records, I suppose. But because of my four hours at the Örebro office, I was an “experienced” researcher. Found a lot more info about my Arvika great-grandmother (who met and married by Örebro great-grandfather in Chicago).

But time was fleeting and before I had barely started exploring the late 1700s generations, I had to go to get a bite to eat and catch my train.

In the train, had a seat across from a mother with an infant (under 12 months, I guess). I saw lots of infants out and about in Sweden. Partly due to social policy of one year parental leave for new parents, I suppose. I noticed a lot more perambulators than I’ve ever seen in the U.S.. Back home, the vast majority of infants are probably either carried in car seats or in some type of body strap. My midwestern city is not quite as pedestrian-friendly. I don’t remember the last time I’ve even seen a pram around where I live.

The mother and child were traveling all the way to Stockholm, as I was, and I helped her unload her suitcase, as she was also managing what in America we call a diaper bag, as well as the pram. What I took to be her mother-in-law (or maybe adoptive mother) met her at Stockholm station. I say that because the woman and child were of south Asian ethnicity but the woman at the station was European.

Checked at the info desk about hours for the lost and found office in case I could ask about my lost library book (paperback mystery), but it was closed at that time, and would not open until after I needed to be back at the airport the next morning. So I shall just have to pay the lost book fine to the library when I get home. And borrow another copy of the same book to find out who actually gets murdered and whodunit, since I’d only read the first chapter or two.

So I went on to catch the Arlanda Express, confirmed my reservation for the next day at the SAS counter at the airport, then caught the shuttle bus for the Quality Hotel Eurostop, about ten minutes away from the airport, next to a shopping mall and stadium complex.

Ah, my last night in Sweden.

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Saturday, October 19

My travel agent said she had stayed at the Quality Hotel Eurostop Arlanda when she’d flown into Arlanda. Most of the other guests I saw (about a dozen or so between last night and this morning) seemed to be flight crews, so it must be one of those layover hotels. Decent rooms and ample breakfast buffet.

Final checkout, board the shuttle bus and back to the airport. Checked in and had my luggage hand-searched. But the screener did not make an issue of the already-wrapped gifts (wrapped by store clerks in the handicraft shops).

Had one airmail postage stamp left so bought a postcard at a Presbyrån at the terminal, plus a copy of The Economist and the European edition of The Guardian. Then through security to head to the gate, with a stop at another gift shop to try to spend up my krone. Went through emigration gate to boarding area over an hour before flight time, but just wanted to sit anyway.

SAS had a rack of newspapers available for its passengers, but the choices in English appeared limited, so I was glad I’d got my Guardian.

There was a couple traveling with a little boy, about two or three years old, and he kept saying, “Hallo, Hallo!” I tried to teach him how to say “Howdy!” which seems to catch some of the friendly spirit of “Hej!” better than “Hi” does. Upon arrival at Chicago O’Hare, I was just ahead of that couple and boy so I said, “Välkommen till Chicago” with a hopeful smile.

One final reminder of that good bread on the airplane And this time I remembered the “gift” packet of night-shade, ear plugs, etc. when I got off. But more importantly I carred my memories and impressions of a place and people that help define who I am.

Välkommen åter - you bet!

(Come back soon - indeed!)

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