Sweden - land of the windmill

Have been in Sweden a couple of days now. We got over here for the bucks/hens night for the couple who are getting married next week, and the celebrations went well. We've now got about a week free until the wedding, so we're renting a car and heading up the Bohuslan coast. The orginal plan was to rent bikes and camp, but the our lost baggage and Hugh's unsuccessful career as a car matador has put paid to it.

Apart from the neat and expensive looking locals, clockwork-like public transport, tidy towns, and a general feeling of competent organisation, we've been struck by the large number of windmills. And not just any windmills, these things are massive, dwarfing any other structure out in the fields. It's not surprising that there's not any Orange Bellied Parrots out here, they'd only get a couple of miles before getting chopped to bits.

Keep posted for some windmill photos as we head up to Gothenburg.

Copenhagen - Cheese, but not Chocolate or Beer

Had a pretty touristy day in Copenhagen. Ro had decided that the time for messing about was over, and today we were going to have some Danish cheese, chocalate, and beer, in that order.



She hunted down a cheese shop in the morning, where we tasted a few regional cheeses, and took a couple away for lunch. The Blue that we had was pretty sharp, but my favourite was a local Gruyere, which seemed to taste very different from other aged cheeses that I've had. However, it could be the case that my cold had altered my taste, as it seemed to traumatise Ro a bit.

The afternoon we spent looking around the old city, and taking a canal tour. Though we did feel a bit like idiotic tourists on the canal tour, it was a pretty quick way to see most of the sites of the city. After the tour we were feeling a little peaky, so we decided to head back to the hotel before heading out for some beer (and maybe chocolate). Of course, after relaxing for what felt like a couple of minutes, we woke up and it was midnight. Ooops.

Patience in Copenhagen

Usually, these posts should be documenting great adventures. This is the other kind of post - one that documents pretty much nothing at all. I'm stuck in our room in Copenhagen, trying to organise our delayed baggage. It was not put on the plane from London to Copenhagen with us (as a weight saving measure), and so we've got to keep in touch with the airport and let them know our new address when we change hotels.

I had a look around for a photo of our luggage, but it looks like they were too heavy to ever get in frame. Hence I've included a photo of all our worldly possessions, minus what we took overseas with us.

Touring Dubai

We spent a day in Dubai on our way to Europe, which we split in half, taking in new Dubai in the morning, and old Dubai (or what's left of it) in the evening. New Dubai consisted of strolling the Dubai mall (yep, it's pretty big), and going up the top of the Al Burj (even bigger). Despite the heat haze, the view was pretty spectacular. It felt like you were in a plane more than anything else.

The afternoon was spent looking around the Bustakiya district, and checking out the Dubai Museum. The old architecture was pretty interesting; they used courtyard houses, with wind towers which would catch the sea breeze, and direct it through the house.

Suspicions run rife in Dubai

Just got into Dubai from an overnight flight from Singapore. Clearing customs was interesting - the customs guys were immaculate in nice flowing white robes, which they kept immaculate by not exerting themselves very hard. I was pulled aside and had my bag searched for drugs, which Ro found very amusing. She's taking it as another bit of evidence that I look a bit scruffy and disreputable.

Arrived in Singapore!

Just got into Singapore, on a trouble free flight. Catching the bus to the hotel John's staying in was pretty slick, much better than the disaster in the rain last time we arrived in Singapore. The density of dubious massage parlours is also much lower this time. Hopefully the
good luck continues, and we're not sleeping in a broom cupboard listening to raving insomnics again.

Ro's chilling out waiting for John to meet us.

The check-in from hell

Well, we just said goodbye ro's parents, and have managed to check in
to our flight. Only adventure of note was getting stuck behind the
travellers from hell. They only took about 30 minutes to clear, once
they'd given up on their sideline business of importing milk powder
into Singapore.

The joys of travel.