Stockholm is beautiful!

Well, I made it to Stockholm yesterday. I left Pensacola Florida on Monday at 8 am and after two planes finally got to Newark NJ an hour late and after a couple hours layover finally boarded the big jet bound for Stockholm. And we were held captive on a tarmack for another hour and more. aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggg~~~~!!!!
Well, after another several hours of flying and little sleep since I took off from Florida the big jet finally set down in Arlanda airport here. I was one of the last off the plane and the entire crowd of folks had already disappeared so I walked endlessly through this completely deserted airport trying to find signs of life, or at least my checked items. I finally found a sleepy looking boarder crossing person who stamped my passport and pressed the buzzer that allowed me into Sweden. After finding three humans past that point I also found my checked bags and began the adventure of figuring out how to make a phone call (my cell laughed when I asked it if it would work here) and purchase a bus ticket into Stockholm central station to meet up with the person I was to couch surf with for the next week.

I will tell you all that if you ever wonder how best to deal with jet lag I think I have found the answer. Stay mostly awake for almost 24 hours, eat very little, drink a couple of beers, and then land in Sweden at the height of midsummer when it is light until 10 pm and rose around 3:30 am. It was light when I went to bed, light when I got up for the midnight trip to the bathroom and still light when I finally got out of the blankets at 5:30 am. It is still light and I wander between the kitchen and the blankets in a desperate wonder if I am tired or hungry so I just wash my face again and look out the window into the enclosed courtyard and chat with Robert who has gifted me with a temporary home.

Well, this afternoon I go off with some other folks to help set up for an SCA event this weekend so hope I figure out when to actually sleep and when to play. It would be so nice if I could stay awake during the fun parts of the weekend~

More next week.