On thursday after work I went home for a quick shower before heading to my summer cottage with my mother to celebrate with a lot of relatives. I took the train to Gävle, two hours north of Stockholm and got there at 20.05 which gave me a break of 15 minutes before taking another train for a short while on the way to my summer cottage. The only problem: That train suddenly changed time of departure from 20.20 to 21.15. That would mean arriving around 22.30, bit too late for my taste.
After some hectic minutes I managed to find a bus that would also take me reasonably close and not be too expensive. Said and done, then a taxi to the summer cottage. There are no train stations or bus stops reasonably close and there was no relative with a car there yet.
I guess I could have done like three of my cousins and went by bike from Uppsala, around 120 kilometers and 5 hours. They had just arrived when we got there and were resting on the couch. Their parents were also there but we were all quite tired so we just talked for a while and then headed to bed.
The next day was a lot more active. The rest of the relatives dropped in and soon we were around 15. One less than planned as one had gotten stuck in Brussels due to airplane and taxi trouble, partly because of strikes. It was sad that he couldn't come but still a good day. We decided to make up for it during our dinner when we always sing summer songs. We rewrote one of the classical songs from Emil i Lönneberga where a maid complains about her life to be about him. Instead of the maid asking "Why oh why", or "Varför åh Varför" in Swedish about her life we made it about why he couldn't get here. Suggesting stuff like lifting with a sheikh, walking, taking a ferry and taking a teleport. He didn't use any of the methods but was happy to see the video that we sent.
Somewhere around 01.00 we went to bed after a really nice midsummer with some great food. On Saturday some left quite early but me, my cousins, their parents and my mother decided to stay for a while. My cousins had intended to head home but due to the great weather and some persuasion from me they stayed another day. We spent it doing stuff like playing crocket and dart, threw frisbee and shot with homemade bows and arrows and went swimming at least twice. A very nice change from the regular life in Stockholm. Simply a great day. We ate what was left from yesterday, which was also really good. I don't know exactly what kind of meat it was, perhaps tenderloin, but it was one of the best things I've ever eaten in a long while for sure.
The next day we left quite early. Me and my uncle and aunt by cab and then bus and my cousins by bike. We were supposed to meet in Gävle as they didn't fancy the entire long journey back home to Stockholm without trains. Sadly one of them got a flat tire. I went on the train when it was about to leave but my uncle and aunt stayed behind for my cousins, quite reasonable. The funny thing is that I heard some discussion outside the wagon I was in just about a minute after I took a seat. My cousins had arrived just two minutes before the train would leave and were talking to some employed woman. I think they were only allowed to bring two bikes with them - but obviously had three -. Somehow they managed to convince her and get on the train, quite the feat.
After a train ride back to Stockholm we said goodbye and that's what I'm going to do right now to you readers. Work starts early tomorrow and it's quite tough with a large group that isn't easy to control. I'm also going to play a chess tournament in the evening. Nothing overly serious but I don't want to be tired before it even starts. So good night folks! The pic is of my shirt with the autographs.