Sweden: the aftermath

Well, back in Blighty, after some exceptional juggling between airports by SAS (no they don't pay me to say that, but seriously, if I had've been flying KLM today I'd still be in Gothenburg looking for my bag).

Impressively, London is extremely calm despite the near-miss bombings, Heathrow was possibly even calmer than usual. I did however sit next to a strange man on the tube on the way in who, while consuming his 'dinner', consisting of an entire packet of dried spiced peas, told me to seek spiritual assistance. I had chosen the seat in order to chat to the nice Swedish guy sitting opposite, but he wisely averted eye contact and left me stuck with the pea man, who went on to offer me a job as his secretary, and told me that I was better looking than Kylie Minogue and could I please send Kylie back to Australia. Maybe it was a sign of some sort... but I took it as a sign to change tubes three stops early.

This morning, after hankering for American pancakes for three days, Irina and I went to treat ourselves to brunch at Stockholm's Folkoperan. Of course, American pancakes were off the menu this morning, causing much gnashing of teeth. We made do with a rather strange combination of vegetarian sausages, baked beans, coleslaw and sliced oranges. 'Geez, that looks like Pommie food,' remarked Mr Unrequited who had joined us - and was very proud of his Australian vocabulary. I am so glad that against all odds, Mr U and I can actually talk now, I left Sweden feeling calm and happy and am determined to go back for good - as soon as possible. (Anyone out there who wants to offer me a job in Stockholm please do. Preferably not as a secretary and preferably not while consuming a packet of dried spicy peas).

It's been a hectic, liver-damaging week of catching up on life among my Swedish friends. Ludvig kindly invited the Very Attractive Doctor Anders (TM) to a beery event which while I managed to speak a mere three words to him, did restore my faith that there are actually attractive men out there, albeit usually married, unrequited or averting their eye contact on trains and abandoning me to the attentions of men whose mental faculties are slightly questionable.

Meanwhile back in Queen's Park Mia has upped the Celebrity Resident list, which now consists of David 'Dr Who' Tennant, Thandie 'Chick from Mission Impossible' Newton, Cillian 'Guy from 28 Days Later' Murphy, David 'multipurpose tv host' Baddiel and Alex Lloyd Fat Bastard. However Lloyd is probably down at Hugo's restaurant having spicy peas and unfortunately Mr Tennant is still averting his eyes, metaphorically speaking.