I was looking around over at the old 360 blog and came across this story, I’m pretty sure nobody that comes here has read it, and yes there are people who read this blog, go figure. I had a chuckle when I read it again, of course I was there when it happened and it was even funnier then. Just picture my boss, Kevin as a good ol’ boy from Arkansas.

Scandinavian is a great place to visit, I really miss taking a sauna, love me some loyly!

Adventures in Stockholm !

Driving in an unfamiliar city can be difficult, my first time driving in downtown Stockholm was just a bit more than that. Signage when present is so small it can’t be read at a distance of more than fifteen feet and to make matter worst it posted on the side of the build so as you approach street you have no idea of the street name until you are driving past. So after about two hours of navigating and back tracking though Stockholm we find the street (ally) we’re looking for. After a few hours of discussion our host asks us to my follow him to the hotel he’s made reservation for us, I ask we’re were staying, because my boss and I had no idea going in to this were we would be staying.

Ralf, our host says, “its in the old city”, it was at that that time that little voice said “ this doesn’t sound good” well it wasn’t long before the little voice became a resounding yell.

As we turn off a main street into a cobble stone plaza, past the castle and wind our way through buildings that have been there since 1300, 1400 we find ourselves at the Lady Hamilton Hotel, a building dating back to 1470. Having been lodged at some of Scandinavia’s finest hotels these room where, well quite disappointing. Small, smelled of cigarette smoke and the beds looked as if they where almost as old as the hotel. We meet back in the lobby to discuss our parking arrangement, I could see on Kevin’s face he was almost as impressed with his room as I was with mine. It was then we were told that the parking service did not open until 07:00 and our car wouldn’t be available. Our flight was leaving at 06:30 from Arlanda, nearly an hour’s drive from Stockholm. The girl at the desk suggested we park our car at a lot just a five minute walk away, by this the little voice was speaking loudly, but we decided to forge ahead. Following the direction given we soon realized she must have meant 5 K instead of 5 minutes. Now the voice was yelling “leave this place and stay near the airport” Kevin must have heard it too because he said the same thing.

We returned to the hotel grabbed our bags, checked out and headed north to Arlanda. We were fortunate to find a couple of rooms at the Arlanda hotel, a small place outside of the airport. They did provide us with a very nice dinner and beers. As a bonus the hotel had a nice sauna that I had a chance to enjoy after dinner. It had been a long day; tomorrow, flying home would prove to be longer.

Saturday September 23, 2006 -