Sweden

A day off today seemed a little excessive after 2 weeks off the bikes, however we just about think we deserve it and now most of the miles are behind us we thought we could enjoy some of Europe at a slower pace!

After breakfast we drifted through some of the bustling city streets and found our way to the Konstmuseet (basically the city art museum) and enjoyed some of the exhibitions there.

The museum was good, but we found the human art around the streets of Göteburg even better and enjoyed a lovely lunch in a cafe close by to the museum. We then tried to find an internet cafe somewhere to upload some photos on to the blog, which proved pretty much impossible as nowhere had computers which allowed USB connections! Another day for that then.

It was dinner time by now, so we ventured out towards a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet guide. As we were looking for it we happened across Cheers Bar which was showing the Arsenal Vs Liverpool game and decided we would have a drink and watch 10 minutes of that. We got talking to a Swedish guy who was so in love with Liverpool it was quite scary, he even had an agreement with his boss where if they ever lost he would not work the next day! Committed. (he should be!)

After the drink we walked across the road to a Spanish Tapas restaurant and luckily managed to catch the end of the game there whilst enjoying some delicious food.

Back on the road again tomorrow.

We were aiming to leave nice and early this morning as it was a bit of a trek down to Gotëburg, but true to form we arose around 09:30 and after a lovely breakfast out in the sun on Jamie and Paulina's terrace plus loading up the bikes with all the kit (we were a bit out of practice) it was about 12:30pm by the time we were set to go! On top of this Roger decided to throw a bit of a wobbly and wouldn't start! After realising it was just a flooded engine all it took was a fast run down a rather fortuitously placed hill for him to splutter into action!

So we ended up setting off at 13:00 hours, heading out of the lovely Stockholm on the E20 which would take us all the way. It was superb to be back in the saddle after virtually 2 weeks under other people's steam and with the glorious sunny weather this made the whole experience even better. After 100 miles we stopped for a bite to eat and petrol at a very nice service stop, the food was high quality and impressed Mr Leaver no end! (they had fresh cut-your-own bread and vinegar for a start!)

Then it was back on the road to get the remaining 200 miles done. The scenery was pleasant and was mainly tall trees lining the road and we actually passed in between two large lakes but unfortunately we were not close enough to take in these views. There was a lot of wildlife around and at one point an Eagle soared over the top of us carrying a snake it had picked up for afternoon tea!

One more petrol and tea stop on the way at an initially quiet petrol station that suddenly got overwhelmed with old dears when a coach turned up and we were in Göteburg/Gothenburg. We chose a nice good-value hotel in the centre of town overlooking a canal and off we went for food and drinks.

We also went to a club-bar afterwards with a really good DJ and loads of beautiful women we didn't talk to. A bloke nearly tripped over and fell on Ed at one point and he said "I'm sorry! I almost, er, trembled all over you!". I don't know what he meant, but that sounds disgusting!

WE'RE BACK!

We spent most of these 2 days trying to sort out our onward travel plans. It's still too cold, too snowy and too mountainous to get safely to the very North of Norway and back down on motorbikes, but rather than curtail the route we still wanted to head all the way up somehow and take the bikes with us if we could. We explored all manner of solutions involving trains, boats, cars, transporters and vans and kept hitting brick walls (figuratively). At one point we were seriously considering hiring a van and loading the bikes in to drive North, then ferry back South to drive back to Stockholm in a 2500 mile oval loop, before realising that that was ludicrous, so we finally found a compromise: we will catch the train up to Narvik inside the Arctic Circle, get a bus to Tromsø and from there catch a ferry down the West coast to Bergen. From Bergen we can work our way back across to Stockholm and pick up the boys to continue the riding via Götenburg.

With the train tickets booked we had an afternoon to kill. After a lazy lunch we tried to catch a film, but had issues with the listings and ended up in a couple of pubs for some beer instead!

We got on the train in the nick of time and found our way to our double cabin. More James Bond thoughts, but there was no-one hidden inside. We read and went to sleep hoping Jaws wouldn't burst in in the night . . .

After breakfast we sampled a bit of culture in Helsinki. I tried to go to the modern art gallery, but like most galleries I try to go to it was closed, so we both went to a design museum instead and saw an exhibition on the best of Finnish graphic design 2008 which was very good.

Later on we saddled up and rode 2 miles to the ferry port and parked on-board amongst the cars and lorries. It was a huge ferry with 11 decks and was the first boat that we had been on with electric doors and lifts! The sailing was a long one to Stockholm, so we had a James Bond style folding-bed cabin as well. We set sail at around 17:30.

The ferry was surprisingly presentable as well and we had some dinner in a nice restaurant before taking in the dodgy dancing at one of the clubs. After that we found a pub to sit at and enjoyed a guitar man playing classics. Finnish people seem to be very easily pleased and they can definitely handle their drink too!

We woke up pulling in Stockholm, 300 miles later, passing the small gaps between the hundreds of islands dotted around.

As we got off the ship the local police were breathalysing every driver which I suppose isn't a bad idea. We rode the 6 miles to Jamie and Paulina's place (Jamie is the good friend of a good friend of Ed's!) through central Stockholm which we both thought straight away was really nice. After lunch with our hosts we went into town to explore and took in the sights at the waterside and visited the modern art and architecture museum.

When we got back their young daughter Emelie was pleased to see us and found our level very quickly by shouting poo and wee-wee at us in Swedish for an hour or so.

Jamie and Paulina cooked us a lovely meal and we took Jamie out for some beer with Paulina's brother Erik and took in the 'sights' before returning home to bed.

308 miles in 2 days felt easier than normal!