Sweden

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From Berlin, it was another day on the train to Sussie's city. I hadn't seen Sussie for a year and a half, so it was exciting to hear her voice on the phone. I was arriving just as she finished her studies for the Semester, and starting her Summer break. That was great, but it meant I was crashing her holiday plans with her family and friends. Sussie's first offer was for me to go on a yacht cruise with her parents. I said that boats weren't really my thing. Her next suggestion was a sea kayak trip... I got the hint and said it sounded awesome (it was).

Suddenly it was 20 hours per day of daylight, I gave Sussie all those hugs that everyone told me to give her and we were heading out onto the water to check out some islands in the Stockholm Archipeligo. There were a few patches of drizzle, and enough sunshine to dry out after each shower. We got our share of wildlife experiences (a beaver before we left, a seal from the first island, several sea-eagles, a snake on the second island, a giant owl, a snake... did I mention how cool it was to see a snake - too big to hide in my boot, too small to be scary), and we weren't in Wellington, so there was almost no wind. One of Sussie's friends (Johanna) joined us the day after a traditional midsummer celebration, hosted by Sussie's parents (Erika and Poppe) on the second island, then after 4 splendid days, we had to head back to civilisation, and more hospitality from Erika and Poppe.

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