Stockholm, Sweden April 24-29, 2008

I arrived at Arlanda Airport at about 10 AM Thursday. The flight from Warsaw was only three-quarters full, so baggage claim went quickly. I exchanged euros for crowns because it was about 1 for 1, whereas the dollar was half that. Anders from the Culture House met me, and we bussed the hour into Stockholm. We walked over to the comics and graphic novels library at the Culture House in downtown, where I met Kristiina, the head librarian and director of the SPX. The graphics novel library is separate from the regular library, and contains English and Swedish comics and albums. I wish we had libraries like this in the US!

Anders and I took a walk to see the cherry blossoms. It is said that there are three days of cherry blossom viewing. If that is true, then we were there on the third day. It was beautiful, with everything in full bloom. However, there were a few sprigs of green leaves just starting to emerge.





Anders



Stockholm on the east coast of Sweden, is built on a series of islands connected by bridges. We continued past the royal palace and the Old Town, past the statue of St George and the dragon, to a great vegetarian buffet restaurant overlooking the bay. I had never been to a European vegetarian restaurant and everything was unfamiliar to me, but delicious.

We retrieved my bag from the library, and walked the kilometer or so to the Scandic Hotel and checked in. I was on the fourth floor (fifth in the US). The hotel had an elevator, but I preferred taking the stairs. The best thing about the Scandic is that it had a couple of public computers with internet access. Friends in Poland had been sending Sharon progress reports of my travels, but now I could communicate with her myself.

Axel, aka AT73, from the Usagi website had come up from southern Sweden to spend the weekend in Stockholm. He met me at my afternoon book store signing in Old Town, and would be my guide for much of my stay. I walked back to the Culture House to meet NouNouHau, a group of four mangaka from Japan. I, very regretfully, had to decline an invitation from Watanabe-san, the secretary of the Japanese Embassy, to join him and NouNouHau for dinner. I was just too tired. Jet lag had rapidly caught up to me, so I ate a reindeer sandwich in my room and went to sleep.

I went down for an early breakfast served smorgasbord, of course. There was a small container of caviar paste. I like fish eggs, whether they are Iranian caviar, ikura, or tarako, but I have never had caviar paste. Nor did I know what to put it on. I took a small dab anyway, and had it with a soft boiled egg. It was pretty good, giving it a salty and sweet taste. I had it for breakfast every morning, along with my croissant, sausage, and fruit.

I had most of Friday free, and spent the day wandering around the city. I went to the beautiful city hall, to the palace to see the changing of the guard, and to Old Town. There were very pretty blue flowers growing wild wherever there was an open patch of grass. A local told me it just is not spring without those flowers. In the evening, there was a short meet and greet at the Culture House, then I had my best night's sleep since arriving in Europe six nights ago.

Palace guards


From outside the palace


Neat blue flowers

I met Axel Saturday morning, and we walked over to the Vasa Museum on the island once used as the king's hunting preserve. The Vasa is a 17th century ship whose maiden voyage lasted all of 20 minutes. She sank like a rock in 1628. The brine of the Baltic Sea had preserved her, and she was dredged in the 1960's and the museum was built around her. She is a beautiful ship in remarkable condition. We took a ferry back to one of the mainlands, and lunched at the Opera House cafe. I had a delicious smoked herring sandwich.


The Vasa


Axel


Waiting for the ferry

We got to the Culture House at noon, just in time for the tenth annual Small Press Expo's opening ceremony. Besides myself and the Japanese contingent, other guests included Top Shelf's Chris Staros, Patrik Norrman (who I had met when I was in Norway), and Norio Torimotoi. Torimoto Sensei is designated an origami master-- one of ten in the world. He did a presentation and two workshops, and I was at all of them. There was an exhibition of his work that included origami portraits and dragons, a huge winged horse, and the Swedish hero Nils Holgersson flying on a goose, each made from a single sheet of paper.


Me, pretty redhead, Chris Staros


Torimoto Sensei

The SPX had two halls for publishers to promote and sell their books, and a stage for interviews and presentations. Admission was free to the public. I made the rounds to the various publishers and creators' tables. There was a group from a cartooning school whose work I was impressed with. I did a signing, where Horst, my Swedish publisher, introduced himself.


Horst

There was a light rain, and through the windows I could see a demonstration in the central square below. People were running in a huge circle carrying Chinese flags. It was very well organized and orderly, so I wasn't sure if it was pro- or anti- China.

I did an interview/presentation Sunday afternoon, followed by a signing. The Expo ended Sunday evening, and I joined a group that metroed to the Blue Door, a Swedish restaurant. I had lamb meatballs with potatoes, and lingonberry drink.


Anders met me at the hotel on Monday morning and we walked over to the sightseeing boats for a one hour tour of some of the islands that make up the city. We walked past the cherry blossoms again, and saw that most of the pedals had already fallen and green leaves had taken their place. He took me to the main library where there was a special exhibition on Selma Lagerlof, the creator of Nils Holgersson. Anders and I lunched at the Grone Jagaren (The Green Hunter), where I had isterband sausage with beets and potato salad. Quite good. We continued our walk to a junior high school where I did a presentation for an art class.


Just a few days later, and most of the blossoms had fallen


Stockholm from the water

I met Axel at the hotel in the evening, and we walked to the Grand Hotel for a real Swedish smorgasbord. The restaurant had a very nice view of the palace, and I enjoyed seeing the shadows change as the evening progressed. The Swedish flag was raised, signifying that the king was in residence. The buffet was great with three kinds of smoked, as well as poached, salmon. There was also reindeer sausages and smoked reindeer. The pickled herring was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the sorbet dessert.


Smorgasbord!

I checked out of the hotel by 4 am Tuesday, caught a cab to the Central Train Station and rode the Arlanda Express to the airport. It is a 20 minute ride, and you get a refund if they are more than 2 minutes late. I exchanged my crowns for dollars, and was surprised at how much I got. My Scandinavian Air flight was supposed to leave at 6:30, but I was getting worried when we were still on the runway at 7. I had little more than an hour for my connection, and did not want to miss another flight. The plane got into Frankfurt at 9. I quickly went through passport control right to my gate, where my flight was already boarding. I had an aisle seat, and the flight was uneventful. I was able to thumbnail my 8 page story. We arrived in LA at 12:30 pm. I caught the Flyaway bus and Metro, and was home
by 3.

Stockholm is a beautiful city. People ride bicycles everywhere. There are even racks of bikes for rent on the streets. Those that do not ride, walk. I must have easily walked 5 miles each day, a good way to work off all that food I've been eating. Thanks have to go to Anders and Kristiina at the SPX for inviting me to be a guest. Special thanks to Axel for showing me around the city, as well as treating me to some wonderful meals.