Stockholm is a beautiful city of storybook buildings, romantic bridges, great pie and the strangest alcohol purchasing system I’ve ever seen. Basically, if you want to buy alcohol you have to go to something that resembles a state run Argos for booze called the Systembolaget. The state-run monopoly regulates the sale of alcohol to: “help limit the medical and social harm caused by alcohol and thereby improve public health.” You go there, you get your ticket, write down which wines you want and you wait, wait and then wait some more. Anyway ,we were only in there to get one bottle. Guy made the epic error of not carrying his passport with him, so that when he couldn’t provide proof of grown-up-ness she couldn’t serve him. Turns out she wouldn’t serve me either, as I would be providing alcohol to Guy, who in the state’s eyes was now a minor. Anyway the scary bulldog lady behind the counter summarily kicked us out.
Other than that, Stockholm is a wonderful city. One thing I would reccommend for Stockholm and for most cities is the Wallpaper City Guide. You should probably use it in tandem with a more comprehensive city guide, as it doesn’t always give you details on all of the tourist attractions. However, it does provide a guide to some of the more stylish things to do and see in the city, with suggestions of where to go from locals. I suppose the concept is to provide a more authentic experience of the city. I see it as more an idea of where to see and be seen, rather than where you can pick up some dodgy tourist tat.
The last month has been dizzying, but wonderful. Guy proposed to me at the end of January in Stockholm at sunset, on a bridge near the castle with a gaudy plastic ring. We celebrated with raspberry pie and champagne. It’s been a challenging few months, while we’ve been trying to figure the best way to make sure we get to be in the same place. It’s wonderful to finally know where and how we’re going to live together.
It’s been quite exciting telling everyone and it will be even more exciting when my family and some friends come over to celebrate in April (yes, April this year, the April that is less than two months away).
My engagement ring
Aside from getting engaged, Stockholm was wonderful, however very cold. It is a very pedestrian city and we walked everywhere. However, everything took about three times as long as we would need to stop every half hour for amazing Scandinavian hot chocolates to warm up! The city is gorgeous, with fairytale architecture and cobbled streets, but that is a separate post. I’m now trying to figure out whether I will become Petah Cocker, Petah Marian-Cocker, Petah Cocker-Marian, or just keep Petah Marian. Part of me feels as though I would be giving up part of my identity if I give up my name, as well as being terribly old fashioned. What do you think?
I’ve just spent the better part of the last hour and a half trying to figure out how to get my old posts to show when you click on any of the previous post/archive links to work again. Having zero patience with programming and general troubleshooting (which is funny as part of my job is sub-editing, but hey), I am more than mildly proud at having figured out how to fix it myself! Regular programming will return shortly.
In between starting a new job, Christmas and Barcelona for New Years, I’m afraid this blog has taken a back seat over the last couple of months. I’m in the midst of a couple of major new projects, which I can’t yet talk about, they’ll make for fantastic blog fodder in the coming months. Hold tight and hopefully I’ll be able to come up with something mildly amusing to fritter away your working day!
