h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hooray! This turned out to be the biggest mini-meetup in Stockholm so far!

Attendees:
Milla with 2 kids and little French lady
Luckystar
Me

Sounds great, had any of you met before?

Nope, it was the very first time

Milla (full name Alchemilla Digitalis) and I have been talking to each other before, but I haven't had much conversation with Luckystar - yet her name rang a familiar bell, and after some lurking I found out it was because of her calendar...

Friday 8 August:

Milla called to let me know she had arrived. Her little company spent the day sightseeing while I was hurrying around very busy getting prepared for the name giving ceremony for my niece on Saturday, which meant I would unfortunately be out of town)

We had decided to meet in the hotel lobby at 5 pm (they were all staying in the same hotel thanks to me still having former colleagues there - I was able to get a pretty good room rate flirting with them)

The lobby was pretty crowded by a French group when I arrived, so I chose a seat in the far end. Suddenly I heard a voice speaking French with a slight Scandinavian accent, and I got up. Sure enough, there was a bunch of people who looked as if they might be Milla's company: a woman with glasses, two kids and little old lady!

And soon enough another researcher turned up, wearing her h2g2 shirt just in case... Luckystar!

We spent some time in the coffee shop of the hotel, having something to eat and drink, with me pointing out various sightseeing objects and how to get there - things to keep the others busy while I was away on Saturday

After that we went to see a visiting Danish street circus in the small park next to the hotel.

At first it seemed to be more like a farce than anything else - big exaggerated gestures, kicks in the butt, that sort of thing...

...but soon enough we learnt that they were in fact very skilful...

So, all in all, I'd say it was like a farce mixed with circus, with some very impressive artistry (especially the trapeze) and I think the kids as well as the adults were quite spell bound at times.

After the performance was over we walked (0.6 km if I remember correctly) to Fjällgatan - a street that offers a wonderful view over the isles of Stockholm

I am so sorry I couldn't make it. It makes me feel so guilty as it was my suggestion at the first place to have the meet-up in Stockholm this year.
Good you had a great time though.

I think it's great to meet up, especially with people you've enjoyed chatting too over the site. It gives you a chance to put a face to the name.

Once we had returned to the hotel Milla and her kids retired to their room (absolutely charming kids!) but Henriette (the little old French lady), Luckystar and I decided to go on.

Good thing Luckystar speaks French so much better than I do - sometimes I got all of it, sometimes just a few words, and sometimes the things Henriette told us about just whizzed past over my head!

We had a leisurely walk along the street Götgatan, peering through the open windows of the pubs, looking for a place with a free table. We finally found ourselves one at Tiffany's and had some and and nachos with various dips (the garlic one was delicious, but it did turn your breath into )

After some conversation we continued our leisurely walk in the light Swedish summer evening, and decided to visit (*I* decided actually, I think) that we'd visit the roof terrace of Sjöfartshotellet.

The view of Stockholm by night was stunning, and although they had stopped serving food (at 10 pm) we still had a few drinks and admired the view until they closed at 11 pm.

I saw Henriette and Luckystar off at the tube, and proceeded home by tube/commuter train/bus

End of Friday

Saturday 9 August:

While I spent most of the day in trains and at name giving ceremony for my niece Luckystar and Milla & Co spent the day sightseeing and shopping.

Once my train was nearing Stockholm I sent an SMS to Luckystar that I'd be in the hotel lobby at 7 pm - she was having a pre-dinner cocktail at the restaurant Gondolen (the gondola) with a beautiful view over Stockholm.

Pre-dinner sounded very good to me since I had not had anything to eat since lunch, but I was wondering about how to get in contact with Milla, since she had managed to do what I did at the London June meetup this year, namely forgetting her mobile at home, loading.

Picture the surprise when I stepped out of the tube wagon and saw some familiar people on the platform in front of me - yes, Milla & Co had managed to arrive by the same tube train as I! How's that for coincidence?

It turned out Milla & Co had not had dinner either, so we discussed various options - and went to the roof terrace again!

It turned out to be a bit cold up on the terrace, because of the wind, and Milla's kids huddled up in blankets. We had dinner and drinks while watching and counting (in Swedish, when it comes to Luckystar, who is very good at picking up foreign words) the many balloons in the light evening sky.

We managed to confuse the staff pretty well, with our different orders - but it *is* a good thing that the terrace restaurang had these gas heaters, because already in the beginning of August one would feel the autumn oppraching.

Some more conversation and drinks back at the hotel until Milla's kids finally agreed that they were sleepy enough to go to bed, some more conversations with Henriette - but the night was still young (for a Saturday night, at least)

I remembered that Santragenius had expressed a wish that we'd take a photo from Gröne Jägarn (The Green Hunter) so I suggested this to Luckystar - and off we went, to visit the in(famous) bar!

Good thing it wasn't a match evening - I really wouldn't recommend this place after a football game involving the Hammarby team - the place was crowded enough!

A rather humourus thing happened at the entrance - one of the security guards asked me how many drinks I had had, and I said 'två' (two, which Luckystar, being the languistic genious, immediately translated as 'two' and thought he was referring to the number of persons) and then the guard tried to ask Luckystar the same question - and when I told him that 'she only speaks English' his whole attitude towards us changed completely!

Hoaa - a tourist - by all means, enter, enter!

Sounds like you all had a great time!

Yep, it was crowded, but not too crowded to allow us to buy some

And they had live entertainment! Sing-alongs, dancing...

A pretty mix of Swedish and UK/US songs, and I felt just how much I had been missing this kind of thing after I had began working at the HO instead of in a hotel - and I even spotted one of my former colleagues! I gave him plenty of but couldn't have much of a conversation - he was pretty (oh, right, if you decide to visit the pub, it does help if you've had something to drink first...<joker&gt It is considered as a very good place to finish of a pub crawl

I do admire the staff who manage to have just the right combination of friendliness and bullying - and the people frequenting this place are of course used to it

And it was amazing how easily the pub was emptied - something to study for the British pub staff I think, considering how the London June meetup pub was emptied... Swedes do not start drinking later in the evening than Brits, and they go on drinking until at least 1 pm (3 pm for the places with special permit) but hey! Playing the former Soviet national anthem gives you a pretty clear message about what's going on - and also the fact that there are much fewer people in the pub (those intending to go on partying at the 3 pm places leaving, as well as the people going home who'd like to avoid the wardrobe queueing)

Are you going to stay in touch with your friends? I mean apart from on here.

So we left, being guided to a 'open-until-3' place by this guy, who disappeared promisning to check if we'd get in, while Luckystar and I was left standing in a very long queue...

After a while I tried to find him, but no luck - change to plan B - the piano bar in the hotel.

Some and some more sing-alongs - and another from a former colleague - and then some talking until the hotel bar closed to, around 2 am...

...only to continue elsewhere...

My last commuter train had left long ago, and I did not really feel like taking a night bus, so I ended up staying at the hotel too (at staff rate)...

...boy oh boy oh boy - nothing to make you feel like a 25-year-old than ending up without your toothbrush or make-up remover or change of clothes...

Thanks Luckystar! It's been far too long since I've had one of those 'all-night-long' experiences!

Addresses have been and photos will be exchanged

Sunday 10 August:

Coming down for breakfast I ran into Milla & Co

Later on I waved them and Luckystar off in a taxi that would take them to an excursion onboard a Viking ship...

...and I hope they had a nice time!

I myself returned home for the first time in 28 hours and got myself some additional sleep after freshing myself up...

It actually amazed me how people, that have barely 'met' online could have such a nice time together, and feel so free to talk about this and that, just because we have this one single thing in common - h2g2!

I mean - how else would you end up visiting complete strangers in a foreign country? Well, actually not *complete* strangers, but still - pretty amazing!

It's not that strange really. You can tell on here who you will probably get on with in real life, and those you won't. When you finally meet, you already have a good amount in common, and you probably felt as though you had known them longer than you really had.

Sounds fab

Looking forward to pics - I'm you actually went to GJ to take them...

And yes, it's something indeed that you go "somewhere" and meet with "somebody" and just get on. Actually, at the first mini-meet I had, with Bossel in Munich, we were not even in doubt that we had met when we met outside Augustinerkeller ( was that somewhat understandable)?

Hej!

Nice write-up - so many happy memories

Wonderful!

And thanks again Titania for making the arrangements!

Now all LuckyStar and I have to do is fill in the gaps! (Where Titania wasn't with us) Old Town, changing the guards, the castle, Vasa museum (where Swedish, English, French and German all spoken within a few minutes almost blew my head off...) Skansen, shopping, the viking ship - we didn't miss it and LuckyStar even had time to get a bite before takeoff!

I'll be back soon, Henriette is still around - she says Bon Jour et Merci! We have yet to see Österlen - tomorrow!

Tjing
Milla