Swedish Parker!

(Click here to see 60 more pics from the trip…) It’s hard to sum up just how much Amanda and I fitted into 10 days travelling through Spain, France and the Netherlands.

So I’ll do a quick run down of the highlights, then let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

1. Surfing in San Sebastian. Hadn’t been in the water for over a year, definitely THE highlight.

2. Wine tasting in Bordeaux. Close second. I bloody well love red wine, and Bordeaux is the most famous red wine region in the world, what more do I need to say?

3. Visiting Andorra. Yes, that’s right, I’ve been to ANDORRA. One of the most pointless countries in Europe. There was nothing to see and it took us five and a half hours off course, but it was all worth it for this pic:

4. Free upgrade to First Class on the Eurostar train from Paris to Amsterdam. Three-course meal and unlimited booze included. Yes please!

5. The whackiness of Gaudi’s Park Güell in Barcelona. Utterly boggling.

6. Patxaran! The addictively sweet, pink liquor from North-West Spain. Adding to it’s allure was the fact I discovered it at the coolest little out-of-the-way/locals-only surfers’ bar, which was nestled into a quiet little corner of San Sebastian.

7. Free drinks at that random bar in Paris. We accidentally befriended the bartender and got free shots all night. Including French Flags and Smurf Shots…

8. Finding a pub named after me in Amsterdam.

9. Absolutely EVERYTHING about San Sebastian.

10. Coffee and croissant for breakfast at that cute little café in Paris (while reading a book of clichés).

11. Tapas on the beach in Barcelona.

12. The Happy Lobster!!

13. Barcelona’s ridiculous heat and humidity, which in turn made a swim at the beach absolutely heavenly.

14. Our Mini Cooper. Our best friend during the 16 hour drive from Barcelona to San Sebastian (via Andorra).

Honourable Mentions

That f*#&ing GIANT door:

The Imaginarium:

The most colourful photo ever taken:

Three days in the North.

Apparently cars aren’t that well insulated from -7 degree temperatures.. at night…

Sort of like an Ice Hotel on wheels.

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Before said night in the cold, we’d driven nine hours North-West from Stockholm to reach the base of the Western Swedish mountains.

We awoke to find it absolutely f&#king freezing, yet incredibly beautiful – snow-capped mountains, icy rivers, frozen lakes…

After driving through Åre (the Stureplan of Swedish ski resorts), we took a detour along the very old Swedish-Norwegian mountain highway

before stumbling upon THE craziest waterfall I’ve ever seen.

 

Tännforsen (aka the Crazy Swedish Ice Waterfall)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwrdCdWHpQg[/youtube]

After I just watched my video again, it suddenly reminded me of that river scene in the first Narnia movie (the one with the Wardrobe and that).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0Ke72gfd6U[/youtube]
Sweden=Narnia?

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By the next morning we’d made it all the way back to the other side of the country, to the Höga Kusten (The High Coast). Amanda pretty much randomly chose the area after looking at a map of Sweden, and then it turns out to be a spectacular, World Heritage listed area.

We even came across a couple of guys that were actually surfing in Sweden… in the middle of Winter, in the North. Mental…

 

Just a shame there’s only 7 hours a day to take in the scenery…

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…Amanda with “Chodey” the Snow Man

 

aka Extreme Picnicking.

We felt like getting out of the city for a few days. And given the completely random, decide-where-we’re-going-when-we’re-halfway-there nature of our adventures, I thought I should pick up a cheap, simple and discreet little hire car for the week…

The snow actually helps mask it’s shame; it usually looks even more “flamboyant”.

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The first time someone told me you could surf in Sweden I called B.S. straight away.

The majority of it’s coastline sits on the placid Baltic Sea, and practically everywhere is shielded by thousands of wave-stopping islands, rocks and skerries (no idea what skerries are, but apparently Sweden has loads).

Surprisingly though, you can actually surf in Sweden. And even more surprising is the fact that one of the country’s best surf spots (granted not really saying much there) is only an hour and a half from the capital.

So we hopped in our subtle little Nissan Note – even the name doesn’t look good FFS… – and headed South.

To add to the adventure, Stockholm received it’s biggest dumping of snow the night before. So not only had I gotten back into the wrong side of the road/car routine, but the roads were thoroughly icy enough for a Torvill and Dean performance.

Considering all that, plus the fact I was driving out into the middle of nowhere with some VERY unofficial directions (after the highway turn-off they read: “Follow the small, curvy road all the way, over the small bridge, past the small church, past the Torö butik (general store) and turn right after the big yellow wooden house. Keep left and look for the ocean – you can’t miss it!”), I was pretty stoked just to find the place.

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If you’re now expecting to see pictures of me surfing, you’re having a laugh – it was already below zero before we got down to the beach and discovered the gale force winds (the snow on the water’s edge summarised things nicely…)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJ8Js2RM5Y[/youtube]

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So instead of getting into the icy water, we decided to invent a new game:

Extreme Picnicking.

The rules of Extreme Picknicking are simple:

1. Fill a picnic basket with food.

2. Find a place that is physically inhospitable.

3. Successfully make a ham, cheese and salad roll – from scratch – and eat the whole thing before your fingers/ears drop off.

4. The more physically inhospitable the location, the more points you score.

Note: You must also allow time for a proof-you-were-there photo shoot (see example below).

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Directions (the now-official directions) to Torö (the surf spot…):

1. Take Highway 73 south from Stockholm.

2. After 70 kilometres, take the Herrhamra/Torö exit.

3. Follow the road all the way (that’s 20 minutes on a curvy little road, 30 if it’s been snowing…) over the small bridge, past the small church, past Torö butik (the general store) and then turn right after the Big Yellow Wooden House.

4. Stick to the left and “look for the ocean” – you can’t miss it.

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