The Royal warship VASA

Up close this vessel is an amazing sight

Why Stockholm?

First and foremost it sounded like a very interesting place to visit and Richard had raved on about it and as a bonus we could get to check out one of world's greatest tourist attractions. The Vasa Museum.
So what's the deal with this museum. You need a bit of history here. In 1625 the King of Sweden commissioned a German ship builder to construct the mother-of-all galleons. The ship builder died half way through the process and a Dutchman finished the job. Prior to it's initial test voyage, the admiral of the fleet ran a traditional stability test on the vessel by way of having 30 sailors run as one from side to side on the top deck. Even though moored in placid waters, the admiral became so concerned about the rolling motion of the ship he immediately terminated the test. Then along comes the King's directive to increase the vessel's fire power with the unplanned addition of two rows of cannon on the top deck. This was one top heavy and very unstable war ship, a classic train wreck in the offing. On a nice sunny day in 1628 the galleon cast off, quietly sailed 1200 metres down the harbour and then in front of virtually the total population of Stockholm the mighty Vasa got on a slight roll, heeled over and sank like a stone. Loss of life was 50, not that sailor's lives counted for much in those days. 
Moving along to the mid 1960s, technology had reached a point where one very able Swede was able to put together a team to salvage this vessel 95% intact. So there it now sits, in all it's glory and a sight to behold. It's overpowering and has a dominating presence. 
Stockholm itself is a great place for a three or four day visit. The locals are friendly, the food is interesting and there are an endless number of sights on this multi-island city. Everyone speaks perfect English, in fact, at a fluency level better than the English. The Government embraces English as being of equal importance as the Swedish language.
The down side. We were surprised about the mediocre quality of their Modern Art Gallery. When you think that this is modern design central and the home of Ikea it's hard to understand why these free thinking Swedes haven't been able to translate all this wild thought onto canvas. It was a real surprise to us.
The other interesting thing of note is Swedish drinking habits. Prior to arriving here we thought that stringent alcohol controls would have resulted in very modest drinking habits.
No so. Drinking is apparently a major part of the Swedish  lifestyle which on reflection is understandable when you realise that the city is pretty much in the dark for eight months of the year. I guess a healthy daily dose of herrings washed down with kegs of beer helps keep the winter blues in check.Even though the price of wine and spirits is way up there, beer prices seem pretty normal. The interesting thing there is that when you visit a bar or restaurant both males and females can be seen downing huge glasses and tankards of beer. And what's really weird is the sight of slinky stick thin young men and women downing beers at a rate that would do justice to your average middle aged pot bellied English male pub drinker. Maybe these Swedes work off all this alcohol in the sauna prior to going to bed.
We wouldn't want to live here as we suspect that after some time the Swedish life style would become increasingly boring however we will certainly make a short return visit in some future summer with the thought of travelling north up to the arctic area.

Guys, only in England!

What's the bet Asian visitors to Wimbledon found this all a bit much to take in

Any questions?

While the boys are away the wily wife plays

While John and his gang of four were off behaving badly in London Town I had a splendid week all to myself. 
My highlight would have to be my 'Ladies Do Lunch' on Saturday 30 June with old friends and new at the OXO Tower Restaurant. Great food, spectacular views and gorgeous friends. So lovely to catch up with you Jane and Kim.
My other high that week was having a  remarkable day in Tennis Heaven at Wimbledon. Having not been to the tennis there before I was a bit green about the regulated 'queue' system. When I arrived in the enormous car park field to see tents and a staggering amount of people in orderly lines I gasped. Then with the help of an Ozzie couple I'd latched on to we saw the end of the line made easy by a cheerful person holding up a big sign with 'End of the Queue' printed on it. We lined up and were handed a fairly thick stylish little booklet 'A Guide to Queueing' and a numbered Queue Card with my number 07749. I laughed out loud, only in England would you be handed a book on their mastered art of queueing. The bubbly little group of young helpers advised us that they take 8000 people a day for Ground Admission so you can see by my number I was in! High Five! Oh yes, that's not accepted etiquette so I lowered my hand and toned down my enthusiasm. As we meandered closer and closer to the entry gates we were entertained, given drinks, stickers and chatted to by fresh faced staff. They made this whole queuing thing really fun.
After only one and a half hours I was in and I had bubbles and butterflies in my tummy. My first impression was that this was just like a huge English Summer Party and like a kid at an amusement park I couldn't decide on which ride to go on first. Not a problem after checking the board, finding the court and having the luck of the Irish finding a perfect seat at each event. One word...Fabulous!
So, one has to indulge in the mandatory Pimms and the strawberries & cream as well as soaking up as much top class tennis one can absorb, this was becoming a very special day. Then we had rain, so with Lady Luck with me this time I rubbed shoulders with Lindsay Davenport while waiting out of the rain and then Roger Federer came past. Well, that completed my day. I checked out the other tennis stars but Federer is my hero so with stars in my eyes or were they little yellow dots I floated out of the grounds. On my trip back I was planning a return trip for the next day and maybe the following day too. I was hooked.
My other home for that week was the V&A, Victoria & Albert Museum. I am slowly working through the museum and I keep discovering more and more. Now getting used to the ever expanding world of reference material found hidden in the user friendly computers I realise that this Museum goes on infinitum. 

There was also one little event that reinforces my opinion regarding certain sections of the service community.
The other day I was lining up (refining my queuing technique) at the cafe at the Westminster Library. They do a good coffee and you get free Wifi so it's a good place to take a break. The next minute a well dressed feisty  little Indian woman asks the coffee maker for some hot water as her coffee was cold and she wanted to heat it up. 'Ok' said the guy 'but there is a charge'. This ignited the little lady and she raises her voice saying her coffee is cold. 'No' the guy maintains' these are the rules. The charge is 25p'. At this time my turn has come up and I am about to place my order whilst more high pitched verbals continue to be thrown across the counter in both directions. I look at the other older guy in front of me and say' give her the water'. 'No' he says,' the rules are that you have to pay for it. He adds that people come in with their own tea bags and ask for hot water'. At this stage the queue behind me has increased to six and the racket in the corner is escalating. Said queue are rolling or diverting their eyes and huffing. I then say that this is poor customer service, not a good look and her case is different as she doesn't have a tea bag. This was a small Indian tea-bag-free-lady! This does not look like your classic Westminster hot water con artist. He just went quiet. I had thrown him a curved ball. He took my money and said to wait for my cappuccino at the end of the counter near the squabble. I knew then, the rule here is not to get involved. I think she paid her 25p and went back to her friends muttering and mumbling. Everything just settled down and just the sipping and slurping noises emanated from this little cafe. 
PS: On reflection I should have said to the guy behind the counter 'here's a fiver, the hot water is on me'.

The Olympics are upon us

You have to admit it's a pretty good look

The curved thing in the foreground is Boris's bolt-hole, the council head office . The pointy thing in the background is the recently completed Shard, the tallest structure in Europe 

Up close the shard is a monster. No worries about a shortage of work for window cleaners

The final countdown to the Olympics

Ten days to go and things are looking good. There is a feeling of optimism throughout the central city area. Hundreds of thousands of sport tourists all dressed in day-glo sports apparel have descended en masse to take in the "must see " sights.
In fact the whole deal is what one would have anticipated during this final countdown period.
There are numerous observations one could make about this pre-Olympic experience of ours. Most of what 's going on is really positive stuff. The arts have cranked up their act, free outdoor performances are popping up all over the place and TFL (Transport for London) has plastered big pink signs all over to assist those new to London. The pubs and restaurants are full to overflowing and all museums and art galleries are benefiting from a huge upswing in numbers. Fantastic stuff.
All that good stuff aside, there has to be a reality check when you look at this Olympic experience so I thought I might lay out the key points of interest as I have experienced them over the last couple of weeks.
TRANSPORT
Central London will host something like an additional one million tourists over it's traditional peak summer season highs during this upcoming three week period. On any normal day the central city area copes with something in the order of nine million people trips per day. During the Olympics that number will increase to over twelve million trips per day! That is one heck of an increase.
During the last couple of weeks whenever you approach a Tube platform Mayor Boris's voice has been booming out over the PA advising one and all to embrace the spirit of the Olympics and enjoy the experience . Boris then goes on to state the blindingly obvious, towit, the tube system during this period is going to be in total overload mode and on that basis he suggests that we defer to a web site he gives over the PA and suggest in no uncertain terms that if we intend to plan a trip within the city during the Olympics and wish to arrive at our destination in a timely manner and with our brain still intact, then maybe we should consider using an alternative mode of transport. 
Good one Boris. Get the message out there in advance of the impending disaster to ensure you were seen to be pro- active on this matter.
For their part these sport tourist visitors will have to be on a very steep learning curve.
Based on our view of their actions whilst attempting to commute by bus, tube or whatever over the last week, I'm reminded of what happened many years ago in Pakistan when some smart politician decided that on a specific date all vehicles were going to switch over from their traditional right hand drive to left hand drive. All signage was changed, ads went out on TV, the whole bit.
However there was one slight problem.
When D Day arrived no one had given any thought to advising the camels and their drivers that there was a new game in town. As a result the camels stuck to their decades routes. The outcome was total disaster and everyone promptly slotted back to the way it had always been.
So I was thinking about this story when it dawned on me that most of these sport tourists wouldn't be up to speed with how the London transport system actually worked and since there was no way to educate them, they would be left to their own devises, a move that wouldn't assist with transport flows.
And this is exactly what has gone down.
BUSES
If you haven't got a pass, a prepaid ticket or an Oyster Card you simply can't gain access to the bus service. Big learning curve for hundreds of thousands of sport tourists who are attempting to board the buses with cash in hand in expectation that they can purchase a ticket onboard.The result? Lots of confused tourists, impatient Londoners who can't stand 'their bus' being delayed by these day-glo  warriors, and increasingly harassed drivers (who already have chips on both shoulders as their union failed to nail an Olympic cash blackmail deal at the same level as that of the tube drivers).
THE TUBE
Most of these lines get really busy during all peak periods. Passengers continue to flow in and out of the stations because they understand that they have to work in with a set of unwritten rules like , keep moving at a pace, don't hang around in the middle of an access way, walk on the right side of tunnels or as directed, stand on the right of escalators, spread out on the platform to allow an even number for each carriage, don't crowd the trains exit doors as that will delay exiting passengers which in turn will slow you down, and plan in advance.
Of course all this logical stuff is alien news to a family from Boise, Idaho. These guys just amble around, blocking the way, standing on the left side of the escalators, the whole bit.
It's not their fault as they simply don't know any better and no one is about to tell them otherwise (the British stiff upper lip thing comes into play here).
The result is total chaos, as we witnessed on the circle line on Saturday afternoon.
THAMES FERRIES
I understand and agree with the desire for all these sport tourists to check out the sights of London by way of a ferry ride however there is one small technical logistical issue here.
If a ferry holds two hundred PAX that's it, there simply isn't room for more.
On Saturday afternoon we came across a line of eager day-glo warrior tourists that was maybe fifteen hundred in number all attempting to board at the Tower Bridge dock. It didn't help any that it was also bucketing down most of the afternoon.
DRESSING FOR THE CLIMATE
Let's face it to this point, apart from March, London hasn't experienced a 2012 summer. The experts all agree that things look like they are finally going to turn around as soon as this weekend, which is great news.
Meantime when Julia and I venture forth we dress accordingly with an umbrella tucked away close at hand.
When we entered a tube on Sunday we were greeted by the sight of maybe a hundred fresh faced tourists all dressed up with jandals, shorts, micro skirts , tee shirts and cut away tops.
When we all exited at Tower Bridge up went Julia and John's umbrellas. 
And what about these underdressed turkeys, well they started an immediate group freeze session . My God, how they moaned about the weather.
I would venture that these guys will think twice about suitable attire before exiting their hotel rooms when they next venture forth.
POLITICS
What a bunch of losers. At a time when both the London council and central government should all be swimming in the same direction, left wing Labour commies (disguised as well meaning Socialists) are doing their level best to pick holes in the Olympics, the organisational team, and anyone who is associated with the games. Not a good look on any front.
The current political labour circus act is centred on a parliamentary select committee which was today convened to discuss the drama surrounding the 11th hour admission by the security company contracted to run all Olympic security (G4S) that they couldn't deliver on their promise to front with 10,000 security staff. They advise is that they can only deliver 7,000. Upon receipt of this advise the conservative government immediately called in 3,000 army and police to supplement the G4S numbers. For their part G4S simply stated the obvious, that they were greatly disappointed that so many potential security staff pulled out at short notice (apparently the rule of thumb is a 10% no show) . G4S then apologised and indicated that they would cover the full cost of all army and police who would be utilised to make up the shortfall.
Now bear in mind at this point that on a worldwide basis G4S employs some 650,000 staff and is currently the world's fourth biggest private employer.
The chap who heads this company, one Nick Buckle is not the sort of guy you take on without first strapping yourself into an armoured suit made of titanium.
Tell that to these labour twits on the sub committee.
What has been played out on live TV today has been a classic.
This guy Buckle has lost more brain cells that the total contained within the twelve person parliamentary committee.
The line of questioning and responses were predictable.
Like the bright young thing from some God forsaken hole in Wales who when it was her turn to ask a question, screws up her face and spits out "so do you feel responsible for this situation" answer-yes. Aaah, so you admit responsibility. Answer-I have just said yes. "Yes, yes, but are you willing to take full responsibility for this situation here and now, answer that question , yes or no?" ( a triumphant look appears on this labour twits face).
Buckle then looks directly at the house committee chairman and in a low , even and very threatening voice says " I don't think this line of discussion is very productive, do you agree?"
To which the chairman responds, "I would like to thank the member from the South Wales Pit Number 5 electorate for your very insightful line of questioning . Perhaps we could now invite the member for Bradford weavers central to ask a further question".
It all go too much for me.
I trotted off to The Gallery down the road for a drink.

Cheerrs

Hakassan, the Seven Stars and Zuma

Father & son bonding at Hakassan Mayfair

The good guys (Chris, Richard, yours truly and Colin) having a pre lunch drink at The Seven Stars. This pub in the legal district is owned by a crazy seventy plus woman who has dyed her hair bright pink. She employs very strange bar staff however when it matters the service is great and the food is even better

The "A" team at my favorite restaurant Zuma. This is where footballers and their wags come to strut their stuff, along with Russian mobsters and general riff raff like those blokes in the photo.