Now in Stockholm...

What is it with old people and hostels? I understand that age isn't always representative of a person, but I would seriously expect that by the time you're 60 or 70, you'd rather stay in a hotel than in a youth hostel with a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings. Especially if you need a stick to get around like my current roommate. Surely that's what pensions, super funds and grandkids are for...

This morning while still in Göteberg I visited Liseberg, which is the biggest theme park in Scandinavia. There was a (cheap) entry fee and then extra cost to go on the rides, which I found interesting, as you'd generally think paying an entry fee would absolve you of any further costs in enjoying the place, but I digress... I was in the market for a few rollercoasters, and I went on all three that were there: Balder, which is a wooden roller coaster with an interesting track (no loops but a lot of steep drops), Lisebergbanan, which is a fairly boring rollercoaster (no loops and many wide circles), and Kanonen, which was a launched coaster - at the start, instead of being dragged up a hill, you are shot forward at a huge speed. I have to admit, I chickened out and closed my eyes on this one :) It had an interesting (though very very short track), including an extended slow corkscrew that was pretty scary.

Rollercoasters over, I took the much slower train to Stockholm and checked into my practically empty hostel, where they charge you for fridge space. I was originally planning to stay here again for one night after my trip to Kiruna, but have cancelled that booking and booked into City Backpackers instead, which was highly recommended by two separate people while I was in Copenhagen. I mustn't be a very good liar, because when I told the guy at the desk that my plans had changed and I was no longer staying overnight in Stockholm on my way south, he said that he hoped it was a travel change and not a problem with the hostel.

In two days time I leave for Kiruna, north of the Arctic Circle. It's a Sydney winter-esque 12 degrees max 6 degrees min here in Stockholm, but the weather report for Kiruna on Tuesday gives a maximum temperature of 3 degrees and a minimum of -4, which I find highly concerning. Unfortunately too, the forecast for the aurora is almost as low as it can go for the two nights I'm there - although the prediction does say that it should be "visible low on the horizon as far south as Rovaniemi Finland and Mo i Rana Norway", which are a long way south of Kiruna. The weather forecast is "partly cloudy". Maybe I'll be lucky (but I'll try not to get my hopes up).

Have been feeling quite ill for the past couple of days when eating, not quite sure why. I guess the trip, as well as being stressful, is a big diet change due to the limited kitchen facilities, so I'll put it down to that and hope for the best.

Happy Birthday to Stephen for his birthday that has already begun in Australia :)