Sweden July 16 to July 25

July 16 - July 21   Kullavik

Arriving in Gothenburg after a 26 hour flight. It was great to see Niclas. The next few days was spent on fitting new tyres and front rim on motorcycle, meeting up with Anne, Tommy & Marie & family. The rest of time was spent with Niclas chatting, playing golf, watching movies and drinking beer & whiskey.  Unfortunately I also developed a toothache in the plane and had to see a dentist.  Thanks very much Niclas and Kia for storing my bike for a year, and a week of excellent food and comfortable bed!

July 22 - July 23    Malmo

It is time to start the trip. After an easy 3 hour ride, I made it to Malmo. I checked into a high rise Best Western Hotel about 5 km from city centre. It was a new hotel next to Malmo stadium. Cost $80 a night for single room with breakfast. Quite reasonable except the extra $ 25 for parking! I then went into city for sightseeing and had a local Max hamburger for dinner. Next day I went looking for a BMW dealer to order a spare key for my bike. First bike shop was a only a small workshop, so he sent me to another bike shop. Unfortunately the second one was also a workshop and was closed for summer break. I will have to order it in Stockholm.  I then checked into Mercure hotel which is cheaper and has free parking outside. It was great to see Alan arriving around 6 pm. We had a great time drinking beer and eating out in a nice restaurant in town. The grilled whole fish I ordered was delicious!

July 24 - July 25   Stockholm

We decided to take the longer coastal way to Stockholm. It consists of 700 km of riding on a variety of roads ranging from 50 km/hr single lane to 110 km/hr two lane Freeway. We stopped in Kalmar for a quick look around. By the time we arrived in Stockholm at 8 pm, we were quite tired. We booked into a twin room in a hostel with 100% rating. Anyway we were given a room with no window. It was a clean room with good ventilation but I certainly wouldn't give it 100% rating. Next day, I tried to order my spare key again. The first dealer was for BMW cars only. So we went to the second dealer, and the responsible person there  was on holiday - similar excuse as the dealer in Gothenberg! I gave up and left. I might have to order it in Australia or give Estonia dealer a go later. We then go sightseeing around the old town. It started to rain  later in the afternoon, so we headed back to the hostel. Dinner was Swedish pizza and beer - nice.