Winter seems to have settled into northern Sweden only. Here in Nynäshamn it is an almost tropical 0°C with even temperatures in the plus degrees forecast for later in the week. I'm not too sure what happened to that prediction about it going to be the coldest winter for ten years, but I am sadly watching the snow disappear at a rapid rate, revealing mud and a lot of dog poo that people have been surreptiously hiding with snow hoping that nobody will notice. But there is still just enough beauty here to thrill me.




So, why aren't we out sailing, you ask? Well, after the predictions and given the snow that had already fallen, Lars-Göran decided that winter was here and so he has removed the toilet and septic tank on the boat in order to improve the system. I think the original plan was merely to replace the leaking tap in the bathroom, but he needed to remove the whole basin to do that, then he thought he'd move the outlet hose while the basin was off, then he thought about adding a different outlet system to the septic tank.... and before you know it, the whole bathroom was in pieces outside in the cockpit. I only hope that he knows how to put it all back together again, without it becoming another Frank Spencer disaster.

In other parts of Sweden it is still winter. The kids report great snow at Åre, my friends in Dalarna send pictures of snow up to the window sill and last night my friends in Umeå and Luleå reported that it was -25°C there and whilst their apartments were toasty warm, outside it was, well, a little chilly.



I have experienced cold weather like that before in Sweden and the Swedes have a very sage saying (that drives most expats mad), "There is no such thing as bad weather, simply bad clothing". They use this as justification for being out and about in any weather. Many of you may recall pictures on television of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer a few years ago and the image that flashed around the world of a number of Swedes, sitting together in the snow in front of a fire, drinking coffee and having a picnic whilst the temperature was -20°C. Yes, I really know people like that!

I have sat outside in -20°C temperatures in the sunshine with crazy Swedes (remember that Princess Cake in the snow, Kirsty?) And what really freaked me out the most was that my snot froze in my nose. Stop me, if this is all too much information, but it was a most unusual experience. I've had my breath freeze before and the hairs in my nose freeze (that happens around -12C) but never before have I had the snot in my nose freeze. It sort of makes the nose feel rather funny.

Of course, walking back from the supermarket that same day my shopping also froze in my shopping bags. So I wonder how on earth people survive this sort of weather on a regular basis.

We have also been discussing the sort of stories that make the foreign news about Sweden. This was sparked CNN picking up on the story of a Man injured in sex shop attack in the Swedish west coast town of Gothenburg. We wondered why this of all stories made world headlines, when all it really does is to perpetuate the myth of sex-crazed Scandinavians. I guess it is the same reasoning as the gruesome death-by-nasty-creatures-in-Australia stories that make the news here in Sweden. Yesterday, Lars-Göran pointed out yet another shark attack in Queensland and today, there was a story about Australia Warns About Jelly Fish, Sharks After Fatal Attacks in our local Metro. Are journalists really that lazy and bored?

Meanwhile, on the Stockholm Congestion Fee front, it all seems to be going swimmingly, with even fewer cars than on the start of the study.



The introduction of this fee aims to cut traffic on the most heavily congested roads by 10-15 percent. In London, which introduced charges in 2001, the toll has cut traffic volume by 18 percent.

The charge is also intended to bring about an overall improvement in the urban environment in Stockholm, particularly air quality. And that has to be good.