I had quite the arrival in Sweden. I met my Dad In London and flew with him to Copenhagen. Then we dragged my bags down to the train station and caught the train into Sweden a 40 min journey. I dragged my 2 huge bags off the train and down the escalators, then my dad got stuck in the the doorway several times trying to help me with my bags. When we finally had a chance to look out onto the street it was one big PARTY.

We didn’t know that there was a festival on called “siesta” which is a big American car parade and a 4 day rock concert there was over 40,000 teenagers in the town of only 50,000. It was well crowded. The town was in a party mood hence the strong smell of beer and beer cans falling out of cars.  We stopped to watch the parade of old American cars mostly from the 50s and 60s some were in great shape but others were rusty. We then had to dodge the cars to cross the street to get to the hotel. We spent the night at the hotel and Jan Brink picked us up the next morning.

The day was much hotter then I expect – it was very hot… but nice. Jan showed me to my new “cottage” which is just 10 steps from the indoor. I’m staying in the “cottage” because the grass is right outside for Oslo. My neighbors are a field of cows.  We spent the first day becoming familiar with Jan’s farm which is truly a piece of paradise. There are no cars to be heard just the horses talking back and forth.  Jan has approximately 50 acres with 2 outdoor rings 1 indoor a race track and you can go hacking for miles on the property. There are big paddocks for the horses and 2 grass fields for turn out. Jan is all about a happy horse.

Over past few days we were shown were to get groceries where to rent a car etc. I have had a bit of a struggle with a car since at home we all mostly drive automatics and in Sweden all small cars are manual. I have only driven manual once or twice so my Dad has had the luxury of bringing me up to speed on driving a manual. Thankfully I can practice stopping and starting on country roads without causing a traffic jam.

My horse (Vitall) and dog (Oslo) will arrive in another 10 days as their flight got delayed. In the mean time I am going to go with my dad to London for a day then 4 days in Greece. My dad has meetings in Athens which is a bonus for me because I have pulled a muscle in back and it will give me a few extra days of rest before I start riding again.

Everyone has made me very welcome so I feel right at home and can’t wait to start training.  I will write a short update from Greece before returning to Sweden.