Update
Recently, I had to go and have a few tests done. A very tiring day turned out to be a success in the end. I hadn’t slept at all before leaving for Gothenburg. (The tests are for my big project, that most of my friends will be familiar with by now). I was totally exhausted even when I left, not to mention when I got back.
On the way to Gothenburg, just as we (my sister and I) had got on the bus, there was this guy who missed the bus by only a few seconds. He waved his bus card, but the driver ignored him, even though my sister called out to tell him what was happening. A few minutes later, the guy caught up with the bus at a red light, but the driver still ignored him. That guy looked so disappointed. I’m wondering why the driver couldn’t have been a little more accommodating.
On the way back, we made such good time we ended up back a couple of hours early, by, among other things, getting off at an earlier station and walking really quickly.
Fortunately, it didn’t rain, though we’d been told there was a risk of that. We were also really lucky that the train was on time both ways (though there are delays or complete stops almost every day).
So now we’ve finally done the tests (except, sadly, one – a difficult one, not sure what to do about that). After a while, we both got a clean bill of health, which was a relief and a printout to send to Estonia.
Then the other day, we set out for a little outing – this time to the next town, Thn, to go and hear a lecture that sounded really interesting – about Sweden during WWI (which, as you probably know, we weren’t actually in). On the way there, again, the driver asked if we were adults (over 19, apparently, LOL).
Before the lecture was supposed to start, we managed to go to a store and buy new gloves. I got a pair of new red, touchscreen gloves. My old gloves were beginning to look a little worn.
When we entered ‘The People’s House’ (fancy name for a house dedicated to culture, in this case a library, a theater and lecture halls.), we had trouble finding the theatre, though we’ve been there before, several years ago, and walked back and forth in the foyer, and up and down the stairs, no doubt looking confused. When we returned to the foyer we found that someone had written in red letters on the whiteboard announcing the lecture, that it was cancelled.
Feeling a bit let down, we decided to go out to the big mall that is right between the two towns and try to do some shopping (for food, since the other shops would be closed). We finally managed to get our favorite vegan products (fake meat and cheese) and some chocolate.
It’s getting colder now, so I suppose winter is coming. At least there’s no snow yet. The trouble with snow is that in such a humid place as this, it instantly turns to ice and that’s no fun to walk on. So now I’m switching to my warmer scarf and I’ll be wearing my gloves every day. I’d already started wearing my parka. (TMI?). Don’t worry, this is it. Blog post over. 🙂
Out and about
Today we went on a little outing. We were going up to our cottage to meet an inspector from the insurance company. However, when we were about to change buses, the man called and said he’d had a cancellation and was just a few minutes away from the cottage. Since we weren’t there, he went up anyway. It seems our house isn’t the sort of building that can be easily accessed to be approved for the higher insurance (no basement/cellar) so we said we wouldn’t bother about it. He gave us some advice about the exterior of the house and left. That meant we didn’t need to go, after all. So we didn’t get on the next bus and stayed in the town we were in, to do a bit of shopping.
Unfortunately, the shop we wanted, the one with the delicious Belgian chocolate, wasn’t there anymore and we don’t know if’s been moved or just closed down. Then we went on to the big mall where we can usually get some special vegan foods. Some of those weren’t available either, but we did get some plus some fresh vegetables. And some other stuff we needed. On the way back to the bus stop we were caught by the rain so we waited and before the bus was due to arrive the rain had stopped. That happened twice before we were back at the house. It rained and we were under some kind of cover, which was lucky.
We were also (hopefully) able to advice a foreign visitor (who didn’t speak Swedish and almost no English) about which bus to take.
A funny detail: each time we got on the bus, the driver asked if I was an adult. The age limit has changed several times over the years, so I wasn’t sure if they meant was I under 16, under 19 or under 26. It turns out that they were talking about under 19. So apparently I look about 18. 🙂
A little outing
I went on a little outing yesterday and spent half the day on buses and trains, but managed to do a bit of shopping, which was kind of fun.
On the bus to Gothenburg, I ended up having one of those awkward attacks of coughing, that I tend to get when I’m tense or nervous. Two youngish men who sat in front of me got up and left rather hurriedly, which reduced me to a fit of laughter. I wonder if they thought I did it on purpose to get a little more privacy.
On the way back, the bus drove straight into a thunderstorm. One minute, the sky was clear and it was quite sunny, the next everything went dark and the rain came down in sheets. I ended up getting completely soaked in the few seconds it took to get from where one bus dropped me off to where I’d be waiting for the next. My shoes were completely submerged, even though there were drains here and there to get rid of the excess water. :/
I really need to get out more, and since the weather is just ‘unstable’ as opposed to just rainy, I might try to cram a little fun into the next couple of days. What I really want to do is go to some historic monuments or museums, but a bit of shopping will do, I suppose. I’ll see what I can manage.
