First Hotel Martensson Halmstad

... been quite looking forward to the crossing and it didn't disappoint. Opened in 2000, we had seen the bridge when we flew to St Petersburg in 2003 and had wanted to cross it ever since, well kenny in particular. Its the longest bridge of its kind in the world (cable tied road and rail) measuring 7.8km long from the swedish side near Malmo to the artificial "Pepper" island and from that island its another 3km of undersea tunnel to Copenhagen.<br><br>Yay we had ...

The weekend has been so relaxing! It's my first time to go to a Spa-hotel and I thought it was liberating to be able to go around wearing robes ;) massage, gym, sauna+freezing cold ocean+hot tub, swimming pool and the food was delish... I really have no complains at all!<br><br><br>

6th July - This was the first time I'd seen Andrews, Kiwi, Walker and Miles in ages. It was fab to see them again. So, flying out was a bit dull but we wet out for a meal that night to a pizza place that had ran out of pizza so I just had a prawn salad that was yummy. We stayed in a hostel that night and went swimming in the lake as soon as we'd had time to put on our swimming stuff 7th July - This was the first day of canoeing. It was ...

... and generally relaxed as hell. Fantastic. We'll stay here until Saturday when we take an overnight train to Berlin. Of course some of you will immediately recognise that Halmstad is the home town of everyone's favourite Swedish pop band, Roxette. It's surrounded by beautiful forests and coastline, all of which we've been chauffured, chauffeured, driven around to see. None of this, of course, makes for an interesting blog entry.

STOCKHOLM The Ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn was fun. Leaving Malmo was no small task. We do not use maps, we sort of head in the right direction and then stop and ask for directions. (I know how this goes against the grain if you are a guy) but it seems to work. Eventually we found the highway and it was a very beautiful drive. Seems that Sweden is flat in the southern part, then has trees and ...

... then cut it at it's base and the stump and root cluster falls back into place, often sending up a spray of water and ice that had collected in the hole. These trees grow fast and within 15 years, it'll all look like nothing ever happened. Until the next storm.....

... see enough of the scene to receive an impression which I shall never cease to associate with its name - "Engelholm" - Angel's Isle. We stopped at the door of a comfortable house; and my friend led the way through a court-yard to a warm apartment, were a motherly old lady received me with a smile of welcome that at once made me at home. Fresh logs were put into the stove - a great pillar of three or four feet in diameter reaching up to the ceiling, and covered with white ...

On my way back to Uppsala, I stopped in Malmö, Sweden for a day. It is a really pretty city, but I didnt wander too far from the main shopping street. I saw the main square and from a distance I saw the "Turning Torso", which many people from Malmö are very proud of. I could also tell the difference between here and Malmö in the language. When you go in a store in Malmö they say what the Danes say, hi hi, and in Uppsala, they say hey or hey hey.

... top of the Keep and had fantastic views of the coastline and of Helsingor Castle over in Denmark. We wandered round and found a thai restaurant. After dinner we attempted to get back to Viken for a quiet night in with our gin and wine but our plans were thwarted when we were spotted by some of Tadek's mates and were told we must have one beer with them. 5 or 6 later we ran away. We had to get the last bus back. When we arrived in Viken we found Tadek's family, minus Tadek, in the ...

... directly across the street from the hotel. We walked around the courtyard but the structure was simple compared to some of the other castles we have seen in Europe. The castle was built in 1615 by the Danes when this part of Sweden was Danish territory. It is currently used by the county government. We headed east across Sweden heading for Öland.