After a leisurely afternoon, in
which Barbara made loads more friends, We went back to our Kebab
place. A new man was cooking, and he didn't know our habit of buying
one and splitting it, so he started two. Since he already started it,
we took both. Now, those Kebabs are large. One fills us up, and after
eating two, we were about full of Kebabs for awhile. Barb wanted just
a spot of ice cream, and since he felt bad about the Kebab deal, he
mixed up a whole new batch of ice cream, just to give her a dab, at
half price. When he then saw we were sharing that dab, he felt sorry
for us and brought me out a real big cone for free. I know he was
beginning to think we were far too poor to be off, over here, away
from home. And in this place, he would be right. Barbara just had to
get a picture of him for that.
We toured a botanical garden the
next day, Then just ran around a while. We went by a theater where
everyone was running around really excited, because Sweden's most
famous actors and actresses were about to put on a play. They told us
we just had to see it. But, we wouldn't even know them anyhow, so we
went on looking for our Hostel. It was way back out in the country,
when we found it, on a farm behind a farm. Lots of people were around
when we checked in, so at least, we wouldn't be alone this time. It
was a huge building. Said it was a converted “Old Folks Home.”
Well, we weren't that old yet, but so many younger people were there
too, It shouldn't be so bad.
We drove out to town for supper,
and when we got back, we realized we were the only LIVING souls in
this three story building. Again. Even the woman who had taken our
money had disappeared. None of the buildings within sight had lights
on. Going up to the third floor to investigate, I saw a light was on
in one room, and the door was open. It was full of computers and
such. I walked on in to check it out. A very small, tentative voice
from a hidden spot said, “h-h-hello?” It was a woman, who, when
she began to get over the shock of me walking in on her in this
deserted place, said, “My husband rents this room for office space.
We have a farm nearby. I'm just up here, catching up on my book
work.” I apologized for startling her, and she was nice, but as
soon as I left, she locked up and cleared out too. I guess her car
must have been out back. We never saw her again.
Barbara reminded me of the history
of this building, and mentioned that a lot of those old folks
probably died in here. Along about that time, strange, unexplainable
sounds started coming up from the basement. We had some time before
bedtime, and we busied about to take our mind off all those strange
sounds. Barbara took a long, soaking bath sitting up in a bathtub
about the size and shape of a washing machine box. Then, we washed
clothes in it. In Wing, we always believed in multiple use of a big
tub of hot water, but Barbara didn't. Had to change the water after
each use. Then, Barbara read while I looked for a book. I had already
read every book I brought along. That's one area I have the jump on
Barbara. She reads on a book a week or two. Two days or so for me,
maybe three. Anyway, I found a large color picture book of their
Princess Victoria. She was beautiful. Just like Barbara. Perfectly
posed in every shot, just like Barbara. Perfectly at ease in the
presence of royalty. Perfect makeup, clothes perfectly matching,
never a wrinkle. Just like Barbara. I really don't understand how
Barbara always looks so perfect on trips like this, we hardly ever
find a place to wash clothes. But she does. All I can figure out is,
she was born destined to become a Princess, or a Queen, And I must
have came along early, and stole her away, before she had a chance to
meet her destiny. I just have no other logical explanation.
We had two single beds, the only
kind they seem to have in Europe. But we scooted them close together
that night. After a time, we dozed off, in spite of the fact that the
who-knows-whats kept playing around downstairs.
The nice lady showed back up and
fixed up a good breakfast. She said the radiators had just been
turned on, hooked up to very deep wells. The air from that deep in
the earth, a few degrees warmer, circulated up and heated the place.
Questionable heat in that climate, I thought, but the radiators did
dry our clothes good. Maybe that explained the noises. We declined a two night stay. We
were ready to move on.
Traveling through the dairy
country, I realized the Swedes had developed their milk cows to an
amazing degree. Their udders were often twice the size I had ever
seen before, comparable to some we saw at a Fair in Quebec City.
Their bag was so heavy, they sometimes just sat back on their
haunches, like a dog, to rest their load. Actually, I fear they are
ahead of us in other areas of technology. America seems to call them
over to do very difficult things, like setting up a computer system
for a city.
Barbara had started ragging me
about a week ago about getting a haircut. But, they wanted $60! I was
just not about to do that. Every town we came to, she tried to
bargain them down. We were sitting in a town square one afternoon,
enjoying an ice cream cone. Barbara said, “Be right back.” I
looked down in the direction she was headed, and I knew she had
spotted another salon. Will she never give up on that? Well, actually
I knew the answer. No. She stayed in there a long time, then stuck
her head out and motioned me down. She had gone through all the
operators, one at a time, telling them how little hair I had, how we
won't spread the word about a cheap haircut, how we would never be
back. Finally, she just wore the youngest, 21, down. She didn't have
her customer base built up yet. $20, how could we pass that up? She
did a great job, though. We found they have to go to school five
years for that. Like a Doctor. Who would guess
Continued Thanks for reading!
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