TOML - The Trip In A Glance.

In the nine days, we covered cities in three of the countries in Scandinavia - Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

It started with our arrival at Göteborg. My girlfriend was still working, so her mum and I got ourselves used to the lil' town which would become our home for the next few weeks.

The real summer vacation started when three of us took the Intercity train to Stockholm, capital of Sweden. It was my first time traveling on train.

Stockholm is the city of many museums, all 71 of them. The 14 islands of old and new towns build up the capital of the Three Crowns.

After spending two days in Stockholm, we set off to Oslo, the capital of Norway. My impression of the icy capital was quite different from the reality. The heart of the old city was undergoing some major construction work. There were new shopping malls between the old.

After half a day and a night stay, we made our way to Bergen by train again. This was the Norway-in-a-Nutshell tour. The train took us through the beautiful countryside of Norway. By train, ferry and bus, up to the cold mountains and glaciers, down to the great fjords and valleys, and to the old capital of Norway, Bergen.

Bergen is a quiet town. Not to mention our mood was dampen by the endless rain. But under the strong cold winds and rain, the land of fjords has a rich history which we tried to uncover.

After a day, we made our way back to Oslo in the overnight express train. We explored its history and visited the graves of some great Norwegians.

In the evening we made our way back for a layover at Göteborg, to wash our clothes, and revitalise ourselves. That afternoon, we set off for the final leg, Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.

Copenhagen is a city filled with life! The Tivoli, the Soccer tournament for the homeless, people dressed in office attire cycling around the town daily. Unfortunately it was where we met the darker sides of Copenhagen. It was also heart-warming to meet a fellow Singaporean and her Danish host who showed us a path to see the beautiful side of the city. Almost penniless, we had nice long walk to the famous little Mermaid, the gardens and the castles at night. Eating bread, navigating our way around using the map, a truly backpacker-kinda experience.

Finally, we traveled back to Göteborg. By then, I was very accustomed to taking train. Back in Göteborg, mydear went back to work while I relaxed in her apartment most of the time, watching Animal Planet, enjoying the remaining days of my holiday. To our surprise, the real summer arrived the day before we departed for home. My girlfriend's mentor was kind enough to bring us to a nearby island for picnic on the rocks - truly Swedish-style. And we had the view of the setting sun on the horizon. It was my first real interaction with a Swede during this trip. And I must say, he is really nice, a wonderful host to the country, tho' Göteborg isn't exactly his hometown.

My girlfriend's mum and I left Göteborg Landvetter airport, dreaming of home. We thought that the return transit was only two hours, better when compared to the arrival of eight. To our dismay, there was a plane delay which extended the transit to 12 hours.

Like all Singaporeans, when I stepped out of our beloved Changi Airport, this thought came to my mind - "Singapore is really warm!". I am already missing the Scandi-weather, and my dear girlfriend. =p