I had decided to just wrap up Sweden and the British Open in one last post, but realized it’s going to have to be two posts; this one will conclude our time in Sweden and get us to the site of the British Open. The next and last post will be the Open and a wrap up of the trip as a whole. I just went through my journal and there is way too much to convey in one post.

Stockholm; Thursday 7/20
OK, 3am was a little late to be up, especially since we golfed until 10pm. Exhaustion is an understatement. I’m up and out by 9:55 in order to get to the stores when they open at 10am. I am in search of a gift for Mary. I cannot explain how difficult a task this is! Jewelry really makes no sense, it’s not like there are these incredible bargains, plus I’d rather go to ‘Carl’ back home. The clothes over here are a little weird, after all men wear Capri‘s!!! No kidding! (click on the picture, look at the guy in the hat about 10 feet in front of Pete!! I told Mary I was going to bring a pair back but I couldn’t do it…she was relieved!)

I bought her a t-shirt with Moose on it [inside joke here, it would take to long to explain]. I leave with nothing substantial, I’m going to be in trouble!! Hopefully, I’ll find something on Monday if I have time in London?!

So as I walked around and people watched (with my iPod producing the mellow sounds of Kenny Chesney’s ‘Old Blue Chair’) I couldn’t help but take a few minutes to thank God for blessing me. Seriously, regardless of my current health issues, how many people get this opportunity! I could have walked and walked and walked for hours…..serene. I would really like to come back here someday and take more of it in, this is such a beautiful city.

Pete and Joe are slow rising and we eat a quick breakfast and head to Jarva. [Joe is contemplating writing a story “How to survive Europe on the sandwich”, very funny but oh so true!]. We played 18 holes, my round was the same, nothing to brag about. We stopped to grab lunch, sandwich materials (go figure) and headed to Lilljon’s. It was yet another beautiful day in Sweden, temperature in low 70’s, sunny, very few clouds.

It was after two o’clock when we arrived. We ate and headed off to the first tee. Though the tents were still in place, no campers were to be found. As a matter of fact there was hardly a soul in the park at all. I played a few strokes better than yesterday, Joe and Pete a few worse. Regardless, it was sad to depart and head to the airport.

Our flight to London was the only leg of the journey that was not crowded. The three of us spread out and had our own personal rows. I fulfilled my goal of finding something for Mary by purchasing a strand of Japanese pearls and matching earrings from ‘duty free’. They are very unique, and quite pretty, if I do say so myself.

Friday July 21 (London/Salisbury/Beaminster)
We altered our plans slightly and decided to make a stop at Stonehenge on the way to the tournament. Salisbury was about half way to Beaminster, 90 minutes from London. The drive was an experience to say the least. Pete was the pilot of our Peugeot SUW (sport utility wagon; much like a Chrysler Pacifica).

Not only was the steering wheel on the wrong side, it was a manual transmission! I rode co-pilot, Joseph was the navigator, with Matt acting as the narrator. We made it to Salisbury by about 1:00am but having no idea where Stonehenge was in relation to the town we just pulled over, parked the car and tried to get a few hours of sleep. I tossed and turned until about 4:45 when the sunrise began to wake the others. We decided to try to find Stonehenge before the sun actually rose and thanks to a very friendly British chap we were there by 6:15ish. Only one problem – it doesn’t open until 9:00! Here are the photos we took while passing the monument at 35 miles per hour.
By 7:30 we had made our way to Crewkern, a few miles from Beaminster and Whitcome Farm, the site of the British Open. Starving, we began our hunt for food. As it turns out the town does not come to life until 8:00am. The grocery store was closed and all of the restaurants (both of them) were closed. About to give up, we found refuge at “The King Edward Inn”. We had a comfortable English breakfast and were off to the grocery by 8:30.

The grocery presented yet another dilemma, with no cooler or means to cook, what to buy? Chips and salsa, fruit, bread, granola bars, beer and large quantities of bottled water.

We were able to find Whitcome Farm and a place to camp without incident. Having nothing else to do, we were playing our practice round by 11:00ish. We brought some of the London heat with us; high 70’s but very muggy! The farm had two course, the Ancient and the Modern. The former slightly easier, the latter was a beast! Without directions or a map we found our way on to the Modern course. This place was massive! The elevation change between the first hole (low point) and the eighth hole (apex) was probably 400′. Not the Rockies but when you are use to the flat lands of Kansas, this was spectacular. A few downers; stinging nettles and briar trees. The course was lined with both. We have nettles on a few course here in Kansas but they are wisps compared to these terrors. For those of you not familiar with nettles, read this, look at the photo as well!!!. [http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html] By the time we finished our practice round both my shins felt as if they had Novocain injections! It took several hours for the sensation to subside. Additionally, my legs were covered with scratches from the briars as we had our share of errand shots. I shot a respectable 69 but the climb up the hills of this sheep farm took the remaining energy I had.

Here are a few shot of the course:
Joe on #7, last time we ever saw this disc!!

#8 The Hypotenuse, the 8th (800ft, 150ft drop)

Pete, Joe and Matt on #12 (give you an idea of the elevation change)

Joe tee’s off on #14 (click on the picture and you can see the basket)

The four of us signed up for mixed doubles. This provided a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of a few holes on the Ancient Course. Pete and I were paired with ‘Penn and Teller’ two gents from Sweden and Finland. Again, a long story behind the moniker Pete gave them, kind of funny but not worth sharing here. We shot -3 as a team, they shot -8 and took third place.

By 9:00pm I called it a night at tried to sleep in the back seat of the SUW. At this point I had gotten about 6 hours of sleep since Wednesday. I was exhausted, the Peugeot offered little relief. By 6:00am, after getting maybe 2 hours of sleep amongst the seat belts, shoes and other various items I gave up the fight. The sun was rising and the day of the tournament had arrived.

NEXT UP: The Open and a wrap!

It’s day two in Stockholm. I awoke at 7:30, 6 straight hours of sleep for me is good! I went to back to bed until 8:50, showered and then hit the city market right next to our hotel. It was CHILLY out! The overnight low was in the high 50’s, it felt great! [I noticed it was around 100 degrees in KC the day before].

I made the mistake of buying some cherries from some Middle Eastern vendor. They were good but the guy tried to sell me every other variety of fruit in his stand in addition to a few cherries. Back off dude, I just wanted a few cherries. He was offended when I departed with just the cherries, he’ll get over it.

I made the mistake of buying some cherries from some Middle Eastern vendor. They were good but the guy tried to sell me every other variety of fruit in his stand in addition to a few cherries. Back off dude, I just wanted a few cherries. He was offended when I departed with just the cherries, he’ll get over it.

Pete, Joe and I had agreed to meet around 9:15 so I took stroll a few block around the hotel. Found ‘Wayne‘s Coffee’ (http://www.waynescoffee.com/). From the looks of the place, décor, the signage, fonts etc. you would have thought you would have thought you were in Starbuck’s. The only difference is their primary color was navy blue. Is there a lawsuit here somewhere?

After meeting Pete and Joe we decided to visit Wayne‘s world for breakfast. [observation: nobody smokes. Well except Pete]

Finished a light breakfast and it was off to the Gamla Stag. For those of you who have not been to Europe this was your typical old town area; cobblestone streets, in this case completely pedestrian. It was familiar to us at first, and then we realized it was the same pedestrian street we tried to drive down last night as we were mis-directed while trying to find the hotel! Good thing it was deserted at that hour!

Our travels were limited but what we saw of Stockholm it is very cool; clean, well kept old buildings etc.. I could have walked the streets for days with hundreds of small shops, eateries and more. The exchange rate makes shopping for

gifts quite favorable. I was able to get Brad and others tee shirts etc. for around $10. I only wish I had more time to look at more Swedish items.

We made our way to the area where the Stockholm Jazz Fest was being held. Nothing was happening at the time, the shows were at night. Sting was playing on Friday, would have been fun but England calls. We had a nice lunch at an outdoor café; an awesome bowl of fish soup and a hearty garden salad with smoked salmon!

Around 2:00pm we found ourselves back at Jarva for another round. I vowed to play better, I didn’t at first. I threw a 37 on the front but a +1 29 on the back including a birdie on the very tough 18th.

We attempted get directions to a nearby course, Lilljon’s. It took us about an hour to find it, we even had to ask two other Swedes for directions. It turns out the last kid was a few hundred yards from the park entrance and did not know it! In the end what we found was disc golfer heaven. The course was beautiful. Dispersed through a forest of granite out croppings, ferns, hundred foot pines, birch and other trees. It was spectacular! There were short, tight holes through the trees. There were longer, more open holes through meadows. Uphill, downhill on and on, it was priceless.

We were greeted at the first and second holes by campers. Their tents, though not in the way, were pitched right in the middle of the fairway! The lady on the first hole apologized as she stood in amazement. She had no idea she was camped in the fairway, it was apparent she had no idea what disc golf was! The campers on hole two were friendly as well but they tried to recruit Pete and get us to attend their religious services that evening. We continued on avoiding being rude.

Proceeding without a map, it took us quite sometime to get through the first round, perhaps three hours. We went back to the car for water and a light snack.

It was almost 8:00pm at this point but the course and 18 more holes were calling! Joe lit up the last round shooting a blistering -8 (50). I was up and down, good shot, bad shot etc.. Fatigue caught up with me, a premonition of days ahead.

We made our way back to the hotel, dropped off the car and headed out for dinner. It was a little after 10 but we found our way to the ‘Bar Calonia’. The menu claimed a Mexican cuisine, it was good, but far from the Mexican we are use to in the Midwest. We washed the meal down with several local pilsners again and headed back to hotel around midnight.

Tired, but surviving on the adrenalin of the day, we nuzzled up to the bar at the Hotel Rica. Pete was working his magic again on the lass at the front desk, Joe and I spent the time getting to know each other a little better. In retrospect listening to him was like listening to myself at 22. He’s a great young man, has his head on straight and has a charming personality. We talked about school, disc golf (of course), love, life etc. it was an inspiring conversation.

One thing to note – I couldn’t talk about me, cancer, Mary etc.. I’m not sure if Joe asked or if it the conversation just migrated to the subject but as I tried to speak, the emotions exploded. As many of you have witnessed I can talk about this all day. I can talk about my case, the need for testing, on and on, an on. Most times I can get through these conversations with very little or no emotion. Tonight for some reason I couldn’t talk about it. Joe understood, we moved on to other subjects.

Between the conversation and the constant use of the hotel’s internet terminal the next thing we knew it was almost two o’clock. Pete and I had made separate trips to 7/11 for a few Heineken’s and I gave up a little after two in the morning. A long overdue call to Mary and I shut down at 3:00am. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up passed midnight much less 3:00am.
[Tomorrow morning I must find a gift for Mary]

We made it to London safely thanks to our friends at Virgin Airlines. We arrived on time and made it through customs without a hold up, the beauty of carry-on luggage!
I tried to sleep on the plane ride over but like usual, I was unable to doze off. Virgin offers personal video in all the seat backs so I watched “The Transporter 2” and “Fun with Dick and Jane”. The former was entertaining, much like the first movie, not real deep but action packed! As I type this up two weeks later I can’t even remember watching the second movie? I do remember it was horrible but I trudged through and watched the whole thing.

We met Joseph right away and went ahead and checked in for our flight to Stockholm. With four hours to kill we are on the Underground (subway) headed to the heart of London, Piccadilly Circus. We’re really looking forward to getting to Stockholm, playing disc golf, taking in some of the local sites and food. We left KC almost two days ago, seems like forever.

We ate sushi (yes I love my sushi) at the fountain at Piccadilly and proceed to walk and walk. We saw Westminster Abby and a few other sites then returned to the Tube (subway) in order to get back the Heathrow for our flight to Stockholm. The flight was two hours late departing which really cut into disc golf time!

We landed at 7:15 Stockholm time (GMT +1 or Central time +7) picked up the rental car and were on the disc course by 8:15. No worries mate, the sun didn’t set until 10:30 and we were able to get in 18 holes before dark!
The course, Jarva, is a private course that costs aprox. $5 to play. It is billed as one of the finest course in Europe. No offense, but these folks need to get to KC! The course was challenging, a few par 4’s along with a few par 2’s that were actually rather difficult. Pete limped along, sore ribs and all and played the last 9 holes rather well considering his condition.

We got a little mis-directed finding the hotel. A man is never lost, he may be off track, or mis-directed but we always know “where we’re not”! We dropped our bags at the hotel at about 11:30pm and headed to the nearest local pub/eatery. Of course the kitchen had closed but Pete talked the bartender into three enormous slices of lasagna which we proceed to engulf. Remember the sushi at Piccadilly twelve hours earlier, that was the last time we had eaten.
As Pete gimped to the bar for another round of the local pilsner, Joseph asked “What’s with the sausage fest”? Not catching his drift he explained that there were no women in the establishment…..hmmm? We were never sure or not, frankly it made no difference we were in our own little world, but we may have eaten an awesome meal, scraped together at the last minute, at a gay bar 5,000 miles from home!

Later we strolled back to the hotel, had a pint at the hotel bar and tried to get directions to a few more disc courses. As helpful and friendly as the staff was, they needed a bit of education in the lay of the land in their hometown. We decided to return to Jarva the next day and seek assistance from fellow disc golfers. Before retiring for the night we decided to stay another night at the Hotel Rica instead of attempting to find new accommodations. Pete worked his magic on the front desk staff and we got the same rate as I secured via Expedia. I called Mary and was sleeping by 1:30am, tomorrow we do a two hour walking tour of downtown Stockholm and the Gamla Stag (old city).

7/16
My odometer flipped to 10K miles on the way to pick up Peter. Nothing significant about that fact, it’s just an observation.

We’re at the airport, it’s starting to set in, we’re leaving. I’m getting really excited – I’m already missing Mary and Brad.

I played one last round of disc golf yesterday. I shot my best round ever (-3/51) I had 5 birdies, 2 bogies, it was awesome! Hopefully more rounds like that are ahead!

So we are off to Chicago, then NYC before leaving for London tomorrow night at 7:50pm. Our flight to NYC was 45 minutes late, great start, good thing I have my iPod and a few books!!!
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7/17 (NYC)
We stayed up late, had Peruvian food, as the Ethiopian restaurant Phil had recommended had changed hands. Joe’s friend Patrick from KC was in town doing mission work so he came by to visit as well. The four of us had a number of beers, talked and talked and talked while listening to way to much Steely Dan~ “Phil, can I put on___ NO!”. Got to bed about 1:30am.

Phil, Pete’s friend from KU is originally from Paola, KS. He graduated and left the Midwest 20+ years ago. Said he’d never go back. He has lived in the same apartment for 20 years. I’m not sure how he does it. He’s an editor/writer and the lifestyle of a New Yorker is so different. He pays equivalent to a midwest mortgage payment for 750 sq ft. in New York. I’d go nuts! He’s a great guy. We talked this morning for an hour or so while Pete slept. Turns out Phil had brain cancer a few years back, all clear now but it apparently took 18+ months for the doctors to get his medications right. He said it was a real struggle. I told him more about what was going on with me and we discussed Pete’s daughter Maggie a bit. I found it interesting how after knowing each other for 12 hours we could be so open with rather heavy emotional topics. Must be that part of that Midwestern upbringing.

We left around 9:30 and started just walking the streets; the UN, Grand Central Station, NYC Library, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (I lit a candle for Mom, Mary, Brad, John W., Karen, Rick in Houston and all the other PC survivors). We missed Mass. The place was gigantic, yet beautiful, so much stained glass! We walked through Central Park and found our way to an enormous Whole Foods Market under the Columbus traffic circle.

We ate sushi and then continued our walking tour until about 2:30. We got cleaned up and caught a cab at 4:00pm to avoid some of the traffic issues at rush hour. A little more than 14 hours until touch down in London, the anticipation is mounting.

The three amigo’s, deep in the Swedish woods!