Having spent so much time here all the weird things about this place just seem a bit samey now and soon Friday was upon us. We decided to go out and explore a bit of the area and tried to go to somewhere I had never been before. We went with Lisa who was supposed to know the way but we ended up getting a little bit lost but we eventually found the way and arrived at a place called Silverfallen (Silver Falls!), which, not too surprisingly, is a waterfall! It was really cool as you could get up close to it if you really wanted to and of course I dared to for photo purposes but opted against taking a shower.

You could climb to the top of this first waterfall and round a bend there was another one and it was even taller but you couldn’t get very close to this one and so we didn’t even get such a good view of it. There were purpose built steps to lead the way and on top of the second waterfall. Up there was a wide stream where Smilla went for a paddle and we spent a while feeling the sun.

We went back down the way we came and crossed the bridge but didn’t get very far on the other side due to the path being blocked so we went further downstream to a place I had seen in photos that Anna had taken of Josefine. Just behind this location was a ruin of an old mill with some kind of creepy entrance laying behind an overgrown path. I wanted to try and get closer to it for a better look but the ground was very uncertain with slippy rocks that were crowded with nettles so there wasn’t much chance of getting anywhere but I still tried. A little green frog jumped next to my foot. I couldn’t get a stable footing on the rocks. Anna later tried to help me but it still wasn’t the best idea as I might not be able to safely get back, it was inaccessible to me but maybe not for that little green frog.

It was a beautiful place and the weather was really nice, the dogs had a good walk too, they were smart and managed to stay safely away from the steep edges. We took another route home and suddenly down came the heavy rain.

Back home and we dressed nice for the evening. We were going into town but there is a lack of public transport options so we got a ride from Isabella. We went to meet Hedvig but it seemed like she didn’t instantly recognise us. This kind of thing has happened a few times since Anna went a bit blonde. We had to wait a while to get into Husaren because we didn’t know that entrance was exclusively for people who had booked a table. There was a popular event on known as Allsång På Krogen!

We met Hedvig’s friends and ordered some drinks. It is quite expensive to go out and have a few social beverages in Sweden so maybe that means that the alcoholics are rich here. Lucky for me then that one drink is enough as we didn’t have much money with us considering the high prices.

Lisa was already there with all her friends as they had booked a table. They waved us over and invited us to sit with them. There I met Ellen, she was very friendly and pretty crazy too so we got on just fine! We were sat on picnic-style benches arranged in rows a bit like at a banquet with a live band on stage at the front. Everybody sang typical Swedish songs that pretty much everyone knew! But I didn’t! I didn’t have a clue! Looking through the song book supplied I only vaguely recognised a few and the rest were foreign. The whole place was full of joy, not a single miserable face in sight. This was exactly what I needed to cheer me up! The good vibes were infectious and culminated with the vast majority of the joint singing and dancing on the tables, including us as I was dragged up by Ellen. It was barmy but absolutely BRILLIANT!

I kept thinking that this kind of thing just wouldn’t really work back in England without some fool starting a complete riot but I really wish it didn’t have to be that way but I know all too well that people just can’t go out and have a good time like they do here in Sweden! Nothing got out of hand, nobody needed to be thrown out by the bouncers, everybody was just having a really great time. At that point I was so happy to be here, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else! This was an outstanding way to spend the evening!

They did play a few songs I know including one from Abba and a rendition of Dolly Parton’s Working 9 ‘Til 5, cheesy I know but at least I knew what they were. I also recognised another feel-good song which people will associate with a dancing baby, an Internet sensation and Ally McBeal?! You know the one, it starts off “Ooga Chaka, Ooga Ooga”… well apparently it was originally by a Swedish artist and yet somehow I knew some of the lyrics so couldn’t help but sing along:

When you hold me in your arms so tight,
You let me know, everything’s alright.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, I’m…
Hooked on a feelin’,
High on believin’
That you’re in love with meeeeeee.

It was probably the highlight of the evening!!!

Later on they cleared the tables away as everyone had finished eating and the area became a big dancefloor. The venue seems to have changed a bit since I was last there. They have 3 different dancefloors with a wide variety of music, we spent a little time in each area. I had never heard of most of the songs particularly in the Backstage area which was all about the heavy metal and rock music, but I didn’t care so much. At one point I did get pulled onto the dancefloor by some happy drunk guy who I guess just didn’t want to dance alone and I was closest to the stage but I didn’t really wanna dance to that kind of music, well I say dance but head-banging isn’t my thing at all!

The night was still young and we spent a lot more time with Hedvig and her lovely friend Angelica. Unfortunately they couldn’t have joined us on the tables because despite there being space for them to squeeze in some uptight girl on the “table” next to us wasn’t willing to share the free space she had and had a very stook up attitude that wasn’t welcomed. She even had an issue with me squeezing in next to Ellen even though not an inch of me was in her precious territory which was largely unoccupied as clearly she didn’t have enough friends so why did she have to be like that? Anyway we made up for lost time having lots of fun and just dancing the night away without a care in the world.

It would have to come to an end eventually because it wasn’t too clear how we would get back home, walking wasn’t really an option because it is quite far out of town. The only real option was to take a late bus but when we got on board we didn’t have enough money to get a bus card as the price had doubled to 200 Kronor and we could only scrape together 170 after the cost of the rest of the evening, so we were forced to buy single tickets which was the least cost effective option, leaving us with very little change. Anna wasn’t happy by this but I told her just to let it go. So we were being robbed by the bus driver but who cares? It shouldn’t spoil what was otherwise the best day in Sweden this year… well, so far!…