Giggles and Disgust in Sweden...

It doesn't take much to make me laugh and seeing the word "Fart" all over signs in Stockholm, definitely made me giggle. And seeing the words "Fart" and "Hinder" together seemed worthy of a photo especially after discovering that "Fart" is defined in the dictionary as either "Speed" or "Sleeping Police Officer." Gotta love a country that warns you about sleeping cops ahead.

Unfortunately, not everything we saw in Stockholm made me laugh. A visit to the Modern Art Museum left me nauseous. The main exhibit featured an American artist that worked for Playboy for years as a cartoonist. Granted, there was a warning that the exhibit wasn't for sensitive people. Since I've never been accused of being sensitive, I went in and quickly regretted it. While I used to find Playboy cartoons very funny when I was in college sneaking peaks at my boyfriend's father's copies (by the way, the articles were very well written), this artist had moved beyond silly cartoons into solo performance art. I've never been a big fan of censorship, but I would have liked to have met up with the museum curator and hit him upside the head for thinking this repulsive stuff was art.

Where Pacifiers Go to Die...

We were surprised to see pacifiers used as art in the children's zoo at Skansen, the open-air museum. Alex was able to translate a sign and told us that when kids outgrow their pacifiers they can donate them to the zoo as toys for the kittens and to be made into chains to decorate the zoo. It might make for some strange art, but it's a sweet tradition.

More Cute Kids in Sweden...

On our 2nd day in Stockholm, we met up with Vivynne, Tony, Ariana & Max, old friends from Florida. Tony's brother Alex has been living there for a year doing his post-doc, so he played tour guide. This photo was taking at Skansen, which opened in 1891 as the world's first open-air museum. This oversized traditional Swedish horse is based on small wooden toys that are rumored to be originally made in the 1600's out of the cutoff corners left over when making round clock faces.

Check Out These Swedish Babes...

Ok, maybe these aren't the babes you were hoping for, but you have to admit Veronica and Ashlynn in Sweden do look cute. On our first night in Stockholm we were lucky enough to stay in a hotel with a fantastic view and a kiddie playroom with dress-up clothes (this was a great Best Western amazingly enough). The weather was fantastic, but since Sweden is cold much of the year, the bar offers blankets when you're sitting outside watching the sunset. If you're having a hard time placing Ashlynn's costume, she's dressed as Pippi Longstocking, the infamous heroine of books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.

Valuable Lessons Learned - Part 3

* Don't let your landlord pick out your washer & dryer unless you want your neighbors to see your unmentionables. While we were happy when we found out he was going to buy us a brand new appliance, the reality of having an all-in-one washer/dryer sucks (whoever invented a dryer without a lint filter was a complete idiot). The power supply for the dryer fried after just 6 months, but luckily it's been a sunny summer.

* When taking a visitor to the airport, don't tell them to meet you on the train platform while you buy the tickets without telling them which platform. Our friend Tony said it was like a scene out of a movie as he stood on the wrong platform watching Jimmy jump onto the train to the airport without him. Luckily Tony didn't miss his flight.

Orange Fever...

The Dutch really love their football. While the Dutch team was still alive in the World Cup, there was a very festive atmosphere all over town with flags and orange banners galore. The stores were filled with orange gadgets. Some items were actually banned from football stadiums because they violated the official sponsors' rights. Here are John and Sally modelling Heineken's "secret weapon"; a plain green hunters cap that could easily make it past stadium security that transforms into a megaphone with the Heineken logo. Apparently Budweiser, an official World Cup sponsor despite being bad American beer, wasn't amused and the hats were eventually banned. The funniest ban was the Bavaria lederhosen (orange shorts with suspenders and a fuzzy orange lion's tail). Stadium security actually made fans take them off which resulted in 100's of hatless people entering the stadium in their underwear. Maybe if some of those corporate sponsors were made to attend a game in their underwear, they'd lighten up and realize that Orange Fever is a good thing.

Special for Your What?

I must admit, every time I see this one particular TV ad I still crack up (of course, while I could be considered worldly for living in Europe, I'll never be considered mature). As you can tell from this screen grab, this isn't an ad you'd see in the US. I finally decided to track it down so that I could share it with you and laughed even more when I discovered that it was from the Triangle's own Glaxo. And all this time we thought our friends who work there were discovering lifesaving drugs. Wonder if they get free samples of this revolutionary product with their paychecks? Here's a basic translation of the product information:

For your hair use you shampoo, your body use you douchegel - i.e. showergel, but with which looks after you in fact your vagina?

Although you've already seen the funniest part, if you'd like to watch the ad, click here: Special Ad then scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on: Bekijk hier de nieuwe commercial

Enjoy!