I love love love watching the world cup. I love the dramas, the penalty kicks, the crazy fans and how the world comes together to watch it. It’s also the sport that I played the most as a kid, so I  understand it best.

Watching yesterday’s match of the US with Algeria was exciting and fantastic and it left me anxious until the winning goal came during injury time. I’m thrilled that the US will go on to the next round. But I was disappointed for the Aussie socceroos as even though they won, they will not advance further. Such is the scoring system of the world cup.

I think that both the Americans and the Aussies need to improve their acting skills after an injury – all the European teams can play up the drama much more skillfully. I’ve missed watching Sweden this year – it was so much fun four years ago to be able to watch them, the Americans and the Aussies. All the pubs would be so overflowing with people that tables and TVs were set up on sidewalks. Last night, our local was packed for the Australia and England games, but there were no outside TVs. Oh well! Now let’s go team USA!

Jacob's Creek wine in a box.

Box wines don’t get a good rap in the US. If you went to a party and someone was serving a box wine, they would disguise it by pouring the wine into a decanter. Box wines were always looked upon as subpar and even something to make fun of. (Maybe that view has changed in the years since I’ve lived here?) But in Sweden, box wines are looked at as both a good value and an easy option for carrying around this time of year to the archipelago and to BBQs and picnics. Much like the Swedes themselves, they are practical.

We were at a friends house last night for a BBQ (it’s the season after all) and hostess Marie Louise wanted us to try Jacob’s Creek’s first wine in a box called Three Vines, which is a mix of  Shiraz, Grenache and Tempranillo. As Marie Louise is a wine expert who works for Pernod-Ricard, I tend to trust her choices, even when they come in a box. I have to say, this wine was tasty and had a flavorful blend of grapes – it’s definitely a good summer option. You can ask for it at Systembolaget or order it here: vinguiden.

And I have to add one funny story about wine in a box: Robert grew up in Australia where box wines were common. On long field trips on the bus, kids would bring along the emptied and cleaned out “moon bag” or the silver pouch inside the box. Apparently, once these bags were blown up with air, they made great pillows.  I love it!

I always have a song in my head. I stream radio on my computer all day as I work. In the office, I used to torture my coworkers with the particularly annoying tunes that got stuck in my head. In particular, it was good to plant a song that no one was quite sure of the lyrics, such as Alicia Bridges’ “I love the Nightlife” (I got to boogie on the disco WHAT????

But when I travel, I tend to have a play list of songs that feel like they suit where I am and also that are sung by the locals. With a nod to James O’Brien who recently described his holiday soundtrack, here is mine:

My play list included Wide Open Road by the Triffids. This is one of those good driving songs. Track 1

Friday on My Mind by the Easybeats. This song is from 1967 and it is still good. And the singer has some moves in this video. Track 2

Nick Cave’s Midnight Man. What can I say: Nick is always cool. Track 3

Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Memory Lane. This is a crank up your stereo song.  Track 4

And I save one of my all-time favorites for last: The Church’s Under the Milky Way. Another classic. Track 5

There are many more options on my Aussie play list, from The Saints and Paul Kelly to Jett and Crowded House. Maybe another day.

Now that we’ve been back from Australia for a week, it seems a good time to divulge the reason for our trip. Instead of our usual adventure holiday, this trip was for family. Robert’s Dad Kevin was diagnosed with lung cancer  and we were going down under to spend some time with him. When you live in another country, that sort of news makes you realize how far away you are from family.

Kevin underwent surgery before we got there. And then we waited for the prognosis after surgery. Miraculously, the good news came while we were there: Kevin’s lungs were all clear. It was such an amazing outcome and it needs to be celebrated. It’s a new lease on life for Kevin and he is even thinking of coming here to Stockholm for the first time.

The Olsen Art Hotel features the artwork of Australian painter John Olsen in every room. Photo by Robert Corkery.

In Melbourne, I slept with some great looking Australian art. Robert and I stayed at the brand new The Olsen, Art Series Hotel (see their site.) This is the second in a series of boutique hotels being opened in Melbourne that features the artwork of one contemporary Australian artist throughout the hotel. Thus the exterior of the building has a great reproduction of a painting on it, the lobby has originals and the halls and guest rooms all have prints. As you enter your room, an interview with featured artist John Olsen is playing on the TV. You can also purchase the artist’s prints. I love the idea of these hotels and think the concept is such a fantastic way to show off an artist and his work.

Behind the bed, a gray-scale version of one of Olsen's paintings is reproduced on a glass wall separating the bedroom from the bath. Photo by Robert Corkery.

The Olsen had just been open eight days when we checked in, so we had to deal with such moving in pains as nonworking and slow moving elevators and a room that did not get cleaned one day until we called at 5, but overall we had a great stay. We even borrowed the hotel bikes – which somehow not surprisingly were the stylish and arty Swedish Kronan models – to cycle along the Yarra River. And the hotel pool is open to the air and hangs out over the sidewalk, allowing you to see the people below walking by as you swim. Interesting touch.

We rode our Swedish-made Kronan bikes along the Yarra River.

As soon as we walked into Svärmisk, I knew we had entered Sweden by way of Australia.

When I travel these days, it seems I always find Sweden in some way. I’m not sure if I look for it, if it just finds me or whether I notice it as I live in Sweden. This trip, we had one of our Swedish encounters in Mt Beauty in Victoria, a small town Robert lived in for a while when he was a kid.

In driving into town, we noticed a place that looked like a modern ski chalet and that had a Swedish name – Svärmisk (see it here). So we figured we should check it out.

The pantry was stocked with all sorts of Swedish specialties.

Immediately on going in, we saw a row of birch tree branches and a Dala horse in the lobby. In the restaurant, there were all sorts of Swedish treats for sale, from knackebröd and Bilar candies to lingonberry jam. And in ordering our food, we were not surprised to meet the owner and find that Lena was Swedish and from Solna, near where I used to work. We had a good chat with her and enjoyed the homemade pastries, tea and coffee. In fact, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we then had to try some of the local wine. Somehow, we felt we belonged there.

We enjoyed this Shiraz from local vineyard Ceccanti.

Brightly colored bath houses at Brighton Beach in Melbourne. (How's that for some beaching alliteration?)

In Melbourne, I went to a dinner where a travel writer was speaking. The woman who greeted me at the door was another travel writer named Ali. In chatting, we discovered that she had written two articles for the in-flight magazine I used to work for while I was still the editor. Going futher still, it turns out she was a friend of Evan who wrote a monthly Travel department for me. They had both lived in Prague, which is where I met Evan.

Going one step further, the travel writer who was speaking was named Mark Dapin. He had just returned from a trip to Stockholm where he had interviewed Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s sambo, father and brother for an article.

It is such a small world. Sometimes, you don’t even need six degrees of separation to make a connection with someone thousands of miles from home.

Driving and walking on the left side is the rule in Australia.

Although we arrived home to Stockholm almost a week ago, today feels like the first day of being back to normal life thanks to the Easter holiday and jet lag. Here in Sweden, half of Thursday, as well as Friday and Monday, were holidays.

I spent the first few days getting in everyone’s way as I kept trying to walk on the left hand side of the sidewalk and stand on the left side of the escalator. When one person literally moved me out of his way, I felt like telling him I was walking on the right side of the road for Australia and that he should give me a break. But now I am fully adjusted and walking on the right and proper side of the path. Somehow, that kind of makes me sad though as that means the holiday is over.

In front of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

I love living in Europe, yet I long to live in Australia. Robert’s family is there, but mine is in the US and we have also created a family of friends here in Stockholm. No matter where we live, we are disappointing someone by not being closer.

When I am in Australia, I am happy. But coming home to Europe always reminds me of how far it is from the rest of the world. I can’t just spend the weekend in Paris or London. If I take a halfway point between Cincinnati and Sydney, I end up in Hawaii. While living in Hawaii sounds good in principle, it’s also in the middle of nowhere when you get down to it. Which leads me back to wondering just where I belong in the world.

I have decided that the best solution is to become fabulously wealthy and bring back the Concorde so that I can get where I need to quickly. It would also be good to have homes on all three continents. Given that we are not fabulously wealthy, that is about as likely to happen as bringing back the Concorde just for me.

Two adjoining fields at White Box, Uncle Peter's farm in Tubbel, New South Wales. I am already missing the warm sunshine.

Robert and I got home to Stockholm yesterday about 4.30 and at 5, we had a visit from James O’Brien, a blogging friend (see his blog). James has been in Stockholm while we were in Australia and now he is on his way back home to Sydney. We literally had just over one hour that we could meet before James had to hop on a plane, so it was amazing that we could make the timing work.

I got the chance to meet fellow blogger and traveller James O'Brien yesterday. Notice my tired jet lagged eyes! After 38 hours of travel, I was just happy to be standing.

It was so fantastic to make the transition home with an Aussie who loves it here. And it was also interesting to meet someone for the first time who I already knew a lot about thanks to his blog and his comments on mine. Thus James, Robert and I were able to easily talk about our travels and the places we had in common. It turns out that he lived in Wagga Wagga and also knew Young, the small town where Robert grew up. Sometimes, the world feels small indeed.