Is this the elusive Lisbeth Salander's new apartment? Photo by Robert Corkery.

About a week before we left our old apartment, we saw someone new moving into the lower level. When a name tag was posted to the door, we could not help but notice it. “How cool is that,” I said to Robert. “Lisbeth Salander has moved to our building just as we have to move out.”

Of course, I was referring to the fictional character of Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larson’s Millenium series, first made famous as the girl in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. As we were living on Södermalm and just around the corner from where Lisbeth’s old apartment on Lundagatan was, the fiction seemed like it could be true. Or maybe we just wanted it to be.

Thanks to moving apartments, I’ve been without internet at home. So not only have I been feeling like I am in unfamiliar territory, I’ve been unable to keep in touch with the world via my computer. It’s been frustrating. (My phone is a dinosaur and without surfing ability.) Plus, my digital camera broke, so I have not been able to take photos. Ugh!

As I was finishing up my work yesterday I noticed that it was raining but that the sun was shining brightly. So I went out on the balcony to look and there was a perfect rainbow. It seemed like a good omen to share, so I called my cousin in New York City. Funnily enough, we both had the same cough and sinus problems, a few thousand miles away. It was great to get caught up. And I should have home internet again on Friday. I hope.

Looking toward the beach at Långholmen. Photo by Robert Corkery.

On Thursday, it was once again unbelievably hot. “This may be the last warm summer day we have,” said Robert when he called me around 4 that afternoon as he left the office. “We have to go to the beach.”

So we packed a quick dinner and rode our bikes to Långholmen for a picnic. It wasn’t as packed as on the weekend, so we were able to easily find a place and hang out, swim and watch the boats go by. Later, the Swedish band Kent began playing a concert on the island, so we listened to music and enjoyed what has turned out to be – thus far – the last warm day of summer. Being an optimist, I am hoping we will be graced with a few more warm and sunny days. Soon.

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!

We’ve spent our weekend looking for apartments again. It’s become our all-consuming search. During the week and on Saturdays, we troll the listings in the newspapers, marking which ones look interesting. Then we go on the real estate sites to look at the photos and floor plans and all the other pertinent details. If the place still looks good, we see what time the visnings or showings are on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening and mark out our line-up. I’ve honed my skills and have developed quite the process for how all this comes together.

Today we looked at four places in an area of Mariatorget that Robert and I have come to love. This is the second time for me to look at one of the places, so it is a distinct possibility. And for fun and moral support today, our friends MB and Rich joined us in the search. It made it kind of like a party.

By the way, we went yesterday to see the building in Hammarby where we were offered a second-hand lease but could not see because the building is still under construction. This is a brand-new area and a brand-new building, but it’s just outside the city and has become sort of a yuppie baby central. Without kids, we feel like two fish out of water there. But we thought we would give it a chance.

In studying the building, we identified which place could be ours. On the floor plan, there was something marked as a konstverksfönster or art window. Now that could be cool, we thought. Until we saw it: on each floor, there was a different stage of courtship cut out of the concrete facade. The fifth floor had a man giving a woman flowers, the next floor down showed the man and woman dining at a table with a heart over them, the next showed them embracing, the next showed the woman with a baby bump and the final showed the man changing a diaper. And that’s when we knew that we simply did not belong there. On to the next place!

Graduating students, celebrating life with lots of champagne.

There’s a steady thump, thump, thump of bass mixed with lots of yelling and horn honking. As the noise gets louder, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance becomes clear, mixed with the shouts of about 40 just graduated high school students jam-packed onto the back of a flat-bed truck. It all means just one thing: it’s graduation time in Sweden.

The last two weeks have been a frenzy of students celebrating their final day of school in a similar manner. On the final day of school, students come running out of their school – girls dressed in white, and most all wearing sailing caps on their heads embroidered with their name and school – to be greeted by friends and families holding signs with pictures of the graduate as a child.

And then the students party: typically, classmates hire a truck, decorate it with Swedish flags, birch branches and banners and then drive around town, drinking champagne and dancing. Yesterday it was raining, but the tradition went on anyway. I felt sort of bad for yesterday’s graduates, so I took their photo. They seemed to be having a great party in spite of it all.

I’ve started studying Swedish again after a long hiatus. This time around, it’s so much easier. I am used to the sound of the language and have been using and reading it regularly. Now I want to build on my base.

My relationship with Swedish started out on a bad note. On day one of my very first ever Swedish class, big, blonde and opinionated instructor Helena announced during the Jag kommer fran or “I come from…” introductions to the class that she didn’t like Americans. As I was the only American in class, I took it personally. But stupidly, I never complained to the university.

Looking back, I’m not sure why. I had only lived in Sweden for about two weeks and I was in culture and language shock, so I was definitely not my usual feisty self. I was also intimidated. I was so new, I did not know any Swedish whatsoever. Everyone else in class seemed to have a working grasp of the language and I scrambled from the start. And then there was Helena, my Viking instructor from hell… At least my new Swedish instructor Gunilla remains terrific after a few lessons.

If ever there were days to take a long lunch or just skip work altogether, now is the time. It’s sunny and warm – 20C, which is warm for Stockholm, at least. I went for a bicycle ride at 12.45 yesterday, taking a late lunch break. And it was packed everywhere. It seems everyone has the idea to be out sunbathing and having picnics.

The good news was the hot guy in the park in his shorts, no shirt and a washboard stomach. The bad news: the old overweight neighbor out on her balcony in her bra and granny panties. Yikes. I was eating my lunch.

One of the many charming garden houses in Södra Tantolunden.

Yesterday on my bike ride, I cycled around the garden houses in Södermalm. The Kolonia Södra Tantolunden is an area of hillside garden plots that allows city dwellers to have a little piece of land to garden.

Another version of a garden plot.

Spring flowers in bloom.

As you wander around the narrow lanes between the houses, you find miniature houses and gardens of all sorts. It’s a peaceful oasis in the middle of the city and being there was just what I needed to unwind after a stressful day.

The last I checked, the wait was about 50 years to get one of the places in Tantolunden. Since it’s not likely I will wait that long for one, it’s good to just walk around the alleys. Lilacs are in bloom everywhere and the newly green grass and tulips are stunningly beautiful just now.

This house is higher up on the hillside.

Red picket fences surround the plots.

I like the Swedish falu rödfarg - a traditional red paint color – on this house.

Picnickers at Skinnarviksparken on Saturday afternoon.

After several gorgeous sunny days in a row, it’s raining today. As we are on the top floor of our building, the rain sounds so soothing that I don’t mind. Besides, I’ve been making the most of the sun.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Skinnarviksparken. Parties were going on all around us. People had out their engang grills – one use grills in an aluminum pan that are easy to use and dispose of – and were barbecuing their lunches and dinners.

Lazing on a sunny afternoon...

Nearby, a couple of guys played the blues on harmonica and guitar. Kids were blowing bubbles, skateboarding, bicycling and playing with balloons. And Robert and I hung out, chatted and read, just happy to enjoy the sunshine.