Harley Days behind us, we headed to a little airfield outside of town to catch our plane to Sweden. (I find it important to make a note here about our choice of airline, Ryanair - see note below.)
We landed at a tiny airfield amidst lakes and rolling green hills and met up with our friends Mattias and Gunilla from Gasoline Magazine (quite possibly the coolest mag on the planet). Therein begins one of the most amazing weeks of my life. We walk out to Mattias' car, a Buick Roadmaster station wagon and head off down the road to Kungsor. Gunilla handles the driving and to our amazement Mattias tells us to reach in the back and grab some Buds from a little pink cooler. Apparently it's legal to drink in the car in Sweden as long as the driver doesn't partake. While Sweden seems like a million miles from the USA, they have the most amazing love of things American...We get to their home in the quietest little town ever and I swear it's nothing but American cars and bikes. A few minutes later their buddy and world famous painter Bosse Jensen shows up with a screech in a '66 Vette and the next thing I know we're going sideways at full bore through this sleepy little town with people on the side of the road giving us thumbs up all the way, everybody knows Bo. The cobwebs from the flight now fully cleared from my head, we finally pull up to a campsite on an idyllic lake and it's like stepping into a scene from Easy Rider. Nothing but tents, friendly local 1%ers, beer and some of the coolest bikes we've ever seen. There's a chill in the air and most everyone is gathered around little bonfires or cuddled up with their honeys in tents. As I walk to the water's edge feeling like I'm in some kind of dream I note the the sun is still hanging in the sky...at 12 midnight! It's true what they say about the north, they really have sun for almost 24 hours in the summer and they don't waste it. After meeting some of the cool guys and shooting some footage, we head back home (this time Scotty gets to go drifting in the Vette) and while we drink brandy upstairs, Gunilla cooks us a full traditional Mid-summer's smorgasbord. It's 2am and the sun has dipped below the horizon waiting to return at 3am to start a new day. I pull the blinds closed and try to sleep...
The next few days marked such an amazing time, we saw some of the local sights and toured Bosse's bitchin shop and then headed into Stockholm for the screening. We stayed at a crazy hotel in a converted prison called Langholmen and had a great time at the Garlic and Shots Bar. It was raining all day but cleared up just in time for the Ton-up Stockholm guys to arrive and enjoy the show. We'll post more about the whole trip later but here's some shots that pretty much sum up our stop in Little America. Huge thanks to our amazing hosts, Mattias, Gunilla, and Bosse. You guys rule.
*Side note on Ryanair for travelers in Europe: Known for being the cheapest airlines in Europe I booked it for some crazy price like $30 a seat. I didn't realize a couple things about it though so I want to mention them here just FYI. #1: Don't bring too much stuff because they weigh every piece of luggage and charge per kilo over a certain amount. #2: They say they fly out of major airports but there's always a little asterisk next to their listing, the reason is because they are based out of tiny airfields sometimes over 1 hour outside of the city. #3: They have cattle call seating which means when they open the door it's a mad dash to the plane and much negotiating for a seat. (Hint: take the exit row because it has twice the legroom and none of the seats recline anyway!) THAT SAID: Now that I know the system I would take Ryanair anytime; the small airfields have no delays, the prices are good, all the planes are new, and the service is friendly.
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