Stockholm and proud!

So it was back to Europe and back for my seventh visit overall (second on this trip!) to what is still very much my favourite place in the world, Stockholm, for Pride week, which I'd first sampled last year. Yes, it lasts a whole week, with cultural and political events and entertainments all over the city, and four days at the Pride Park. One of the things I most love about it is that it's clearly something in which a large proportion of the whole city's population participates to a greater or lesser extent - my straight male friend in Stockholm has told me it's around one-third of the city. Touchingly, every bus in the city flies rainbow flags at the front all week. 

At the Pride Parade

As far as I've ever been able to tell, homophobia doesn't really exist all that much in Sweden's big cities; straight men seem by and large to construct their sense of masculinity a bit differently to what we expect in the Anglo-Saxon world, so that they're just not threatened by gay men in the way that still isn't uncommon to a greater or lesser (often unspoken) extent even in English cities. Officially gay venues in Stockholm are actually fairly few and far between; there are however a number of mixed 'gay-straight' venues, and I've been told more than once (albeit judgments do seem to vary a bit on this) that in most non-gay venues, it's pretty safe for a gay guy to try coming on to any guy he likes the look of - because if he isn't gay, he'll most likely just quietly let you know and won't be bothered by it at all. If you've paid for a Pride Park ticket for the whole week, you have to keep on all week the distinctive orange wristband they give you. When last year I joked to my straight male friend that my contingent maybe found it just a little uncomfortable to wander round the city all week wearing a garish marker that we're gay, he genuinely didn't seem to understand what I meant - because of (a) the number of straight people that buy tickets too, and (b) the sheer unlikeliness of any homophobia taking place anywhere.

Once again in Stockholm I was able to hook up with fellow schlager fans from London (Joe, Rob, Dushyan and Leyton... and of course Karl who lives here now) - see my March postings from Stockholm for more explanation of the whole schlager thing if you need it. For those who know Leyton, going out partying with him while on holiday is quite an education, hehe (love you chicken!)...

On the Wednesday night, we went to a club called Ambassadeurs which really fitted the stereotype of a gorgeous (and eye-wateringly expensive... 180 SEK [£16] admission anyone?) club full of gorgeous people. If the stereotypical Scandinavian look is even slightly your type (and as I made very clear in my March postings, it is totally my type), whether you like boys or girls, you like me would have been looking around constantly in a dazed state, trying not to actually drool too much. Really, it was quite incredible. In fairness, none of the Stockholm clubs I'm more familiar with (i.e. Paradise/Kolingsborg, Zipper, Patricia) are really like that - i.e. they certainly have more than their fair share of attractive people but overall the crowd feels more normal - making me conclude that a swanky place like Ambassadeurs must be self-selecting. If you're not in the league of the gorgeous people who frequent it, you're going to feel pretty intimidated and down on yourself quite quickly, and probably hence go somewhere else instead. One thing I really did notice however this time in Stockholm is that while blueish eyes are very common amongst Swedes, naturally blond hair is not as common as the stereotype goes - a lot of gay boys (as well as women) are blond only with the help of a bottle. There also seems to be a slightly peculiar hairstyle (to my eyes) very much in fashion amongst Stockholm gay boys at the moment, involving very short cropped back and sides (probably a number 1) but with quite longish hair on top.

Anyway, I digress. The show at Ambassadeurs that night was Miss Transsexual Sweden which overall was surprisingly entertaining and good fun, with a generally high standard of participants warmly received by the packed crowd. The interval act was a certain Eric Saade. Eric is now a major star in Sweden, yet we'd rocked up at the last minute and managed without any trouble whatsoever to watch his performance all of about 4 feet away from the stage - and this is after I'd met him and got a photo, an autograph and a friendly chat with him (and several other stars) in March. I love the fact that Swedish popstars just seem to be far more accessible, open and down-to-earth, and not at all up themselves about their celebrity status, compared to British and American stars.

Mr Eric Saade, up close at Ambassadeurs :)

The main draw for me and my friends at the Pride Park was the Thursday night which is devoted to schlager, and you can rely on a number of big-name acts appearing. This year's selection (for those who are interested) included Shirley Clamp, Nanne Grönvall, Christer Sjögren, Blond (Melodifestivalen winners in 1997 with the fabulous "Bara hon älskar mig"), Jill Johnson, and Björn Skifs in the opening "classic" section; then in the "contemporary" section after the interval, Elin Lanto, Sofia (yawn), Chiara (an unannounced surprise... wearing an enormous dress with rainbow stripes... they say that vertical stripes are slimming but I couldn't say she looked thin!), Sibel, Jenny Silver (no less peculiar than ever and still wearing that glove), Neo, Hanna Lindblad, Linda Pritchard, Didrik Solli-Tangen, Anna Bergendahl (mutter mutter... I still don't rate her, but she got a rapturous reception), Hera Björk (yay!), and as a final big surprise, Lena Meyer-Landrut, the winner for Germany of Eurovision 2010, who I was particularly delighted to see as I felt it had been a very deserving Eurovision winner. We all had a fantastic time as you might expect. There had been a serious amount of rain on Wednesday night into Thursday, which had turned the Pride Park into a bit of a quagmire. I observed to my posse during schlager night that it was just like being at Glastonbury, but I swear it wasn't me that added, "Yes, but with much better music!" The night was topped off with the packed-out "World's Biggest Schlager After-Party" till 4am in an, erm, museum next to the Pride Park - actually a great venue except that they need to sort out better ventilation - with live PAs by Sarah Dawn Finer and the particularly fabulous Linda Bengtzing.

A little damp but very happy during schlager night at the Pride Park

Other acts at the Pride Park on other nights included Hazell Dean (a bit of an old favourite of mine - she's looking very good for her age if I can say that respectfully, and she's still good at what she does, even if there was clearly limited interest from the sparse Swedish crowd), Emilia, Jessica Folcker, Rednex (whose set seemed to last about three hours... YAWN), Sash!, the Vengaboys (YAY! I still can't believe their comeback single is actually called "A Rocket to Uranus"), Darin, Rebound, Therese, Love Generation and Le Kid. Overall pretty stellar for any Europop fan, so we all enjoyed ourselves a lot.

We were out clubbing till stupidly late every night - that's what we do in Stockholm. In Scandinavia in July, that means that you're walking home in broad daylight. I've always loved this, but it does mess up my body clock something chronic - it's difficult to say the least to get to sleep straight after an eyeful of daylight at 4am or 5am. But then, in Stockholm in Pride week in the summer with schlager on top, I don't really need as much sleep as all that to keep going and energised. Oh and by the way, after my bitching in March about Swedish boys, I'd like to put it on the record that I now know there is at least one attractive Swedish gay boy who is incredibly sweet. :-)

If it seems a bit peculiar to the uninitiated that I'm talking about my favourite city in the world and I'm only talking about clubbing and ridiculous music, well I have done pretty much all of Stockholm's sightseeing in my previous six visits. But every time I go, I do still try to get myself to:

• Riddarholmen, possibly my favourite spot in the world to sit and contemplate - it's a tiny island with a massive church and government buildings but no permanent population, but a truly heart-tuggingly stunning view across the water;
• Monteliusvägen, the highest spot in the city on Södermalm, offering fantastic views back over the water across Gamla Stan, Norrmalm and Kungsholmen;
• Gamla Stan, the wonderful medieval old city, the largest preserved one in Europe, complete with narrow streets it's great to let yourself get lost in; and
• the waterfront in the heart of the city all around the Kungsträdgården area - this is where I first really fell in love with the city on my first visit, and that passion hasn't gone away.

Oh, and as I was travelling on from Stockholm to Finland by ferry, I also got another look at the start of the ferry sailing at the incredible beauty of the Stockholm archipelago, a collection of some 24,000 small islands covering the 60km to Stockholm's east in the Baltic Sea. Yes I'm running out of superlatives, but sailing through is captivating, wonderful and bewitching.

 Sunset in the Stockholm Archipelago... Not much matches this. 

Those brief written descriptions aren't going to effectively convey a lot of the city's appeal to me - it's hard to explain really. Do try to look at some decent photos sometime (I didn't take many this time). The ubiquity of water in the city, which is built across some 14 different islands, has a lot to do with it, especially as it gives a sense of calmness and serenity at various points (such as Riddarholmen) even in the centre. The general beauty of the buildings (albeit there are a few real horrors around as well) also has a lot to do with it, as does the general sense of good organisation... and of style. The Swedes are surely the world leaders in interior design (probably a lot to do with the climate... they're not exactly out of doors a lot in the winter) and right up there in the fashion stakes as well (guess which are my favourite international chains for inexpensive furniture and fashion respectively?!). But I guess that leaves a lot of "je ne sais quoi", and beauty in the eye of the beholder - talking to friends and acquaintances who've also visited Stockholm but aren't schlager freaks, I can tell that they generally think it's nice but are surprised that I'm so passionately insistent it's the number one place in the world. Obviously, I can only plead with everyone reading this to come for a long weekend, try to understand a little of what it is I bang on constantly about, and make up your own minds. I do recommend coming in the summer, preferably within six weeks or so either side of midsummer so that you get the magical effect of the long summer evenings when it barely gets dark at all.

Am I rambling on? Probably, but hopefully that in itself at least conveys a little of how I feel. Anyway, with Stockholm coming straight after the wonderful Canada, you could say that I was feeling pretty good with the world when the time came to move on for the final week of my trip to Finland.

Photos (mainly singers and Pride floats, plus some of the archipelago at the end): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2393908&id=61207375&l=f8119f351b

Sydney

Getting to Australia inevitably felt almost like a homecoming after two and a half months on the road mostly in Asia. Obviously English is pretty much the only language you see and hear, and if you live in London you're already very familiar with the accents and relaxed, generally friendly manner of Australians - one reason why I was particularly looking forward to my visit. Almost immediately you're handling coins with the Queen's head on them - this felt like such a slice of home that I forgot for a good 10 seconds or so that I'm an ardent republican! :-)


It feels to me like there is generally a relaxed understanding and connection between Australians and Brits - our cultures and world views don't exactly seem so different. If that sounds like a historical no-brainer, I figure I'm not entirely sure how much I'm going to get the same feeling in North America, but we'll see.


I was fortunate that my good friends from London Rob and Dushyan had decided fairly last minute to holiday in Sydney and then Melbourne with dates that almost exactly overlapped with mine. It's been fantastic to be able to see and hang out with friends from home again, if slightly odd too having been mentally prepared since March for not seeing anyone from home until Stockholm Pride at the end of July! It had felt as if an age had passed since I last saw them when in fact it was only a little over two months - time definitely passes a lot more slowly when you're away from the daily treadmill and experiencing something different every day.


The weather I experienced in Sydney was poor, with lots of rain and cloud, and one day which was so unrelentingly sodden it would have been atrocious by English standards. Even though late May is late autumn if not winter in the southern hemisphere, all the locals I spoke to suggested this was pretty exceptional and hot on the heels of a long spell of fine weather. If I'd had a dollar for every Australian who joked about the rain making me feel right at home, I'd be quite a bit less poor! Fortunately I was able to pass the wettest afternoon at the excellent Museum of Sydney which, with Sydney having been the first European settlement in what became Australia, really does give an insight into the excitements and many problems (and, sadly, crimes against the indigenous population) associated with nation-building in this (then) remote corner of the world.


The one day that the sun did come out, it was bordering on warm... and I got a touch sunburnt. It hadn't remotely occurred to this naive English boy that you can get sunburnt in the Australian equivalent of late November! Someone mentioned to me afterwards that it is partly due to the ozone layer being much thinner in this part of the world.


Where else could you start sightseeing in Sydney but at Sydney Harbour? The extraordinary Sydney Opera House is, like the Taj Mahal, one of those world-famous sights which really is as good as the hype. It's just so unique, and stunningly and perhaps strangely graceful. It's well worth taking a lingering walk right round, since it felt like it reveals something new from every angle.

The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is I believe (without having compared diagrams) of somewhat similar design to the Tyne Bridge which links Newcastle to Gateshead in England, but obviously beats it hands down for both size and setting. Its sheer scale becomes more impressive the more you see of it and learn about it. An essential activity is to climb the 'Pylon', one of the four mostly ornamental towers at each corner of the bridge - the view all around the Harbour and beyond is truly breathtaking and a major highlight of my entire trip. Also told there is the story of the bridge's construction, which took seven whole years after planning was complete. None of today's safety essentials such as helmets or tethers was available to the construction workers, and several died on site as a result.

There's a very pleasant atmosphere all around the Harbour too, which is quite a cultural as well as a transport hub. The free Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA) there is excellent, but probably longer in the memory will live the unusual range of buskers around the waterfront, which included an Aboriginal man playing a dhidgerydoo over a hard house backing track, and a guy in a tuxedo dancing the samba with an inflatable dummy for a partner...


The other legendary area of Sydney is of course Bondi, and even with the ropey winter weather it was well worth spending half a day there. I feel that the reputation of the sandy beach area itself probably owes more to the undeniable atmosphere (even on a winter's day; in summer an average 35,000 flock daily) than to any particularly incredible natural beauty. However, wander just a little away from the sand and you do get a pretty breathtaking glimpse into the power of nature, with large waves off the Pacific Ocean fairly crashing into large rock formations. Even on this winter's day there were several dozen surfers out in the water and as I've never seen any before, it was fun to watch them enjoying the waves. A water baby I am not but it's not hard to see the appeal! Apparently the strength of the waves keeps the lifeguards busy rescuing swimmers on a daily basis however.

It's hard to capture much of the awesomeness of the waves around Bondi Beach in a still photo, but hopefully you get some sense...

Sydney city centre lacks a real focal point, say an iconic public square. It does have Hyde Park right in the centre of things, a fraction of the size of its London namesake but beautifully maintained and somehow very lovely indeed to wander around. Other than that though, although there are moderately impressive colonial buildings and statues dotted around the city centre, I generally found it a little on the impersonal and non-descript side. At nighttime in winter it is definitely helped by the projection of interesting light images onto some of the landmark buildings - definitely something that should be copied more widely in other cities.


But if the city centre is at times underwhelming, this is definitely compensated for by other reasonably central areas. Both Potts Point (where I initially stayed in a hostel) and, even more so Newtown (where my lovely Couchsurfing hosts Ghassan and Theo live), are really lovely, with a great atmosphere and charming independent cafes, bakeries and galleries. Newtown seemed to be a real leftie, arty, bohemian enclave with a sense of local community - I was genuinely amazed since the feeling of that I got was probably stronger than anywhere I know in London, and it was a real insight to be shown round the area by a savvy local. I talked to Ghassan about rental prices and it seems that very decent flats in Newtown are far more affordable than I'd expect for a similarly nice area in London.


Not entirely by accident (although it had only involved tweaking my first-draft itinerary plans by something like one day), my stay in Sydney coincided with the Eurovision Song Contest, all three shows of which are broadcast annually in full in primetime (thanks to time delays) on the country's multi-cultural network SBS.


Thanks to the lovely British ex-pat and keen Eurovision and schlager fan Louisa (miss you!), I had an invite to house parties for both semi-finals. I think Louisa had pretty much arm-twisted an American (!) friend Joe who just happens to have a spacious central flat that he wanted to allow an assortment of randoms (including a Swedish girl, and a genuine Aussie who's previously flown all the way to Europe to be at Eurovision) into his flat for this thing called Eurovision. He was a fantastically generous host, despite a conversation along the lines of:
Joe: "So will they sing different songs in the final?"
Me and Louisa: "No, the same songs."
Joe: "Oh. That's a bit boring."
Me and Louisa: "It's a SONG contest!!"
Joe: "It should be a band contest..."
I did try my best not to scowl for the next half hour, honestly I did...


Much fun was had with impromptu schlager parties afterwards (the second one a wake to help get over the debacle of the heartbreakingly dull and weakly performed Swedish entry failing to qualify for the final)... Slightly too much fun too late into the night, as the police turned up at about 1am regarding noise nuisance, and neighbours egged the balcony. I think it was Louisa's rousing solo performance of "Molitva" that had done it...


For the final we headed to Oxford Art Factory on Oxford Street, a cavernous basement venue showing Eurovision on big screens. The time delay in broadcast had become a problem, since earlier that day when I was introduced to a visiting member of Theo's family as a Eurovision fan, he said "Oh Germany won didn't they?" And in the middle of the Australian broadcast, one of the group of rather annoying Irish boys near us took great delight in telling me that the UK had come last. But nonetheless it was good fun, the venue was pretty busy with locals appearing to get quite into it... And the best song won (again) too. SBS's commentary by Australians had been bland and fairly clueless, and the venue closing almost immediately at the end of transmission was unexpected and unwelcome, but then how much can you really expect for Eurovision in Australia on Sunday night?


The slight downside of my one weekend in Sydney being taken up with Eurovision (and with the delayed broadcasts being on three consecutive nights whereas live in Europe you get days off in-between, it felt unusually hardcore) was that I didn't end up with the energy or proper opportunities for full exploration of Sydney's legendary gay scene. I did go to the famous Stonewall Hotel and a couple of other Oxford Street venues midweek, but really I'll have to reserve judgment until I go back to Sydney, whenever that might be. You can't do everything, everywhere, every time. I did skim in a bookshop parts of an Australian book lamenting the supposed shrinkage of Sydney's gay scene in recent years, allegedly due to integration with the mainstream and the 'Gaydar effect' (i.e. gay people now using the Internet to hook up instead of going out), or even gay people leaving Sydney for elsewhere. However just walking around the streets (and chatting with great locals) there was no doubt it's still a very gay city.


As I've mentioned Australian currency, a vaguely interesting point is that banknotes appear to be largely made of a very thin lightweight plastic rather than paper. Once you get used to this, it's really quite welcome, since they appear much more durable than British banknotes. I imagine there'd be a huge uproar if the Bank of England tried introducing the same, but surely everyone dislikes grubby English fivers? The banknotes make up for the extraordinarily large Australian coins - I'm sure they're larger than British 50p, 10p and 5p coins were before they were made smaller in my youth, even though tne Aussie versions are worth barely half as much. Added to that that the $2 coin is very similar to the $1 coin but smaller...


I was a bit surprised by Sydney's public transport, which seemed generally quite poor. The reach of the equivalent of the metro seems really quite limited, the trains are pretty dirty and a little dingy, and they're surprisingly infrequent, as in my limited experience were the buses too. There also doesn't seem to be any equivalent of the touch-card system that most cities I've been to seem to have adopted. This may well not be typical of the rest of Australia however, as Ghassan mentioned that the state government of New South Wales has been feeble for many years.


Gripes aside though, I had a fantastic week in Sydney, no doubt about it. There's no doubt that at a different time of year with warmth, no rain and light evenings, it would be even better. Do I want to go back sometime sooner rather than later? You bet I do.

Tremendous Tel Aviv

There are some cities where you just feel totally comfortable, embraced and almost 'at home' virtually as soon as you first arrive. You can't necessarily put your finger on why, but since life is always shaped by emotional responses it doesn't really matter. My list of these cities has been topped by Stockholm (surprise surprise), Amsterdam and Helsinki, but you can now add a high new entry - Tel Aviv.

Why? Good question. It's distinctly provincial in some respects (with a population of a mere 400,000), expensive, and often quite shabby. At just over 100 years old, the contrast with Jerusalem could barely be any stronger. And there's not a huge amount of active sightseeing to be done here.

However, it also nonetheless has a real buzz and vibe about it, while at the same time feeling very livable and manageable. It was a planned city inspired by the model of the, er, English garden city (so next stop Welwyn or Letchworth... or maybe not) and the care given to public space is very obvious - most roads seem to be tree-lined and public benches are very commonplace (something which is actually pretty important as a tourist and certainly missing in many cities). It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being the "white city" with extensive 1930s Bauhaus architecture (not entirely different to art deco) - albeit that many of these buildings need renovation. The city also has some very plush boulevards and squares, and an impressive collection of cutting-edge modern towers which lend it a dynamic 'going places' air. 

 Rothschild Avenue, Tel Aviv's swankiest street

Oh, and last but not least, the extensive and impressive beaches are only two blocks from the city centre! One of the many beaches is unofficially gay, although also the surfer's beach and the only beach where dogs are allowed - thankfully I only counted one dog turd...

Beachside

Tel Aviv is very obviously the liberal capital of Israel, and from talking to some locals, their pride in this is obvious. The gay scene is extensive. Everywhere else in Israel shuts down completely every Friday night for Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), but in Tel Aviv it's actually the biggest night of the week - meaning that partygoers from everywhere else in the country descend on Tel Aviv. Combine that with the fact that it was the build-up to the big holiday season of Pesach (Passover), and my Friday gay clubbing experience at superclub TLV was uncomfortably crowded to say the least, although still memorable (and not just because I'd paid 17 pounds - the most ever anywhere I think, ouch - to get in) as there is no doubt that people here know how to party! The night before I'd been to another gay club called Barzilay which was holding a Britney Spears party - an interesting concept to say the least (albeit one I hope won't be repeated everywhere...!)

Increasingly I'm finding that my experiences in any place are heavily shaped by who I meet, and in Tel Aviv I hit the jackpot on two fronts - firstly with my fantastic Couchsurfing hosts Kobi and Ilya. I've thanked them, paid tribute (and expressed my wish to meet again) in person and on Couchsurfing itself, but I'll just mention their fantastic and multicultural Jewish cooking. Oshpilau is a delicious (and very filling) spiced rice from Uzbekistan cooked with chicken and raisins; malawach is fried bread from Yemen; while malabi is a yummy desert made with cornflour and passion fruit.

Secondly, I had a pretty intense holiday romance with a beautiful Brazilian boy called Paulo - it was lovely (and to be honest it severely curtailed the amount of time I spent out and about in Tel Aviv!), albeit that it's unlikely our paths will now cross again. It was an interesting glimpse into what the next phase of my life might have looked like if I spoke any Portugese (which I don't) and felt able to consider moving to South America (which I definitely don't). I guess such occasional glimpses into parallel universes is another feature of going travelling.

On my last night Kobi and Ilya were kind enough to take me to Evita for their world-famous (well, at least amongst Eurovision fans) weekly Eurovision Sunday. It is best known for the incredible dancers who stand at the front and perform move-perfect dances to all the modern classics of Eurovision - while I'd heard plenty about it, they truly have to be seen to be believed! There was a great atmosphere and the largish venue (considerably larger than downstairs at Retro in London) was full to bursting for some time. For those who don't know, the original concept of the Eurovision Song Contest in the mid-1950s was to promote international peace and understanding through the medium of song, and I couldn't help but think to myself when this British boy was dancing like a loon with his Israeli hosts to Armenia's "Qele Qele", that Eurovision's creator Marcel Bezençon would probably have been proud. :) Oh, and for those sad enough to care, the two UK songs played during the night were "One Step Closer" and "I'm Never Giving Up"... and the half dozen or so Swedish songs included two by Alcazar, yay!

This is one of those cities that keeps very different hours for party-going to London. The monthly Eurovision theme night in London, Douze Points, finishes at 11pm, but the Sunday night at Evita (i.e. during the working week) doesn't start until 10.30pm and didn't finish until around 4am... I understand that people don't usually bother going out before about midnight.

On the cultural front I did go to the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, which was sort of interesting in showing the many achievements and travails of the Jewish people worldwide over the centuries, but hardly a must-see to be honest. More memorable was a post-Evita walk home with Ilya which featured walking along the beach under an almost full moon, with crashing waves and the old port of Jaffa illuminated in the distance. Ilya persuaded me it was a good idea to have a quick paddle in the sea at 4.30am - definitely one for the "things I don't usually do at home" file!

 A couple of things I won't miss about Israel are:

• the airport-style security checks to enter shopping malls and bus stations (however necessary they obviously are); at Jerusalem bus station I was asked if I was carrying a knife, when I think what they must have been looking at on their X-ray screen was my nail clippers... 
• the currency - garish banknotes, confusing coins (the smallest value coin, worth less than 2p, is the shiniest and one of the largest, and they soon pile up in your wallet) and an apparent culture of dislike for 'large' banknotes even though they're what ATMs dispense. I think Tel Aviv was the first place I've ever been flatly refused service, at two separate places in one day, for trying to make a small purchase with a largish banknote.

However, Tel Aviv has been a real highlight and I really, really hope to make it back there sometime, and perhaps see some more of this fascinating country called Israel (and maybe the West Bank also while I'm at it, which I didn't get to in the end) too.