Finally the winter has arrived.But it is not half as cold here as it was in Stockholm last week.It was piercing sharp - it would hiv cut ye in two - you might say but this just made our frequent visits to cafes all the more enjoyable as we huddled in corners clutching large glasses of milky latte's and pots of tea with no knobs on the lids.Our favourite was (eventually as we changed every day) a place called String where all the really cool cats hang out - it could have been '67. This is where we had tea from the teapots with no knobs.We noticed all the hip kids were drinking tea from a hotch potch of odd shaped pots,each served with a little cone of tea,so when in Rome(or Stockholm).When presented with ours we immediately proceeded to pour our little cone of tea into the water as we would do at home only for Johnny to scald his hands trying to get the lid off .It was then that we noticed that all of the lids had had their handles removed to prevent anyone from putting the leaves in the pot and everyone was pouring the water through the little cones.This was no use to us as we like a strong cup of cha.We deduced that this was to save them cleaning out the teapot of leaves(a chore we agree) - lazy but ingenious. Stockholm is a beautiful city and we spent many enjoyable hours wandering around it.Our first stop was the old town(Gamla Stan) where we followed the candle lit streets to the palace and the cathedral where we sought refuge from the cold.To our delight we discovered below the silver altar and the biggest bronze candelabra we have ever seen was one of the worlds best (apparently)wind orchestra's rehearsing for a future performance - it felt like Christmas or how it should feel. The next day we found a really cool music shop - all retro americana like a fifties Hollywood set - and guitars to match.On closer inspection we discover that a lot of the guitars are very groovy looking Hagstrom guitars which we think are Swedish.The guy selling them turned out to be from "The Diamond Dogs" - a Swedish punk band from the 70's who looked a bit like Kieth Richards - he invited us to his show in Glasgow.Further on we find the good record shop - it's called Pet Sounds and the guy who runs it fills in our diary for the night.Everyone is so much friendlier here and we take his advice and go to this little pub to a see a band.We drink some happy hour beer (significant as the alcohol here is very expensive)and eat glasses of nuts and wait wondering what the band will be like.We assume they will be punk as the dj is playing non stop 70's punk and not a bad record is heard all night . But when they finally squeeze onto the little stage - who do they sound like - Belle and Sebastian.They were quite good but it did seem a little strange.We followed all our new friends then to the local trendy night club(we must have been drunk as anyone who knows us will tell you) where we met some more lovely people - lovely by looks and by nature.There is a band playing in the club as well but they turn out to be awful(but very much don't know it)so we spend the evening talking to the beautiful people about football and our common love of Henrick Larsson(our new pal oh didn't we say). Yes Henrick Larsson and Paul Lambert are our new drinking pals (although we were actually drinking Irn Bru).Yes in order to facilitate this lovely holiday we actually had to do a show for all the important politicians and sportsmen from Scotland and Sweden.As a result we had the great privilage of sitting with Henrick and Paul for a large part of the evening.The high spot of the show for us was when these two great footballers lifted their table in the middle of our set and moved it nearer the stage in front of all the suits.Respect . Love to you all and hope to see you all soon some time before Christmas - check here for details. M+J.