If Friendship Be the Food of Life...Play On

Friendship surely is the food of life.

And if it is, then a recent week we spent in Sweden was a rich feast indeed.

A group of dear friends materialised in the streets of Stockholm like time travellers beamed from the blue sky.

Jesper and Nok from New York, Jim from the World, Gerhard from Everywhere, Patrik and Nasim from Stockholm, Scott and Nym from Singapore and Bangkok and Paddy and Denise from Bangkok and many others from corners of the planet too numerous to name.

And there we were. Living, breathing evidence of the global village. A close-knit network of friends who had agreed to meet in Stockholm as others might have agreed to meet at the pub around the corner.

We had gathered to celebrate the opening of a wonderful new hotel called the Lydmar which occupies a grand but unpretentious building overlooking the water in central Stockholm. We were celebrating the opening of an exhibition of photographs at the Lydmar, entitled 'Offering', by James Nachtwey. And, of course, we were celebrating our friendship, our love of life and the great fortune that we all share in being able to live it so fully.

Stockholm provided a glorious backdrop. Bathed in crisp autumnal sunshine, the city ignited our imaginations, setting our conversations alight.



Stockholm is not one of those cities that comes pre-fabricated in the imagination; like Florence or Paris. And whatever vague pre-conceived visions I had, perhaps of a dark and cold place (like London?), Stockholm surpassed them. The God of autumn turned out to greet us and Stockhholm was as seductive as ever she could be. Her trees were on fire. Her buildings glowed. The cityscape, punctuated with medieval spires, seemed positively to shimmer with beauty.

The thing about modern travel is that it really does feel like entering another dimension. We arrived in Stockholm from Bangkok in thick fog, barely able to see the tip of the wing. Then, like blinking rabbits emerging from the magician's hat, we found ourselves hugging dear friends, meandering through historic streets and sharing Persian delicacies with an opera director and a dancer.

Which reminds me. I must say something about Patrik and Nasim, the incredible couple who invited us into their home for our first two nights in Stockholm.

Patrik (one of Jesper's oldest friends), is the perfect gentlemen: kind, reassuring and a paragon of modesty. He is a cool Swedish lake, whose calm surface belies the depth and wonders which lie beneath. A classical dancer by training, Patrik now teaches directors how to direct opera; when he is not directing one himself. And in his spare time, which cannot be many hours of the day, he builds websites working happily with indecipherable code.



Nasim, the fiery counterpoint to calm Patrik, is perfect in her petite beauty and effervescent hospitality. Persian, from Iran, Nasim is all movement, sound and life. Her large almond eyes drink in the world around her, dancing from face to face with impish delight.



To complement these great characters are their children, Tiam (9 months) and Keana (3 years), whose beauty mirrors that of their parents and whose glittering personalities, full of the innocent joy of childhood, held their inevitable audience spellbound.

Playing back the memories of Stockholm, I have the impression of an incredibly diverse mosaic of moments and emotions. It seems barely possible that so much life could have been squeezed into so few days.

It seems incredible, too, that so much Champagne (thanks to Pelle) could have been drunk in so few days too!

One experience flowed seamlessly into another. From standing listening to Jim opening his exhibition and blessing the Buddha which had been carried from Bangkok to preside over it, to jiggling in fits of laughter while belly dancing with Nasim, to the lazy strolls and the endless, endless food.

For me the trip to Stockholm was also something of a pilgrimage to the roots of a great friendship. Jesper has long talked of his family in Sweden, of summers in Stockholm and of his sister, Lisa, and brother-in-law Jonas's sauna boat.



We spent two unforgettable afternoons at Lisa and Jonas's 18th century farmhouse. Just 15 minutes drive from Stockholm, we found ourselves surrounded by forest, looking out over a lake. Another time warp: out of the cosmopolitan city and into a more traditional Swedish setting - with handpainted wall paper, burnished wooden floors and and an exquisitely harmonious and tasteful interior that conjured up a flavour of the past while retaining a hint of the contemporary.

What I will perhaps most remember, though, is the Sauna boat - if only for the bracing cold of the water that brands itself on the memory.



What a perfect concept. Row out to a floating pine cabin. Light the stove and row back to a warm kitchen. Sip wine, chat and laugh for 40 minutes then row back out again.



By this time the light was already failing and the temperature dropping. The lake was turning from shades of blue to black. The horizon was tinged with the purple of dusk, reaching slowly upwards like ink spreading from a blot.

On the last afternoon, seven of us clambered onto the sauna boat, stripped down in the dusk light and dashed into the steam of the sauna room. Then, one by one, screaming, laughing we plunged headlong, feet first, however we could into the icy waters, applauded by those brave enough to stand in the cold and watch and photographed for posterity, as everything must be.



It is in those moments of sheer thoughtless abandon, when your body penetrates the icy water and your lungs push out an involuntary scream, that you feel most definitely, most fundamentally, alive. We emerged dripping and giggling from the icy ordeal all understanding what it means to be truly refreshed. A wonderful, wonderful experience.

Finally, in writing this, and casting it into the blogosphere like a virtual message in a bottle, what I feel most I should say is thank you.

Thank you to Pelle Lydmar, the Ldymar's owner who gave us all the unique privilege of enjoying his incredible hospitality in the incredible context of his brand new hotel. Thank you to Thomas Nordanstad for germinating the idea of an exhibition which provided the catalyst for bringing us to Stockholm. Thank you to Jim for inspiring us through his intense, beautiful and moving imagery. Thank you to Jesper for inviting us into his Stockholm universe.

This, for me, is the food of life.