When you’ve stayed somewhere for two months – used the public transport, shopped at the local shops, made a few micro relationships – you realise how much you’re going to miss the place. It was a bit different at Tyresö because we already knew it well, but, I am starting to realise how much I’ll miss Ekerö.
I didn’t think so at first.
Saturday, for instance, marked my final trip to Brommaplan. I don’t think I’ll ever have cause to catch the t-bana to or from there again. It’s not the most attractive of places but, in a way, I’ll miss it.
I’m pretty certain that I’ll not miss the bus changeover at Kolonnvägen, particularly when it’s dark and raining. Or the fact that the buses that start at Ekerö Centrum rarely display their route number before they move off which means I always have to ask where they’re going.
A little closer to home, I’m definitely not going to miss the kitchen at the house or, most of all, I’ll not miss the washing machine that leaks waste water all over the floor every time I use it.
But these are only minor things.
A big thing we’ll miss is the restaurant down at the car ferry; Kolmilan.
We went tonight for dinner given it’ll be our last chance before we leave on Tuesday. And, as usual, we were greeted and treated like old friends. The manager, the Spanish waiter and the chef were all sad that we were leaving.
But these things are all part of slow travel.
Back when our holiday time was determined by work schedules, our time away was, at most, a few weeks. Now there’s no rush. Now we get to know a place rather than pack in as much sightseeing as possible before moving on to the next place.
Okay, to be fair, we were never that intense on holiday. In fact, we tended to limit our sightseeing to, mostly, one thing a day following a sleep in and finishing with an excellent meal. I’m pretty rush resistant, when it comes down to it.
Now, though, it’s like we’re actually living in places and experiencing them for real rather than as tourists. And loving it. Mind you, I’ll probably never see what the Coop will eventually look like.
Then again, missing the forthcoming traffic disruption when the car park becomes the road, will be worth the missing. I’m sure.
Roll on Trosa.
