Carlos William Hughes

Uttjatad, gammalmodig stövel anklagade min lilla väska som för tung att ta med i kabinen (med ett kilo och mitt bagage i lastrummet var ett kilo mindre). Man kan se på hennes ansiktsuttryck hur mycket elände det finns i hennes liv och att …

What's in Bjorkhagen to see and the answer is 'not a lot' but because I ask Chat GPT for suggestions about going around Stockholm then I end up going to some of these no-end places with nothing there such as this one. And then I saw the lady who was at the ticket booth at the subway station and she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life with amazing blue eyes and that is saying something when we're in a country full of blue eyes. It was then when I was lamenting to her about my crappy British bank card which only works when it wants to, I was took within that minute in my mind to an alternative universe. Where I was living in Bjorkhagen and commuting to Stockholm and I see her every morning! And I make some silly joke about snow and she laughs and I get my ticket and run up to the platform to catch my train to work whilst whistling to Stevie Wonder's 'Isn't she lovely'. It was then my mind snaps out of it and I land back into planet reality because that is never going to be my future, my future is something else outside of Sweden but for that minute, I smiled to myself and was happy and that even the most minute of stories have a beginning, a middle and an end (and a happy one at that). As Jake Jackson said in Robert McLiam Wilson's brilliant novel 'Eureka Street' "All stories are love stories". I ran up to the platform for my train to Slussen singing 'Isn't she lovely' and I remembered all the words as well! Haven't sung that song for a long long time.

I come from a Latin American family where Sunday Dinners, family gatherings and celebrations were usually centred around Italian food and mainly lasagne. As a kid, I wouldn't want a birthday cake, mum would make me a lasagne which I wouldn't share with my brother and sisters, and I would scoff the whole lot down by myself right in front of their faces to their envy and outrage! You can tell even today they still resent me over that act of absolute selfishness. As an adult, coming home on leave from the army, coming home from work abroad and of course birthdays and other important days, mum would make a lasagne in celebration. We lost her during COVID and I did the whole lockdown stuck in China and I never saw her again but I have travelled all over the world including Italy and Argentina where you can get a good lasagne and I have never had one as good as my mum's and today I did! In Stockholm of all places and it was utterly divine. I got there early for lunch and the cafe soon filled up which is always a good sign that the food is excellent because there is no shortage of eateries around that part of the city. It also has the nice touch of retro decor with nice, friendly service, this eatery comes with my full recommendation. I will be going there again before I leave Stockholm. Is this the first lasagne that is better than my mum's? And I have to say, yes it is! I will be expecting an incoming heavenly slap across the back of my head anytime now.

Polite and friendly doorman who efficiently got me in, polite and friendly barstaff who got me a drink quickly at a decent price however, if you remember hits from the 80's like I do then when Golden Hits operates is usually well past your bedtime, no complaints about how I was treated even if I wasn't able to last the distance.

Jag kommer från en latinamerikansk familj där söndagsmiddagar, familjesammankomster och firanden oftast kretsade kring italiensk mat och främst lasagne. Som barn ville jag inte ha en födelsedagstårta, mamma brukade baka en lasagne åt mig …

Vad finns det att se i Björkhagen och svaret är "inte mycket" men eftersom jag frågar Chat GPT om förslag på hur man kan resa runt i Stockholm så hamnar jag på några av dessa oändliga platser utan något där, som den här. …