All posts by Ray Ivey

ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 3 Comments

After spending most of the night working on technical issues, I went back to bed at 6 am just for a nap, and slept until almost 10! While I was annoyed at missing my free breakfast at the hotel, I figured I needed the rest.

Happily, my gastric drama has not returned, and apart from a minor amount of lingering jetlag wooziness, I felt just terrific yesterday as I made my initial explorations of Stockholm.

Real Men Push Strollers

And in Stockholm, they seem to do it WAY more than women. I see three or four men alone with children for every woman I see with the little darlings. I wonder why this is?

Dude, Your Time at the Gym Has Been Well Spent

I don’t know how to say that in Swedish, but this is what I wanted to say to several buff Vikings that I saw today. Particularly the one on the Tunnelbana. (No, that’s not Eric’s little brother, it’s what they call the subway here.) He was wearing a long sleeve pullover shirt and you could still see the veins on his bulging arms. You know, through the shirt. Which would have made an impression on me if I wasn’t only and exclusively interested on what’s on the inside of a person. Everyone knows this about me.

Courage?

I don’t usually think of myself as a courageous person. True, I did see “Shoah” at an actual movie theater, by choice, and actually sat through the first four hours of it. But when it comes to real courage, I don’t think so. I’d be the worst soldier ever. I’d cry. I’d desert. On the first day.

However, I would posit that it does take a certain brand of something like courage to go to a foreign country, alone, where you don’t speak the language, and navigate the cities, hop on and off subways without getting lost, and just generally coping in an alien landscape without freaking out. And whatever that oddball kind of courage is, I definitely have it. It’s scary, but it’s a fun kind of scary.

♫ And people ride in a hål in the jord ♫

I’ve been doing it since my twenties, so I guess I’m used to it and have a certain confidence. This is my ninth trip abroad since 1987. I wonder if some people would find it so daunting they wouldn’t go. You know, like me facing the prospect of going to the movies at the Americana in Glendale.

HEY I’m on a boat!

Stockholm is a magnificent city built on hundreds of islands. There are fourteen major ones. It’s really like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s like Venice writ large. You’re never more than a dwarf’s toss from the water here.

I took two delightful boat rides today! The first was to a tiny island where I had a lovely peaceful ramble for an hour.

The second was a circumnavigation of Kungsholmen (King’s Island), the island my hotel is on. Boat tours are peaceful and relaxing. I love them.

Town Hall just LOVES my wide angle lens.

Just How Many Spherical Buildings Are There, Actually?

Next I took a fun jaunt up to the top of the world’s largest spherical building. (Didn’t know there was a contest, did you?) It’s called the Ericsson Globe, and it’s a sports and entertainment venue. Very nice photo op on top full stop.

Lens-o-Rama

I’m already VERY glad I purchased the Sigma wide angle lens for the camera. It’s doubled my shooting potential very clearly, as the shots it can get are so utterly different from the ones I get with the Nikkor zoom. Today was a good day of practicing switching out the lenses. I’m getting better at it on the fly.

Exhausting but wonderful day!

Authentic Troll Door. My ancient Runic Swedish is pretty rudimentary, but I believe the first few words carved into the door are something like, "If the mountain's a-rockin'..." — Authentic Troll Door. My ancient Runic Swedish is pretty rudimentary, but I believe the first few words carved into the door are something like, “If the mountain’s a-rockin’…”

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 281 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 1 Comment

Well, it’s been a challenging first day of my ScandiRAYvia adventure.

Before I go any further, let me reiterate that everything I’m going to recount here is very much a First World Problem. I’m extremely cognizant of the fact that I’m very lucky to be making this trip.

First of all, let me say that the Airbus A380 was everything I hoped it would be! It’s a beautiful aircraft, and my Economy Plus seat was very satisfactory.

It was a good thing I made sure I had an aisle seat. Eleven hours in the air is hard to take, and it helped a lot that I was able to get up, stretch, and even walk up and down the aisles. It helped keep me sane.

The First Challenge had to do with my connection. I was concerned when I first got my ticket that an hour and a half was pretty tight for an international connection at Heathrow. But the British Airways agent in Los Angeles assured me there would be plenty of time.

Well, there wasn’t. I had a huge journey from one gate to the other, and since it was international, I had to go through security again. At each bottleneck I very clearly stated that I was about to miss my plane. Happily there was a fast-track line to get to security.

Things got scary when I actually made it to security, though, as it was moving more slowly than meaningful immigration reform. I explained my hurry and got put into the front of the line, but I could still tell that I was in trouble, as the bags were moving unbelievably slowly. I found the security manager and explained my situation. Bless her, she grabbed my as-yet-unsearched bag, marched me down (in the direction of my flight gate) to the nearest security agent who was free and put my bag in her hands and explained my situation.

When I finally got to my gate, boarding was almost over. I was relieved and happy, but a little alarmed at the idea that if I had trusted the British Airways people, I would have absolutely missed my plane. It was only my own vociferous (but I hope, not impolite) insistence on my situation, over and over again to multiple people, that got me through on time. And hey, my bag made it, too!

The flight from London to Stockholm was much shorter than the first flight. But at least the woman next to me was sick. As in, barfing right next to me in her seat. Poor thing.

At Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, border control and customs were a snap. My bus into town was right outside the terminal door and was there in five minutes.

I finally made it to the hotel. I was tired, dazed, sweaty, foul-smelling, and as I expected after such long trip, barely human. I tried to get comfortable in the room.

I was considering going down to the restaurant for a spot of dinner when I realized that the woman next to me on the flight might have gifted me her sickness. Yay. What better way to start off your foreign vacation than bowing to the porcelain god?

I went to sleep around 8:00 p.m. local time. Happily, the sickness was a one-time thing (so far!) and I slept well for six hours. I got up about 2:00 a.m. and began working some tech problems.

I spent most of the rest of the night on the phone with Verizon and Time Warner cable trying to sort out issues with my mobile data and email. Yay!

The upside is all that time on hold gave me a chance to plan out my plan of attack for my first couple of days in Stockholm.

It’s now 6:00 a.m. I’m going to try to nap just a bit before breakfast.

Oh, and the weather? And the weather forecast for the next few days? I can’t even.

I hope my next entry will be jollier!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 226 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 3 Comments

Well. After all the pondering, the perusing, the planning, the paying, and the packing, I’m finally on my way!

Today’s going to be a very looooong day and so I’m going to try to wake up and muster all of the patience I can.

Among the things I’m excited about today is the very plane I’ll be traveling on. It’s an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner. Check it out:

As you can see, it’s on the ground, because of course it’s much to heavy to actually fly. You just taxi all of the way to London.

It has two full decks. I’ll be sitting in World Traveler Plus on the second deck.

Here’s a seating chart for this monster:

But Airbus isn’t stopping there. In 2017, Airbus will be introducing the A420, which will have four decks. The top deck will have feature a lap pool, an air hockey parlor and a gay bar. Maybe for my next trip.

Anyway, the flight to London will last eleven and a half hours. That’s longer than the drive to Riverside. And since I’ll be seating in the next-to-lowest seating class, I won’t be in the lap of luxury for those eleven hours. That’s why I paid extra for an aisle seat, so it will be easy for me to stand up and stretch my legs and hopefully get a glimpse of the better looking flight attendants up in Club World.

I’ll also, of course, have my Kindle, and my Nintendo 3DS to keep me company.

It’s an overnight flight, flying east, so I basically lose a day. Which means my first day in ScandiRAYvia will be a day that I will likely stumble around wishing I was dead.

If only I could sleep on planes! But I can’t. I never really could, but now I really can’t, as I can’t sleep at all without my C-PAP. I’ve never tried to use my C-PAP on a plane, and I’ve never actually seen anyone else use one on a plane. However, checking the C-PAP community online I see that many of my fellow Apneans do plug in and use this blessed device while flying. I think my World Traveller Plus seats will have a power outlet. Perhaps this should be the time I try to use it while flying?

It would certainly help my first day in Stockholm be a bit less groggy.

After the London leg, it’s a mere two-and-a-half hour flight from Heathrow to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. I’m a bit nervous, as there’s only a one hour and twenty minute layover between the two flights. I sure hope I don’t miss the Stockholm flight. That would displease me.

Ah, well, I can’t control that part. I vow to try to enjoy whatever happens.

And now, it’s time to leave for the airport!

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 239 user reviews.

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Pronouncements, ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey Leave a comment

This entry in the ScandiRAYvia blog is a heartfelt video:

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 169 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey Leave a comment

So hear they are. My train tickets for one of the four rail journeys I’ll be making during ScandiRAYvia.

But these aren’t just any train tickets. Nope, nope, nope. This is my ticket to the Flamsbana, regarded as one of the most spectacular rail journeys in the world.

The trip from Oslo to Bergen itself travels through the highest rail altitude of any train ride in Europe. And the Flamsbana, which is a spur about halfway through this trip, which takes you down to the fjord, is one of the very steepest railway lines in the world on normal tracks.

Here’s the route:

I love trains. No, I love love love LOVE trains. I’ve loved them my whole life. Perhaps it’s because I’ve always believed I was conceived on a train. (Ew. Made you think about it.)

This train trip was one of the main reasons for putting ScandiRAYvia together.

It’s fitting that it’s almost at the end of my trip.

Now all I need is some good weather so all of those postcard-pretty mountains, meadows and fjords are presented in their best light!

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 198 user reviews.

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Games

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey Leave a comment

The first installment of my report on the year’s biggest gaming event is now live at JustAdventure. Check it out!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 254 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Spring Forward, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 1 Comment

So. The last time I was fortunate enough to visit Europe, I took lots of lovely pictures all over the place. (See Spring Forward in this blog.)

However, there were many great photos I could NOT get because I did not have a wide-angle lens with me. I kicked myself over and over for making this mistake, and vowed to not make it again. (Always make NEW mistakes when possible, that’s my motto.)

So here’s my super sexy Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens:

I love it real bad already.

Don’t get me wrong; the Nikkor 55-200 zoom I already have is a perfectly terrific lens, and it’ll be going with me on the trip as well. But it’s good for focusing in on things that are far away, like my youth and my dreams. You need a wide angle lens to get the more epic vistas you stumble onto while wandering around cultures that are more than 200 years old.

This new Sigma has two unique properties. First, it takes pictures that are inherently more dramatic than ones taken with a conventional lens. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Here’s my handsome friend Max on my balcony, shot with the Nikkor zoom:

And here’s what he looks like shot with the Sigma:

Another example: Here’s the elevator in my building, taken with the Nikkor:

And here’s what it looks like with the Sigma wide angle lens:

Now, if you’re not a trained photographer, you may have trouble telling the differences in the two sets of photos. To help you, I’ll put them side by side, with the old Nikkor lens images on the left, and the new Sigma lens images on the right:

Look very closely. Can you see how the images on the right just seem to pop a little more? I know the effect is subtle, but I notice it and it makes me happy.

The other cool thing the lens does is that it allows me to peer into the actual souls of the people I’m photographing. At least that’s what the brochure says. I look forward to experimenting with this feature, and I’ll keep you posted!

Comments welcome!

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 267 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 5 Comments

Why would I want to visit Scandinavia in the first place?

Oh, come on. It’s Sweden. It’s Denmark. It’s Norway.

I’ve been drawn to these places for as long as I can remember. There’s just something magical to me about all those beautiful storybook cities sprinkled across little archipelagos. The snow, the mountains, the lakes, the politics: It’s just always clicked with me.

There are a million reasons to go. Aside from all of the obvious ones, here’s a few really specific ones for me:

Trolls

I’m a documentary junkie, and one of my all-time favorite documentaries of Trollhunter, which tells the shocking true behind-the-scenes story of how the Norwegian government secretly controls the wild population of trolls. I hope to see some troll action while I’m in Norway.

Vikings

I don’t really have to explain this one, do I?

The Scream

The one by Edvard Munch. Okay, there’s four of them, but one of them is in Oslo.

Edvard Grieg

Peer Gynt. “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” (See Trolls, above).

Pining for the fjords

The Girl with the International Book and Movie Franchise

Did you READ these books? Did you SEE the movies? If they’re not enough to make you want to visit Stockholm, you’ve got no blood in your veins. And the Millennium Trilogy is merely the most famous of the exploding film and fiction genre of Nordic Noir. If you haven’t seen it, you should check out Headhunters, and read the book as well!

I already have my ticket to the Millennium Walking Tour! Gonna get my Lisbeth Salandar on!

Train Rides

I’m a huge fan of train travel, and I’ll be doing a LOT of that on this trip, including a very special journey that I’ll discuss more in an upcoming episode.

There are more reasons, but these are plenty enough to get started on.

Are YOU drawn to Scandinavia at all? What would you be interested in seeing there? Let me hear from you in the comments!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 182 user reviews.

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ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey Leave a comment

Quick announcement: I don’t board the plane until next Monday, but The ScandiRAYvia blog debuts tomorrow! I’ll show you fascinating and unreliable details on my new wide-angle lens, my packing strategies, my itineraries, and less! Don’t miss it, and remember to comment! Particularly on what you think of the new redesign of the site.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 260 user reviews.

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Pronouncements, ScandiRAYvia 2015, Travel

May 25, 2026 Ray Ivey 2 Comments

After decades of pining for the fjords, I’m finally doing it. Next month I’ll be spending three weeks touring Scandinavia. I’ll be tormenting you all with photos and commentary whether you like it or not, both here and on my Facebook page. My itinerary includes Stockholm, Copenhagen, Göteborg, Oslo, the Sognefjord and Bergen.

As always, comments are welcome!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 234 user reviews.

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