The immediate post-Eurovision period is always a bleak and desolate time of the year.
Having gorged ourselves on a feast of pop, culminating in the Grand Final, we're suddenly forced to go cold turkey.
I'm irritable, fatigued (after those 5am starts for the live telecast), have lost my appetite and am just a little depressed.
Now I know what heroin addicts must go through.
This year's symptoms are particularly severe having experienced the high of Australia's first (and only?) participation in the contest.
But if I'm forced to be a little "cup half full", then I can at least take comfort that next year we're all off to Sweden for Eurovision.
Hello Sweden!
Sure, we weren't there that long ago thanks to Loreen's Euphoria.
On that occasion Sweden's third-largest city Malmo was the host. While the host city has yet to be confirmed, Sweden is one of those places that deserve multiple visits.
The capital Stockholm is a surprising delight in itself, spread across 14 islands.
Wandering around Stockholm, you can't help feel a little bit envious of the Swedes. They seem to have uncovered the secrets to the good life.
While they pay some fairly high taxes, if the global surveys are correct they also enjoy some of the world's highest standards of living, free healthcare, free education and are generally happier than the rest of us.
To rub salt into the wound, now they've snared Eurovision for the sixth time!
At Stockholm's heart is Gamla Stan, or Old Town, consisting of cobbled streets and narrows lanes (including one that is less than one metre wide).
Gamla Stan
Nearby is the Royal Palace, one of the homes of the popular Swedish Royal Family - surely big enough to host a Eurovision or two.
Outside the Royal Palace
But perhaps it's the Royal Family's other home, Drottningholm Palace, that might be a more suitable venue for 2016 Eurovision.
Built on its own island, this palace is a short boat ride away from downtown Stockholm.
It's a handsome palace, complete with its own theatre, church and Chinese Pavilion, and surrounded by sprawling grounds.
Drottningholm Palace
It even has a bath house the size of a normal family home for those wanting to take a dip.
While the palace is still used by the Royal Family, you're more likely to run into hordes of tourists than King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia.
Whether Eurovision returns to Stockholm or another city has yet to be decided, but regardless Sweden always seems ready to welcome the world and give it a good show.
I'm thinking of changing careers and becoming a royal.
Now, I know what you're thinking: I'm just saying that because of the hype generated by having Prince William and Kate in the country. Not so. I've been contemplating it for some time.
The move would be slightly at odds with my views that Australia should become a republic, but I'm prepared to live with this philosophical dilemma.
Britain's House of Windsor isn't my first pick either. I'm thinking of somewhere a bit more fun, like the Netherlands, Sweden or Denmark (would two Australian Danish royals be too much?).
And I'm not walking in the role blindly. Like any good job hunt, I've done a list of pros and cons:
Pros
1. Instant property portfolio (hop on the property ladder at the very top)
2. Job for life (a rare thing these days)
3. Job comes with accommodation and other fringe benefits (I may never have to pay for anything ever again)
4. Buildings, bridges, boats and other things are named after you (a great boost to the ego)
5. You don't have to actually run the country any more (constitutional monarchies are a wonderful idea!)
6. I'm assuming you're invited to Eurovision every year
7. You've got good looking security
Cons
1. The world is constantly watching (so no more wandering around in my bathrobe?)
2. You get a lot of crap gifts you'll never use, including dodgy portraits of yourself (I've got a mirror!)
3. You have to mingle with the masses and sometimes even touch them
4. Every minute of your day seems planned (when's "me time" kick in?)
5. It appears you have to go to church a lot
6. You have to have kids (who will probably overthrow you)
If Twitter had been around in 1628, the hashtag #fail would have featured heavily on 10 August when the Swedish warship Vasa set sail on its maiden voyage... only to sink less than two kilometres from shore.
The highly decorated timber ship lay at the bottom of Stockholm's harbour for more than three centuries until it was discovered largely intact in the late 1950s and salvaged.
Today, the entire Vasa ship stands tall (on solid ground) in a dedicated, climate-controlled museum in Stockholm that is completely dedicated to the most stunning failures of Swedish maritime history.
Like many of today's Hollywood stars, Vasa was made too top-heavy, which meant anything more than a breeze toppled it over. Not the best feature for a warship destined for battles at sea.
My friend and I stumbled across Vasa by accident while "killing some time" in Stockholm.
On paper the Vasa Museum sounds like just another nautical museum (and we both aren't really seafaring folk). But in reality, the Vasa Museum is one of the best museums I have ever been to.
Because it sank just after its launch and lay undisturbed at the bottom of the harbour, it is not only a fascinating relic but a time capsule.
Since being raised to the surface, the ship has been preserved and you're able to walk around it on several levels, peering inside, over and under the big ship.
Thousands of artifacts found inside Vasa, including clothing, weapons, tools and trunks, have been recovered and are on show. They shine a light on everyday life at the time.
About 30 people are believed to have died when Vasa sank and the remains of about 16 bodies have been uncovered and analysed, revealing fascinating facts about who they were, their diet and their health - almost 400 years after their death.
As a monument to Sweden's naval power, Vasa was adorned with painted wooden carvings. While the paint has faded, the sculptures themselves are remarkably intact.
Apparently Vasa's instability was pretty obvious even when the ship was in port. But no one wanted to bring this to the attention of impatient King and so the structural problems were never addressed and the launch proceeded as planned.
On 10 August 1628, thousands of Stockholm residents lined the shore waiting to watch the ship's maiden voyage.
About 150 people were on board, including more than 100 crew, many of whom had also brought their wives and children on board for the first part of the journey.
But just minutes into the voyage, the unstable ship began to roll, allowing water to rush in through the gunports.
Despite taking about two years to build, Vasa took only minutes to sink.
The annual Eurovision finale is like waving off a good friend at the airport.
We've had a wonderful time together, but sadly that has come to an end for now and I know it will be some time until we see each other again.
But at least I have the memorable moments I'll cherish. Malmo, Sweden, delivered plenty of these.
Europe may have voted for Denmark as the winner (their choice, not mine), but how can you single out just one dish from the entire buffet?
And Eurovision leaves us with more than just music. It's legacy extends well beyond melodies; it shines a light on some "interesting" fashion and choreography, some of which will stay with us long after the last piece of glitter has been swept up.
If Eurovision 2013 was a trendsetter, here's what we'll be wearing next season:
1. Spacesuits (as worn by Montenegro)
2. Glitter suits (as worn by Latvia)
3. Skirts, skorts or some other variant (as worn by Greece)
4. The sexy "Nana Mouskouri" (as worn by Israel)
5. Fringing (as worn by Belarus)
6. Something Ming from Flash Gordon would have worn (as worn by Romania)
And if the Eurovision 2013 choreography was anything to go by, here's what we'll be doing:
1. Being carried around by giants (as per Ukraine)
2. Generally putting our hands up (as per most entrants this year, but particularly Slovenia)
3. Rocking so hard our guitars catch on fire (as per Albania)
4. Contorting our bodies in a glass box (as per Azerbaijan)
It's time for my annual Eurovision First Listen Party where I sit down and do an initial evaluation of this year's entries.
One invitee to the party and one attendee.
I listened to the songs in the random order on which they appeared on my iPod. This means that I only have the song and the singers' voices to judge. There's been no background research on the songs or singers either at this stage. It's like my own version of The Voice (sans swivel chair).
However, past experience has shown that costumes, choreography and staging can go a long way to elevating an average song on the night itself. Still, you have to start somewhere.
Apart from Bonnie Tyler's Believe in Me for the UK, this is the first time I've heard these songs.
General thoughts:
I used to think the UK entry was OK, but after listening to all the countries, I now re-grade the song as great.
On first listen, it seems there are some pretty average / dull / forgettable songs this year (Europe's economic woes weighing everyone down?), but who knows what the Eurovision stage performances will bring. That's the magic of Eurovision.
Key changes never die; there's plenty in this year's crop
There's a fair few boys with high voices (but nothing beats Romania in that regard though)
Electric guitars seem big this year giving an '80s flavour to some songs
There seems to be a few songs making social commentary about the planet, environment or society in general. Always dangerous territory as they can come off a bit "preachy".
My top picks:
1. Sweden (Robin Stjernberg's You)
2. Belarus (Alyona Lanskaya's Solayoh)
3. Finland (Krista Siegfrids' Marry Me)
4. Ireland (Ryan Dolan's Only Love Survives)
5. Germany (Cascada's Glorious)
6. UK (Bonnie Tyler's Believe in Me)
The "strong song, but may struggle at Eurovision" Award:
The Netherlands (Anouk's Birds)
The "Only at Eurovision" Award:
Romania (Cezar's It's My Life - more specifically about 40 seconds into the song)
My thoughts on all contenders as I was listening: Full song titles and singers found here.
Croatia
A pretty little tune. Not sure what they're singing about. Sounds like the kind of song usually played over the closing credits of a 1980s film. I'm sure there's a electric keyboard and electric guitar. I got visions of Top Gun when I listened to this. The chorus of voices could come across quite well on stage.
Serbia
After a slow start, the techno beat finally kicks in. Not a terribly catchy tune I'm afraid.
Armenia
A song with a conscience. Appealing for humanity's sake, but sadly not overly appealing. Nice message, not such a great song. Features another electric guitar solo. "Lonely planet, who has done it? Who can save you? Who can stop it?"
Cyprus
A simple, acoustic guitar-backed song. Sounds like a song of yearning, but a little bit forgettable I'm afraid.
Iceland
Often a wild card at Eurovision, it usually either goes for dance anthem or traditional. This year a simple piano-backed ballad. A pretty tune, but is that enough?
Estonia
A strong, attractive voice. Another pretty tune - will be interesting what a live performance does with this song.
Finland
Finland's answer to Katy Perry? A really catchy song called "Marry Me". This will be fun on stage I can tell. "Oh oh a ding dong". Do my ears deceive me or is she swearing? The line "I do it for you, for you, for you" sounds like "I do it for you, I fxck you, I fxck you". Well, whatever you need to do to get Eurovision votes I guess.
Greece
Another country which either goes traditional or dancy. This year they've got a bit of both. Starts like a song straight from your local Greek taverna, but then before you know it's changed into a fast-paced ditty.
Hungary
An unusual song and not bad, but as I was listening to it, it sort of lulled me into a trance a bit. Not sure that's the secret to success on the live Eurovision stage. It hums along, never demanding your attention.
Moldova
Surprised how strongly you can really hear her accent coming through in this song. Becomes quite dramatic and shows off her range quite well. A break-up song with some obscure lines: "the Mayans were not so wrong, it's the end of the road, it's done, cause you were gone".
Slovenia
A techno dance track with thumping synth undercurrent. Quite like this one. Some of the synthesiser "bells and whistles" makes it sound familiar, but also maybe a little dated, like something from the late 1990s.
Sweden
Could we back to Sweden next year? Quite possibly. I would have this song on my iPod even if it wasn't Eurovision. A really listenable and catchy contemporary song.
Bulgaria
Sounds like it is being sung by two elderly sisters. Has an almost Indian / Hindi quality to it. Don't thing it's going to fly. And there's quite a long instrumental bit in the middle with them wailing over it.
Malta
I could imagine Jason Mraz singing this. A pretty, light-hearted tune which tells a story of Jeremy "working in IT".
Switzerland
Almost heavy metal but lacking a catchy tune, just a heavy rift in the background. A departure from the norm for Switzerland. You'll probably either love or hate this one.
Albania
At the start, I kept thinking Bonny M's Rasputin. I was waiting for the guy to say "Ohhh those Russians". Otherwise a bit of a forgettable song.
Belgium
Takes a while to get going and in Eurovision that's not a good thing as you've only got three minutes to impress. Once it does get going it's not a bad tune. Don't think it's a winner though.
FYR Macedonia
Seems to change tempo a few times during the song. It starts simply but then quickens about a third of the way in before going back to a slower tempo. A lot of wailing going on though which may lose people.
Israel
A simple little song. Feels like I've heard this before from Israel. At the end of the day, forgettable.
Latvia
A funny song with the potential to be catchy. "Here we go!". A chorus which is sung with some Eastern European rap as verses. Never quite builds to the energy it's proclaiming.
Russia
Another song with a message, but less preachy and more musical than Armenia's. Possibly not catchy enough to have any great impact.
Ukraine
This one has the potential to grow on me. Sounds a little clunky at the start but the chorus is sufficient to put it above some of the others. Could come across well on stage.
Belarus
A welcome surprise! A really strong and melodic chorus (with some questionable rhyming) makes this song more memorable than many others. This will be a fun one a night. Can it turn the Eurovision final into "a hot night!".
Georgia
I think this is the first true duet I've come across this year. The lyrics are about the joy of love, but the music is a bit pained, dramatic and drawn out. We'll see what they do on stage. I can see lots of opportunities for the wind machine.
Romania
WOOOOAAHHH! What's going on here? Cezar starts off with quite a deep voice and escalates into some sort of operatic flaseto. I had to quickly Google whether Cezar was a boy or girl (a boy it turns out). Quite a catchy tune and the potential to be the song everyone talks about. But will the song just be second fiddle to some impressive vocal gymnastics?
Lithuania
An OK song. It sounds like others you've heard before. Though any song coming right after Romania will have tough job on their hands.
Montenegro
An unusual song - power vocals in the chorus, rap-style verse. I found the changing tempo and background noises a bit overpowering.
The Netherlands
A really strong song, but actually quite sad and depressing / moving with its lyrics and tune. Not sure that's going to help in Eurovision. Sounds like something Lana Del Rey would sing.
Spain
The violin start makes it sound like it could be the entry from Ireland. It then just plods along but is a little bit forgettable.
Austria
It's an OK song. But I don't think there's anything which really elevates this song.
Denmark
This song has potential thanks to a melodic chorus, though it makes me think of a sea shanty. Not sure why.
Germany
I had high hopes for this song as I've liked Cascada's other songs. And I wasn't disappointed. A really strong contender and one of the few songs this year you can imagine actually getting traction outside of Eurovision. It will just depend whether the song's club anthem feel can be conveyed on the stage.
Norway
It has a really harsh synth intro and continues to have this heavy and dramatic undercurrent. Don't think it's going to make waves at Eurovision though.
Azerbaijan
Quite a strong contender from Azerbaijan. They've got quite a track record now of having strong entries (which resulted in them hosting the event last year!). This won't see Eurovision go back to Baku, but a good effort.
France
The great thing about France is you never know what they're going to put up. Will it be crazy? Club? Artistic? Soulful? This seems like a good, playing-it-straight entry. Don't think it will set the world on fire though.
Ireland
I liked this one from the moment it started. It's got a good pace, he's got a nice voice and let's face it, it's not Jedward!
Italy
One of those songs which plods along. It feels like someone is just talking to me as the melody isn't anything special.
San Marino
I have to admit I'm a bit biased on this on. The woman who sings this sang the dreadful Social Network Song at last year's Eurovision. But here she is back again. The song is fairly vanilla, but does show she does have a strong voice. Perhaps she's trying to redeem herself? I'm guessing she won't be wandering around the stage with a laptop this year?
Uniting Kingdom
This song has really grown on me. To be fair, I've heard this on the radio a lot more times than the other songs. Depending on how Bonnie delivers this in Sweden, it could be a real contender.
So bring on the Eurovision semi-finals and final in May!
My friend and I had hoped that we would just "stumble across" Greta Garbo's grave at Stockholm's Skogskyrkogarden.
Given the status of the Swedish-born Hollywood star we assumed her grave would be easy to spot, or at the very least there would be a signpost every three metres pointing us in the right direction.
But it wasn't long after we arrived at Skogskyrkogarden that we realised our assumptions were wrong.
This way to a the forest / cemetery maze where we would spend the afternoon
Calling Skogskyrkogarden a cemetery is a little like calling Buckingham Palace a "dwelling". It's huge. So huge it has lots of subsections of forested graves worthy of being cemeteries in their own right. So huge it had a shuttle bus with bus stops.
So how to find Greta?
While signage was limited, we found cemetery sections which matched the right period for when Greta died.
The expansive entrance to Skogskyrkogarden
However, after a good 20 minutes of doing random sweeps along rows of graves we realised we were trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Somewhere in among the forest and cemetery was Greta
We thought we could possibly die there ourselves just trying to find the grave. However, given it was a sunny autumn afternoon, and the calm and peaceful woodland setting, that might not be a bad thing.
A keen movie buff, my friend was determined to find Greta's grave. Given the amount of time and energy we had devoted to the mission so far, I was also keen to track her down.
Many graves and many paths led to many dead ends
In life Garbo was famous for her elusive mystique and need for solitude. It seems she had continued this trait after her death.
So my friend risked a hefty mobile phone bill when he got home by using the internet on his Australian iPhone to see if we could find any more details on where Greta could be hiding.
The best we could find was a picture of her grave, but that was enough to give us renewed hope and enthusiasm for our mission. We could tell the headstone looked relatively new and was red, which we hoped would stand her out from the crowd. There were also some vague instructions about being in a particular section on the left of a path.
Lost in Skogskyrkogarden
The next hour passed slowly.
My friend and I split up to "halve the work" as we scoured the rows of headstones. We then lost each other and had to text each other to find each other again. The search resumed. We then started forgetting where we had looked and so retraced our steps. We pounced hopefully on any grave with a red headstone (of which there were more than you would think).
When all seemed lost and we were about to give up, my friend wandered up some steps on a nearby mound (to the right of the path, not left as the internet had advised) and sure enough there she was.
Greta's grave was the only one on this raised area, which was surrounded by flower beds. In hindsight it seems obvious that she would be here - separate, but still connected to the other graves and with areas for people to sit and contemplate.
It is not a flashy grave and the absence of any other inscription, such as the years she lived between 1905 and 1990, seem to imply that Greta Garbo was simply a Hollywood creation played by the real woman Greta Lovisa Gustafsson.
Greta's grave
It's a peaceful and beautiful setting with an elegant but simple headstone. Perhaps a fitting location and grave for someone who is forever linked to the line "I want to be alone".
Greta's grave, and the Skogskyrkogarden itself, is a short distance from the heart of Stockholm. If you go looking for it you're probably better off finding someone else other than us to guide you!
