Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 54 • October 30, 1994
Lund, Sweden

There are no pictures from today - only memories!

Yesterday was one wild day. I had quite the adventure.

It started slow, when I woke up at 12 and spent the afternoon watching TV. It was funny, one of the shows was the same NFL show I watched on Monday at Dorte’s, except with Swedish hosts and commentary. But it was the same Cowboys/Cardinals game, edited down to fit in 45 minutes, with the remaining time for highlights of the other games. Now I am even more aware of how homesick I am.

Anyway, about 5 we all started shifting into party mode. It’s really strange how similar it was to the Dome. Music was turned up loud, we gathered around their bar and started playing darts and spent a half hour asking each other if we were ready to go…

DAY 54 / 10-30-94
Lund, Sweden

…there were four of us: me, Joe, Sebastian and another guy named Christian. We went to another guy’s house named Mangus and started drinking. We ordered pizzas, and I was having a great time.

A little later we went to a party. I didn’t really meet anyone because I just hung out with Joe. By this time I had a real good buzz going, and the night was just beginning!

After the party we went to a bar, and this was where I start forgetting things. For example, I don’t remember leaving the bar, but I do remember arriving at one of the biggest nightclubs I’ve ever been in – “The Slaughterhouse.”

Besides its size, another unusual thing was the gambling that was going on. They had both blackjack and roulette tables. I didn’t dance that much though – at least I don’t think I did. I do remember talking to some really good-looking girls.

All of a sudden, the next thing I knew it was 5 am and the place was closing, and my friends were nowhere to be found!

I was really starting to get scared when no one answered the phone number they gave me. I had to beg to get my coat back from the coat check because I didn’t have the ticket – Joe did.

I tried to remain calm, but it was hard when I was drunk, I knew my friends were drunk (and gone), I didn’t have any money, and I had no clue where I was – and I wasn’t even in Joe’s town, Lund. I was in another town, Malmo, which also happens to be the 3rd largest town in Sweden.

I had the bouncer call the police for me, and he did but said I had to wait outside for them. This was about 5:15. By 5:45 they still hadn’t come.

So I flagged down a taxi and asked him to call the police for me. He didn’t speak very much English, but he did understand that I was in trouble. He called for me, then handed me the phone.

I tried to explain to her that I was an American, in trouble, and I needed help. She asked me where I was, which of course I had no idea. So I asked the cabbie to tell her where I was. He took the phone, and after a brief conversation with her, he hung up and told me to get in.

Oh no – flashes of déjà vu as I thought of me & Kyle in Ft. Worth, completely drunk, no money, no clue where we were, in a foreign city – and in a taxi cab!

I tried so hard to explain I had NO money, but he said I could pay the next day. I figured this was as good an offer as I was going to get. Since it was now 6 and I was wet and cold & my friends still hadn’t come back.

Luckily Joe had written down the address of his friend so I gave it to the taxi driver & he took off. We rode in silence, but I don’t know if it’s because he didn’t speak much English or I was too scared to talk.

When we arrived at Mangus’ apartment building the driver told me he would come back around noon to get his money. I don’t know why I said what I did – maybe because I was drunk, maybe because I had no money, and a lot because I was thinking of Kyle & I thought he would get a laugh out of it – so I told the taxi driver my name was Troy Aikman.

Anyway, I walked up to the building but the door was locked.

Luckily, and I mean REALLY luckily, Sebastian showed up just then. He asked me what I was doing there, and when I told him he couldn’t believe it.

He had left the club a few hours earlier and walked home. As he was walking he met a girl who invited him home. So he was just leaving her house to come back to Mangus’ because now it was almost 7. He knew the code for the building, so we got in, but no further.

Mangus was passed out, and nothing was going to wake him up. We tried for 15 minutes, pounding & kicking on the door & ringing his buzzer but to no avail.

Sebastian was still drunk, so he suggested we go back to the girl’s apartment he had just left. I was still drunk so I agreed.

The girls were very nice and let us stay. So at 7:30am I finally got to sleep.

We woke up around noon, and walked back to Mangus’ and this time we got in. Joe was there, and the first thing out of his mouth was “Oh My God Todd – I am so Sorry!!!”

It turns out that he had met a girl at the Slaughterhouse who was very hot & all over him, & when she invited him home he agreed.

I understand completely because he was just as drunk as I was. And it wasn’t until they were in the middle of having sex that he realized he had left me at the disco.

They played me the messages on the answering machine of Joe calling, saying he had left me and someone has to go get me but the only person there – Mangus – was passed out.

But now we were all back together, all safe, so all was forgiven.

But it was a hell of an adventure!

About the only other thing that happened today worth noting (most of it was spent asleep in the fetal position) was a meal at Burger King. It was the first American meal I’d had since I left America. Actually, I didn’t care if I ate there or not but the other guys wanted to so I went along.

It was a really good meal – a BBQ Bacon Double Cheese X-Tra Value Meal. Some X-tra value though – It cost 40 Swedish Crowns – almost US$7.00!! I think I’ll wait ‘till I’m back stateside before eating there or McD’s again.

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