Pit Lane

Sunday-funday indeed.  After being disappointed with the size of the queue for a tour of Stockholm's future tunnelbana (subway) tunnel, I was sure that it was going to be just another lazy sunday.  The weather was perfect, so I took a ride out to the island of Lidingo for an afternoon fika.  

After nearly 2 months in Stockholm, I have realized that fika is not about the coffee or pastries, and is not about having an excuse to slack off...it is all about slowing down and taking a taking a break from your day-to-day life to get together with friends/family.  Everyone should really take a fika, it does the body good.

While taking in the beauty of a small harbor on the north shore,

the smell of burning oil or a backfiring engine filled the air.  I turned around and scanned the parking lot and quickly found the culprit, an old VW Polo.  A woman was in the front seat, the car was puffing out smoke from the tailpipe, and a man was pushing the car from behind.  As quickly as I had turned to look, I saw a small flame form below the car, most likely the gas line from the tank to the engine.  Within seconds the flames had spread to the rear of the car and the two people had no idea.  The next picture was taken just after we screamed for them to get out of the car, and it was left sitting halfway in the spot.  The man ran to get a fire extinguisher, but it was far too late for that.

Within minutes the flames reached the gas tank and the fire erupted with a loud pop.  Luckily no one was near. For fear that there would be shrapnel, we took cover around the corner near the water. 

Large clouds of dark black smoke began to billow from the fire as the wheels began to burn and the flames engulfed two adjacent vehicles (3 in total).  The entire car was burning, and the smell of plastic, rubber, and other materials was extremely strong...this has got to be why Nascar fans are so crazy; too much smoke inhalation.

 

The firefighters arrived 10-15 minutes after the whole thing started, and quickly had the fire contained.  As the smoke subsided a pretty gruesome scene was revealed...three cars totally burned, three extremely shaken up Swedes, and one extremely excited American.  It was scary to see something like that happen, but I am extremely happy we were able to get everyone out before it got out of control.

The rest of Stockholm had no idea of what had recently taken place...what a crazy day!  I will never forget my visit to Lidingo.