Stockholm with the Boys
Landed in Stockholm. First impression of Sweden is that the cool, brisk air is refreshing and that a sky full of clouds looks weird. Coming from the sunny Balkans, I have not seen clouds like this in over a month. Lush greenery everywhere, orderly public transit. In just about every way, this place is the opposite of Greece.
The Arlanda Express train whisked Conrad and I to the city center. Stockholm’s suburbs are dotted with squarish, plainly colored office buildings, surely filled with IKEA’s finest. Stockholm Central Station treated us to the fastest wifi we’ve had in over a month. I caught up on my blogging while Conrad sat across from me and wolfed down some Burger King. Then Conrad took us to the sweet apartment he booked on Airbnb, and it’s there that we met up with Doug. Good to have him around for this leg of the journey.
The three of us spent the next couple of days taking brisk afternoon walks around the city. “Gamla stan”, as Stockholm’s old town is known, is filled with matching, uniformly sized buildings lining streets and alleys of cobblestone. Various shades of pink and orange and gray give the town some character, but the whole area was surprisingly quiet and lifeless, even on the weekend. Most stores and restaurants were closed, and the few that were open were nearly empty. The few tourists walking around seem to be German, French, and Asian.
My name is Jeff. I'm a