So I made my way south from Östersund, leaving behind the little town I had called my home for more than a month, and stayed a couple of nights in a town called Enköping (En - sh - eu(like in french) - ping) - a satellite town of Stockholm - with my friend Helena and her family. There I was treated to bizarre Swedish dishes such as Moose-meat and mushrooms, and went to bed full and happy. The next day I went down to the bus station and took the first bus to Stockholm: Sweden's metropolis. I arrived alone with no idea where to go, but found, mostly through dumb luck, a tourist center where they gave me a map and some directions. So I went exploring. Now, I have to say, when you ask people in Sweden what they think of Stockholm (outside of stockholm, of course), they express indiference at best. But I find it to be an attractive city, whose most appealing feature is the river that runs through the center of it, dividing the city in two. The most attractive place, though, was an island in the middle of the river: old-town, the original city. Stockholm had originally been intended as a smaller city, but it outgrew its island and spilled over onto both banks of the river, which now hold the more modern city. But as usual, the narrow, winding cobblestone streets and classic architecture feel more warm and inviting than their modern counterparts. We seem to have lost the capacity to make beautiful architecture with the march of time - and most of the designs that appeal to architects these days are horrible and lifeless. That's what happens when you spend your life in the basement of some dusty university building, squinting at pencil drawings of the world - you lose your sense of beauty. But perhaps I'm being cynical. Anyways, with a little difficulty, I've found a place to stay with a couple of nice Swedes, and I've figured out how to get to the airport in time for my flight next tuesday. So in the meantime, I will enjoy being in the first (relatively) big city I've been in for a while. More news later :)