It's about two and a half hours by plane from Paris to Stockholm, but there is a world of difference: brunette to blonde, chaos to order and opulence to something more spartan.
It was partly cloudy when we arrive in Stockholm. Once we got settled at the Lady Hamilton Hotel, I went out in search of a Bancomat and some Swedish Kronor. As I was returning, it began to rain. Swedes seem to be impervious to the rain. I guess I've lived in California too long -- I scurried back to the hotel.
The beauty of Stockholm is different from the beauty of Paris. The beauty of Paris overwhelms the Seine, while the beauty of Stockholm centers on its co-existence with nature and especially with the water. Should one expect anything less from this sea-faring nation?
As I walked through Gamla Stan this afternoon, I saw a hale young man with long, tightly curled hair who, in another time, might have been a Viking. The mobile phone pressed to his ear, however, was a dead giveaway. The ability to simultaneously embrace the old and the new is one of the many appealing qualities of Swedes.
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