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Summer is the time of year to escape New York, and the summer of 1997 had the many hot and humid days that I wilt under.

The Men Here Are Gorgeous

Tony
2004-01-28 10:31:37

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global warming I guess, when even Sweden needs air-conditioning.

The landscape was mostly flat and but with many trees, lots of birch and pine. The road was extremely well maintained, and the traffic wasn't heavy, mostly late-model and expensive-looking cars. Lots of Volvos and Saabs of course, perhaps a third of the vehicles, and practically no old jalopies that looked like they needed some paint. We passed several suburban developments that were similar to the car-oriented suburbs back home: that is, it was obvious people who lived there used cars to get to work, shop, etc. Most of the housing consisted of plain-looking apartment blocks, but they all looked like they were of very high-quality construction. There was none of the honky-tonk cheap atmosphere of American suburbia, but that would have been a surprise to me. It was suburbia, but of the most prosperous type.

Suddenly, we were in Stockholm. Right in the center! The northern part of the city center begins after passing through a greenbelt, and then 5 and 6 story buildings dating mostly from the late nineteenth century begin: solid looking and elegant, painted mostly in pastels or ochre. I was here already!

My first impression of Stockholm as we headed toward the bus terminal was that it is an incredibly beautiful city, with the healthiest trees and greenery I've ever seen in an urban environment, and then I noticed the people! They were as beautiful as the environment they lived in! It wasn't just that they were by and large fair and blonde, tall and fit. They had healthy complexions and dressed in impossibly neat clothes. This during a "Swedish heatwave"! I felt lumpy and dumpy after a transatlantic flight, a bit pasty and far too chubby as a representative New Yorker and an American...but fortunately I have a tendency to "blend in" wherever I go (although I haven't yet been to Marrakesh or Beijing...), ...