preraphaelitepunk.com

Item 1: If I do come to Stockholm again in the summer, it might be a good idea to stay farther away from the “night out on the town” areas. (I’ll be more familiar with the public transport, so being centrally located shouldn’t be as much of a concern.) Last night there were noisy revelers passing by my window until at least 1:00 AM, which isn’t too late when all things are considered, but which is quite late indeed when you’re tired and achy and just want to sleep. I think my favorite group was the one reasonably early in the evening, about a quarter ’til midnight: a bunch of guys standing in the alley beside my hotel, singing Mancini’s “Baby Elephant March” at the top of their lungs. Repeatedly. And very enthusiastically.

Item 2: Everyone here has the most amazing legs. I am not making this up: their thighs are all slender and not bulgy at all, anywhere, and the way their jeans fit just accentuates it. Men, women, kids: they all have these almost unbelievably slim thighs. I have seen more skinny thighs in the last few days than I have in the last few years; the people seem generally more slender than in the U.S., actually, but to me the absence of fat deposits from the upper thigh is the most noticeable thing. (Quite a few rather slim Americans still have saddlebags or other “problem areas.”) I’m not sure whether it’s all the walking and/or biking that they do, genetics, something to do with their diet (though I’ve noticed that the American fast-food chains always seem to be busy as I pass by), hours of sunlight, cosmic radiation, or some lingering boon from the ancient Nordic gods, but whatever it is, I want some of it. My thighs could do with some deblobbification. (At least my muscle tone has improved after all the walking I’ve done. Not that you could see any difference, but I can feel it.)