We landed safe and sound in Stockholm after a 10.5 hour great-circle route flight over Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Norway spanning 1/5 of the globe’s circumferance. The plane was new and comfortable, but we never seem to sleep when we fly.

It was a 30-minute taxi ride from the airport to our home for the next six weeks in Lennart and Barbara’s apartment on Karlbergsvägen near the city-center of Stockholm. It’s a roomy apartment and, just like in Vienna, there’s an inner courtyard, although here we have a balcony from which to enjoy it:

After getting unpacked and taking a little nap to overcome the jetlag, we walked down the street to a nice little Italian Restaurant, Capre Due. Everyone here seems to speak English – in fact, English seems to be the lingua franca throughout the Nordic countries, if not throughout Europe. But, it was still a bit of a surprise to overhear our Italian waiter describe the daily special to the men at the table behind us in Swedish, one of whom translated his comments to his two friends in English, who then discussed it between themselves in Russian.

We ate outside so we could people watch on this warm first day of June. The building on the corner opposite the cafe was, in the words of our waiter, “typical Swedish.”

A quick stop at the 7-11 (really!) for coffee, cream, sweet rolls and fruit for breakfast, before returning to our Home Exchange apartment to relax before bed.

We didn’t make it outside for the ice cream truck tonight, but I’ll be listening for him tomorrow!