I’m so tired, I think I’ll be able to sleep half the day away tomorrow. My bed is so wonderful. My sheets are so nice. My room is so quiet. And Lina made me dinner.
But, coming home: I realized, when the train was approaching, just before the central station, that Stockholm must have one of the most beautiful first impression glances of a city through the train windows when approaching the central station. The train tracks arriving from the south run straight through the heart of Stockholm, on the low bridge crossing the Lake Mälaren with the Old Town on one side and City Hall by the water on the other. Especially if it’s a sunny day like today, the colorful houses of the Old Town shine and the waters of Mälaren glitter. It might just be my local patriotism speaking, but from all the train arrival views that I’ve seen during the last five weeks (and they are MANY), Stockholm is the most beautiful. In most other cities, the train tracks run through industrial areas and the first impression of a city through the train windows is often pretty bleak. But in Stockholm, you can see our very best already from the train tracks.
Arriving from the north (for example from the airport) is not at all as agreeable. There, you get the industrial bleakness like in any other European city. No, I recommend anyone who has the choice to arrive to Stockholm by train from the south.
Katja Malmborg 