September, 1997 (continued):
In our last exciting episode, I was in my favorite city, Stockholm, wrapping up an extended radio seminar tour of Sweden.
Monday was a great day for me. After a leisurely breakfast, I strolled over to Gamla Stan (Old Town) and spent the new few hours just wandering aimlessly.
I love the idea of the many small restaurants inhabiting buildings that go back as much as 600 years. One of the restaurants, in a cellar, boasts that one wall of the dining room is the oldest standing wall in Stockholm.
By the time I returned to my hotel, I was exhausted. So I called room service for a light lunch (a very good, fresh mushroom soup and a shrimp sandwich) and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening alternately snoozing and reading THE TERRORISTS.
The “Martin Beck” novels, written by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, are not difficult to read. But neither are they exactly riveting page-turners.
I arose Tuesday morning at 5:15 (much easier for me to do in Europe than at home), showered, grabbed my bags, went downstairs and ate a few soft-boiled eggs from the breakfast buffet…which still was being set up; it didn’t officially open until 6:30.
Then I grabbed a taxi to the airport, flew to London, killed a few hours at Heathrow Airport, and caught the United flight back to Los Angeles.
Despite the mysterious physical problems I encountered, it was a great trip. Even before getting on that plane to L.A., I already missed Sweden.
