To: euro@neurostyle.net
From: Emilio Gonzalez 
Subject: 7.14.00 - 0:36 - stockholm, sweden


back in stockholm, yes, yes. but only for a night. i ended up not going to
goteborg, as the people i was going to stay with weren't going to be availible,
so now i'm going to be taking the ferry to helsinki tomorrow - it leaves at five
pm and gets in at 9 am and i don't have a cabin. i spent far too much money in
berlin over the weekend, so i'm paying for it by cutting back on expenses. i
guess i'll just find some corner of the ship to curl up in, no?

but it's nice to come back to stockholm - such a beautiful city, even though it's
cold and wet. i don't mind it one bit, though - seeing the halo of distant lights
glittering through a late night's rain in an all-night dusk is a wonderful sight.
it's a city i would love to spend more time in - were it not so prohibitively
expensive. you can expect to spend at least 20usd per person for a decent sit
down meal, and it many cases that much for just one dish. but the people are
great, the city is great, and the design... mmmmmswedishfurniture. ikea just
scratches the surface of the stuff out here. 

i tell you, though, there's some questionable fast food out here. hot dogs,
burgers, yeah, yeah, the usual. but try this one on for size: a hot dog wrapped
in a tortilla-like bread with ketchup, mustard and... mashed potatoes. or
something that looks like them. yeah, it's bizzare, but i'm going to give it a
shot. the hot dogs here are a little humorous, they're comically longer than
their bun, resulting in more of a handle than a bun. i've yet to try the
so-called national dish of a kind of fried fish, mostly because it's just damn
pricey. i'll be getting into penny-watching range, so i don't want to be loading
up on the beluga and dom anytime soon. 

if i'm lucky, though, i can make a little cash in finland, which will make it
possible for me to go back to switzerland and the netherlands for a bit, and
maybe even spend some amount of time in england - or at least enough to buy the
queen mum a pint.

- emilio