I visited Stockholm in September 2024 in order to acquaint myself with the Nordic region, the only part of Europe I hadn’t visited up to that point.

Swedish Cities

• Stockholm – 7/10 (2024)

Visually Stockholm is redolent of Britain, Germany, and Saint-Petersburg. Extremely digitized; cash basically doesn’t exist. Restrooms are all unisex (this is a good thing). Expensive – local beer is $10. Swedish cuisine isn’t exotic, of course, but meat, gravy, and berry has a lot going for it. Despite its performative liberalism, there are very few rainbow flags in the streets (e.g. in contrast to Berlin or Amsterdam).

The main interesting thing in Sweden to me is it’s peculiar and often paradoxical sociology, e.g. its “cult of progress” (some similarities to Russia) and the usage of state power in order to break family bonds in order to better realize individual aspirations. Much to comment in that respect.