Towards Stockholm

from Copenhagen to Malmo

Early in the morning we leave Copenhagen and head for Malmo: we finally cross the bridge that links Denmark with Sweden. The toll for the bridge (we cross it with our own car) is 285 Danish kroner. The bridge is majestic, but at the same time gives the impression of being light, flexible. Once in Sweden we cover the roughly 300 km that separate us from Stockholm: the landscape is rather monotonous. Along our way we come across great forests, signs warning us of the possible presence of reindeer and every now and then some lake. We arrive in Stockholm in the early afternoon and one of the first things we see from the motorway is what? An IKEA store, of course! Here we are in the homeland of "DIY furniture" and the "do-it-yourself" store par excellence, invented by the Swedes themselves, couldn't be missing.

Unfortunately we have a bit of trouble finding the hotel, because in the meantime a strong storm caught us by surprise and also because in the central area of Stockholm the streets tend not to intersect, but to "overlap": there are in fact underpasses and bridges, with the result that traffic flows more smoothly, but reaching certain streets becomes difficult....and the tourist gets lost! We finally reach the hotel, a Best Western not far from the centre, very nice and located in the upper part of Stockholm's pedestrian zone...and next to the headquarters of the embassy of I don't know which country.

I remember it well, because, after parking the car in front of the embassy (there was no prohibition, the line was blue and we regularly paid for parking until 9 the following morning), the next morning we found a fine on the windshield for prohibited parking!!! Of course there was a sign with some writing on it, but try to understand what it says?! Anyway, even from this unpleasant episode, we have a chance to notice Swedish precision: the fine on the windshield is in a kind of transparent plastic bag, so, in case of rain, it wouldn't get ruined! These Nordics are really efficient!! Anyway, fine aside, we like Stockholm a lot: it has the air of being a lively, open and cosmopolitan city. The city is divided into a modern part and a more ancient one, and the whole city develops over several small islands (to be continued)