lagom

it's late and i'm tired, wah wah wah. but one of my fellow travelers just made the most profound observation i've heard in a long while. and to quote jason nevins: it goes a lil something like this: as far as we have noticed, there are no souvenir shops in stockholm. if i had a nickel (or five kronor) for everytime i saw an "i love london" shirt, i'd be drunk off 10 dollar beers right now. and as much as i loved dublin, as soon as you pass temple bar, you are met with a massive temple bar store filled with everything temple bar, from temple bar mugs to temple bar tampons. but so far, in three days in the center of stockholm, i haven't seen a single propaganda souvenir that one would wear as if to say "hey, look at me, i've been to sweden. it's the bestest country evar! long live stockholm!" and that exemplifies the swedish term which travel guru anthony bourdain introduced me to: lagom. which apparently means not the best, not the worst, just average. which is the way the swedish people live. the porridge is not too hot, or too cold, it's just right. as far as i'm concerned.

tak