Swedes are quite possibly the most polite people on the planet.  The waiters, waitresses, hotel receptionists and others we met in the hospitality industry really were, well, hospitable. Without exception….as was the case with clerks, tellers, event workers and all others with whom we interacted.

Not only do Swedish drivers stop for pedestrians who are entering crosswalks; the drivers stop for pedestrians who are merely approaching crosswalks and might just be thinking about the possibility of crossing the street.  After a few days of this in Sweden’s larger cities, I would see a car slow down for me and I would think, “Oh, I guess I should cross the road now.”

The GPS which came with my new Swedish-made car not only has a sweet accented voice, the voice actually precedes many directions with the word “Please.”  Like, “Please stay left.” And, “Please take the second exit at the round-about in 200 meters onto the one-six-four.”

After two weeks of this in Sweden, I began to wonder if my own behavior, which is pleasant if not always perfectly patient, might appear almost boorish in this supernaturally courteous country.

JER

In the USA we encounter establishments which don’t accept credit cards.  In Sweden it is more common to be in a place that does not take cash.

In Gothenburg, for example, at a huge hotel that is part of world-wide chain, and at a casual corner Peruvian bistro where we stopped for drinks, bites and memories of our Inca Trail trek last spring, it was no cash but credit cards only.

In Stockholm one cannot use  cash to ride public transportation. Or to purchase food or drink at the Culture Festival. Or to enter most museums or theaters.

And  between these two largest of Sweden’s cities, along the country’s motorways, the only way to purchase fuel is with a credit card.

In the USA one can get along without a credit card more easily than without cash. In Sweden it may be possible to travel the country without cash, but a traveler without a credit card will not get very far.

JER

From the expansive porch addition fronting the massive former post office which is now a hotel and dominates Drottningtorget, the central square in Gothenburg, Sweden, one can observe what place-making — the buzz-word of urbanization in the USA — really requires. Here there are three anchor hotels and two other hotels in sight. Here the city tram lines, local and inter-city bus lines, and both inter-city and out-of-country train lines come together. Packs of people depart one mode of transportation and traverse the plaza to connect with another.

By contrast, in my USA community, the bus station of one city has been rebuilt just four miles from a bus and train depot just rebuilt in the adjacent town, which also has a separate airport commuter bus stop two miles away. The inter-city and state train line here miss-connects with one in another town by thirty miles. Each independent effort discourages use of itself and the other transportation systems.

In my community, as in others in the USA (the Detroit metropolitan area, for example), people reject regionalization, seeing only what they must give up. If they would lose their self-interest they would gain much more, both for themselves and others.

JER

The biggest difference in packing for our European summer this year compared to our first trip as honeymooners decades ago is the pills.  Each of us prepared sandwich bags of vitamins, supplements and anti-inflammatories, as well as several small bottles of prescription medicine.  Only birth control pills were needed the first time around.

JER

This is a test……quite likely of both the reader’s patience and mine.

JER

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton