Going away

The other day, Dani, Julia and I went to Svennedisko. Some Swedish guys who were in one way or another with or part of Tar...Feathers, the band that had played earlier in the evening, started a conversation. Or they might have been the owners of their record label, I'm not sure.
Anyway, the point is that one of them told me that he lived in Gothenburg because he thought Stockholm was too hip. This I could relate to because it's how I felt when I visited Stockholm. But then another guy challenged my point of view that Oslo is rather wonderful by claiming that Norway is boring compared to Sweden: Sweden has better food, better clothes and better music. Well. I didn't want to offend his patriotism. But it reminded me once again that I actually dislike "exciting" cities, cities where opportunities and hip young people are basically jumping at you on every corner. It's so obvious!
When I went to Stockholm - as pictured above - it was way too cold for my liking. I caught a cold on the first time and am therefore prejudiced, I suppose, because I didn't enjoy myself at all.
When I went to Oslo - as pictured below - all the trees were in bloom and I was giddy with the tranquility that the city seemed to offer. The vintage shops and stylish cafés that were all over Stockholm were lacking here, but somehow I didn't mind the small-town-vibe.





Maybe I've simply got a soft spot for the not-so-hip younger sibling that Oslo seems to be when compared to other Scandinavian capitals. It does remind me of the Vienna versus Berlin debates: Every summer, young Viennese go to Berlin - in fact, I don't know a single friend of mine who has never been there or doesn't plan to go in the near future. My loyalties have shifted from when I was seventeen and wanting nothing more than to move to the hippest place I could find.