Stockholm

Well, Arlanda, and a flight home early tomorrow.

The ship docked back in Copenhagen this morning, and I had a long wait at the airport there, broken up by an urgent conference call to discuss a problem back in the office, and a problem at checkin when my carry-on was declared too heavy (it has my cameras and lenses and it's definitely hefty) and I had to reshuffle already bursting luggage there at the counter while impatient travelers gave me the evil eye. The bag wasn't any heavier than it had been when I flew the same airline in the opposite direction last week, but if someone at an airport tells you to do something for security reasons, you just shut up and do it.

Fortunately Copenhagen has a very nice airport since I had to spend several hours there and I did not start in a forgiving mood. The bathroom sinks have hot water -- such a simple thing, and it felt like such a luxury -- and the souvenir shops had some lovely samples of Danish design that tempted me to ignore the rule above and sneak some more weight into my luggage. There was a miniature of an Arne Jacobsen red plywood chair that couldn't have weighed more than a couple of ounces, but it was almost as expensive as the real thing, and if I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on a chair, I ought to be able to sit in it.

Now I'm at the Radisson at Arlanda, the best airport hotel I've ever stayed in. You can literally wheel your luggage cart into the lobby, and the window in my room overlooks the terminal, and the runways outside, which is kind of fun. Imagine being comfortable inside an airport!