Greece rocks, Albanians suck, and discount airliners think they're tougher than they are.

I've been told I've been slacking, so here it is, hungover, day 2 in Sweden. Take it for what it's worth.

So the last night in Greece wasn't anything to write home about. We grabbed some beers and hung out on the beach and had a real good, but mellow time - nothing new, right? Then as we walked home, 10m from our hotel, I made the mistake of flipping off a group of Albanian bikers (in fairness, they were being dicks) and apparently almost got my ass handed to me as after we walked up to our room they circled back looking for me (I found all this out the next morning). Well done on my part. During one of my history 'lessons' during the week, I had been warned that the Albanians had been the 'least friendly' of the ex-Yugoslavs, and it may have been accurate. Call me a racist if you want, but Albanians are assholes. Probably not all of them, but so far they're 0-for-15 (it was a big group). After the Kosovo conflict, I don't expect any of my new Serbian friends to disagree.

Dajan and Sanja were nice enough to give us a ride to Thessaloniki airport Friday afternoon. Once you got outside of the touristy part of Paralia, Greece reminded me a lot of Jamaica, actually: smaller cement houses on random parts of hills, not all that much going on (until you got into Thessaloniki, of course). And the drivers made Mass-holes look like driving instructors. When we got to the airport I had a choice: pay €22 ($33) to check my bag half-way to my destination (and face another €20 fee at the layover airport in Berlin) or make my bag lighter. If you knew me at all, you know the answer already. I boarded the EasyJet flight with all my clothing on on a 95ºF day. Worst decision ever. Then I took off all the clothes on the plane (don't worry, pictures will follow), strapped them to my bag, and did it again in Berlin. Rinse, wash, repeat. The looks that I got from people on Ryanair taking off shirt after shirt after shirt after shirt almost made the whole experience worth it. Almost. Was it worth the €42 saved? Probably not. But we're in a recession; sacrifices must be made.

All-in-all, the Greeks scored pretty well:

women: A+ (they may have had some help from the Serbs - I can't really distinguish between them; I know a few Americans who can compete, but they are in the minority (sorry ladies))
beaches: A- (the beaches themselves were incredible, but the water had WAY too much seaweed and jellyfish and was even too warm at times)
food: C+ (the €2 deliciousss gyros kept them from being in the 'D' range; the souvlaki wasn't really any good, the veal was overdone, the shrimp was terrible; the food at the wedding was quite good, but I'm not so sure that qualified as 'typical' Greek fare)
amenities: C+ (guys, they have these things called 'credit cards,' learn to accept them....somewhere....anywhere. It's like the stone age over there.)
public transportation: B (they certainly didn't seem to run on what one might call a 'schedule,' but they got us pretty close to where we needed to be for an excellent price; plus, they had gypsies fighting the conductor)
overall: A- (good luck Scandinavia, you have a lot to live up to)

When we got to Nyköping (pronounced NEE-sho-ping) at 11:30pm, I was in paradise. It was a cool 65º (compared to Greece which didn't seem to sink far below 80º, even at night). I think the airport is only staffed with beautiful Swedish women (isn't that against the law?). Everything was clean, public transportation was running efficiently (are you listening Tom Menino??). The airport hotel was this swanky, modern hotel that looked more like an Ikea than an airport hotel. Try comparing it (http://www.connecthotel.se/default.asp?id=skavsta-en) to the LaGuardia airport hotel in Queens. Not even close. The room was a little small, but for one night extremely clean, comfortable, and modern. Big fan.

We took the Flygbussarna shuttle into Stockholm the next morning and walked to our hostel. What an interesting place this is. It's legitimately a maze (I will take and post a video at some point this week). It's in this really old, but cool building. We settled into our room (which is like a big dormitory), walked outside...right into the biggest gay pride parade in Europe. I shit you not. The videos will be up whenever I get around to it - beware, they are not all PG (I'm sure Facebook is going to take issue with one or two of them). Afterward we had a delicioussss lunch we scoured the city for hair gel and liquor stores, neither of which we could find on a Saturday. Unbelieveable. Then Fletcher led us on the Long March around Jiangxi to find this dive bar...I still don't know why. But at least he took a nap - he didn't sleep the entire flight over and as a result had been up for 36 straight hours, and I was getting 'Fletched out' four hours into the trip. That's a recipe for disaster.

My only problem with Sweden so far - and this is a serious problem I have with Europe - is why is it so hard to get ice around here?? Why would you want to drink anything (excluding milk, OJ, beer, and wine) without it?? It occurs here naturally like nine months out of the year! I was so upset I skipped dinner...which is probably a good thing since the exchange rate makes the Euro look like the Czech Kroner (don't I sound sophisticated...Jesus). But it is crushing us. I just withdrew 3000 SEK from the ATM - around $415. If that doesn't last me until Wednesday morning then I'm going to have to have a word with the Swedes.

Bike tour tomorrow of Stockholm. Wednesday we leave for Copenhagen. Then the plan is to head East to Belgrade (Beerfest!) for an undetermined amount of time. When I've finally overstayed my welcome there I'll head back and hit up Budapest and Vienna on my way to Amsterdam...maybe. That's the plan at least. It looks like there are no more rooms available at Oktoberfest, so that may not be happening. I'm not a real beer aficionado anyhow, so no harm, no foul. More to come as it happens...and as I can get an internet signal. I'd still trade the signal for ice any day.