Friday night in Stockholm

These past couple days were my first weekend here that wasn't a major holiday, so I was a bit curious to find out what Stockholmers do for the helg. It turns out one popular thing to do is go cruising. No, not that kind of cruising (although I'm sure that happens too -- I just wouldn't know about it). I mean the old-fashioned, American Graffiti style cruising. It appears car culture is alive and well in Stockholm. As evening fell on Friday, the street I live on came alive to the sound of car horns and squealing tires as a parade of classic, American cars cruised up and down the street.

I was a bit surprised to see people driving their American muscle cars from the 50s-70s with no apparent purpose in a country where gas costs ~$9 a gallon. That said, there were as many or more people parked on the side of the street and chatting by their cars than there were people actually driving them. I'm not really into muscle cars, but I did get a certain feeling of nostalgia for the good ol' U.S. of A.

There were a few things that stood out as unfamiliar, though. First, none of the cars had their stereos turned up very loud, and those that did were most likely to be playing some sort of rock. I didn't hear a single thump of hip hop. Also, the crowd had a decidedly middle-aged bent to it. It was definitely more Hot August Nights than Sideshow.

My personal favorite car? A big grocery getter station wagon from the 70s painted jet black with flames on the hood. It had some glittery stickers below one of the back windows that said "Remember the 70s". Hell Yeah! Actually, I was only four when the seventies ended, so I don't really remember them, but ... Hell Yeah!

Here are a couple non-scientifically collected statistics about the Friday night cruise on Sveavägen:

Approximate number of classic cars cruising up and down the street: 40
Approximate number of classic cars parked on the side of the street: 50
Number of trunk-rattling jams heard: 0
Number of songs that sounded suspiciously like "Doctor Doctor" by U.F.O.: 2
Number of Volvos squealing tires when leaving a stoplight: 1
Number of horns playing "La Cucaracha": 2