What's up with the "Swedish Sin", you ask? Well, apparently, it is this long-standing myth about sex and promiscuity that is associated with Sweden. Swedes were "pioneers" with regards to nudity, gay rights and the emancipation of women, all of which was often associated with sexual promiscuity. Since the 1960s, Swedish attitudes on sexual matters have on the whole been explicitly liberal, but these sexual rights and freedoms long enjoyed by Swedes have been considered "sins" by many other countries.

And this year's Europride theme, "Swedish Sin, Breaking Borders," focuses on international LGBT issues. Which is why we called the blog "Swedish Sin." We hope to do a little of our own "sinning" with a few Swedes ourselves. ;-)

Monday was just a relaxing day of shopping and a few cocktails at outdoor cafes. There are more H&M's in Stockholm than Gaps in NYC. It's nuts. Sometimes there are H&M directly across the street from each other, with another within view just down the street! Of course we had to pick up a little something: Jay bought cute Euro-undies, Jamie barrettes, and Laszlo a bathing suit. As fate would have it, we were just steps away from a beautiful cemetery, where Linda's great-great-great-uncle lies in state, underneath the fanciest tombstone any of us had ever seen. Carl Gustaf af Leopold was a gay nobleman and poet (so Linda comes by her writing talent very honestly) who had an affair with his boss – the king of Sweden, or so the story goes. We were all appropriately humbled.

Then it was off to check out the NK department store, across from Pride House, with the fabulous Fag Hag window. There were actually six windows showcasing different LGBT themes and honoring gay icons who have passed away. The colors and designs were spectacularly over-the-top – let's see if Macy's steps up to the challenge next year.After a late, lazy dinner at Ciao Ciao, home of the mst delicious thin-crust pizza in Stockholm, we headed back to home base, where we watched the movie Sweden: Heaven and Hell, a notorious Italian "shockumentary" on 60s Sweden, and got to experience the concept of "Swedish Sin" firsthand. Basically, the entire movie was made as an excuse to show big-breasted blondes running around and molesting each other, with occasional scenes of debased Swedes huffing gasoline and eating shoe-polish sandwiches, participating in drug-fueled orgies, and doing amateur porn. If it's supposed to be a cautionary tale, then why does everyone seem so happy? We were confused.

So ended day 3 and we toddled off to bed. Next installation – Queen Hag hits Stockholm....and an underwear party!