“And you’re all so nice!” “That’s because you’re not Iraqi.”

“You’re American!” said Frederick’s friend Sofie.

“Yes,” I said. “Sorry.”

“All the Americans I meet are always apologizing,” she said in amazement.

“Good,” I said. “Hey, how did you learn such good English?”

“Well we get it in school,” she said, “but I also have watched a lot of Sally Jesse Raphael and Married With Children.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I said. And that was pretty much how the conversation rolled along.

Malmo was about the most fun you can have without Michele around. Frederick and his friends were all so welcoming, and we managed to turn him, his mom and his grandmother out of their beds, which is I think a personal record of imposition for me so I feel pretty good about that.

More pictures are up, for those of you still brave enough to slog through them. The remaining few Amsterdam pictures are here, Berlin pictures are here, and Sweden pictures are here. The Sweden pics have the most people in them, if you like that sort of thing.

The Berlin pictures include a whole separate album devoted to our day at the Berlin Zoo. I need to explain in advance to you about my small problem with baby animals: I really like them. This is why the Zoo album contains no fewer than 78 pictures, almost all of them featuring a baby animal. I feel a little sick admitting this to the internet, like I am now the kind of person who will pay good money for a kitten calendar, but I think you should be warned before you open that album. Unlike our other albums there are no pictures of concrete pylons, algae or construction equipment. The cuteness contained in there might just kill you.