This post will be short on words and heavy on pictures.
Stockholm has pretty much everything an American traveler could want. It’s staggeringly beautiful, both in its natural setting and its layout and architecture. It’s got a really superior public transportation system, including subway, buses, trams and boats. It’s very tourist-friendly. There are a million things to do, both indoors and out. It’s populated by very attractive, friendly people who all speak beautiful English.
I’ve wanted to see the city for so many years, it’s surprising that it lived up to my expectations. But it did.
This waterfront street is Stockholm’s most expensive address.Through the porthole into the past.
But How Are The Mens?
Swedish men tend to be cuddly and/or buff Vikings with very well groomed strawberry blond beards. Not short, but not exceptionally tall.
Yes, this is a real thing.
Conclusion
I’d go back there in a minute. Particularly for a reason I’ll tell about in a later post.
Here’s some more pictures of lovely Stockholm and its archipelago:
I have no idea who this important-looking person is. I was too zonked that day to figure it out.
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On Galma Stan, the small island that contains the Old Town, there’s a museum dedicated to Alfred Nobel and his prizes. It didn’t sound particularly sexy, but hey, I had the Stockholm City Card, didn’t I? So I popped in, and boy was I glad I did. It turned out to be a very interesting place.
SHOULD HAVE WON
I took a tour with a tiny and slightly smarmy Swede who was very articulate and informative. I learned all sort of interesting things about Mr. Nobel, including:
He never married or had any children.
He was born in Sweden, but lived most of his life in other countries (including twenty years in Russia).
95% of his fortune was left to create the foundation for his prizes. His extended family members were not amused.
The awards, given in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace, were to be given to people whose work in those fields in the past year had provided the greatest benefit to the world.
Each prize is given by a different organization. Four of these are in Sweden, and as everyone knows, the Peace Prize is given in Norway and chosen by a Norwegian organization. Why is this? I had always wondered, and I thought, finally I’ll find out why!
Are you ready for the answer? It’s kind of awesome:
TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE WON
We have no idea. Seriously. Nobel offered not a syllable of explanation in the will. He simply ordered that the Peace Prize be given by Norway.
Of course, there are many theories, perhaps the most important being that Norway was more prominent in the international peace movement at that time than Sweden was. But still: We don’t know. I like that little bit of mystery.
By the way, Nobel did not provide for the Economics Prize. It was created later by the central bank of Sweden, given out “in memory” of Nobel, and the prize money comes from Swedish taxes, rather than the Nobel endowment.
When the tour was over, I approached our Pocket Viking tour guide with my particular pet peeve: The Literary Prize. That prize is given by the Swedish Academy, which happens to meet in quarters on the second floor of the very building the museum was in.
You could make a very good argument that he deserved to win.
“SO, ” I asked, “What do the folks upstairs have against writers who have actually moved a few books? I’ll waive the requirement that it be given to a work created in the year before prize; science and even literature don’t really work that way. BUT. Didn’t Nobel’s will specifically state that it was to be given to the person whose work had benefited the world the most? Wouldn’t that by definition mean the winner would be a popular writer? Why, instead, does the Academy use the prize as an affirmative action program for obscure writers from exotic places who haven’t sold twenty books, but whose politics the Academy likes and whose work they’d like to promote?”
P.V. Tour Guide was sympathetic to my point. I continued, “Vonnegut and Bradbury clearly did more good in the world with their work than the people the Academy hands out the prize to. It’s clearly in violation of Nobel’s will.”
Turns out that, regarding Alfred Nobel’s will, I’m a Strict Constructionist.
NOTE: The image at the top of this post is of a very sweet crowd that had gathered to greet me as I left the Nobel Museet, which is the background. After a taxing three hours signing autographs, handing out advice, and kissing babies and boyfriends, I had to beg off. One does need one’s rest and a modicum of privacy.
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So my very favorite object in Stockholm is this astounding wooden sculpture of St. George and the Dragon. It’s in the 13th-Century Storkyrkan, or Stockholm Cathedral, in Gamla Stan (The Old City). There aren’t that many 15th century wooden statues still around these days; they don’t survive fire that well. This one survives because of its political, rather than its religious meaning.
This is one kick-ass 525 year old wooden St. George and the Dragon statue.
Yeah, at first glance it looks like the same old St. George we all know and love. You know, the Roman soldier of Greek origin who was born in Turkey or Syria, and once held a town in Libya hostage by threatening to unleash a dragon on them if they didn’t all convert to Christianity. That guy. But there’s a lot more to this fascinating piece than the tired old myth of St. George.
The statue was made by the German artist Bernt Notke and was commissioned to commemorate Sweden winning its independence from Denmark. Denmark had ruled Sweden for over seventy years until Sten Sture, the elected Swedish regent, defeated the hated Danish King Christian I at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471.
So this isn’t merely St. George and the Dragon. The heroic St. George (looking a bit like Helen Reddy, actually), is conquering the Dragon (which is really Danish King Christian I) while the young lady at the left (yeah, that’d be Sweden) looks on approvingly. Even cooler, the Pope sent a cache of saintly relics, including items of St. George himself, to be contained in the statue.
When Sweden went all Protestant just a few decades after this statue was finished, many Catholic relics and works of art were destroyed. The reason that this particular statue survived is mainly because of its great political significance.
But all THAT isn’t really what’s super cool about this statue. Here’s what is: Look closely at the dragon. Look at the spikes and armor? Look closely. Yup, they are made of MOOSE ANTLERS. Yes, you read that right. Actual moose antlers. They’re all over the dragon (see close-up).
I just think that’s so super cool on a double level. First, it’s amazing artistically. Second, it’s just so damn Swedeny, don’t you think?
The statue is so popular a bronze recreation of it was put up a few blocks away in the early 1900s.
The Copy
PS There is a story, which I am attempting to authenticate, that in some point in the misty past there was a period of rather heated anti-Catholic sentiment in Sweden. A young clerk or cleric or something at the Cathedral feared that the relics in the statue would be seized and destroyed, so he took it on himself to remove them and filed them in an anonymous spot on a shelf somewhere until the climate was safer. He then replaced the relics. Centuries later, another young man randomly found the relics. According to the story, this young man was August Strindberg.
Two more shots from Galma Stan, or Old Town:
Statistics show that young people in Sweden start having sex very early. But I learned yesterday that murderers get a jump on things, too. This little pixie of a killer is preparing to bury her latest victim:
CAKE or DEATH? Oh, I guess he chose death.
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After spending most of the night working on technical issues, I went back to bed at 6 am just for a nap, and slept until almost 10! While I was annoyed at missing my free breakfast at the hotel, I figured I needed the rest.
Happily, my gastric drama has not returned, and apart from a minor amount of lingering jetlag wooziness, I felt just terrific yesterday as I made my initial explorations of Stockholm.
Real Men Push Strollers
And in Stockholm, they seem to do it WAY more than women. I see three or four men alone with children for every woman I see with the little darlings. I wonder why this is?
Dude, Your Time at the Gym Has Been Well Spent
I don’t know how to say that in Swedish, but this is what I wanted to say to several buff Vikings that I saw today. Particularly the one on the Tunnelbana. (No, that’s not Eric’s little brother, it’s what they call the subway here.) He was wearing a long sleeve pullover shirt and you could still see the veins on his bulging arms. You know, through the shirt. Which would have made an impression on me if I wasn’t only and exclusively interested on what’s on the inside of a person. Everyone knows this about me.
Courage?
I don’t usually think of myself as a courageous person. True, I did see “Shoah” at an actual movie theater, by choice, and actually sat through the first four hours of it. But when it comes to real courage, I don’t think so. I’d be the worst soldier ever. I’d cry. I’d desert. On the first day.
However, I would posit that it does take a certain brand of something like courage to go to a foreign country, alone, where you don’t speak the language, and navigate the cities, hop on and off subways without getting lost, and just generally coping in an alien landscape without freaking out. And whatever that oddball kind of courage is, I definitely have it. It’s scary, but it’s a fun kind of scary.
♫ And people ride in a hål in the jord ♫
I’ve been doing it since my twenties, so I guess I’m used to it and have a certain confidence. This is my ninth trip abroad since 1987. I wonder if some people would find it so daunting they wouldn’t go. You know, like me facing the prospect of going to the movies at the Americana in Glendale.
HEY I’m on a boat!
Stockholm is a magnificent city built on hundreds of islands. There are fourteen major ones. It’s really like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s like Venice writ large. You’re never more than a dwarf’s toss from the water here.
I took two delightful boat rides today! The first was to a tiny island where I had a lovely peaceful ramble for an hour.
Råy wik Birchentrøllen
The second was a circumnavigation of Kungsholmen (King’s Island), the island my hotel is on. Boat tours are peaceful and relaxing. I love them.
Town Hall just LOVES my wide angle lens.
Just How Many Spherical Buildings Are There, Actually?
Next I took a fun jaunt up to the top of the world’s largest spherical building. (Didn’t know there was a contest, did you?) It’s called the Ericsson Globe, and it’s a sports and entertainment venue. Very nice photo op on top full stop.
Lens-o-Rama
I’m already VERY glad I purchased the Sigma wide angle lens for the camera. It’s doubled my shooting potential very clearly, as the shots it can get are so utterly different from the ones I get with the Nikkor zoom. Today was a good day of practicing switching out the lenses. I’m getting better at it on the fly.
Exhausting but wonderful day!
Authentic Troll Door. My ancient Runic Swedish is pretty rudimentary, but I believe the first few words carved into the door are something like, “If the mountain’s a-rockin’…”
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Well. After all the pondering, the perusing, the planning, the paying, and the packing, I’m finally on my way!
Today’s going to be a very looooong day and so I’m going to try to wake up and muster all of the patience I can.
Among the things I’m excited about today is the very plane I’ll be traveling on. It’s an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner. Check it out:
As you can see, it’s on the ground, because of course it’s much to heavy to actually fly. You just taxi all of the way to London.
It has two full decks. I’ll be sitting in World Traveler Plus on the second deck.
Here’s a seating chart for this monster:
But Airbus isn’t stopping there. In 2017, Airbus will be introducing the A420, which will have four decks. The top deck will have feature a lap pool, an air hockey parlor and a gay bar. Maybe for my next trip.
Anyway, the flight to London will last eleven and a half hours. That’s longer than the drive to Riverside. And since I’ll be seating in the next-to-lowest seating class, I won’t be in the lap of luxury for those eleven hours. That’s why I paid extra for an aisle seat, so it will be easy for me to stand up and stretch my legs and hopefully get a glimpse of the better looking flight attendants up in Club World.
I’ll also, of course, have my Kindle, and my Nintendo 3DS to keep me company.
It’s an overnight flight, flying east, so I basically lose a day. Which means my first day in ScandiRAYvia will be a day that I will likely stumble around wishing I was dead.
If only I could sleep on planes! But I can’t. I never really could, but now I really can’t, as I can’t sleep at all without my C-PAP. I’ve never tried to use my C-PAP on a plane, and I’ve never actually seen anyone else use one on a plane. However, checking the C-PAP community online I see that many of my fellow Apneans do plug in and use this blessed device while flying. I think my World Traveller Plus seats will have a power outlet. Perhaps this should be the time I try to use it while flying?
It would certainly help my first day in Stockholm be a bit less groggy.
After the London leg, it’s a mere two-and-a-half hour flight from Heathrow to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. I’m a bit nervous, as there’s only a one hour and twenty minute layover between the two flights. I sure hope I don’t miss the Stockholm flight. That would displease me.
Ah, well, I can’t control that part. I vow to try to enjoy whatever happens.
And now, it’s time to leave for the airport!
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Why would I want to visit Scandinavia in the first place?
Oh, come on. It’s Sweden. It’s Denmark. It’s Norway.
I’ve been drawn to these places for as long as I can remember. There’s just something magical to me about all those beautiful storybook cities sprinkled across little archipelagos. The snow, the mountains, the lakes, the politics: It’s just always clicked with me.
There are a million reasons to go. Aside from all of the obvious ones, here’s a few really specific ones for me:
Trolls
I’m a documentary junkie, and one of my all-time favorite documentaries of Trollhunter, which tells the shocking true behind-the-scenes story of how the Norwegian government secretly controls the wild population of trolls. I hope to see some troll action while I’m in Norway.
Vikings
I don’t really have to explain this one, do I?
The Scream
The one by Edvard Munch. Okay, there’s four of them, but one of them is in Oslo.
Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt. “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” (See Trolls, above).
Pining for the fjords
The Girl with the International Book and Movie Franchise
Did you READ these books? Did you SEE the movies? If they’re not enough to make you want to visit Stockholm, you’ve got no blood in your veins. And the Millennium Trilogy is merely the most famous of the exploding film and fiction genre of Nordic Noir. If you haven’t seen it, you should check out Headhunters, and read the book as well!
I already have my ticket to the Millennium Walking Tour! Gonna get my Lisbeth Salandar on!
Train Rides
I’m a huge fan of train travel, and I’ll be doing a LOT of that on this trip, including a very special journey that I’ll discuss more in an upcoming episode.
There are more reasons, but these are plenty enough to get started on.
Are YOU drawn to Scandinavia at all? What would you be interested in seeing there? Let me hear from you in the comments!
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