Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden Sunday & Monday, May 29 & 30, 2022
The “sail” into Stockholm is soooo
picturesque that it was suggested that we get up at 5 am and enjoy the 3 hours of cruising between the myriads of
islands of Sweden and then the beginnings of the archipelago that is the
capital, Stockholm. “Buuuttttt,” the
cruise director fudged, “for those who are staying on board for the rest of the
cruise (about 40 got off at the end of that segment in Stockholm), then you can
enjoy the sail—in reverse!” And that’s just
what we did! We woke, briefly, about 5,
thought about getting some photos, but two votes for NO! sent us back to sleep. We had our next-leg-of-the-journey antigen
tests, held our breath all day, then exhaled when we returned to our computer
and the email that said we were both negative. Again.
Okay. What do you think of when you hear the word:
Stockholm? Nobel Peace Prize? Stockholm Syndrome? Modern city?
The red Dalarna painted horses?
Pewter? ABBA? Spotify?
It’s not only an innovative city,
but it has a place and a voice for just about any issue, any form of sexuality,
any music, any art. Surprisingly easy to
navigate, Stockholm sprawls across 14 islands in its distinct archipelago. Yup, about 1/3 is water. And bridges.
No wonder it’s called The Venice of the North. It’s a gift of a place for us to have two
full days and one overnight. You’d think
we could get everything seen in that length of time. Huh.
No.
Jerry and I had signed up for a tour around the Old Town on Sunday morning to orient ourselves so that tomorrow we can set out on our own. As we traipsed the narrow cobblestone streets between tall and old buildings, deep church bells began to call people to worship. It’s Sunday and I’m not in church. Feels weird. And lonely. But this also meant that we couldn’t get into that Lutheran Church. No worries. Worship is more important than tourism. Walking clockwise in a large circle away from and back to the Royal Palace, we found a small statue that is referred to as the most beloved one in the city. Located in an easily overlooked area where the poor people used to live in medieval times, this statue shows a boy longingly looking at the moon from his bed.
Ever since its installation in
the 1960s, people have dressed him with warm clothing and blankets in the
winter and have left trinkets for him.
The nearby Finnish Lutheran church collects these offerings and distributes
them.
At a hill overlooking the bay, we
learned that Sweden’s land mass is rising at the rate of 5mm per year. It adds up when looking at a 1000 year
history. This 5 meter hill used to be
even with the shore. The large statue of
George slaying the dragon has taken on personal significance for these people:
it becomes Sweden and Denmark at war with a woman in Sweden needing protection. Then we found a large open square that
already had quite a few people gathering.
On to Iron Square where the oldest bank in the world resides, built
because Sweden became so rich on her iron ore.
Then we saw a statue of a man with sunglasses, a Swedish musician who
used to visit the nearby cafes after each concert.
St. Gertrude, a German church whose
services continue to be In German, has the tallest tower in Sweden and was
built in 1571. This history of
Protestantism seems to be linked to the rising of riches in Sweden. In the 1500s, when Christianity became the
favored religion and Catholicism was banned, those Catholic churches were
emptied and the statues, gold, silver, etc confiscated.
An unusual item on our tour was the
golden symbol of a phoenix above the doors of some of the old section of
homes. Apparently, this symbol showed
that the owners had fire insurance…which sent the fire department to these
homes first. Well, as close together as
these homes are, it’s a bit of a stretch to believe that that worked very well.
Our guide stopped at the corner of a building to point out a rune dating to the Viking era (800-1100 AD). Nobody knows how it got here as no others have been found close by. The rune is a stone with writing or designs on it that some historical significance to the people at that time. This one seems to be a memorial from a mother and father to a heroic son. Areas outside of Stockholm have produced many rune stones, just not here.
In its darker history, the Stockholm Bloodbath is commemorated in the square by at least one building built of red stones. In short, the bloodbath was instigated by the Danish King upon occupation when he invited local nobles to attend a service of solidarity…but instead he decapitated them.
Our final stop on the tour was the
Royal Palace. As we gathered outside, we
were surprised to see a parade of horses with military riders and then a rank
of more on horseback with instruments!!! Led by a draft horse whose rider had
two drums—one on either side of the pommel.
Yes, we heard them play as they continued past us, and I enjoyed eyeing
all the lovely sorrel horses.
The Royal Palace is not the current quarters of the royal family who have chosen to raise their family in a less fishbowl environment. But who gets to see the inside of a palace that is still in use?!?!? You’ll see many photos of the opulent interior. My take-away was the meeting room for legislature and on the tables were a long line of books, half of which were the constitution and half were Bibles. Could we do that? Please? Have you seen the animated Beauty and the Beast? After visiting this interior we have a sense of where many of the character models came from. Clocks, candlesticks, wardrobe, all looked like the well known characters from that movie.
Our tour now ended, Jerry and I set out to do some looking and some shopping. Stockholm has some glass artists, and we found a piece that will be sent to Nicole sometime soon. Thanks, Nicole, for receiving our goodies. Oh, and the sun came out! What a lovely place for sunshine and photos!
Then we had run out of time for more,
so we headed back to the ship, enthusiastic about a return trip tomorrow.
Now it’s tomorrow and we waited until
almost 10 to board the complimentary shuttle bus to make sure most shops and
museums would be open. I got a bit too
excited about warmer weather. Oops. Unfortunately, our first museum, the Nobel
Peace Museum, was closed on Mondays.
WHA??? That made two for two to
not get into Nobel museums on this trip.
Drat!
We had heard that the canal tour was worth seeing, so we got tickets on the Stockholm Sightseeing mostly inside flat top boat for 2.15 hours titled Under the Bridges. We were able to sit in the outside (covered) area, but I gave up after one hour and went inside where it was warmer. We and another couple from our ship were the only mask wearers. The photos are lovely even though it was a bit overcast.
We found that shops were closing out
their winter supply of clothing, so had fun finding some good-smelling leather
for a fair price. Thank you, hubby. LOTS warmer!
The ship was scheduled to take off by 4:30, so we scrambled onto the shuttle at about 3 to get back. It filled up fast, so a few later arrivals had to wait for the next bus.
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