STOCKHOLM

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STOCKHOLM

Jill and Nicholas, Jill’s son who acts as chauffeur, meet us at the pier. Jill’s father and Marion’s mother were childhood friends in the UK. This is the third or fourth time that Marion and Jill have met but they are as close as cousins. We drive to the “Old Town” and wander the medieval lanes. There are few tourists out this early but soon the narrow streets will be impassable. Timing is everything! The buildings are beautifully maintained and the décor is sometimes whimsical.
We pass the Academy where the Nobel prizes are awarded except for the Peace Prize that is presented in Oslo, Norway. We stroll by the Royal Palace where the Royals no longer live, having decided on a smaller palace nearby. We pass the narrowest street in the old city, just wide enough for one person to walk. The Swedish Parliament is located on it’s own island. I should mention that Stockholm bills itself as the “Venice of the North”, as does St. Petersburg and Copenhagen, etc. Not having seen Venice yet, I can’t choose one city on the Baltic that is like it, but they are all charming. The canals add wonderful vistas of architecture and water, boats and trains and busses and cars.
Once again we are blessed with beautiful weather and the blue skies provide a perfect backdrop to the colors of the buildings, the gilded spires, the turrets and domes.
Nicholas drives us to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was an elaborate, supposedly state of the art war ship that we built in 1626 for use in the war with Poland. King Gustavus Adolphus required that the Vasa be the most expansive and lavishly decorated vessel afloat. He wanted it to intimidate the enemy with the two gun decks, and awe them with the carvings of Roman Emperors and generals. He saw himself as their natural heir. He was so anxious to see the vessel in action that he rushed the construction, which, perhaps, led to the occurrence on August 6, 1628.
The Vasa sailed into Stockholm Harbor on her maiden voyage and twenty minutes later she was at the bottom. Crosswinds in the open harbor revealed her instability and she capsized. Thirty lives were lost out of a complement of 150 and there she lies for over 300 years.
Fast forward to 1956 when Anders Frazen discovered the ancient ship. It is remarkable in that it was almost completely intact. The carvings were as crisp as they had been the days she sailed. It contained artifacts such as clothing and leather in remarkable condition. The waters of the Baltic are not as salty as other waters and therefore the shipworm does not thrive here. This explains the pristine condition of the ship.
Vasa has been fully restored. The vessel on display is 98% authentic, with those few missing pieces replaced with historically correct pieces. While the carvings were lavishly painted in the 1600’s, all the paint has disappeared except, remarkably, the tongue of one of the lions carved on the ornate stern.
We had a lovely lunch at the museum with a view of the canal and then took a cab to the City Hall where we caught a canal sightseeing boat. While waiting for our tour, I enjoyed the view of the City Hall. It looks like a church from the outside with elaborate gilded decorations. The clock sounds the hours and all around pleasure boats, kayaks, ferries, and skidoos make their way around Lake Malaren and into the canals.
The tour was interesting with many points of interest. As I mentioned, it was a wonderful warm and sunny Saturday. As we made our way through the canals and around the shore of Lake Malaren, the entire population of Stockholm seemed to be sunning themselves on the rocky shore. They reminded me of the seals or sea lions you might see in California or Alaska. It was quite a sight. In the smaller canals we saw hundreds of boats, many beautiful wooden boats in great condition. It was a great tour and we all enjoyed it. Now we had to say goodbye to Jill, her friend Hans and their great dane Simon. Jill provided us with an unforgettable day in beautiful Stockholm.

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