The Path and the Puddle: August 2009

We were only there about 45 hours, so it’s amazing how much we did. Fortunately, on the overnight Icelandair flight, we had an empty seat between us, so we each got an hour or two of sleep. That helps.

The Arlanda (Airport) Express dropped us a block from the hotel, we checked in, then took a short walk in Gamla Stan, the incredibly quaint and beautiful old town that dates back to the 13th Century.

There are more touristy shops than I remember from the 1960s, but it’s still one of those magical places.

I always get excited by the doors and windows.

On the way back to the hotel we walked through the Riksdag, the buildings that house the Swedish Parliament.

After a short nap we were met in the lobby by the scientists who were taking us out to dinner.

They asked if we minded walking and of course we said “No,” thinking it would be maybe 10 minutes….after about 30 minutes of brisk walking, including a long flight of stairs, we arrived at a charming small restaurant. Neither of us made a note of the name.

It was hilarious trying to make sense of the menu: it was in Swedish, but our friends could not easily translate because many of the ingredients were unfamiliar, exotic, or in other languages like French, Spanish etc. So after consulting with the waitress, whose English was excellent, we decided to get one of each appetizer and share them. The first one was a mushroom soup made from the yellow Kantarelle that Swedes pick in the woods this time of year, and which you see in large heaps in the markets. It was absolutely heavenly.

On Wednesday Kim was busy lecturing and consulting with the scientists, so I decided to visit the Nordiska Museum on Djurgården. Stockholm is situated in a huge archipelago where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea, and the city itself is on 14 different islands. Djurgården (literally Animal Park, traditionally the Royal Game Park) is an entire island that is a lovely park with museums.

I set off on foot, in the rain, and soon found myself back at the hotel. OOPS, that was a waste of 20 minutes! Next try was better, and walking really brought back memories of being 14, and hanging out downtown with my Swedish friends. Stockholm still has a lot of smokers, who have all been driven outside with new anti-smoking regulations, and the smell of tobacco lent an air of authenticity to my 60’s nostalgia.

As I walked through Hötorget, I remembered sitting on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall with my friend, Dagge, during the summer of 1967 and flirting with German boys. (Don’t read this part, Mom!)

By the time I reached the Nordiska Museum, after walking for over an hour, I was wet and very tired. It’s an impressive building, and the exhibits were fascinating, particularly the textiles. In “Sápmi,” an exhibit about the region inhabited by the Sami people, I was thrilled with the hand braided boot laces. The textiles gallery had some amazing rugs and some pieces of very old Swedish tapestries, most likely from Skane. Unfortunately there was little detail provided.

I asked at the ticket desk which bus I should take to get back to my hotel, and they told me the bus number and where to get it. Then I had to walk over to the Vasa Museum because I knew there was a hotdog stand there. I had a varmkorv with senap (mustard) and the heavenly, crunchy deep fried onions that are unique to Scandinavia. Yummm.

I didn’t visit the museum, because I saw the ship in the 1960’s when it had just been excavated, and in the process of preservation. The Vasa, the brand new “mightiest warship in the world,” with 64 guns, had its maiden voyage in 1628, and as it sailed out of the harbor, with all the important people watching, it suddenly heeled over, took on water and sank in the harbor. They raised it up in 1961, and began the lengthy process of preservation.

I arrived at the bus stop just as bus 47 was arriving. I tried to buy a ticket from the machine in a hurry, but found out I was 10 Kroner short. The machine only took coins or credit cards, and by the time I figured out that I could buy the ticket with my credit card, the bus had left. Fortunately another one arrived in just minutes. I was pretty proud of myself for making it back to the hotel on the bus. The public transportation is very good, but it’s not cheap. It cost me over $4 for about a 10 minute bus ride.

When Kim arrived back at 5pm, we hurried over to Hötorget to get some food for dinner before the markets all closed at 6. In the outdoor market we got blueberries, raspberries, apples, bananas, cucumbers and carrots. Then to the indoor market where we bought wine, bread, cheese, olives, and some amazing cheesy appetizers: one was Chevre with crayfish, the other 2 were a milder soft cheese with salmon in one, and bacon in the other, and all were topped with caviar and fresh herbs.

After dropping the food in the hotel room, we rushed down to City Hall, where the Canal Tour was leaving at 6.30, and we just made it, which meant we had to see the sights with 2 teenagers between us and the window. It was beautiful and educational and at the end of the cruise, we visited City Hall briefly, as it was getting dark.

I love this building. It was built in the 1920’s but looks much older. The architect was going for a traditional Scandinavian look, but was also influenced by the Italian Renaissance. It has a combination of solidity and elegance that is unique.

2 years ago, on the first day of the Austin Nostalgia Tour, we took a tour of City Hall, and it was amazing.

My mother and sisters remember when General Motors Nordiska had its 40th anniversary, around 1968, and my Dad, who was managing director at the time, hosted a banquet in the Golden Hall. This room is completely covered in a mozaic of tiny tiles made up of gold covered in glass. City Hall also houses the Blue Room, where they award the Nobel Prizes. All except the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo.

The next morning we headed up to Umeå on the train.

On August 24 my husband, Kim, and I are leaving for a sabbatical semester in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Most adventures are about leaving home, but this one includes elements of going home. My family lived in Denmark and Sweden in the 1960s, and in Switzerland and London in the 1970s. (We also lived in South Africa from 1958-1963, but that will have to be another trip). Apart from the fun of seeing old places again, I still have one old friend in Sweden, who I have only seen once in the past 39 years, so after a few days in Stockholm we’ll take the train up to Umea in northern Sweden.

Two years ago, my brother, 2 sisters, mother and I took a 10 day No stalgia Trip to Stockholm and Copenhagen. It was the first time any of us had been back to the area since 1970. It was amazing. I had this feeling of shock to see that it was real; somehow I had a secret fear that I might have imagined or invented the whole thing.

When my parents lived in Switzerland, I was in college so I only visited twice. They lived in Bern, but in 2000 Kim and I visited Interlaken with our 14 and 17 year old daughters, (one about to start high school, the other about to start college) along with Kim’s parents and his brother, for a week in the summer. It rained every day! We’ll be staying in the same house this time, and hopefully, over 11 weeks we’ll have SOME good weather!