Re-energizing in Stockholm

In my last post, I raved about Copenhagen. Stockholm is better.

We spent longer here than any other place we’ve been other than New York and London (which were measured on the scale of months, not days). Other than a three day weekend (Monday was the National Day), Jessica had interviews or archival research every day. It turns out, we could have spent a lot more time here for her work. And also because we loved the city. I’m hoping that means we get to come back someday.

So…why was Stockholm so great? Good question. First of all, it has a great mix of peacefulness (not too many cars, lots of natural beauty–more on that soon) and bustling energy. Much like the their descendents I met living in Minnesota, the Swedes come out of the woodwork when the weather gets warm enough. The streets and parks were all full of people out and about, all seemingly having a good time.

Of course, the best time was being had by the graduates of various schools. Over the week-and-a-half we were there, I ran into dozens of graduation parties. Actually, I think they just tracked me down. Kids there rent giant trucks and have mobile parties ouring the city. Like this (below) but with music blasting and much jumping up and down.

You’ll note that in the last picture, there were a few kids in a car waving a flag. I saw this a lot too. Often in parades with the trucks, sometimes on their own. Some were Swedes, but some were also form other places and proudly displaying the flags of Chile, Palestine, Turkey, etc.

I also saw a ton of youth energy when I ran into a Fridays for Future march specially timed for the Stockholm+50 conference. I popped out of a random subway entrance and was surrounded by a few thousand chanting kids (and some adults).

On Jessica’s orders, I poked around looking for Greta, but wasn’t able to find her. Jess later showed me Greta’s tweet showing herself at the march. Oh well. Missed her. Regardless, there was some great energy there. I left just as they started moving so I could run some errands (failed to get my computer fixed–please forgive any missing or misplaced instances of the letter t), but when I came back to the same area about 30 minutes later, they were still marching. Filled several blocks. A really nice, positive energy to the group.

But besides running across a bunch of fun young folks, I also just loved the vibe wandering around the city, from the crowded waterfront areas to sleepy side streets, Stockholm just makes for some lovely meandering.

If you don’t know, Stockholm is broken up into a number of small islands. It’s basically the area where a large inland lake (Mälaren) has a number of channels running out into the Baltic Sea. Jessica and I rented a nice AirBnB apartment on the western end of the island of Södermalm. We were a 5min walk from the nearest subway stop, and just a minute away from great views along the edge of the island. Södermalm is known for being the “hipster” island, and that was reflected a bit in the little weekend market we found near us in the Hornstull neighborhood, but somewhat less so in the cute traditional garden plots in the nearby park.

Just across the road from us was a bridge to another small island (Langholmen), where I had a nice walk through the park and some great views across the water.

And further along the shore, Jess and I found a series of old boats, each with a write up about their histories. One I particularly liked talked about the boat always coming into town loaded with strawberries, which neighbors could smell as it approached.

(As an aside: the writing was in English as well as Swedish. Everyone here, and in Denmark, spoke English somewhere between well and fluently.)

In fact, just wandering the edge of each island was probably the greatest delight in Stockholm. The city is about 1/3rd water, 1/3 parkland, and 1/3 inhabited area, so there’s just a ton of green and blue. Really, an absolutely wonderful place. (Caveat: in summer, at least. I will not vouch for the long cold dark winters.) Just to give you a sense, here’s a bit of what it looks like…

One of our favorite areas was along the shore of Östermalm. This was a great area for being able to see a good deal of the boat traffic, a ton of great people-watching, and some really nice cocktails at the various bars–some on floats out into the water, others just nearby on shore. (Note: drinks pictured from other wonderful places in Stockholm, but somehow I didn’t get a good picture from the places we enjoyed most on Östermalm.)

One of the best ways to enjoy the water was on the ferries. Jessica and I had transit passes for our time there, and that covers everything–buses, trams, subways, and ferries–up to about and hour away from the city center. And, as with pretty much everywhere in Europe, transit was easily accessible, fast, and comfortable. Our passes covered Jessica’s long trips out to the state archives, and also covered a gorgeous ferry ride out to Vaxholm, one of the larger islands in the vast archipelago extending from Stockholm into the Baltic Sea.

Along the way, we saw all sorts of islands. Many where people live, but some just tiny rocks jutting out into the sea. The best were the little islands with just one or two houses on them. In some places–well connected by ferries–there were huge apartment complexes, sometimes very fancy ones. In others, mansions with private boat docks. And everything in between too. Obviously, a ton of people live out here, some commuting into Stockholm regularly, but there are also a bunch of little summer cottages that folks use only during vacation times.

Vaxholm has a fortress just off the tip (on a tiny island of its own) and a village nearby, where we landed. Wandering here, the east end of the island, was relaxing, peaceful, and beautiful.

The day we were there was the National Day in Sweden, so when we went to a little cafe with a seaside garden for lunch, we were greeted by an enormous number of folks out celebrating, enjoying the gorgeous weather, and consuming a copious quantity of desserts. There were also some ducks wandering underfoot who were quite happy to enjoy dessert as well.

Later, we walked to the west end of the island, where a variety of trails lead up and down hills, along the shore, and past some camping and canoeing areas.

All in all, it was a wonderful day out. Word to future travelers: If I went back to Sweden, I’d spend more time on the archipelago. Highly recommended.

Back in Stockholm, as one might have guessed, there were some oddities on the water as well. One was the inevitable advertising: a floating billboard, much like one might see a billlboard on a truck in big city traffic…

Only slightly more horrifying was the giant US aircraft carrier. I imagine it’s busy floating around the Baltic for Putin’s benefit. It was slightly amusing to watch it getting turned around by a small army of tugboats–such a huge vessel dependent on the little guys to do the hard work…

And, as you may have noticed in the background of several photos, there were a ton of cruise ships. Like, really, a lot of them. When we sat in one remote spot on Östermalm, making a phone call, I saw no less than three pass by in the span of half-an-hour. Ugh.

As I mentioned, there’s a ton of green space in Stockholm. One of the largest areas is the Kungliga Djurgården, a former royal hunting ground, just across from Östermalm. We skipped the Gröna Lund amusement park and the highly recommended, but kinda cheesy sounding Skansen (an “open air museum” of Swedish history and culture) and just wandered the island instead. There’s some peaceful wooded areas, great views from the shoreline, and some nice hidden spots to chill. The trams on the island were replaced by old-fashioned ones for the holiday weekend, so that was amusing. There was also a beautiful cafe with seating both in some greenhouses and in an orchard (which we are told has great food). We passed it by, but ended up at another cafe that was right at the far end of the island. We were so close to the water that we had to move because Jessica was getting splashed too much. You may note that Jessica has a tasty treat in front of her in the picture. One of the great joys of the whole Scandinavian region has been the cinnamon buns…and cardamom buns…and all the other baked goods too…

Another joy of the parklands has been all the baby ducks and geese we’ve seen from Switzerland to Stockholm. The ones near the art museum here were some of the cutest.

As usual, Jessica and I went on a couple of walking tours. Actually, Jess went on one, and I did another without her (she really was quite busy with work here–probably the busiest she’s been the entire year). The one we did together was probably the worst walking tour we had of the dozens we’ve done in the past year. The guide was disorganized, the stories she told bore no relation to one another, and the stops we made were seemingly random (often nice places, but she never told us much about them). The tour had two saving graces. First of all, I was amused by her method of helping the group follow her:

(Oops. Evidently wordpress is cutting off the little gnome at the top of the photo. So, yeah. There’s a gnome you can’t see. Not sure how to fix that. Sorry.)

Secondly, the tour led us all over Gamla Stan (and Riddarholmen), the “old town” part of Stockholm, which was beautiful, even if a bit over-touristy in spots.

Our lousy guide did show us one cool thing I’d never seen before: a mirror (two actually) allowing someone on the second floor to look up and down the street easily.

The rest of the city wasn’t as cute as the medieval Gamla Stan, but walking around the central parts of Norrmalm and Östermalm we found Stockholm to still be generally attractive and interesting.

One of my favorite bits was found decorating the front of an otherwise dull building.

I loved these little figures representing all sorts of aspects of life. And the googly eyes definitely put it over the top into my top ten sights in Stockholm list. (I’m lying. There’s no list. But I do love the googly eyes.)

Elsewhere, there were, of course, many many statues of kings, like these two of Karl XII and XIII

A more interesting Carl was nearby. This one, Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist who is known as “the father of modern taxonomy” after coming up with the whole genus-species naming system.

But, the coolest statue was this one…because it was actually hot! This one is a statue outside the national theater, celebrating a famous actress, Margareta Krook. She evidently said she didn’t want a statue because they couldn’t convey human warmth…so the city built one that has hot water piped through it. It is evidently quite popular in the winter. (And, really, it was quite hot to touch.)

Also amusing was this statue of Orpheus outside the concert hall. In general, it’s a fine statue, but some local folks decided that the tragic Greek figures would be happier with some beer…

Elsewhere, I learned about Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who helped Hungarian Jews escape the Holocaust by issuing thousands of Swedish passports. On the left, the briefcase is one representation of his work. On the right, near the synagogue, a giant boulder with his name (and a quote in multiple languages) blocks the railroad tracks symbolically leading towards concentration camps.

From serious to silly…the oddest “historical site” I saw was this building, which once housed the bank whose robbery led to the phrase “Stockholm Syndrome.” (Which has me thinking about Money Heist/Casa de Papel all over again. Have y’all seen it? So good…)

And the worst site I went to was the Stadtsbibliotek–the public library that has a supposedly gorgeous rotunda. The entry area was nice enough, but when I got inside, all I saw was this:

Oh well.

Better interiors (and exteriors) were to be found at Stockholm’s City Hall. The City Hall is located on Kungsholmen at a spot where it has a view out towards several of the major islands in central Stockholm. The exterior has some attractive and unique features, some amusing statues, and just overall, a great location.

Inside, the Blue Hall is where the Nobel Prize reception is held. You’ll note that the room is not blue. The architect originally wanted it to be blue to reflect the waters of Stockholm, but as the room was completed, he felt it would be a shame to cover the beautiful brickwork. So, there’s a bit of blue in the floor (you can see it better up close), and lots of decoration throughout the building have water themes, but the Blue Room is fairly distinctly not blue. I also particularly liked the individual sculpting of each of the pillars, showing various aspects of Stockholm life.

The council chambers were pretty nice as well. As with many places, the representatives are arranged based on party affiliation in a vague left to right formation. And the ceiling is magnificently painted–evidently the sky motif is meant to represent transparency–opening out to the public.

The Hall of the Prince is named for the prince, the king’s brother was an artist, who asked to paint the murals in here. He painted the scenes one can see out the window (more or less), so that whichever way you were facing inside, you’d have a view outside.

And, since the theme of the hall is doubling and reflections, check out the rather unique chandelier situation…

Of course, the highlight of City Hall was the Gold Room. Yep. It’s actually gold. Wall-to-wall mosaics. Just stunning. On the far end, the spirit of Lake Mälaren unites the East (see the elephants and other representations of Asia and Africa?) and West (the United States is over there). On the right, important figures in Swedish culture and science. And on the left, important moments in the history (and mythology) of Sweden. Note that above this history is a visualization of the human life cycle, giving an impression of a circular movement through time. Overall, just super-impressive.

If you didn’t notice above, the back wall was, amusingly, designed improperly. They forgot the base of the mosaics would be raised some off the floor here, so the top of the mosaic is cut off. Most significantly, the saint (Erik) in the middle is missing his head. He was a Swedish King who was beheaded by his enemies, so it’s not altogether inappropriate.

Overall, I’d give the City Hall our tan enthusiastic thumbs up. It was short, beautiful, and interesting. Well done, Stockholm.

Less short, and far more interesting than I expected was the Vasa Museum. Everyone (guides, other tourists, random people’s blogs I read, etc.) and every book and every website says to go here, but I was like, “Why do I want to see some old ship that sank?” (To be clear, the entire museum is all about one big boat that sank and more recently was brought back up to the surface.) It turns out they were right and my skepticism was wrong.

First of all, the ship was huge. The story in brief: Sweden was at war with Poland. The king, Gustav II Adolf, grandson of Gustav Vasa, wanted a giant warship built. Unlike most ships with two decks, he wanted three. And lots of cannons. Etc. etc. etc. It was enormous. And…it was top heavy. And it made it less than a mile from the dock before sinking. Kinda hilariously bad.

This was back in 1628. The exact location of the sunken ship was unknown, but eventually an amateur archaeologist, Anders Franzén, located the wreck in the 1950s. It turned out to be incredibly well-preserved because the brackish waters around Stockholm (part lake water, part sea water) don’t allow the microbes that would decompose such a ship to flourish. Eventually, the ship was brought back to land, preserved, and–with a really minimal amount of reconstruction–displayed for the public.

This thing is massive. Outside the museum, they have masts showing how tall the ship would have been (the tops of them rotted off), but inside, the museum is one giant cavernous hall, many stories high with multiple vantage points from which to view the ship.

The ship is massive and covered from head to tail with statues representing everything from Roman emperors to Norse mythology. The ship’s transom is a riot of symbology, and full of fascinating figures. But, probably the funniest statues were the ones of Polish nobles–their enemies at the time–crouching under tables, an insulting position.

There were impressive displays throughout the museum. One focused on the role of women in the Vasa’s story (like the wife of the shipyard owner who took over the projec when her thusband died). Others focused on the discovery of the Vasa, it’s preservation, the inquest after i sankt, and more. But, some of my favorite bits were the displays of items preserved on the ship and recovered for display. These include things like ropes, games, coins, cookware, and more. There was an interesting display abou tthe different types of cannonballs and their uses, as well as some really fascinating forensic work being done on the various skeletons found on the Vasa.

Of course…there was the inveitable strange bits, like this video about a pig on the ship…

But, overall, the museum was fascinating and actually quite beautiful. The displays were well done and explanations were thorough without getting boring. Highly recommended.

Another museum I visited on my own was the History and Economics Museum. The Economics part was small, with just one exhibit, but it was pretty fascinating. The exhibit there discussed the causes and effects of hyperinflation. They had tons of examples, and some hilariously large banknotes and coins from a wide range of times and places from Ancient Egypt to the present. The largest printed value in history was for 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo in 1946 Hungary. The numbers do get pretty ridiculous.

The exhibit also discussed various ways hyperinflation is dealt with, from national policy to individual households. One recent example, from Venezuela, discussed migration out of the country and how some people have turned cash into art projects for sale at the border.

I also have to say, there were some great examples to use about math in the real world, so I plan to revisit my photos from here when I get started on teaching.

Finally, I only had a brief time to explore the history part of the museum. Despite having just seen a bunch of Viking stuff in Copenhagen, the museum staff convinced me that the best part of the museum was the Viking collection, so I spent my time there. They weren’t wrong. The displays included gorgeous jewelery, treasures both stolen and traded for from Russia, the Middle East, and even East Asia, great information on the roles of women in Viking society (see their household keys, below), some great runestones from the early Christian era, and a fascinating finding that many Vikings evidently filed horizontal lines across their teeth. Overall, very cool, even if a bit repetitive.

Also on my own (Damn, where was Jess? Oh, right, working.), I went to Fotografiska, a really nice photography museum. The museum has an ever-changing range of exhibits. I saw:

• A huge exhibition of works by Elizaveta Porodina. She uses costuming, lighting, and more to create some crazy fantastic images. Her work plays with mirrors and color in some fun ways, but I particularly liked the creativity displayed in some of her “captured over zoom” images, where she worked with her models from a distance in 2020-2021.

• Next up was my least favorite bit. There was a whole section of digital art. Not only was most of it fairly dull, but it was really a kinda celebration of the whole NFT phenomenon, which I find at least slightly off-putting.

• Elsewhere, there was a display of Andy Warhol’s work. None of it really rocked my world, but a few things amused me quite a bit. One was a photo of Dolly Parton with Keith Haring–not a likely pair. Another was a photo of Steven Spielberg (it turns out he used to be young…who knew?). The best part of the photo was Warhol’s quote that went with it: “Went…to interview Spielberg and he was really sweet (cab $3). He said that he saw my movie Sleep when he was about twelve and that inspired him to make a movie called Snore. He said it was the most fun interview he’d ever done.” The exhibit was sprinkled with similar quotes. I found his tracking of cab expenses cute and I just liked that he seemed to be having fun with all of these celbrities.

• Speaking of having fun wih celebrities, I also found his “Screen Test” videos fascinating. These videos featured famous people doing basically nothing. It kind of stripped the veneer of celebrity away. Here’s an example of Lou Reed. (Note: the lines on the screen are b/c of the interaction of my camera with the old film–not there if you see it in person.)

• Probably the most fascinating exhibit was one of Black photographers taking photos of Black models exhibiting new fashion trends. Some of the work here was incredibly vivid. Others were challenging. A few were even amusing. Great stuff.

• Finally, there was a grea exhibit that I won’t share photos from, but was really one of the most engaging and thoughtful things I’ve seen recently. The photos were of a woman (involved in the Swedish film and stage scene) who recently had a breast removed due to cancer. In the photos she shows both pain and pride. She deals with her sense of lost beauty, but also with the idea that she can still be beautiful even if in a somewhat new and slightly androgynous fashion. Really fascinating work.

The last museum here was the only one where Jessica accompanied me: the Modern Art Museum. This was not the best modern art museum we’ve been to this year, but it still had a few fun and interesting bits. The most “fun” part was an exhibit called “Who are you really?” that invited people to participate in constructing art collectively. We enjoyed its playfulness and the way it engaged people.

Elsewhere, I liked how many of the exhibits dealt with issues of gender. This one, “Home” by Mona Hatoum, has various implements lighting up seemingly at random. It makes the home seem like a dangerous place, a minefield where women (in particular) can be trapped and potentially scarred.

Another engaging project was Kajsa Dahlberg’s “A Room of One’s Own/A Thousand Libraries.” For this, she scanned copies of Virginia Woolf’s iconic work from every Swedish public library over a 50 year period, displaying the parts underlined and highlighted by generations of women. The most popular line seemed to be: “For masterpieces are not single and solitary births: they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice.” How appropriate.

And one of the strangest projects was this: a woman who transformed the spaces left between bricks in a church into organ music and then performed that music in the space. Not terribly lovely, but an intersting transformation of medium.

Just to finish up Stockholm, since I was speaking of art, I was told that the Stockholm subway system was “the world’s longest art exhibit.” I didn’t go to too many different stations, but overall, I was underwhelmed. I hear there’s better bits elsewhere on the system, but I’m just saying don’t believe the hype. I like NYC’s mosaics and such better…

I think that’s all the news from Sweden, so…in other news…Space Station Phoenix is out in the world and getting good buzz (and demanding a bunch of my attention). I’ve been watching it steadily climb the “hotness” list on Board Game Geek. Here’s what I kept staring at during the period from June 4th-June 13th.

Now, this just tracks number of clicks on the game’s page, so it’s mostly just me clicking every 10 seconds to see if anyone posted something new, but still…nice to see people are interested. Getting some good reviews. Waiting for a few more to drop.

In the meantime, Jessica and I have been in Oslo. And when she hasn’t been working, we’ve been prepping ourselves for a three week no-work hiking-focused trip to the fjords. And when we get back, we fly back to the US. Sadness. I have to admit I am very much not looking forward to being home or going back to work. It’ll be good to see people again, but…damn, this year has been amazing.

So, don’t expect any posts for a month or so while we’re out in the wild. All the news from Norway coming in July. Until then…