Scroll down August 2018 |
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Stockholm syndrome strikes again I wasn't captive in Stockholm– but it was captivating! |
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Fourteen islands make up the city.
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So it's water...water everywhere....
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Don’t ask why my first outing in Stockholm was its Old Town – it had been around for seven and a half centuries and probably would be by the end of the week I spent there. But that's where the Nobel Museum is, the thing Stockholm is known for. (I was not able to uncover anything about my pending nomination, but hey…) |
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Another top draw is a boat that sank a half mile into her maiden voyage, spent the next 330 years underwater and was brought up in 1961 to star in a museum. Why did the Vasa warship sink? Design. It was too narrow, and the mast was too high – not to mention burdened with the weight of 64 bronze cannons that weighed 72 tons. A bit of wind caused it to list to the side. The gun portals were open, so it took water and sank in water only 90 feet deep. |
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It's au naturel as exhibited, but was originally brightly painted with elaborate carvings as shown in this replica. I wondered why this is such a source of pride – after all, it sunk about a half hour after it was launched, rather embarrassing when you think about it. Evidently it harks back to Sweden's "power period." |
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| The Vasa museum as well as many others is on the island of Djurgården in central Stockholm. As Copenhagen has its Tivoli Gardens, Stockholm has its Grüna Lund amusement park. |
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| Djurgården is a royal park with its share of tony houses and meandering critters like this. |
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Noticeable were the number of fathers out with their children, either pushing carriages or hand-in-hand with a youngster. At a bus stop I was sitting next to one, so asked him about it. He said for one thing, that day kindergarten was closed for a holiday, but it is not unusual for fathers to be equal care givers. Up to when a child turns eight there is financial aid for parents so they can divide care-giving responsibilities. A Parliament tour revealed that Sweden's VAT (value-added) tax is 25% except for food 12% or literature 6%. Finland's is 25% on every thing. France is only 20%. This and income tax pay for all the services people receive, which are considerable – free university, subsidies for parents, health care, a lot of free museums and cultural experiences, etc. etc.… Also couldn't help but notice rampant body tatoo's, extremely mascara'd (or fake) eye lashes and, compared to France, a rather homogeneous population. Another dichotomy is how tan these super blond, white people are. One explained: We are so happy the long winter is over that we take every chance to bask in the sun. |
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My venture to buy wine entailed a subway ride of three stops to a store that was neatly laid out in sections for wine, hard liquor, beer and somewhat contradictorily, an alcohol-free section. EU citizens can buy unlimited amounts, other nationalities, no. Not only are prices clearly marked (shockingly high to a French resident), but also the sweetness/dryness, body and acidity rated. |
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| Last outing was a three-hour boat trip of the Stockholm archipelago. It covered the lower end of 30,000 islands, wooded islets and rocks - mostly vacation sites. |
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