Wednesday July 19 – At Sea en Route to Stockholm, Sweden – A quiet day on the ship with Anita and Diana heading off to the Spa while Nelson and Roger went to the port lecture on Skagen (pronounced Skein), Denmark and Wernemunde Germany as well as a fascinating talk on Pinehurst Studios where the James Bond, Superman and many other films were made. The British film industry bring in £10MM an hour into the British economy!! We re-grouped for lunch, an interesting lecture on Matryoshka dolls (Russian nesting dolls) – Originally developed by Savva Mamontov the toy maker and his artists – Sergey and Vasily. The afternoon was followed by three arduous sets of paddle tennis!!! A 3 hour delicious dinner was at the French restaurant The Verandah capped off the evening. Early bed to be prepared for tomorrow’s adventure in Stockholm, Sweden.
Thursday July 20 – Stockholm, Sweden – By 4AM we entered the channel towards Stockholm passing the thousands of Islands that are part of Sweden. By 9 we were off on our tour – The Best of Stockholm and Sigtuna (Number 12) with our very amusing tour guide Aviva – full of stories and sometimes less full of facts and figures, but made up for it with her charm. When I was here in 1959, all driving was done on the right, so I was surprised that driving was on the right – a change that happened In 1967. Copenhagen stands on 14 islands connected by 59 bridges. Historically the Swedes can claim 5000 years of heritage, however the more modern era started with the Vikings in 800 AD. From 830 AD the country started being Christianized with many bishops and missionaries. Today, the country is predominantly Protestant and Lutheran. Modern Sweden dates to 1523 from the time of Gustavo’s Vasa, although Stockholm was founded in 1255 by Burger Jarl. The greatest monarch is probably Gustavo’s Adolphus 1611-1632 (Vasa’s grandson). Modern Sweden has a population of some 10MM with 2.2MM living in the Greater Stockholm region (900K on the 14 Islands).
Our first stop was on Palace Hill to admire the Royal palace where the monarch still maintains an apartment, but the Royal Residence was moved some 30 years ago and the statue of a dynastic monarch founder on a horse – Jean Babtiste Bernadot. Walking through the narrow cobbled streets we came across the building on the Great Square (Stol-tolges) where the decisions and awarding of the Nobel Prizes is given. The Nobel Peace prize, as requested in Alfred Nobel’s will (who left US$18MM in the mid 1800’s for the prizes) is given in Oslo whereas the Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Economics (this latter funded by the Swedish government) are all given in Stockholm. After boarding the bus we passed the Parliament with 8 parties, currently ruled by Liberal Democrats with 375 representatives of which 46% are women. In the city government 51% are women.
Arriving at our next stop – the Vasa Ship Museum, we were told that this is the oldest warship in existence which was launched and sank 15 minutes later having covered some 1500 meters on August 10, 1628. The construction was such that it was so top heavy that a small gust of wind blew it over and water started coming in through the gun decks and she sank in 15 minutes. The British contingent mentioned that The Mary Rose was older, but the guide undeterred answered that the Vasa is 90+% complete whereas the Mary Rose has only some 40% original pieces!!! A very impressive ship, well preserved and presented. As we were on the Djurgarden island we passed by the Nordic Museum of Swedish history, The ABBA Museum and the Tivoli – Amusement park.
After our departure from this area of town we headed out on the motorway for 40 minutes to Sigtuna (Sig – Birch Soil and Tuna – Small society or town) which is the oldest town in Sweden and it’s original capital (1200-1400). A good lunch at the Conference center of Stora Brombo was followed by a wander through this town of 8,000 inhabitants with particular attention to the Maria Church opened on August 15th, 1247 – It is still in good working order and in continuous use for Lutheran services. The nearby Olof church dating from a similar period is in ruins due to neglect. A stone in the cemetery area shows Runic writing, which was very interesting. We wandered through the town and along the water which was all very pleasant, with ideal sunny weather.
Back at the ship, our departure was delayed due to a couple of ambulances having to take a gentleman off accompanied by his wife, to a nearby hospital. We then started the 5 hour passage through the various islands to the sea and across to Tallin, Estonia (loosing 1 hour) for tomorrow’s adventure.
Roger & Anne Travels 