6-13-14
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden
Our group of seven met in the Stardust Theater
(along with a large number of other passengers) and was assigned to bus
19. We were given a round white sticker
to wear on the front of our shirts. We
soon met our tour guide, an older gentleman named Magnus.
There are about 9.5 million
people living in the metropolitan area, though most of the population lives in
1/3rd of the country. There
is a long history of fighting among the Swedish and their neighbors. Fortunately, most of the fighting is now done
on the soccer field. Mangus noted that
the Danish people are thankful that the wars are behind them.
As we drove along the harbor,
Magnus pointed out the lock system that accommodated ships which were traveling
from the lake to the sea. These locks
have been in existence for almost 400 years.
200 years ago, one of the
kings, who had no children, had to find a successor for the throne. He knew the French General who was the field
Marshall, and asked him if he would agree to become the crowned prince. He readily agreed and the county is now in
the 7th generation of descendants of this general. Princess Victoria will be the next head of
state, when her father dies. He is currently only 68 years old.
The bus drove through Old Town and
we passed the Cathedral, the Swedish parliament, the Grand Hotel and the Royal Palace. Magnus noted that there are many boats in Stockholm, as there are over 30,000 islands in the Archipelagos
in the Sea of Finland.
The city, itself, is built on 14 islands, so there are many bridges
throughout the city.
The bus let us off at the Vasa
museum. Our timing was perfect, as we
arrived in time for the English film, which describes this historic event. The king commissioned a ship to be built that
had room for 450 soldiers and 64 cannons.
It was to be a symbol of the power of the Swedish navy. However, on its maiden voyage, it had gone
less than a mile from the dock, when a gust of wind caused it to keel to the
side and begin to take on water. It sank
in less than 30 minutes.
A council of state was
convened. But the determination was that
no one was at fault. The incident was
all but forgotten by the Swedish people.
300 years later, in 1956, a marine expert was able to locate the remains
of the vessel. Using special cable lifts
and pumps to displace the water, the wreck was raised from the harbor. Archeologist documented over 40,000 separate
pieces of artifacts comprising the ship.
Numerous august individuals were present on the day of the raising,
including the current King, Adolphus.
Huge sections of the ship were preserved in the cold waters of the
bay. Each piece of artifacts had to be
thoroughly washed to remove layers of mud.
Pieces of 15 skeletons were found.
Analysis of these artifacts actually determined what the soldiers had
eaten prior to there death.
Originally,
there were some who thought the cause of the sinking was due to the fact that
the cannons had pulled free from their positions on the deck. But the excavation revealed that the cannons
were secured in place. So it was finally
determined that the sinking was a result of too high a center of gravity,
meaning that there was too little ballast for the height of the ship. Basically, the vessel was “top heavy”. It took 17 years to preserve the ship in its
entirety. It had to be constantly
sprayed with water to keep the wood from disintegrating. In 1979, the wood was polyurethaned for more
permanent preservation. The ship
contained over 700 wooden sculptures, including angels and musicians holding
musical instruments. These sculptures
were decorated with bright colored paint, as a symbol to the enemies that they
were powerful and could not be conquered.
In
the 1660’s the people managed to recover 58 of the 60 cannons from the wreck. This was accomplished by the use of a diving
bell. Divers were forces to be submerged
in the device, then required to attached ropes to the cannons, which were raised
from the bay. The cannons were, then, sold by the Swedish king. There are no records of the number of people
who were drowned during this salvage operation.
One
floor of the museum had exhibits of some of the relics discovered on the ship.
They included pottery, clothes, gloves, games, pipes and even shoes. One of the displays noted the salary of the
various ships personnel. The captain
earned 475 “duler”, while the seaman only earned 57. There was only one gold relic found on the
ship. It was a ring that may have
belonged to one of the affluent officials who was invited to participate in the
christening of the ship.
After
the Vasa tour, our bus driver took us for a short drive in the area where most
of the foreign diplomats reside. The
British Ambassador lives next to the South Korean representative, who lives
next door to the ambassador from Belgium. Then we drove past the British and American
embassies.
Our
next stop was the Ice Bar. It is located
in one of the downtown hotels. Magnus
gave us a black and white poker chip to “pay” for our entrance fee. The entire
room was lined with thick walls of ice.
The temperature inside was 5 degrees below zero. The ice is actually delivered from the Artic Circle, where
the owner still resides. We were given
heavy fur-lined capes to wear over our clothes.
Then we received a complimentary drink in a square ice “glass”. The owner of the club has had quite a success
and has opened similar bars in other major cities including New
York City, Milan, Italy and other places throughout Europe. It was a
very unique experience.
Getting
back on the bus, we drove past the City Hall, which is where the banquet is
held for the Nobel Prize winner. This ceremony is celebrated every December 10th,
as that is the date of Alfred Nobel’s death.
We
passed the Swedish Government building where the Prime Minister arrives each
morning. It is the political center of
the country. General elections are held
in September. There are currently four
different parties. Next we drove past
the Swedish House of Parliament and the Swedish Royal
Palace, both of which fly
the Swedish flag. The Royal palace had
600 rooms, most of which are still in use today.
Magnus
told our tour group that the current Stockholm Cathedral was built in the 18th
century. The current King and Queen
where married in this church, as well as the Crown Princess Victoria (4 years
ago). At this point in our tour, we left
the bus. We were pleased to see that the
royal equestrian soldiers were just finishing a ceremonial maneuver. The soldiers all wore blue and white
uniforms. We were told that this was the
end of the changing of the guard at the royal palace. The palace guards protect the palace 24 hours
a day and 7 days a week. One of our
tourists asked what the # 16 on the side of the uniforms meant. Magnus told us that the current King of
Sweden is the 16th Swedish king.
We
were allowed to roam the pedestrian streets of about an hour. Roger and I found a small shop selling ice
cream and ordered a chocolate brownie with caramel on top. It sure tasted good! Then were bought a little Viking troll for a souvenir. He had the Swedish flag painted on his
shield. As we strolled along the street,
we saw different musicians performing.
One was an accordion player and next were two young violinists. A third musician was playing music on water
goblets containing different levels of water.
It
was a very enjoyable day and quite a surprise to me. I had always thought of the Swedish as having
very modern architecture and very liberal views. But that was not the case at all. Their buildings are a very lovely traditional
design.
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