In love again in Sweden

Oh my gosh. I didn’t expect this. At all. I mean, I only have a modest appreciation for ABBA. And zero appreciation for herring. But Sweden, I love you!

Yesterday was our second (and tearfully, last) Swedish port on this trip. I was absolutely enchanted by the small, medieval Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland several days ago. I was very curious how the other end of the Swedish spectrum might hit me, as we spent the day in the capital city of Stockholm. Population about 1 million – about 40 times that of Visby.

Yep, I LOVED IT!

Stockholm is one of the most beautiful, sparkly, architecturally interesting cities I have ever visited. It is comprised of 14 islands (I had no idea!), so there is lots of water and boats meandering through the city. Like Visby, Stockholm is clean, organized, comfortable, and it felt very safe. And, blessedly, English is commonly spoken. Tack gode Gud!

Just like Barcelona, something new and intriguing caught my eye at nearly every turn in Stockholm. The Royal Palace, the Opera House, the Ice Bar, the open market, the island with Old Town, the sunken 17th-century warship that was unearthed in 1961 largely preserved and intact, the Viking museum. Yes, even the ABBA museum. SO much I didn’t get to explore.

Even through a bus window, Stockholm is
so beautiful! 

No idea why this street had butterfly streamers
overhead, but what a fun touch!

Flower garland arches?!? So pretty! And
apparently so common, our tour guide
didn't mention them. 

Our tour was Nobel Prize-based. We started in Stockholm’s City Hall where the annual banquet is held for the esteemed laureates. We then toured the Nobel Prize Museum nearby.

City Hall was stunning. Built in 1923 after a fire burned down the old one, Stockholm’s City Hall (Stadshus) is brick on the outside and granite, wood, marble, and mosaic inside. Many rooms had wood floors that creaked and had that slightly musty smell of old wood and tapestries. Both made me smile.

The gold top of the far dome is three crowns.
Three crowns are the symbol for Sweden, but
there's no agreement on what they stand for.

Each room in City Hall made me gasp. The simple lines blended with just enough ornate touches to be elegant. Each room, its construction, and its decoration were incredibly intentional. Because I’m built for details, I always appreciate those small decisions.

The hall where the Nobel Prize banquet is held.
It was designed to mimic a courtyard.

The marble stairs in the banquet hall
were intentionally made extra wide and
not as tall as typical stairs. The architect's
wife helped determine the precise measurements,
with thoughts of high heels and ballgowns in mind.
Such a small change but WOW, those were the
easiest stairs I have ever climbed.

City Hall is a working building - people
work here so you can only tour with a guide.
This is the Council Chamber where the
Stockholm City Council meets. The canopy
above the main chairs is to help with 
acoustics despite being a little more
fancypants than the architect had in mind.

I absolutely LOVE the color of these
columns! It is a dark midnight blue.
Assuming the columns were painted, 
I was all ready to find the color and 
figure out what room at Woodhaven
should be Stockholm City Hall Blue.
Instead, the columns are made from a
stone called diabase. It's like granite.
And unlikely to find its way to
Woodhaven. Boo!

Called The Golden Hall for obvious
reasons. This is where the Nobel people
dance after the banquet. The walls have 
over 18 million gold mosaic tiles telling
Sweden's history. It was stunning.

Even the curtains in random hallways
were beautiful!

The Nobel Prize Museum was interesting but also a little disappointing. It was pretty small (only one floor in a modest-sized old-timey building, part of which was commandeered by a cafe and museum store). There was one room that barely contained our 16 tour mates that was dedicated to Alfred Nobel’s life.

Museum is the larger pink building on the right.
It used to be the Stock Exchange.

Born and raised in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was a creative inventor who figured out how to make dynamite, among other things. There are remnants of a slightly exploded building on the Stockholm island of Södermalm as proof of his experimentation.

Alfred became very wealthy as a result of his explosive invention. Some years later when his brother died, the obituary referred to Alfred as “the merchant of death” due to dynamite’s violent possibilities. This description hit Alfred hard. It wasn’t the legacy he wanted. So, he came up with what we know now as the Nobel Prizes as a soulful and societal apology. His legacy now is to honor people each year who have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind."

Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, and Economic Sciences are awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall (the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway). Then a swanky dinner banquet is held in Stockholm’s City Hall.

When we signed up for the museum tour, I was hoping to see examples of the prizes themselves. You know, some fancy gold coins on fabric ribbons – or at least replicas.

Piglet for scale. Although, I assume
the real medals are a bit smaller.

Instead, we got something that proved even more interesting. Nobel Prize winners are asked to donate something of meaning and significance to the museum for display. Due to size limits, only a fraction is on display. But the choices were fascinating.

Dresses, ties, stethoscopes, typewriters, notebooks, models of molecules, hiking boots, a bottle of Tide detergent, a jar of peanut butter. With more time, stronger air conditioning, and a less cranky back, I would have read every single artifact’s description. The stories were an unexpected peek behind invention and inspiration.

The two winners had many collaborative 
conversations in offices and cafes, but they often
ran out of time. They each lived in apartments
without laundry facilities, so they started 
coordinating their Laundry Days and spent
even more hours talking in laundromats.

Several of the ties have custom-made patterns.
The bright blue one has chemical structures 
including nitric oxide what was fundamental
to the winner's research. The yellow-cream
tie has the pattern of Viagra tablets. Yes,
that invention won a Nobel Prize...

The organic chemistry textbook eventually led
the winner to pursue chemistry research. The
peanut butter is her favorite brand and is 
a "source of energy and helps her think."

Rob and I got back on the ship with sadness, but Sweden wasn’t done with us yet.

Thanks to a time of year when the sun barely sets at the 59th parallel (Stockholm is about even with Anchorage, Alaska), we had bright sunlight illuminating our evening departure through the Swedish archipelago. Rob and I stationed ourselves in the corner of a top-deck nightclub and watched our ship wind its way through an incredibly complicated collection of treed islands. Complicated enough that there were two additional pilots onboard to help navigate.

The passage was spectacular. There were islands of all sizes dotting the blue water. Some were simply rocks. Almost all were green with whitish rocks. Some had beaches. Many had homes on them, as it is very common for Swedes to have summer homes on the water. While it sounds decadent, many of the homes do not have electricity or running water. But wow, the scenery and the privacy! (Well, except when a cruise ship floats by).

Not the greatest photos since we 
were looking through tinted windows.
But our seats were too good to risk
leaving for better photos. Hopefully
the beauty still comes through. You
can also see lots of houses dotted here
and there if you look closely.

Islands of all sizes!

We had some passes even more narrow
than this! It was really impressive.
And see? PRIME seating!

Tiny island with a house all by itself!

We watched for a couple of hours, nearly missing dinner (did I mention the sun does not set here during the summer?). As we exited to open waters, Rob and I were already discussing future itineraries to experience the passage again. It was truly one of the best sailings we have ever experienced, ranking with the St. Lawrence River in northeastern Canada and Cape Horn around the tip of South America. There are many things I love about vacationing via cruise ship. Experiences like last night, floating through the dazzling beauty of the zillions of islands in Sweden tops the list.

Jag älskar dig Sverige!
And I love Rob, too!

Next stop: Copenhagen, Denmark!