Stockholm by local transport

I was in Stockholm for around a week, except for the weekend. Those 2 days I spent on a cruise to Helsinki, capital of Finland. About that, later. 

By the 3rd day I had become so conversant with Stockholm's topography that for the rest of my stay, I traveled, taking public transport like locals.

Though the young black thwarted my attempt of adventure at midnight, I consoled myself by taking this picture of illuminated Bell Tower of City hall from my hotel room!

In the broad daylight too, it looked enchanting. It was located practically next door to my hotel so I ventured out walking. After crossing under the bridge, perfumed with an ammonia-cal smell of stale urine, I reached the northern shore of Riddarfjarden bay, from where you can see the bell tower of city hall standing magnificently on the edifice.

 

The tower at the south-east corner of City Hall is misconstrued as the bell tower, in fact, it is the monumental tower and holds 'Three Crowns' [ an emblem of Sweden in olden days] at the top. It has the empty tomb of Birger Jarl plated in gold on the eastern side.

The City Hall houses the office of city council along with ceremonial halls for holding conferences and wedding banquets. It houses an upper crest restaurant too! Nobel Prize banquets too are held here, mostly! I hear this year the venue was different! There are mainly 2 halls in the building named after the color of the walls. Blue hall and Golden hall. Presently color Blue was being removed from the walls to renovate, but the name remains. Blue hall is on the ground floor while Golden is on the 1st floor.

 

Blue hall, the venue for Nobel Prize banquet  adorns the seal of Nobel Academy in Gold on one of its walls.It has a spiraling staircase, la Bollywood social, at the center, where the dignitaries, [the academy members and Royal couple mostly ] sit, using landing it as the dais while conferring the Nobel prizes.

                                                                  

The murals on the walls of the Golden hall are made using millions of small tiles. Every wall depicts a different picture either relating to Royal family or Mythology or the progress of Sweden as a nation from medieval times. 

The wall exactly opposite the entrance to the hall has a mammoth mural of Nordic God in full regalia using all the tiles practically in gold!

To go through all the murals meticulously,it may take years together, they are that intricate!

Not only the interiors but the courtyard outside and the garden adjacent to the bay too leaves you mostly happy! The Corridors of the courtyard reminded me of University of Pune building.

To climb the tower adjacent to the city hall, you definitely require extra energy. On inquiry, it turned out to be 'Three Crown' Tower, once the national emblem of Sweden, and not the bell tower as I had presumed. The efforts are worth taking as the view from the top is breathtaking as always.

 That's how Gamla Stan looks in its entirety from above, Riddarholmen in the foreground and Stradsholmen in the back.

On left, flyovers filled with Urine stench! On, right Stromsborg, Stream palace in North spring.

From City hall to Skansen was like traversing entire Stockholm from one end to other. Skansen is an open-air zoo, museum and has exhibits to show the Swedish culture and lifestyle in general. In Greece, they call it 'Island Hopping'. In Stockholm, you do that with ease of a maverick! All the islands are so well connected that what you do is, just to catch a correct bus or tram that does it for you and takes you to the destination. I got down a stop earlier because I saw the museum of 'ABBA' on the right.  I don't have to tell the people from my generation who  'ABBA' was! It was a famous pop quartet in our college days who sang songs like' Daddy Cool' 'On the river of Babylon ' and the most famous one, probably, 'Mama Mia'! Based on the songs of ABBA  a movie of the same name had hit the screens a few years ago. Meryl Strip excelled in it as the protagonist. Alas, my museum pass did not include the entry to ABBA museum and otherwise, the entry fee was absolutely exorbitant! Gandhis in my pocket though had the garb of  Swedish Kronor, prevented me from buying the tickets, so dropping the idea I headed for Skansen which was included in my ticket!

Founded in the late 19th century it's still going strong. Children of all ages holding the fingers of their parents or being carried in the prams, very common here, had thronged the park in such large numbers that it was difficult to believe that at one point of time Sweden was having negative birth rate and Government was doling out an incentive for having more children!

It has old Swedish houses, artisans giving demonstrations of Pot making, Glassmaking, Iron smiths making tools, artists performing on open stage telling about Nordic Sweden, in general, it was education with enjoyment packed together for children in formative years. The sailors' house built in the last century teaches about Swedish architecture in the bygone era. The zoo has Indian Peacocks who roam in the open, freely.

       The Rosendal Palace is located in the deep woods, on the same island and one has to catch a tram to reach it. The tram ends here and the way it takes a 'U' turn at the last stop, is watchable too. Demurely peeping from behind the trees Rosendal palace was simplicity personified and looked like, as if ' Livable'! Not like its other gaudy, opulent siblings and cousins! It was walk, walk and walk through the meticulously designed, adjoining gardens, but every nook and corner of the garden was so soothingly green that the efforts were worth it.


In the land of IKEA and Nokia, it's not only palaces and Royal houses. There was this huge Mall Ahlens City, which was at a walking distance from my hotel Terminus. At the square where it is situated, Sergels Torg seemed to be the happening place in Stockholm. Ahlens Mall is humongous but upmarket , so was on the expensive side. The line of inner wares by Bjorn Borg was in demand but cost in thousands! It has got its own underground Metro station! Maybe our mall in Mumbai, 'R City'  too may get its own Metro station soon, on the line that's supposed to run between Wadala and Thane.

I skipped the Vasa museum because, by that time, it was an overdose of museums. It's supposed to be a must-visit, in Stockholm, but as such, I don't stand any chance of visiting the South Pole either ! So.... does not matter!

Instead, I decided to visit 'Sky View' in the other corner of Stockholm!

It's a glass ball that climbs a dome in such a fashion that, the visitors remain in standing position all the time and do not feel the tilt even when it reaches the top! That's the technology for you. [ I did not understand it, though the guide explained it, in probably simpler words.] It ascends very slowly opening Stockholm vistas in front of you as if opening newer, more interesting chapters in a book already well-read !

I always love the Ariel views of city, any city. After seeing Stockholm from close quarters it was interesting to look for the familiar landmarks.Unfortunately 'Sky View' could not open the curtain as it is located in the far southern part of Stockholm, and the happening things are higher up in the North ! Okay, nothing lost, whatever it presented was equally good!

With the visit to 'Sky View' my liaison with Stockholm was to get over. But it left such a vivid imprint, it may take aeons to erase it from the memory. Till then 'Good Bye Stockholm' !

Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan is Stockholm, Stockholm is Gamla Stan! Both are incomplete without each other, though Gamla Stan is just a part of Greater Stockholm. 'Old Town' in the local language,is located on the island of Stadsholmen but now, it also comprises of islands nearby, like Ridderholmen and others.

Another rude shock came to me when I ventured to set out for Gamla Stan. Beggars! Many, many beggars asking for the alms unashamedly on the streets of one of the richest towns in the world! I was told that they are Romanian refugees who have entered the country by road, illegally and the Swedish government is fighting shy to extradite them on humanitarian grounds! And the crime rate has gone up, cry the haves, the same story everywhere !

The entire northern side of the island is occupied by Swedish Royal Palace.  On the south are many offices of erstwhile Monarch, including Stockholm Stock Exchange, Stockholm cathedral and so many other monumental buildings.

Gamla Stan is no better than Bhuleshwar in old Mumbai or area surrounding Goddess Ambabai temple in Kolhapur, as far as the ambiance goes! Same claustrophobic narrow gullies, [may be at places, one who is a little bit on 'Healthier' side, would find it difficult to pass through ] old buildings ready to say 'Goodbye' at any time with probably the same attitude, refusing to come out of history to confront 'Today'.

The town dates back to the 13th century and it shows! Every building, every road, every nook and corner is history personified! Cobbled roads with narrow gullies with buildings so near to each other that, it may allow one to see what's being cooked in the kitchen in the next building and that takes you to the medieval times without realizing it for a second! But it's extremely clean and well maintained. Buildings may look old but are reinforced with modern technology so may withstand another century. Easily!

After a longish haul I was getting tired, so somewhere in those zig-zag gullies of Gamla Stan, I had orange juice at a very old restaurant.[ After seeing the bill, I realized that even though I have traversed the world, to come out of that money exchange trap, still seemed difficult. Rs 700 for a glass of juice? In Kronor it was something around 10 or so !]  And to my surprise it turned out to be the oldest restaurant, maybe in the world, dating back to 17th or is it 18 century, even having the mention in the Guinness book of world records, Den Gylden Freden! Whatever that means. 

.

I was lost in the maze of Gamla Stan gullies and every other one looked the same. I was actually looking for the entrance to the Royal palace and got lost. The exteriors of the palace were so enchanting that I longed to be inside. Cascading waters along with the replica of Royal crown exhibited on the walls of the compound were so good, felt, 'Showcase me itna to Godown me kitna !'

  

Ornate crown looked very beautiful and so did the small waterfall. But the road to [?] Moksha became more illusive. More I tried, more I felt lost. This road to nowhere was lined up by many shops of imitation artists.  They sold from small  curios,  antiques to big paintings and statues at exorbitant prices[ for me] but there were many firangs who bought them for [?] the posterity!

After wandering for an hour  or so, I reached an open space, which looked like a town square and that it was! The 'Stortorget'. In one corner stood some old cathedral, in which I had lost interest, after visiting such not less than a dozen. Next to it, in a very dinghy building was Stockholm Stock Exchange of yore. As I turned, to look around I got the shock of my life. I was standing in front of the Nobel museum. No less, The Nobel Prize Museum! That's the beauty of venturing out unplanned!

I felt ashamed of myself once I was inside. We know the lineage of Gandhis, or we were/are forced to learn it by heart, to the last link in the chain but I could not tell the name of the last Nobel Laureate who won the coveted prize in Medicine, my subject! It turned out to be Dr Edward Moser along with Dr John O'Keefe for that year, in Physiology! 

Had a very hot discussion with the tour guide on how the Nobel Prizes too are biased and are given to the people who follow unwritten 'White' views and principles! I pointed out to him that "Today, Mahatma Gandhi's principles of non-violence are held in high esteem all over the world and are being practised in full earnestness by every notable statesman, how come he did not get the prize for peace, ever ?"

"Mahatma Gandhi was shortlisted for the Peace Prize but was assassinated the same year and as Nobel is not conferred posthumously, as a policy, he did not receive it," was the explanation given by him. I, of course, had the second thoughts! 

All it requires is publicity on the international platform, otherwise, like language, My Marathi too is rich with literature laden with nuance and profound thought, so her writers too deserve Nobel in literature! But in the end, as they say, everything is 'Lost in the translation!'

Again a small surprise, I took a right turn in gully adjoining museum and I was at the gates of the palace, those eluded me for long, Royal palace at last!

Stockholm Royal Palace

After visiting palaces in Europe, my reaction after visiting yet another one, invariably remained the same. I hoped it to be different this time, but..... The King is the biggest corrupt personnel in any hierarchy and I totally agree with it. Luckily or by perseverance and maintenance, most of the European palaces are really in good shape even today. Not like relics in India. In India, only those palaces stood the test of time [?!] whose owners kowtowed  British!

 The Royal Guards have been protecting the palace since 1500 AD and as every other palace , the ceremony of ' Change of Guards' is popular here too !.

 

It is located on the northern part of Stadsholmen island on the banks of north spring and houses many Royal offices including Kroner museum, a museum for Kronor, official currency of Sweden that still has not accepted the Euro! Grandeur no doubt but laced with opulence is the specialty of all these museums. Rooms and parlors too did not lag behind. Ornate beds with embroidered canopies, Velvet bed sheets and covers woven in pure silk and interlaced with real gold threads, ornamental accessory furniture to match, at one level aesthetically, it was soothing to the eyes and soul, probably, but at the other, it was nauseating and repulsive! How can one sleep in such a room, on such a bed without the moral and values taking a back seat! Enumerable bejeweled artifacts costing millions in dollars are displayed for the common man! Every exhibit was displayed as if to rub salt on his wounds made by the day today hard existence? Eh!                             

The palace, that has more than 1400 such rooms with more than 600 ornate windows, [information provided by the tour guide of the palace, God knows who wants to know such things!] though is the official residence of Swedish Monarchy, present-day King and Queen do not stay in Stockholm palace but reside in Drottningholm palace! What a colossal waste of place, people and money. I said so to the sentry at the gate. He simply said,'We love our King and Queen !'

   

The Swedish parliament is located on yet another island in Northern spring opposite the Royal palace.

 The railings of the small bridge that leads to 'Riksdag' Swedish Parliament, had innumerable locks.  I wondered initially, but later I came across many such bridges all over Scandinavia that were laden with locks. It's general belief among-st the young romantics of Scandinavia that if a lock is locked to the bridge and key is thrown in the stream, 'No power in the world can separate them !' Ha ha ha, imagine this dialogue in Bollywood lingo!

The Swedish parliament building houses police headquarters too. The point to ponder is, you can walk through the two buildings without any police, guard, border security personnel raising even en eyebrow on your trespassing!
 In fact, it is a short cut for many Stockholmers for their daily chores!

The day was about to end and I was getting tired. Leaving other parts, for the day after, I rode to my hotel room. All the countries in Scandinavia call their day off earlier in winter and late in summer as the sun lingers on the horizon till late. I was told that the old monuments are illuminated in the night for the effect. By 12 midnight too, dusk was still lingering so at 1 AM I ventured out to shoot the illuminated buildings after asking the manager about the safety of such adventure. 'Go ahead it's extremely safe in Stockholm, at any time in 24 hrs !'

Attired for night cold, in my jacket and Cannon DSLR dangling around my neck I stepped out of the hotel. No sooner did I step out, this black young one appeared from nowhere and  pointing towards my camera said, ' Expensive, take care !' 

I dropped the idea immediately and returned to my cosy bed for wonderful sleep! B**ls to adventure at midnight!

Stockholm

Flight from Brussels to Arlanda, the international airport of Stockholm was shortish one, around 90 minutes or so. Though peanut flight, coffee was served on the board.

Scandinavia from skies is so picturesque, at times you feel that the flight should never touch the grounds. The interplay of waters, greens and islands keep unfolding in front of your eyes like an unending panorama of vivid bright colors. But it was to end, so it ended.

First look at Arlanda and you are dismayed. 'Beware of pickpockets, they are dressed exactly like you !' is the first warning sign you see in the lounge when you wait for your luggage! At one point of time Sweden had highest per capita income ?! And this warning, it jarred!

The corridors have bigger than life, portraits of Liv Ullmann, Bjorn Borg, Ingrid Bergman and also the famous director Ingmar Bergen, proudly proclaiming that 'Stockholm' is home to them!
Arlanda is 40 km away from the city centre! All the developed countries have categorically built their airports far away from the city hubbub to spare their residents from the noise pollution. Not like here in Shastrinagar where, when a plane passes on your head, the conversation just stops, at times the utensils too show their displeasure! After travelling for more than 60 minutes southeastwards, the bus reached Stockholm Railway station.
Stockholm city is based on 14 islands small to large, but if you consider the metropolitan area, there may be roughly 1000 islands or so! Some so small, accommodating only single-family having its summer home on them !. The city is surrounded by water from all sides. Surprisingly it's fresh as well as seawater. Because fresh water Lake Malaren meets Baltic sea on the shores of Stockholm.

The hotel 'Terminus', where I was supposed to stay is bang opposite Stockholm Central railway station but on the opposite side. To reach the hotel, turned out to be mammoth for me because of my luggage. Dragging it all the way around, to the opposite side left me tired. And though it was just in front of me, nobody directed me in the correct direction. Frustrated I stood on the footpath, glancing around and lo behold, it was on the opposite footpath. I was short of shouting 'Eureka! '
It was a beautiful 4-star hotel built in the 17th century and the grandeur was apparent from facade as well as from inside, it belongs to Best Western chain of hotels.
As per the plan, there was not going to be any conducted tour. I had a day pass for the local transport and tickets to various museums. After getting fresh I ventured out and it turned out that hotel was extremely well situated with all the places of interest in the vicinity.
I started walking southwards by Vasagaten towards Gamla Stan, or old town.
And there was this all-pervasive stench of urine as I passed below the flyover! I found it strange. In highly civilized, developed country with highest per capita income in the world at one point of time, citizens were urinating under the bridge away from the prying eyes! Strange, really strange!

 On either side of the bridge, there are so many monuments that in the end, you lose the count. On an islet there stood Stormsborg, roughly translated castle in the stream.


One has to cross the bridge to reach the castle. You walk down further and actual Gamla Stan or old town starts with many of its buildings standing on either side of the road.

First, you come across the Supreme court of Sweden housed in Bonde Palace. The green-roofed building with red windows stands grandiose on the banks of Norrstorm, north spring. The statue in front of the house of some Swedish lord. Just behind the supreme court is a house of Nobility or Riddarhuset in the local language.
                                                 
                                                               


                                                                        
 After crossing the buildings I took a right turn to cross the bridge on a small canal to a place known as Riddarholmen,
 [The Knights' Island] again a small island, which in fact is a conglomerate of many buildings, from a church, to old parliament house, palaces, gymnasium and courts.

'At the entrance of the gully, on the left side is very old, Riddarholmen Church. It was built for the first time in the 13th century and was built and rebuilt again and again many times. It's the last abode for Swedish Monarchy so has special significance. As you go further towards Redarfjarden bay it's as if the suburb of palaces, on the right side. Cruus palace, Wrangle palace with its rounded ramparts Schering palace just to name a few, stand next to each other, and they housed many members of the royal family and higher dignitaries in the past One of the palaces even housed the old parliament. The view from Riddarholmen and view of Riddarholmen from another side of the bay are landmarks scenes that denote the 'Stockholm'.

                                                                        

The city hall on the other side of the bay stands tall with its bell tower and is the venue for Nobel Prize distribution. Well mostly!

The view of Riddarholmen from the other side of the bay, from the lawns of City hall. This is 'THE' Stockholm! Coming alive in the hues of dusk.

To be continued in Gamla Stan!