Hi kids!
AI Overview: This is the af Chapman, a historic full-rigged steel ship originally launched in 1888. It is permanently moored on the western shore of Skeppsholmen island in central Stockholm. It currently functions as a youth hostel.
I usually like to start out with a picture because who reads my narratives for more than about a minute before skipping forward? I, myself, didn’t know what the story is on this ship till I asked Gemini. Gemini wrote most of my cations in this post.
Myung and I are on the road again this summer, escaping the heat in Korea. We’re going to Sweden, Norway, and probably Denmark and will return home on Sept 11. Right now, we are in Bergen, Norway, after spending a week in Stockholm one day in Uppsala and a few days in Oslo. For sure, we’ll be returning to Sweden and eventually flying back to Korea from Stockholm. Because we’ve left Sweden for now, it seems like a good time to post.
We did a lot of walking around Stockholm, looking at buildings and getting a feel for the place. We take pictures of interesting buildings or park settings or stuff we’re doing, without pushing to have the maximum adventure or learn everything (as if I can remember squat). You can absorb quite a lot just by looking around.
Central Post Office Building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by architect Ferdinand Boberg in an Art Nouveau style. Completed in 1904, this monumental brick building is situated on Vasagatan and features a distinct clock tower.
A lot of Stockholm looks like this. Oldish architecture in the midst of modernity. There is an old town called Gamla Stan. There and near there is the tourist hub. Buildings there go back to the 14th century.
The buildings surrounding Stortorget in Stockholm were primarily constructed or given their current facades during the 17th and 18th centuries, though many rest on medieval foundations dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.
Stockhom’s old town isn’t especially interesting compared to such places in Tallinn, Estonia, or Riga, Latvia, but it has the same look, as you would expect. These buildings were even built by German merchants, like in the Baltics and Finland, who were encouraged to come and develop the areas.
St. Gertrude’s Church. This German church (Tyska kyrkan) in Stockholm’s old town, Gamla Stan. The spire towers over Tyska Brinken Street, a narrow thoroughfare in the historic center of the city. Saint Gertrude’s Church features a distinct green-roofed spire reaching 96 meters.
Cobblestone street in Stockholm. Some of the buildings go back to the 13th century.
Another narrow alley in Ganla Stan
For tourists, we’re not too bad about going to every museum. Like, the ABBA museum is super popular, but we skipped it. The Vasa Museum, with an intact old shipwreck, is supposed to be great. We skipped it. We didn’t go into the Nordic Musem, but the building is great.
Nordic Museum
The National Museum isn’t great-looking, so no photo. We did go in there and look at the Rembrandts and stuff.
Turns out that Ikea has some locations in Stockholm that aren’t principally furniture and home goods, though there is a giant regular Ikea. These little Ikeas are there to offer Ikea food. It is a thing, with long lines to get in and order from the very limited menu. Myung read about the $5 Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingenberry sauce. How could we not go in there?
The Swedish meatballs were terrible, but in Scandinavia, eating out is so expensive that anything resembling a deal is popular. It was about as good as airplane food.
So much for Stockholm for now.
One day, we went to Uppsala, a famous old university town about 70 km north of Stockholm. It’s a lovely place.
This is the Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden, featuring a distinctive red-brick gothic design.It is the tallest church building in Scandinavia, standing 118.7 meters high. Completed in 1435, it serves as the seat of the Archbishop of Uppsala and is the national shrine of the Church of Sweden.
This building is part of the English Park Campus at Uppsala University in Sweden.
It was built in 1908 and previously housed the physics department.
Two Nobel Prize winners in physics, Manne Siegbahn and Kai Siegbahn, have worked in this building.
It currently houses the Department of Literature and the Department of History of Science and Ideas.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Carl Linnaeus. This is where he did most of his work. Of course, now it’s a museum and a beautiful botanical garden. Here’s the first paragraph about him in Wikipedia.
Carl Linnaeus[a] (23 May 1707[note 1] – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,[3][b] was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms.
Botaniska trädgården in Uppsala, Sweden, features a prominent neoclassical building known as the Linneanum orangery. The garden includes a historic 18th-century Baroque-style garden situated directly below Uppsala Castle. Established in 1787, this landmark belongs to Uppsala University and contains the city’s only rainforest in its tropical greenhouse.
Anyway, the day after going to Uppsala, we went to Oslo. We’ll be back in Sweden on the way back, or maybe we’ll go through there on the way to Denmark. We haven’t made a lot of plans. Our only firm commitments are arriving in and departing from Stockholm and taking a 12-day cruise up the west coast from Bergen to up in the Arctic, almost to the Russian border. That’ll leave us with about three weeks to do somethng, whatever.
I uploaded some other photos to my WordPress media folder. Might as well insert them.
Historic building located on the campus of Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden.The structure is part of the Department of History of Science and Ideas at the university.
Waterfront in Gamla Stan
Another shot of the Nordic Museum
Linnaeum botanical garden
Stockholm waterfront. Behind me are sauna huts. People use the sauna, then go out to this area built out in the water to take a cold dip.
Me in the botanical garden
I’ll probably post about Oslo and Bergen while we’re on the cruise ship. Until then, be well, all of you.