THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407130056
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN, TRAVEL EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 331 lines
STOCKHOLM HAS BEEN CALLED the most beautiful city in the world. Those who do say so would get little argument from me.
It is nearly nine in the evening and the city's waterfront buildings - some of them giant hulks of stone, others stucco-covered brick painted hues of ocher and terra cotta, many with green roofs of patinated copper - face to the slanting rays of the sun. Ornate church spires pierce the blue sky.
Paris is beautiful, especially at night. Rome has what passes for grandeur. Other great cities have water, which always helps. It reflects light, enhances beauty. Vancouver has the Pacific with a mountain backdrop. Zurich and Geneva on Swiss lakes are inspiring. But Venice's canals are a cesspool and Amsterdam's are not much better, and that is not inspiring.
There is something different here. These buildings seem to be actually smiling as if they were humans taking in the long summer rays after a winter of absurdly short days. A special warmth radiates from them.
Sailboats glide across the deep blue waters. Vintage steamer ferries - sparkling white hulls and puffs of black smoke from their funnels - carry passengers here and there among the city's 14 islands, while the red-hulled Nordic Line ferries, as large as cruise liners, transport others to Denmark and Norway and beyond. Old sailing ships with spindly masts are permanently anchored along the stone seawalls.
Along the waterfront men and women are fishing in the clear, clean water. And catching fish - salmon, trout, perch and pike. Without a license. It's encouraged.
Torborg Fagerlund, who was showing me around, told me of a huge salmon caught recently near where we were standing in the Kungstradgarden (King's Garden), a popular and lively public park filled with flowers where royal cabbages once were grown for kings.
``It was 21 kilos - what? . . . about 50 pounds,'' she said, stretching her arms as wide apart as they would reach.
I looked doubtful, I'm sure. I live near the Hague in Norfolk. Clean water and edible fish in the heart of a city are almost beyond my comprehension.
``You could look it up,'' she insisted. ``It was in the newspapers.''
Well, OK then. That's good enough for me.
Stockholm is, indeed, a city of great beauty. One-third of it is green with gardens and parks and wide, tree-lined boulevards that, together with the water, create a sense of urban openness.
The city lies between two major bodies of water - the freshwater Lake Malaren and the brackish Baltic Sea - which meet near the Royal Palace in Gamla Stan (Old Town). It's the heart of Stockholm. People have been living on this island about 800 years.
A stroll through the narrow, winding cobbled alleyways of Old Town is a stroll through the city's past from the 13th to the 18th century. It is perhaps the best preserved example of a medieval city-core in the world.
The principal focal points are the cathedral (begun about 1250), which contains a marvelous, huge, intricately carved wooden statue of St. George slaying the dragon (from 1489), and the 600-plus-room Royal Palace. The palace is an immense pile of stone looking much like London's Buckingham Palace. I'm told Sweden's is a few rooms larger.
In any case, the Swedish royals found it a bit much - they're low-key folks, really, sometimes called ``bicycle monarchs'' - and moved out in the 1970s to Drottningholm Palace, about a 45-minute ferry ride away. King Carl XVI Gustaf still keeps a state office in the big house downtown.
There's the usual display of crown jewels and state carriages, if you're interested, and there's a changing of the guard that has much less formality and pomp than the Brits' at Buck House.
There's a square in Old Town called Stortoget that's about as quiet and peaceful as you'll find anywhere. Real Old World charm. Wasn't always this way. It was a real mess here on Nov. 4, 1520, when the gutters ran with blood as King Kristian II ordered 80 heads chopped off.
This may not be the best place to mention this, but an interesting (though expensive) place to eat in Old Town is the Fem Sma Hus (Five Small Houses). It is, as you might expect, five small houses joined together and seems to be a maze of rooms, winding staircases, unexpected passages and vaulted cellars. They've been serving since 1694. It's down the fifth alley from the Royal Palace. There's another statue of St. George and the Dragon - this one bronze - pointing the way. Or you can ask anyone.
If your time is limited, there are three ``must-sees'' in Stockholm: the Vasa Museum, housing a 17th century warship recently reclaimed from the depths; Skansen, the oldest open-air museum in the world; and City Hall, site of the annual Nobel Prize banquet.
The recovery of the Vasa is one of the most remarkable maritime stories in the world, and the restored flagship is one of the most remarkable sights as well.
The huge ship - its decks seven stories high, and three masts towering above that - was to be the flagship of King Gustaf II Adolphus. It was covered with Baroque allegorical wood sculptures - Roman warriors and emperors, Greek gods and mermaids - that served no purpose other than to glorify Sweden and King Gus and to terrify enemies.
It was launched on Aug. 10, 1628, and on its maiden voyage, in its own harbor . . . it suddenly keeled over and sank. ``It had an emotional impact on Sweden,'' a museum guide said, ``not unlike the Challenger disaster in your country.''
It remained submerged for 333 years until its salvage began in 1961. Amazingly, it was found 95 percent intact - a time capsule of 17th century shipboard life - and now sits fully restored in the center of the waterside museum, the most popular in Scandinavia.
Skansen is Sweden's answer to Colonial Williamsburg or Old Sturbridge Village. Opened in 1891, it displays about 150 buildings of cultural and historical interest from various parts of Sweden, representing different periods and social conditions from the Middle Ages to the present century.
Many old trades and handicrafts still are practiced at Skansen by costumed artisans and craftspeople. There's also a zoo and an aquarium.
Stockholm's red-brick City Hall, built in 1923 in what is called in Sweden a National Romantic style, resembles a much older Italian palace. It is built around a vast inner courtyard. Tours include a visit to the Council Chamber with a beamed ceiling intended to resemble an upturned Viking boat, and the Golden Hall whose walls are made of 19 million mosaic tiles covered with 23.5-karat gold leaf.
Those who would like to eat like royalty or a Nobel Prize laureate can order any Nobel menu from 1901 onward in the City Hall's cellar restaurant. Booking is required several days in advance, and it's not cheap - 700 kronors, or about $100.
Drottningholm Palace, a 17th century beauty, has been called a miniature Versailles. There is a French connection in Sweden, although it came after this place was built. The Swedes hired one of Napoleon's field marshals, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, to be their king in 1810 after they ran out of suitable royals of their own.
The waterside palace and its gardens are sublime (and a favorite of Swedish picnickers) and well worth the hour-long ferry ride, but the grounds contain another remarkable - no, unique - time capsule that should not be missed.
It is the Court Theatre. Practically the entire building, including the stage machinery, is in its original condition from the 18th century. Not restored or reconstructed to an antiseptic state, but original, a bit dusty, a bit creaky, a bit frayed around the edges.
The random-width wood floors, worn and unpolished, creak as you walk on them. The wallpaper is stained here, peeling there. There's some dust. But that's very likely the way it was in the 18th century.
It really ought to be kept hermetically sealed in a great glass cabinet, but the Swedes aren't like that. They want the public to see it as it was because it is a fantastic experience. Eventually they probably will have to do more restoration, and then it will look like Williamsburg.
The theater was built in 1764-66 under the direction of Queen Lovisa Ulrika and taken over in 1777 by her son, Gustav III. He was known as the Theater King. He also was known to be, well, perhaps slightly unbalanced. The result of a French Revolution-inspired conspiracy among noblemen was that Gustav III was shot dead at a masked ball in Stockholm in 1792.
The theater died as well. The building was used as a storeroom until it was ``rediscovered'' in 1922 by theater historian Agne Beijer. The ONLY restoration that has been done is that the stage machinery was fitted with new ropes, wax candles were replaced with soft, flickering electric ones and the audience benches have been padded and now have backs.
Opera is performed here from May through September. In 1992 UNESCO's World Heritage Committee declared the theater to be of cultural heritage of world stature.
Side excursion: Uppsala (pronounced Oops-SAH-la) is an ancient university and cathedral city where Ingmar Bergman found the milieus for his films and which inspired Carl von Linne and Dag Hammarskjold. It's about an hour's drive north of Stockholm on interstate-like highways. Well worth a day trip.
Uppsala Cathedral is the seat of Sweden's Lutheran archbishop. It's an immense brick structure with twin 390-foot towers and a nave, also 390 feet long. It was rebuilt in 1702 after a fire destroyed the original structure and much of the town. Beneath its stone floors are buried 4,000 Swedes - the largest cemetery in town.
Guide Mikael Norrby made the cathedral and the adjacent university, founded in 1477, come alive.
He pointed out the tomb of Karharina, who brought the country culture from her native Krakow, Poland, and her husband, King Johannas II, the greatest mass murderer in Swedish history. He had more than 3,000 people executed during his reign at a time when the entire country had a population of about 700,000.
And inside the towers there is a museum that contains incredibly well-preserved court costumes of the late 14th century and early 15th century.
Norrby was at his best in Olof Rudbeck's anatomical theater in the dome of the Gustavianum, the university's principal building from 1625 to 1887 and one of the few to survive the 1702 fire.
Rudbeck is the guy who argued in his book ``Atlantica'' that Plato's Atlantis - the original home of civilization - was, in fact, Sweden, and by picking and choosing only facts that might support this contention gave expression to the national self-awareness of Sweden's Great Power period.
Rudbeck designed and supervised the construction of the anatomical theater after studying those at Padua, Italy (too big and dark, he thought), and Leiden, Holland (too shallow). Rudbeck also was historian, engineer, composer and musician and captain of the fire brigade, but it was here that Rudbeck, the professor of medicine and surgery, taught anatomy by dissecting executed criminals during the last half of the 17th century.
It mush have been quite a show. Townspeople, if they could pay, as well as students were admitted. Vendors sold food in the upper levels. ``It was good, solid family entertainment,'' said Norrby. ``It was educational and it taught that crime doesn't pay.''
Women were not admitted, he said. They were thought to be too sensitive.
Does the name Linne ring a bell? Maybe you know of him as Carolus Linnaeus. That's his Latinized name. He's the professor of medicine, surgery (although he was famous for fainting at the sight of blood) and botany who devised the system of naming all animals, plants and minerals. Using two Latin names, he personally labeled 12,100 species - of the 300 million believed to exist today.
Linne also investigated how everything worked and how it could be used. He was into what we today call ``life sciences.''
Symbols of his accomplishments, along with his portrait, adorn the 100 kronor note. A Swedish poll recently named him the most important Swede of all time - more than 200 years after his death.
Journalist Hans Odoo, one of the world's foremost authorities on Linne, often dons 18th century costume and conducts tours of Linne's botanical garden on the university grounds in Uppsala. Maybe you've seen him in one of the episodes of James Burke's series ``The Day the University Changed'' on TV.
Odoo pointed out that Linne was most unusual for a reticent Swede: He wrote five autobiographies pointing out 19 areas in which he was the greatest.
``He was fond of saying, `God created the world; Linne created order in it.' ''
Also worth seeing in the Uppsala area are the Walloon (immigrants from Belgium) ironworks at Osterbybruk and Lovstabruk. These are wonderfully preserved 17th and 18th century ``company towns'' for iron workers. The manor house of the owner of the works also is open for tours.
I think these historical sites must have been ``beautified'' a bit. It's hard to believe these placed were once prosperous iron works. It's definitely not Pittsburgh. ILLUSTRATION: STEPHEN HARRIMAN COLOR PHOTOS
Drottningholm Palace, the residence of the king and queen of Sweden,
is on the island of Lovon, about 5 miles west of Stockholm. The
palace was built in the 17th century.
In Gamla Stan (Old Town), visitors can stroll through Stockholm's
past from the 13th to the 18th century.
Color photo
c. ANDERS EKHOLM
The warship Vasa is on view in a Stockholm museum. The vessel sank
in 1628 and was salvaged in the 1960s.
Photo
STEPHEN HARRIMAN
Stockholm's Old Town is perhaps the best preserved example of a
medieval city-core in the world.
Graphic
TRAVELER'S ADVISORY
The Swedes: Are they Scandinavian or Nordic? Yes. The
Scandinavian countries are Denmark, Norway and Sweden; the Nordic
countries are those three plus Finland and Iceland. Lapland is not
really a country but a region occupied by an indigenous minority
that stretches across the northern reaches of Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Russia. These people are often called Laplanders or
Laps, but they prefer to be called Sami (pronounced SAW-me) or
Sampi. Only about 6,000 of the estimated 15,000 Sami in Sweden are
nomadic reindeer herders; the remainder have assimilated into more
conventional occupations. Sweden is about the size of California;
about 8.5 million people live there, just over a million of them in
greater Stockholm.
The language: Swedish is a difficult language with very difficult
grammar; few people outside Sweden speak it and fewer still learn it
as a second language. It is different from but similar to Norwegian.
Language-impaired Americans will be happy to know that almost all
Swedes speak English. Swedish cats, by the way, ``meow'' in Swedish.
That is, they say ``miou'' which sounds very much the same. Anyone
who cares about cats knows about Peter the Tail-less. They are tales
originally written in Swedish by Gosta Knutsson and translated into
many languages; they all carry a typically Swedish social message:
be nice to people.
Swede savings: It's not as expensive as it was. Stockholm is now
only the 19th most expensive world city. With the dollar now buying
35 percent more krnoor ($1 buys about 7 SK), Sweden is offering
savings on food, transportation, shopping and hotels - as little as
$50 a night on weekends in Stockholm. The Grand (home of Nobel Prize
winners during their stay in Stockholm) is in the $200 range; the
wonderfully modern Sergel Plaza where I stayed ran a bit less than
that. The Sergel is named for one of Sweden's greatest painters and
sculptors, and some of his works are to be seen throughout the
lobby. Theater and opera tickets are a bargain at $15-35. Tourists
can get a VAT (value-added tax) refund on leaving the country,
provided they keep detailed records.
Getting there: I flew the national airline, SAS (Scandinavian
Airlines System), out of Newark and experienced its new EuroClass
service. It's really first class by another name and it is extremely
popular. Nearly half the seats on SAS's Boeing 767s are EuroClass
(there is no first class), and I didn't see an empty one on my
flights in either direction. The seats have adjustable head and
lower back cushions and the footrest has an upper and lower bar,
which allows for different seating positions - a welcome comfort on
intercontinental routes. EuroClass costs about twice as much as
Tourist class, but the comfort and service may be well worth the
difference. Info: SAS, 9 Polito Ave., Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071; (201)
896-3691. Or a local travel agent.
The longest days: In the summer, daylight begins about 3 a.m. in
Stockholm. It gets about as dark as it is going to get about 10
p.m.
Getting around: Stockholm has a clear, safe and efficient subway
system, and many of the newer stations resemble art galleries.
Several airlines offer fly-drive packages that include car rental
for as little as $69 a week. I never saw any traffic congestion, but
I did see a tremendous number of Volvos and Saabs; must be a lot of
Yuppies in Sweden. Best way to the sites of Stockholm is with a
Stockholmskort - Key to Stockholm - card for under $20 a day; it
provides free admission to dozens of attractions as well as free
transportation on subways, buses, trains and even the ferry to
Drottningholm Palace.
On the road: You'll see many triangle signs throughout the
countryside warning of moose crossings . . . and perhaps even a
moose.
Thanks, Sweden: Besides Volvos and Saabs, Swedes have given us
dynamite (Alfred Nobel, who also gave us prizes), self-adjusting
ball bearings, safety matches, the Celsius thermometer, the zipper,
the screw propeller, the implantable pacemaker, the adjustable
wrench, Styrofoam and the Hasselblad camera. Also Bjorn Borg.
National drink: It's not Absolut vodka, which is made in Sweden,
but coffee - wonderful, aromatic, STRONG coffee. It's everywhere,
all day long, big cup after big cup. None of that sissy demitasse
stuff.
National food: Not meatballs, but potatoes. Maybe this is not
``official'' but potatoes are served with every meal. Potato recipes
are the subject of wide discussion. A visitor must try the salmon -
or, for that matter, almost any other fish on the menu. Cod is
particularly delightful, and even more expensive than salmon. Also,
try the reindeer and forget what Santa might think. I had it smoked,
as two different kinds of sausage and as a steak covered in a sauce
of wild berries and mushrooms. Oh, that's another thing: Swedes do
love their rich sauces.
The sex thing: I didn't see any naked people or any sex shops -
two perceptions the Swedes would like to live down. There were
American porno movies on pay TV.
Sleep in the slammer: Langholmen, the old state prison on one of
the 14 islands that make up Stockholm, has been converted into a
hotel. Guests stay in one of the 101 remaining cells (about $80),
all of which are furnished and include bath with shower, TV and
telephone. The old hospital wing of the prison has been converted
into a conference, although in the summer it becomes a youth hostel
for travelers on a budget. Another attractive hostel is a
three-masted ship anchored in the city harbor near several of the
top museums.
For more info: Swedish Travel and Tourism Council, 655 Third
Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017; (212) 949-2333. Or a local travel
agent.
- Stephen Harriman by CNB