Stockholm May 2010

The clouds are no different, but the sky occasionally is of a particular hue of blue that I had not seen elsewhere. It is the kind of pale blue that matches the Scandinavian palette of pale woods, and harmonizes so well with the colours of the houses, early blooming trees and flowers and the dark cold gray Baltic waters.
The sun is up early and sets late from spring till autumn. When returning home from a nightclub 4am one morning, the day light had already saturated the streets even though the sun was not seen yet. In the evening it seems to hang above the horizon for hours, which makes for lots of shadows and play of light - a delight for photography.

Fire is everywhere.  From small candles to large bonfires that mark the end of winter, which for some reason is the last day of April in Sweden. Every restaurant has candles, from tea candles to large tall candles and to small torches, indoors and outside, on tables and on the ground or hanging from the walls and ceilings, and even small candles on the steps of a staircase inside a hotel. Fire safety is clearly a concept of different nature here. Lots of fire, but somehow these fires feel cold, just like the cold blue sky and the shining sun of the early spring.

The freedom to light fires everywhere is one of many signs of this being a non-litigious society. When the bonfires were lit, children were standing right next to them with parents behind them. In many places there are no railings at the water edge, nor is there safety equipment to be seen to assist should someone fall in. Swimming is allowed in most places, and people do swim in summer with the water in the lakes being of drinking quality. But there are no signs warning against diving in shallow water.

Sweden is big on preserving environment. At one of the boulevards at the water edge there are two columns donated by the king of Sweden with continuously updated information on the amount of pollution going into the lakes and the air of Stockholm. Wild birds are walking everywhere like chooks in a backyard. There is plenty of fish in the waters, and there is no restriction on non-commercial fishing in Sweden so people fish right in the center of the city - an odd sight in the middle of a tourist center, yet somehow very Swedish in a way of connecting to nature. There is a traffic congestion levy to keep the city free of cars. The train from the airport promotes itself not only as the fastest way to get to the city (at 200km/hour), but also the most environmentally friendly way to do so. With all that it is rather surprising how many plastic bags are being used in the shops and how much wrapping is given.

While fires are lit everywhere, in 8 days I did not hear a single fire truck siren, unlike in north American cities and Toronto where I had never seen a fire but fire sirens where heard a few times a day. Instead, police and ambulance sirens were heard quite often in Stockholm city. I am not sure whether the numerous police sirens reflect the level of criminal activity, but the first sign I saw on arrival at the airport even before the customs was a signs to watch out for pickpockets. Then another similar sign. Then one on the train. Then at the entrance into my hotel a sign indicating that the right way to carry a bag over your shoulder is by keeping it at the front, not at the back as someone will try to open it. I must admit it was rather confronting.

Having left my luggage at the hotel on the morning of arrival, I went out for my first discovery walk of Stockholm and a brunch. The guy behind the counter at a Chinese fast food place was conversing with his colleague in one of the Chinese dialects, then he spoke Swedish to a customer infront of me, and when the customer could only speak French, he promptly changed to French, and when my turn came he spoke to me in near perfect English. Apparently a common place in Sweden and in NorthWest Europe.

I sat down with my plate of stirfried fast food and a beer at one of the outside tables along a walkway. The day was crispy sunny, windless and fresh. Every chair had a blanket in case a customer gets cold – a common occurrence. Soon a 40 something year old man occupied the table next to mine. He had a neatly trimmed small beard and a nordic face with a slim long straight nose, was well attired including a coat with a silk scarf, thin leather gloves and a leather attaché case. He first put his tall glass of beer down on the table, then took off his jacket revealing a smart suit, and gently folded the jacket over the chair next to him, then took off his gloves and holding them in one hand sat down with his legs elegantly crossed and sipped on his beer. I thought he was waiting for the meal to come out. Instead, he finished his beer over about 20 minutes, got up, put on his golves and coat, picked up his attaché case and slowly walked away. I witnessed a quintessential European lunchtime experience.

Dads with prams are everywhere. I saw as many if not more dads with prams than I saw mothers with prams. Apparently, not only is there a paid maternal leave of more than a year, Swedes are working on extending the same privilege to fathers for paid paternal leave of more than a year. Nice being a dad in Sweden. Yet it comes with a price of a societal expectation to be a parent.

Same family driven attitude extends to childcare. There are playgrounds and kindergartens everywhere, even in the old city of Gamlastan where in a more entrepreneurial city it would have been made into a pure tourist and entertainment area. I saw at least one if not two kindergartens and a children’s library, and in a yard of a church a children's play ground. At one of the hotels there was an area equivalent in size to the restaurant above it, that was devoted to children's entertainment, including a selection of DVDs on a large TV set and painting brushes with a painter's easel . (Incidentally, the stairs to the upstairs restaurant had a tea-candle on every second step - kids are obviously not like I used to be: those candles would have been what I would have played with).

The unique and heavily marketed feature of Stockholm is the number of museums, Stockholm having most museums in one city in Europe. If there is something that can be put into a museum, there will be a museum of this in Stockholm. However, as commercial as their promotion is, the museums themselves don’t seem to try to make a buck. The famous Scandinavian designs were difficult to find even at the museum of modern art shop. Most books and catalogues are in Swedish even though at least half the visitors are tourists. There are very few unique souvenirs, but the royal family features almost everywhere.

Swedes for that matter seem to be as infatuated with their non-functioning monarchy as Brits are. I did not see much tabloids about the royal family life, but every local person seems to be up-to-date with all the developments. The other two national sport-like topics that seem to be on a continuous entertainment agenda are the Nobel prize ceremonies and the Eurovision.

The second commonest language after Swedish on the streets of Stockholm city was Russian. Russian tourists and those living in Stockholm are everywhere. Having said that, Stockholm seems to be the city of immigrants, with people from all over the world living there. One sad consequence of that however is the difficulty finding a traditional Swedish restaurant, there being only one along the tourist street in the old city, the others being mainly Italian, Thai, Turkish, and others.

Swedes may be socialists with the highest tax rate, but the class society and conservatism are clearly evident in many wealthy waterfront apartments, private yachts and private clubs for the wealthy. The prices for tickets at the 300 year old opera house reflect not only the visibility and hearing advantages but also the layout and the décor being the richest at the expensive ground and first levels, and getting progressively cheaper at upper levels, with the full size original paintings changing to small reproductions and lithographs.

I walked many kilometres every day along the cobble streets, which looked nice and are clearly low maintenance lasting for years. Additional benefit was the massage of my feet by the uneven surface, which initially was nice, but later I wished I had true hiking shoes with steel sole inlays. I walked a lot looking for a true Swedish souvenir. The shop attendants insisted that an elk is a Swedish symbol, but it looked too Canadian. Glass was another Swedish thing, but it was the same everywhere, as if mass produced in China. I looked for the famous original Swedish designs, but found no more than I would find in Melbourne or Boston. That was probably most disappointing (at least I found the Swedish food and glassware eventually).

Despite the original difficulty finding the true Swedish cuisine, there were a few spectacular culinary experiences. The highlight by every measure was the lunch Smorgasbord at Grand Hotel, where I had the privilege to sample herring marinated in 7 different ways, four types of cold salmon preparations, two trouts, great sour dough rye bread and a celery soup. The other highlight was at the opera house café (same kitchen as the restaurant next door, but bar style tables and cheaper prices), and a dinner at the old house where celebrities used to dine over the centuries – all with true Swedish food including herring and beer.

Stockholm in May 2010 - one week of sunny cold days, lots of local beer, four museums, two operas, one ballet, two nightclubs, one boat tour, Swedish food, and many kilometres of cobble stone - exhausting, but spectacular.