It was really neat to see a part of the world (Scandinavia) that I’ve never been to before, to test my independence by safely traveling alone, to meet new people, and to experience and learn a bit about a part of my heritage.
It was neat to spend time in Germany last January with choir and get a little taste of that part of my history, then this weekend I got to see some of the Scandinavian part. Certainly I am an American with American cultural background and understanding, but the more I’ve traveled and spoken with people from different cultures this semester, the more I realize how much our history does make us who we are today. I feel like I’ve picked up little things from each culture, which I hope to incorporate into my ideologies and understandings of the world.
My first afternoon, I arrived happily at the airport and immediately noticed how many blonde people there were haha. I made my way thought the narrow cobble-stoned streets and then along the water until I found my hostel in Gamla Stan (Old Town). It was nice seeing the beautiful skyline from various points in the city, the shimmering water at sunset, and to get a little sense of the character of Stockholm.
I explored the park around the incredibly impressive City Hall, walked around the Royal Palace’s grounds, and heard a man playing beautiful guitar music in from of one of the bridges just as the sun gently set behind the boats on the water. It was quite magical, really.
They had a neat exhibit describing the various origins of holiday traditions, where it was fun to see many of the things we do at Anderson family Christmas time!
Then I went to the Vasa Museet, where they have a huge ship that sunk in the 1600s and was only brought up in the 1960s to be restored. Quite impressive! They had great exhibits describing everyday life during the time, information about the shipmates, osteology research, King Gustaf, and the diving and restoration process.
I had quite the adventure trying to use my 5 maps to find the Nobel Museum. As I was just about to give up after walking on the same 5 streets for a ½ hour with no success, I heard a little band playing with an elderly gentleman singing “What a Wonderful World” in Swedish. I decided to stop and listen and halfway through the song realized that the band was set up right in front of the steps of the museum! When I heard them singing the song in English while I was buying my ticket, I decided I needed to capture that beautiful moment!
The museum displayed some of the more significant (well of course they’re ALL significant) prizes and reactions to them throughout history. I never realized how controversial the Nobel Prizes have been at times. They also had an exhibit on current combinations between medicine and design/art. Very cool!
I took the train to Uppsala and met Gustaf, the son of Susan’s host family when she stayed there not long ago. It was absolutely amazing to meet him and his friends for dinner and lots of good conversation. In the morning, he gave me a nice little walking tour of the city.
When I got back to Stockholm, I went to the National Museum, which had beautiful classical art, an exhibit on clocks and the interpretation and understanding of time throughout history, and a cool exhibit with tons of work by Toulouse-Lautrec.
Saturday was definitely an exciting art history day for me, which helped me study a bit for my upcoming exam! From Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Degas, etc at the National Museum, I went to Juan Gris, Braque, DuChamp, Miro, and Ernst at the Modern Museet. It was fantastic! They had a huge extensive exhibit on Andy Warhol at the Modern Museet as well, which was pretty interesting because I didn’t really know much about his life or much of his lesser-known artwork.
I enjoyed my last afternoon in Sweden walking around during the beautiful sunset and savoring my last few hours. I just did not want to leave! What an amazing weekend!
