The Geographer's Cafe: Stockholm, Sweden

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R.F. Burton's second stop in a 60 country journey around the world.

Like most Americans, I’ve heard rumors of the blue-eyed, blond-haired, unblemished beauties that roam wild in Scandinavia, but it’s never been a priority destination for me. Besides, I think there are premium channels for that sort of thing. However, I’m not one to turn down a free trip (except maybe anywhere resembling the setting of Deliverance). So, when one of our clients invited me to visit, I saw it as a convenient way to begin the European-leg of my trip and, uh, take a chance on Stockholm.

My “great” timing kicked in again. I arrived on a Sunday evening again, so many of the major tourist sites were closed. Still, I decided to take a walk around the old city. The weather was a bit dingy and cold for June, but it was a nice respite from the oppressive heat at home. I visited many places near my hotel that looked pretty interesting including the oldest church in Stockholm.

I ventured down medieval alleys which have been transformed into a shopping district for tourists, all the while enjoying the fact that I actually blended with the local culture for a change. At 6’3” and blue-eyed and pale, I tend to stick out like a sore thumb beyond U.S. borders, but in Sweden I am just another bloke.

It was time for lunch by my clock, so I ducked into a restaurant that looked like it fit into the architecture. As it turned out, it was the Glenfiddich Warehouse no 68 (sup Ray). Feeling the need to sample the local faire, I ordered an assortment of Salmon dishes to start. Now, I’m not a big fan of fish, but I’ll give credit where credit is due, and this was tasty. My entree was some sort of game (reindeer?) meatballs, mashed potatoes, and cucumber salad. The combination of the comfort food and two pints of 5% beer were exacerbating my overwhelming jet-lag.

I was about to pass out at the table when the bill came and woke me up… 424 Krona ($66)! I had exceeded my daily expense budget on one meal and broke one of my business travel rules, “Never eat dinner in the tourist trap area.” I blame it on the jet-lag.

The next evening was a clear and cool 60 degrees Fahrenheit which I believe is either 15 or 150 degrees celsius. I get confused. After the conference, our group was treated to a boat tour that took us to a small island called Fjäderholmen. A tent was set up outside of a restaurant, and we were introduced to Swedish BBQ and a variety of local beers. The food was good, but the highlight of the trip was the sunset on the boat ride home. Late in June, sunset occurs at about 10:30pm, so the ride is kind of like a natural nightcap.

Unfortunately, I can’t regale you with tales of spontaneous adventures since my days are heavily scheduled with meetings, but I feel that through my business interactions, I get a pretty good impression of the local cultural. From my hosts, I gather that the Swedish are extremely friendly and respectful of one’s personal life. They were efficient without expecting others to conform, and they are clearly in love with their city and country (if not a bit too apologetic that the weather was not perfect).

Rising seriously early on my final morning in Stockholm, I finished all of my work before 9 am, and decided to tour City Hall because it was close, and it looked ancient. As it turned out, thogh, it was built in the last century which was a bit of a disappointment the history buff in me. Geez... my junior high school uwas older. Still, it was a great work of architecture; a mix of Swedish romantic on the outside and Italian Renaissance on the inside. In truth, the building is quite amazing like so many in Europe. It shows signs of the politics of the time of its construction through its minimalist decoration. The neatest room, in my opinion is Blue Hall, which is the site of the Nobel Prize banquets. There is a large pipe organ near the roof which is Sweden’s largest, and a golden hall covered in 18 million mosaic gold tiles. They say that the gold is diluted so that only one kilo was actually used to cover the entire room which seems nearly impossible to believe by the size of it. I did not find this room as impressive as some of the others because it was covered with images of Swedish lore that looked disturbingly “Disney-esque”.

After the tour, it was time to go. I headed to Arlanda airport by way of the express train which travels at up to 200km/h and gets you from Central Station to the airport in 20 minutes. Little did I know this was the start of one of the longest, craziest travel days I have ever experienced.

Stay tuned for my next stop, Paris, France.