Peerless above, unrivaled below

In a model of Stockholm as it was in the 17th century, we can recognize the King's garden and to the left  Saint Jacob's church, both still existing in modern Stockholm.  In front close to the water we find a Castle which was build by general Jakob De la Gardie in 1643.  A palace filled with art from the inside out. Lavishly decorated with sculptures, it was beautiful both from the land and from the sea. The owner called it 'the great house'; the people of Stockholm called it 'Castle Peerless', there was no rival.  Alas - 1825 in a huge fire it was totally destroyed and burned to the ground.  Blackened sculptures and columns could be saved and are now in the City museum.

Copies were made of these few remaining building parts and are now in one of the stations of the subway which is directly under the former location of the castle Makalös (Peerless).  This station and many others which have been decorated by numerous artists make the Stockholm subway system unrivaled in comparison with other subways in the world!  http://www.viralnova.com/subway-art/

Visit to Tallinn

With a ferry boat starting from Stockholm in the evening one arrives in the morning in the harbor of Tallinn in Estonia.  Swedish friends all recommended us to see there 'the old town'.
We would say the same.  A short walk through the modern town with 'Coca Cola Plaza' and McCafe
was enough to appreciate even more the medieval part of Tallinn.

Peeks in side streets lifted the spirit and in the City museum we learned about the numerous occupations this town had to endure. We saw there the documentary about the 'Singing revolution' and our sympathy to the Estonian people grew.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ricksteves/estonias-singing-revolution-4691/?no-ist

'Kloostri Ait' a Tallinn restaurant which has live music in the evenings, we were happy to find for a small lunch, coffee and truffles. The friendly young waitress told us that the first foreign language taught in schools is English.  Good, Estonian is hard to understand.

For large groups of tourists there are of course many - too many - garish souvenir shops.  A nice brake then to find some hand crafted products on the market of Raekoja Plats.  Woolen gloves with patterns demonstrating the inexhaustible creativity of the knitters.  Can Estonian men knit?

Colorful plants

Always interested in botanical gardens, we visited the Bergianska garden which is connected to Stockholm University.  We were puzzled by these unusual 'markers'! Then we got an explanation by Ms. Kaili Maide who is an expert in textile coloring with plant material.

The markers show the different hues which are produced using different parts of the same plant for dyeing. Very proud Ms. Maide told us that she was responsible for the planting and caring of these plants as well as developing the dyes.

There are other areas in the large garden. In the vegetable garden we found impressive specimens which use we are familiar with.   http://www.bergianska.se/english/about-us

Golf for everyone

Mini-golf ? We ask with a mocking smile.  Until we visited the newly opened golf course in our neighborhood.  No golf carts necessary, no club membership asked for but very popular and the hottest place to be right now.  http://www.golfbaren.se

Family friendly and good food provide a great mood with lots of laughter.  There are competitions but not taken too seriously.  We learned that there is in fact a Swedish Minigolf Federation which was founded in 1937 and is the oldest in the world of mini golf.  

A special feature are the course obstructions in form of books with the names of famous Swedish writers. The reason is that several streets in the neighborhood have the names of these writers. 

Viking Summer

 For children to visit a historic museum and looking at 'old pots' can be pure agony. To change that, the Historic museum in Stockholm gives the opportunity to children (and adults) to make pots for themselves.

In the court yard of the museum children (and adults) can try out different Viking crafts.  Suddenly the interest in looking closer at the showcases is stimulated. The jewelry in heavy gold which glitters is always captivating.

http://www.historiska.se/home/exhibitions/thegooldroom/

But even there, the experience of making a little bracelet heightens the appreciation for the goldsmiths working during the time of migrations ca 300-700 AD

http://youtu.be/q073B4LpmK0

The best of course is getting dressed up to feel like a fierce Viking!

'Luncheon on the grass'

 If you happen to come to the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm on a Monday it will be closed.
Not to worry - you will be able to enjoy art in taking a walk around the Museum's outdoor collection of fifteen works by prominent artists.  Hidden behind the Museum we noticed first this sign

and then we found the two couples we could recognize from the Edouard Manet's (1832-1883) painting which is in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.  

Picasso (1881-1973) avoided the controversy Manet's painting created by showing them all in the nude!

During his lifetime Picasso made 27 paintings and 140 drawings all inspired by this paining by Manet.

For a sculptural interpretation he made small cardboard marquettes and was co-operating with Carl Nesjar who was able to translate these marquettes into large sculptures.  Gravel and Concrete are the materials and it is known that Picasso was satisfied with the result.  Carl Nesjar, then a young Norwegian painter, graphical artist and sculptor had met Picasso in Paris in the 1960s.

http://www.modernamuseet.se/en/Stockholm/

Summer in the City

There is no better place to spend sunny days then Stockholm.  Sometimes called the Venice of the North because water is always close.  The pride here is that this water is so clean that one can jump in whenever one feels like cooling down.

The Fredhaell neighborhood has a historic swimming spot where it is easy to step in and out of the water. It is our preferred place to have a morning swim.

In the evening the cliffs close by are used for picnics before a jump in the lake.  I do not know how they come out again….

http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/See--do/Guides/Spas-and-bathing/