Monday | June 20, 2016
We awoke and ate in the apartment today. Our only major tourist event was a bus ride around Stockholm in the morning. Our guide, Eva, was pleasant enough. She told us that the old town in Stockholm dated back to 1620. There seems to be a real divergence between the old town, which has only a population of 3,200 people, and the rest of Stockholm, with its population of 897,000 people.
We first drove by the Royal Palace which hosted a major celebration yesterday as the king and his wife celebrated their 40 year wedding anniversary.
The palace opened in 1754 and has 600 rooms. Sweden, besides being a socialist country, which I shall discuss a little more later, is also unique in that it has an active monarchy.
Sweden was very often a conquering nation, and has had control of Finland, Norway, and part of Germany. In fact, from 1814 to 1905, Norway was entirely governed by Sweden.
Water and nature are prominent here. Stockholm is a city composed of 8,000 islands amid waterways everywhere. In fact, it is said that one third of the city is green and one third is blue. Conservation and being green are important to Sweden, and nowhere is that more evident than in Stockholm. Every citizen lives within 300 m of a park, something unique among the cities we have visited around the world. In fact, the European Union voted Stockholm its first green capital.
The city buses in Stockholm run on biogas, which is derived from wastewater from residential neighborhoods.
Eva gave us a bit of information about the culture here. In the evenings, adults do a frog dance around the pool, acting like frogs and hopping.
The city experiences 18 hours a day of sunlight during the summer months, but only six during the winter.
This building houses Parliament, which has 349 members.
And speaking of Parliament, let me explain a little about the socialist government that rules Sweden. Every citizen pays 30% municipality tax and then 40% state tax. In exchange, the state pays for all medical insurance for children until they reach age 19. In addition, parents are provided 480 days of parental leave, of which at least 90 days must be taken by the father. During that time, the citizens are entitled to 80% of their salaries. Moreover, the time need not be taken all at once, and it need not be taken at the time of the birth or adoption of a child. Rather, a parent has until the child has attained the age of eight to take the 480 days of parental leave. In addition, citizens are granted 120 days per year per child to care for a child’s illness, until each child reaches the age of 12. Lynn raised an interesting issue about a family having three children, allowing parents to take the entire year for sick leave.
Sweden is not very keen on the refugees who come into the country. The monarchy has decreed that one half of the migrants will be sent back over the next year. The country boasts a 7% unemployment rate, and wants to do nothing to cause that rate to increase.
Stockholm employs congestion pricing for driving in and around the city, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. As a result, seventy percent of Stockholm natives use public transportation on a regular basis. And the metros here are quite beautiful. There are three main lines, featuring 100 stations, 91 of which are ornately decorated.
Our drive took us over five of the main islands that make up the city of Stockholm. In total, the city is built on 15 islands, connected by 57 bridges. It is also home to over 70 museums, including a museum about the Pop group, Abba. But I’ll explain more about that tomorrow because we will visit the museum. On many of the islands, all the property is owned by the state and landmarked, and individuals are prohibited from ownership.
Stockholm was the home of Albert Nobel, the noted scientist after whom the famous Nobel Prize was named.
During his lifetime, he was an expert in dynamite and nitroglycerin, so much so that the ruling authorities required him to leave the city and move back to the country for fear he would blow up his neighborhood.
His monument is directly outside City Hall, a beautiful ivy-covered building.
After our tour ended, I walked through the city a bit, traversing a pedestrian street lined with shops and cafes.
I had lunch outdoors at a restaurant called Pulpetto. I loved my Swedish meatballs.
After lunch, I spotted a “beer dispenser” and got excited once again.
As we walked over several of the bridges, we couldn’t help but notice the size of the swans here. They’re beautiful, and quite large.
We were impressed with the architecture from centuries ago.
… including the opera house.
This idiot stood in the street with a selfie stick, taking a photo of himself and his friends.
I saw this device on several of the windows around town, and couldn’t figure out what it was it was at first.
Then, I realized it is a double angled mirror that allows one to stay inside and see what is going on up and down the street.
This amusement park, on one of the islands, is visible from virtually anywhere in the city.
We returned to the ship exhausted before enjopying a fabulous meal in Marina.
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