Unfortunately, we had to change our plans today. Vera got an UTI, and we spent most of the morning at the hospital. It was actually the second trip to the same facility, and a return was required to change antibiotics. Hopefully, they got it right this time. Test results from the first visit confirmed the need to change drugs, but Vera already knew that. The bad news was we missed Kalmar and its historic castle. The good news is that we are avoiding two 5 hour bus rides, and we purchased trip insurance before we left. We'll fly to Copenhagen tomorrow and will probably arrive before our group. And, the insurance company pays for this disruption (that's the theory, anyway).
We did get to visit Stockholm's City Hall (I don' think Vera remembers much). This is a must see if you ever go to Stockholm. It is home to the Nobel Prize banquet, and is not your normal city hall.
The open and soaring ceiling of the city hall chamber is meant to represent Viking architecture.
This is the gem: The Gold Hall where the reception and banquet take place. It is entirely covered with tiny gold flakes.
The murals are what really stand out.
Vera was feeling a little better late this afternoon, so we took a short tour through the newer shopping area of Stockholm. This architecture caught our eye.
Vera took this: always on the look out for new quilt patterns. It is the floor of a small bar we scrambled into to avoid these afternoon torrential downpours. Today we came prepared with our rain coats. By the way, yesterday's storm made the front page of the paper.
Stockholm is a wonderful city. It is not as homogeneous as people might think. Vera's doctor was Iranian, the pharmacist Egyptian, and the cab driver Turkish, but born in Sweden. Still lots of thin, tall blondes however. Swedes seem to be very generous, especially in terms of values concerning child care, maternity leave and education. Our local guide yesterday told us of a 57 year old woman who went back to school (all expenses paid) to become a nurse so she could care for her aging mother. Interestingly, Stockholm is probably the most non-religious city in Europe. Churches everywhere, but with almost no attendance. As our tour guide Nica explained, you will see a Swede in church three times: "hatch, match, and dispatch".
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment