And Outside The Rain Fell...

Stockholm again, waking up in the ferry docking at 6 am, counting crows over time zones and getting 5 people to check out of the deck. It was now much colder, much cloudier than we had last been here. Contemplating the 6-7 km walk up to the Central Station gave me quite the shivers. I had almost got down to asking for a hike, and in retrospect, I should have. I mean, what the heck, what could possibly have gone wrong?

We took the long long walk – a heavy backpack, a bottle of water and a winter coat, my uber cool muffler along with ear pads – and I was all set to go. Walking across highways, cross roads, waiting for endless pedestrian signals to turn green and a growling stomach, more cross roads, more avenues, more signals – we trudged along. We had our first pit-stop at this beautiful park, and resting for a while, Patwaji came up with this stupid silly step-counting game, and as much as I hated the game, it was fun! We shared a “chota” pack of Parle-G on the way, arriving at Central station, heaving, our calves begging for rest.

Picking up a relatively underpriced coffee latte at Burger King, which was surprisingly very refreshing, we all headed to the Subway, getting an awesome bargain deal there. We did some “jugad” with the ketchup (a Sub just doesn’t taste good with Ketchup, and no one seems to stock Ketchup here!). We walked all around the city, admiring moored yachts, sail boats (including one called the Black Pearl), pretty pretty woman, fast cars and rip-off bike rentals. We walked across the Seansen bridge, and it was suddenly as though we are in an entirely different part of Sweden – the majestic Nordiska Museet (Nordic Museum) greeting us at the entrance of this royal park – the Djurharden. This museum was housed in this massive castle, and we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered that the museum would be free that day after 4 p.m. Every 6 Euros saved is another Sub, and we were more than glad to come back later knocking at its doors.

Our next stop – Skansen. A huge, huge open air museum, this giant spread across an entire hill, a miniature Sweden, Sweden at its best, almost a theme park. Skansen housed everything that was Swedish, in fact, everything Nordic, from homes of the Nomadic Sami tribes to ancient Finn houses, from exotic animals from the Tundra belt to glass blowing shops – everything here was wonderfully recreated, overlooking the city of Stockholm.

Walking across cobblestoned paths to live size Swedish Manor houses painted red – their exotic tiled black sloping roofs and the gardens flanking it; climbing bell towers and watching a tiny stream lazily drift by the entire length of the park – the entire effect was surreal, surprisingly soothing. The Europe you would dream about, the Europe you would see in movies.

I also met this Sami lady – Morit, who explained the ways of their people, of their indigenous traditions and their ancestral nomadic culture. Following reindeers, rearing them, living in a hut made of many poles that kept the cold away in winters and the insides warm, with chutes for smoke to go out without snow falling in. It was brilliant, their ways humble, and completely interloped with nature.

We walked across to the most exotic zoo I’ve witnessed yet – reindeers and brown bears, elks and grey owls – housed in habitats that were painstakingly recreated to match that of their wild cousins’. Having walked at least 18 kilometres from dawn, we were now terribly tired, crossing miniature market place, ancient chapels and windmills, many summer farmsteads, watching old carpenters and a live glass blowing unit from up close. We witnessed molten sand being converted to beautiful globes of gold, in innumerable colours, shapes, designs and contours. As evening drew on, it grew far colder, and having experienced much colder temperatures up north, we were here without jackets, shivering and exposing ourselves to every bit of the sun before it set for the day.

Out of Skansen, we visited the massive Vasa museum – Vasa – a 17th century sail galley that sunk an hour after its first sail. Much commemorated during its time for its might and the power it would bring to the Swede navy, it sunk off the cost of Stockholm to the bottom of the Saltsjon Sea. Miraculously lifted in 1961 – 333 years after it first sunk, the Vasa is now preserved in a museum that is more engineering than history, 500 sensor points that constantly map every sign of decay, the massive ship standing tall in the museums main hall, with galleries of artefacts and recreations all around.

Magnificent.

Old wood, the structure almost the size of a football field, most of the guns and turrets still intact, flanked with wooden busts of ferocious lions, Roman gods and ancient mythological creatures, it seems every bit of the Vasa was built to invoke fear in the enemy. Only one tiny detail went wrong, the hull was apparently badly conceived, and top heavy, the ship could not withstand the winds it encountered. The artifacts built for the museum are mindboggling – from movies to huge huge globes, from a reconstruction of the entire deck to recreating the faces of those who were then on board, this museum was so much science, so much art, history, Nordic geography and politics - all packed into one brilliant entertainer, all coming together as the Vasa.

Bansi, who had joined us for this museum, had to leave then so that she could shop for us. The four of went to the Nordisk Museet – we had a good 45 minutes before the museum closed, and we wished to make the most of what we were getting for “gratuit”.

The museum was accompanied by a superb audio guide, and although the museum claimed to be a Nordic museum, it was entirely about Swedish culture – its progression through the ages.

We finally took the long walk back to the Central Station, the weather now extremely chilly, reaching Bansi’s home dead tired. And bless her, for she had a steaming hot meal ready for us –Pasta, French fries and Rasam rice, a weird but utterly delicious combination for 4 starved vegetarians in Stockholm.

Hit the sack. Period.