Islands of Possibility 7-6-9

Stockholm, Sweden

Looking at blue dots on maps and wondering what a city looks like is such a grand form of imagination. As pleasant as this can be it, there is little comparison to the physical realities that we sometimes find ourselves in. I’ve always thought of Stockholm as probably feeling very northern, somewhat severe in its sensibility and personality, and being sited on very flat terrain. How very wrong our preconceptions about places and people can be. I’ve never so misconstrued the personality and appearance of a country or city as completely as I did this grand Baltic capital that is described as “gentle and handsome”. And so it is.

To arrive at Stockholm by water one passes through an extensive archipelago of forested islands for perhaps seventy five miles or more. The pristine beauty is inspiring and the appearance of urban Stockholm is almost overwhelming. An admixture of rocky cliffs, jetties, islands, and rivers are cloaked with an astoundingly well preserved collection of neo-classical buildings seasoned with newer ones of grand modern Swedish design. The intact centuries-old architecture of the Gamla Stan is fanciful, beautiful, in pristine condition, and would make a fine backdrop equally for emotive romance novels, fanciful fairy tales, and epic historical fictions. The skyline is punctuated with an abundance of green copper clad spires that have reached upward for as many as 800 years. An ample number of grand rotundas protect vast interior spaces from the ravages of long dark winters in the far north.

The highest points in the city and the largest structures were often built to remind citizens of where they should place their highest trust. True of many of the great cities in the Western world at one time was the emphasis placed on the ecclesiastical aspects of life, and this emphasis can still be easily seen in the architecture that survives from prior centuries. All of the Baltic capitals have skylines highlighted by the great rotundas and spires of heavenly-minded builders.

The white and gray palette of life near the Arctic Circle is warmed significantly with a palette of ochre, rust, orange, pink, green, even Wedgwood blue. To my surprise, the Swedish people are not afraid of color. Many of the small islands have summer homes on them, the traditional ones being painted red with white trim. Throughout the Baltic region I have been surprised by the rich palette of color freely splashed across the capital cities. I wonder what would happen if we suddenly started painting our own buildings and house in various shades of pink, red, rust, even cerulean.

I joined Jim, a fellow I met in St Petersburg, and between us we took four cameras and hiked the whole of the old city for seven hours. We were like two little kids in a candy store; ‘collecting’ many grand structures and street views in our mass storage devices. Jim’s wife has long adapted to his photographic penchant after 45 years of marriage and humored us greatly, even being careful to stay out of our line of sight. Between us we took some eight hundred pictures of a Baltic paradise. We visited the Royal Palace, Stockholm Cathedral, City Hall, Katrina Church, St Gertrude’s German Church, the oldest bank building in Europe, and walked ten miles or more of streets ranging from epic grand boulevards containing large scale government buildings and academies to streets so narrow vehicles could not pass through. At some places one could nearly touch the walls of quaint shops on both sides simultaneously.

Stockholm is an urban area that has given a third of its land area to a fine assortment of city parks of all sizes. We visited several of these on our wanderings, one of which contains a huge public library of neo-classical design. Throughout the city we found all the public spaces clean and cared for. At a number of points we found no-cost public bicycles available. Many European cities have made bicycles available at no cost for their citizens to make use of. One can easily navigate any of the Baltic capitals on a bike, using the abundant, safe, and well marked lanes reserved for them. Bikes are considered legitimate forms of transportation throughout the entire Baltic region. Bike lanes are not for inattentive pedestrians, as Jim found out the hard way.

As is the case in all the Baltic capitals, water plays a major role in city life. Fishing and sea trade were and continue to be important in Stockholm as well as the other capitals of Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Tallinn. Stockholm, Helsinki, and Copenhagen have developed elaborate systems of water transportation ranging from small open boats providing one hour harbor cruises to large ferries capable of hauling thousands of people and heavy trucks for two and three day runs to remote reaches of the Baltic and North Seas. There are also abundant facilities for large cruise ships of 100,000 tons or more. All of these capitals all have picturesque facilities to handle commercial and recreational water craft.

Most impressive about all of these capitals, and especial Stockholm, are the vehicle free districts given over to pedestrians. One can walk for hours in intimate spaces designed for humans. Even in areas with dense vehicular traffic there are well demarcated crossings, signal lights, and the infrastructure needed to allow vehicles and pedestrians to safely cohabitate.

Perhaps the most important lesson that one can gain from walking the streets of these grand cities is realizing that other cultures have grand strengths and people in other traditions will often do things as well or better than we do in our own. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is to sit home in one’s little apartment watching black and white TV and refusing to acknowledge that an opportunity might exist elsewhere to view a high-definition color panel covering the whole wall of a neo-classical palace. Walking the streets of the Baltic capitals allows one to have a high definition experience of the highest order.

For me travel is about gaining knowledge and experience and bringing it back home to my own culture and sharing it with others. Overseas travel is an expensive and sometimes very challenging opportunity that is a privilege. Keeping my experiences and pictures to myself is not an option. I think of the time I was paid the highest compliment I have received in my lecturing to assorted audiences in myriad venues. “I would rather see the world through your eyes than through my own.” I hope I can remain faithful to this assessment. Fair warning - I will come home armed with 7,000 pictures to share with you slowly, one at a time! I have a couple of transit days by boat back to London and am using this time to index all of these images.