Uppsala Uncovered
From the Journal of Carl Lundblad, 1914:
On Wednesday evening, August 19, we left beautiful Stockholm in order to travel to Jönköping and left at midnight from Riddarsholmen on the boat Victor Rydberg through the Göta Canal. Very pleasant and interesting trip on the whole. We passed Södertälje and Vadstena, Motala and Hjo and Söderköping. Passed through 36 locks in all including 15 stacked locks at one place and 5 at another and individual locks and bridges… Were met there by our brother-in-law, Anders Petterson, who immediately arranged a car for us and took us to their home at Klostergaten 36 where we were the rest of the time. We have been out on some shorter trips. We have been in Huskvarna, a very beautiful natural spot….
From an internet cafe in Uppsala train station by Ciara, 2007:
Though it took Carl and Hannah, my Great Grandparents, a day an a half to get from Stockholm to Jönköping by boat on the Göta Canal, we decided to take the extra day and visit the Viking graves in the old capital of Sweden, then take the train to Jönköping (above photo). We didn’t actually have the luxury of a choice, as the boats stop running after August. Would that the guidebooks have mentioned so many things close after August. Beware traveller! Go to Sweden during the summer.
Yesterday in Stockholm, after writing from the train station, we visited the map store across the street to try to find maps that have individual farms listed. We found maps of the parishes from which my great-grandparents hailed, but they didn’t have the farm maps in stock. The Vasa Ship was huge and had beautiful carvings on it. We had fika in a little cafe along the water and then took an hour-long train north to Uppsala, the medieval capital of Sweden. Uppsala is relatively boring, compared to the charm and vibrancy of Stockholm. We took a cab to the bed & breakfast in a suburb, where I promptly crashed.
This morning Marit (the B&B owner) drove us to Gamla Uppsala to see the ancient burial mounds (left) and the 13th century church that the guidebook proclaimed to be the most beautiful in all of Sweden. The mounds contain viking cremations and legend has it that pagan human sacrifices were conducted nearby. We went to the Viking Museum, where I got reaffirmation that a romance novel set in Stockholm in the early 1800′s is a fantastic idea. Apparently the 19th century was the age of Viking Romanticism. Awesome cultural backdrop, is it not? Afterwards we had lunch in Odin’s Mead hall where we quenched our thirst with its famous horns of mead.
We took the train to Jönköping and stayed on Klostergatan, the same street where my Great Grandparents stayed in 1914, purely by accident. Unfortunately we didn’t realize the coincidence until after we left, so we didn’t get a photo.
Picturesque buildings topped with mansard roofs and turrets, decorated with stone carvings and painted in peach, cream, apricot, rose, saffron, and buttercup, line the curving cobblestone streets on the small ancient island of Gamla Stan, “Old Town”. Along the waterfront float white archepelago boats, while bicyclists and pedestrians wander over bridges connecting the fourteen colorful islands that compose the city. Stockholm is beautiful. Forget London – Stockholm has the romantic setting, cosmopolitan culture, and court intrigue to make it an excellent setting for a Regency-style romance novel. Take Gustav III for example – the king instituted a renasaince of high art and culture, building a royal opera and theater in the 1790′s, and creating a noble society where the opera was the place to see and be seen. He was murdered by assassins at a masquerade at the opera, which was the inspiration for a Verdi opera. What better backdrop for a novel?
Fortunately it only took my mom and I forteen hours or so to reach Stockholm by plane. Today is our third day in the city. On Thursday we visited the “New” Royal Palace, so called because it has only been in existance for 250 years, as opposed to the previous Tre Kronar Castle that existed in its various forms since the 13th century, until it burned down and the new palace was built. It is fairly boring as palaces go, square with little detailing or carvings. There are no formal gardens attached. We walked around a few of the nearby small island parks, admiring the bike lanes and the historic boats and the fabulous architecture that makes me drool. I adore Stockholm!
Yesterday we walked to Skansen, the world’s first living history museum founded in the 1890′s, where historic buildings from all over Sweden were relocated. A few of the buildings were open with historians in traditional garb available to answer questions. I wish there had been more. It differs from an experience like Sturbridge Village or Colonial Williamsburg in that the buildings represent It also has animals from around Sweden, many of which are endangered. In the late afternoon we took a two-hour boat tour under the bridges of Stockholm and finally saw the modern part of the city. I prefer the historic districts, of course. It rained.