Day 4: Stockholm

Sunday, July 13, 2008



The morning began with breakfast at 9am and then a trip through Stockholm's subway system. When it was built, it was left pretty rough, so it looks like a trip through the bat cave. If the bat cave were painted blue and green.





Then we headed to Stockholm's National Museet. It looked a bit like rain before we went in. We took at look at a chair exhibit they had set up. First is a cantilever chair, using 25mm steel tube, what I will need to use on my chair.



Next is a favorite of mine, the Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia. This one has a padded fabric cover.



I thought this was pretty neat. I've seen it before, but it was nice to get a close look at all the detailing.



By the time we got out, the sun was shining all over the place. The weather over here seems to be a bit like St. Louis, but in the late fall or early spring. The temperature hangs around 68 to 74, and it can change very quickly.



Then it was up the street to the Moderna Museet and Architecture Museet. There were some amazing architectural models, but what do I see first? The awesome looking stools, of course!



And I want to buy this book ("Crucial Words: Conditions for Contemporary Architecture") when I get back. It's an interesting commentary on necessities in the architectural design profession.



Outside of the museum I saw this and couldn't resist a nice "Chucks Around the World" shot.



After lunch at the museum (a nice caesar salad), we took a short ferry to the Vasa Museum, a museum that was built around a ship built in the 1500s. It sank a mere 37 minutes after embarking on its maiden voyage, and wasn't recovered until the 1950s. No one wanted to tell the king that there were problems with the ship that he commissioned, so they didn't and a SMALL GUST OF WIND blew the thing over.



After the Vasa, Bjorli and Flemming told us, "Okay, you are on your own. It's about an hour walk back to the hostel. Have fun!" So I trekked with Whitney and Erina across the city. Stockholm is such a beautiful city.





On the way back, we stopped in at a supermarket and I found, to my great surprise, Mountain Dew! I bought two cans and hugged them with all my might. Then we had dinner at Pronto Cafe near the hostel. When Whitney said the name, I heard Toronto Cafe. That would've been interesting. I had the world's most wonderful sandwich, grilled up just for me.



All in all, it was nice not to be stuck on the bus half the day, in and out of light sleep. And now, I can get myself around Stockholm, you know, if I ever need to.