The secrets of Scandinavian

Although I travelled to Oslo then on to Stockholm in August I still think about what I learnt in these beautiful cities. I have not had time to blog, but thoughts of these cities come to me and I feel I must share and write down so I can ponder at a later stage in my life. The holiday surprised me for they where not on my "must do" list at all, but I found cities where the culture seems to be close to my personal philosophies involving care of the environment, family, education,peace and creativity. Both cities using cultural and artistic activities promote interest in peace, conflict resolution, sciences and design. 

Stockholm is in my top ten places in the world I have seen. I fell in love with Stockholm. It was like a dream and seemed like I have been there before. Its nickname is "the Venice of the north". Its name itself means "collection of" (stock) and "islet" (holme), for it has many little islands. For most of these little islands it is illegal to live on them in the winter months due to isolation. They are mainly holiday homes for the warmer months. Access is only by boat.

The "old town" Gramla Stan was founded in the 1200s. It is very charming with important historic buildings (and ruins) and a mixture of shops. The Noble Museum is located here too. Great place to learn of Alfred Noble himself and the Nobel Prize Laureates. The statue below depicts the knight St George (representing Sten Sture) saving the maiden Sweden from and the dragon ( Danes) in the Stockholm's Cathedral (Storkyrkan). Locals say it symbolises Sweden's need to fight against evil. Fighting against evil seems to be the way Swedish vikings acted as well. They would only fight to defend not to raid. They were more traders than fighters. The whole family went on a Viking Tour. Just fantastic......totally fun!Freja the Furious (originally an Aussie chick from Tamworth)took us on a walk through Gamla Stan and she shared historical stories of the olden days and the modern days. We wore  Viking hats, a sense of humour and the ability to laugh about yourself because it's just AWESOME!

We stayed in a lovely hotel (organic buffet breakfast served was fantastic) at Sergelstorg, where locals gather for political demonstrations and sport celebrations. We were within minutes of the cultural center of Stockholm. National museum was fantastic with many Renaissance drawing, Carl Larsson, Goya and Rembrandt.  This painting on the left is one of my favorites of Larsson. Family life seems to be at the heart of Sweden's culture.

The island Djurgarden is so beautiful and has unspoiled nature, palaces and designed gardens. Great place for children! It has Vasa Museum (for those into viking history and war history), Nordiska Museum (for those into design), amusement park and the oldest open air museum called Skansen (which is the history of country life in Sweden and a Zoo). Lemurs were the highlight for my family at the zoo. Seeing Scandinavian animals were wonderful for most are not on display at our Sydney zoo, such as wolverines, lynxes and moose's.

 Swedish mythology has stores of Tomtar and Trolls. Tomtar (looks like Santa with gnome features) are small creatures living in and around homes and farm sheds. If you show them respect ( bowl of porridge left outside your home  at Xmas) then in return they the household from accidents and disasters. Trolls are only active in the night. They hoard treasure in their dens(mountain caves or in deep dark forest).

 

Oslo is a quieter city. The structure of the Opera House is amazing and photos do not do it justice. It looks as if man made structures and nature have merged. Munch Museum is a must if you love this period of art as I do. Seeing his work not in books but real life was breathtaking. My impression of him as an artist changed for the better since I saw his whole spectrum of work. Vigeland Park was fantastic with about 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland with the theme of family. Best thing I did in Oslo was a boat tour of the Fjords. Being on the water, hair in the wind  and a sense of freedom running through my whole body. A spiritual experience! Also the Nobel Peace Center is inspirational. It had great exhibitions on peace leaders, such as Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu and the USA president, Obama. My kids loved The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History and The Viking Museum.

Scandinavina is well worth the trip!