Today was a day of wandering from the “here and now”, to the “there and then” and back again. We started our day with a trip to the Stockholm City Hall. OK, not high on everyone’s list but… When I was here in 1980 I went to a banquet in this very hall. The Rotary Club was having its 50^th anniversary and the King of Sweden, who was a member of the Rotary Club, hosted a gala for 1200 guests at the City Hall. Imagine having the opportunity to be in this amazing place, wearing my graduation dress for the second time, for such a grand event! It was incredible being back in the same rooms now. I didn’t remember everything but a lot came back as we walked around the Blue Room (that has absolutely no blue in it) and then the Gold Room (made entirely of gold/glass mosaic tiles). We had to imagine what it was like when all the tables were set up everyone had the same silverware, china and crystal glasses (imagine washing those dishes by hand) and all of us exchange students got to meet the King. The dancing was held in the gold room. Well, the king wasn’t there today and there was no orchestra but it was beautiful and still a special place for me (Dale thought it was OK too).

What I didn’t learn in 1980 was the history of the City Hall. It was built during WWI and many of the themes, including the Gold Room style was influenced by the times. All of the design had to be done by Swedish artisans and the architect had difficulty finding anyone who wanted the job of designing the gold room because of the need to create the gold and glass tiles for the room. The architect finally found a 27 year old artist who said yes and he estimated that he needed 7 years to finish the project. The architect gave him 2 years. He did a stunning job for his first ever project. Of course, not every one appreciated (or appreciates) the cubist style of the design, but it is stunning.

After our tour we headed off to Gamla Stan or the Old City. It was on a different island. Stockholm is made up of a bunch of islands of differing sizes all connected by bridges. We found a place to have a drink and plan our path. We enjoyed the beer (to be exact it was Hobgoblin ale) and decided not to plan and to simply wander. We found all sorts of quaint stores and souvenir shops. We couldn’t go into a few because they posed a threat to Dale’s head. Many of the buildings were built in the 1750’s or so, and people were shorter then! We ended up wandering through the grounds of the King’s Palace. We had a bit of fun finding out where to buy tickets. Once again we admired the high ceilings and staircases in the palace, as we walked up and down the stairs twice to finally figure out where the tour of the treasury was happening (underground in the vault) and where the tour of Three Crowns was going to be (down a different set of stairs). We didn’t have time to see the whole palace but we did get to see most of the below ground parts. The guides made everything very interesting.

After supper we went to meet my friends from my Swedish high school. I was so excited. We met and it was like old times in a weird way. Ann and her two daughters (by the way I still find it hard to believe I have friends who have such amazingly grown up children) and Eva met us by the statue of Karl XII in a park near the Opera House. I truly appreciate cell phones – we have changed a bit over the years- so it helped that we had our homing devices. It was great to reconnect and find out what has happened across the years. We ended up walking back to the train station after they threw us out of the café at 10pm. Ann’s daughters were incredibly polite and patient with us. Dale was happy that both Ann and Eva are English teachers so he didn’t have to sit and smile while we nattered on in Swedish. Ok, we nattered a bit just a bit.

Now exhausted after walking 20,000 steps (that is for you Karen) and walking miles down memory lane, I am ready for sleep. Jet lag has started to abate so we are ready for the next part of our journey. Tomorrow we hit the Swedish highway. Next stop Dalarna!