Green Stockholm

During the waterways tour of Stockholm, we heard of all the things the Swedes do for their environment.  One whole section of the city is devoted to conservation in ways I’ve never heard of.  For instance, there is a section of the city where there are vacuum tube pipes connecting all the homes and apartments to a centralized recycling and energy plant.  Food waste and trash is sent in the vacuum tube to the plant where it is either burned to create energy or is composted to be used in the many gardens around and in the city. 

We stumbled into a yearly food and music festival at a park near the center of the city.  Besides the 100’s of food vendors, there is a cooking competition every other hour.  During a couple of the contests, the cooks (or chefs) had to take 40 percent of food wasted in restaurants and make something you’d like to eat.  The overall idea was to help feed the hungry people with food that is normally thrown away.  They seem very committed here to go green.  I volunteered to try a couple of food samples and found it quite tasty.  I’m always thinking what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

We learned lots from this very friendly Swedish woman named Ann.  She told us a great deal about what was going on.  She, Shari, and I were some of the oldest people there, and that is saying something since there were probably about 20,000 people.  In case you are wondering, the free music was the big draw.

The lead singer in the picture above sang in Swedish and it worked surprisingly well.  Her voice reminded me a little of Tina Turner’s voice. 

The final singing act of the night was an Eagles cover band.  The wife of one of the lead singers sat with us along with her mother.  Her husband also sings with the new ABBA, so there was much to talk about with these friendly people.  BTW, the real Eagles with Don Henley played the following night in Stockholm, but that concert wasn’t for free.

Our last day in Stockholm went a bit too fast.  We did go to the Vasa Museum.  Museums are not everyone’s thing.  However, this one is amazing.

Long ago, in 1628, there was a war called the ’30 Years War’ and Sweden was a major player and power.  The King of Sweden wanted a double decker fighting ship (two levels that each had several cannons), something not invented in history.  It would be a formidable foe in sea battles which were very important in the day.

The ship was huge for it’s day - four (4) stories high and almost the length of a football field.  The craftsmen that made it were very experienced but had never built a ship this big.  There was no new engineering, just traditional building techniques that were in use.  It sank in the Stockholm harbor soon after it left dry dock under fairly calm sailing conditions, apparently from being top heavy.  It lay at the bottom of the harbor for over 300 years until salvaged around 1960.  It was then pieced together like a giant three dimensional jigsaw puzzle and preserved in a museum that not only has the ship but also explains so many other things regarding the times.  

The ship was built in about two (2) years and in that time there were master carvers who whittle at the oak and made all the ornate figures all about the ship.

So . . . if you ever get to Stockholm, this is one museum we highly recommend.

We had a great time here in Stockholm!  There are lots of friendly people, lots of interesting things to experience, and lots of pretty sites.