Stockholm Day 2

On Wednesday we were determined to see the Royal Palace and the Nobel Museum, but we got up rather late, and ended up rushing quite a bit. By running, we still managed to make the guided tour of the Royal Apartments of the Palace. I thought they reminded me of Versailles, so I was amused when the tour guide told us that the Swedish king was trying to outdo Louis XIV and Versailles. Louis XIV was calling himself the sun king, so the king of Sweden chose to be the star king, reasoning that the sun sets every day, but the North Star is constant.

I was also intrigued by the story of King Karl Johan XIV, the first of the Bernadotte ruling family of Sweden. The king of Sweden was old and childless, and the Swedes needed a crown prince. They sent a list by a nobleman to Napoleon, so that he could see the list of candidates, as the Swedish nobles wanted to stay in Napoleon’s good graces. Instead of following directions, the nobleman was so impressed with one of Napoleon’s generals that he offered him the job. The man was a Frenchman, born Jean Bernadotte, and he had no ties to Sweden, but he was a military leader, and Sweden needed a military king. Though the nobles were very angry, eventually they accepted him as king, and according to our tour guide, he was the best king Sweden ever had, although he never learned to speak Swedish. He learned to read it, write it, and understand it, but as a Frenchman, he never could properly pronounce Swedish. His wife came to Sweden and hated it, so the Queen of Sweden spent most of her life living in Paris. How weird must that have been for her neighbors and friends, oh my friend Desiree? She’s the Queen of Sweden. She had once been engaged to Napoleon himself, and she was friends with Josephine Bonaparte. I like this idea better than marrying royalty. I want to be happily married to my husband and have someone come along and say, How would you like to become King and Queen of our country?  I would say yes in a second. She must have really been a brat to not have appreciated becoming the queen of Sweden! (although I do understand loving Paris)

Then we went to the Nobel Museum, which was interesting, especially the special exhibit about Madame Curie. I’ve seen her grave a few times in the basement of the Pantheon in Paris, but I didn’t really appreciate how groundbreaking she was until this exhibit. She was really an amazing woman, especially for her time. 

After the Nobel Museum, we found a tiny café with delicious desserts. I should probably mention that Stockholm is by far the most expensive city I’ve ever visited, so I don’t recommend going there if, like me, you enjoy trying a lot of foreign food. Still, the brownie cake was one of the best things I’ve ever had, even if I don’t want to even think about what the cost might be in dollars or euros. 

We went to a concert in the Stockholms Konserthus, where all the Nobel Prizes are awarded. (except for the Peace Prize, which is given in Oslo). The concert was awesome! We were in the front row, which gave us an amazing view of the orchestra. We could see the earplugs some of the musicians were wearing, the fraying strings on their bows, and the gallons of sweat pouring off the conductor’s back. It was really an experience.