exploring soldermalm & new friends

my last day in stockholm was spent mostly alone, on a prediction-defying beauty of a day. back tracking, i had made a connection on the second day in gamla stan when i wandered into a bike shop (gamla stan cykel) and inquired about whether or not any mountain biking was to be found. martin, the super nice employee, immediately pulled out a map and started circling greenspace on stockholm's periphery. and then, in a move reassured me of the cycling community's inclusiveness and awesomeness worldwide, he made a phone call to a friend of his he said would probably be able to show me around some trails and help me get my hands on a bike. elated, i walked out with a free map and contact info for two local cyclists.

simona and i exchanged an email volley attempting to find a time to meet up. she runs her own online cycling customization/componentry shop that had a storefront this summer so it turned out, with the activities mama becky and i had planned, that we would not be able to meet until wednesday, our last day in town. the info i had for simona's shop location was vague: an x scrawled on a map, on the island of soldermalm, 2 islands down from our hotel. it was when i set out on wednesday that i realized i didn't even have the name of the shop.

and so, i wandered. the sun was bright and warm, the sky azure, and the stockholmers out in appreciative multitudes. soldermalm reminds me of east atlanta and a little bit of downtown asheville. its inhabitants are primarily younger, and though of course gorgeous, it has a comforting level of grit: grafitti and street art lines the alleyways, posters for upcoming shows and vegan potlucks paper walls, and the boutiques are all self-consciously hip. i walked all the way down the street that her shop was supposed to be on, and at its termination into a roundabout, saw a bike shop. after asking if anyone named simona worked there and receiving a negative reply, i gave up. turning around on the other side of the street and walking back, it was when i spied this beauty that i realized i was where i needed to be:

i walked in and was greeted by a warm hello and thankfully, an affirmative when i asked if she was simona. we hung out for about an hour, immediately connecting on a shared love for all things bike. she is an awesome, spunky, friendly lady and you should check out her site here. it was one of the high points of the trip, making a real connection in a community that matters to me with someone i feel like i will definitely see again. simona gave me a bunch of encouragement about trying to find my way back to stockholm and before i left, i had to get one of her super cute shirts. take a gander here if you want to see me looking very enthused in an instagram photo simona uploaded.

 the wheel in the bottom left is carbon that a local artist painted on. i wish i had gotten a picture of it, it was really dazzling! simona is into design and aesthetics, and all of the components she selects reflect that. as a girl who is very concerned with her bike's color scheme, i love that.

the wonderful simona

after i said goodbye to simona, i walked some more. i felt myself dissolving into the sunshine, into the cobblestones, the little parks, the flower stores, and countless cafes. unburdened by obligation or appointment, anonymous and speechless...  in this weightlessness and newness, i was content.

the trip concludes.

your intrepid travelers are about to set off for the arlanda airport, with a pit stop in london, before returning to our homeland of larger waistlines and discount shopping malls. stockholm, i will miss your bread products, tea, ubiquitous al fresco dining, exquisitely tailored clothes, puzzling public transit, moody weather patterns, elegant architecture, beautiful women on bicycles, and tall nordic inhabitants. i will miss the slightly uncomfortable elevator rides with absolutely no eye contact or small talk. i will miss being baffled by your currency, where your penny equivalent is the most ornate coin. i will miss your arabesquing bridges and bowing underpasses. i will miss my own humility, my acceptance of ignorance, and all my indian dining options. stockholm, you are gorgeous and there is something about the way you move and your rhythms that i must, absolutely must, experience again.

until we meet again,

xo.

morgan



ps. stay tuned for a few more entries on our last day in stockholm. : )

a perfect day for museum-ing

we have seen a change in the weather since we arrived. it is cooler and, as you may have gathered, rainy. however, stockholmers are unfazed by a little rain and are still out in full force, riding bikes, running, pushing baby carriages, and apparently enjoying this last bit of gentle weather before winter sets in. mama becky has had a contagiously upbeat attitude, and she must be commended... i did not give her proper credit yesterday for how she held it together when we got caught in a downpour after a challenging journey that would have broken many lesser spirits. today, she was at it again, smiling and reminding me (when my own spirits lagged) how much fun she was having. my grandmother is a pretty awesome lady.

anyways, today was spent in museums. we checked out the mordern art museum and the nordic history museum. both were definitely well worth their admission. of course, i obeyed the NO CAMERAS signage only to see endless sneak-shots with cell phones and full on flash photography by my fellow patrons. i was flustered each time and tempted to be a civilian enforcer of decency.

anyways, the highlight of the moderna museet was an exhibit on the couturier jean-paul gaultier that was incredible. it presented photos and examples of both his ready to wear (pret a porter) and haute couture collections. there were audio visual components with projected video and sound loops that were really effective. i was concerned initially it might ruffle the grandmother's feathers, since it featured what could be termed "provocative" imagery and generous doses of nudity, but surprise- she loved it. regardless of the veracity of gaultier's recent alleged anti-semitic comments, he is an artist of the first caliber and this exhibit really communicated the intensity and significance of his talent in a way that few contemporary art presentations achieve.

though i love and appreciate contemporary art, at a certain point i find it terribly repetitive. we did see some works by matisse, de kooning, and a whole impressive host of others that were mind blowing to stand in front of, with awareness to their stature, but by the end of the museum, i was ready to sit down and eat a pastry. however, the museum is laid out very efficiently and thoughtfully and i loved the way each room was balanced and the works arranged. i say this because sometimes museums stress me out because you must make directional choices that involve retracing your steps to guarantee you haven't missed anything, something that makes me itchy, but the flow of this museum was quite fluid.

we arrived at the nordic museum with a little over an hour to take in the whole thing. as museum experts at this point in the trip, we tackled the endeavor with an eye towards the clock and managed to peruse every exhibit before close. if you go, i recommend focusing on the fourth floor. it has folk art from the sixteenth century to today, which was really fascinating to see both aesthetically and as a look into my own heritage, and an informative exhibit on sweden's indigenous sami people.

the nordiska museet, housed in an imposing giant of a building. 

afterwords, we crossed the street and strolled in a park. rain came down steadily, and despite the cold and wet, when my grandmother exhaled and said "isn't this beautiful" i did not have to think for a second. "yes" i said, and we kept walking.

inclement weather and the millesgarden

well, dear readers, after an unblemished string of sunny, it-doesn't-get-more-perfect gorgeousness, it has happened. rain. the skies opened up as mama becky and i emerged, disoriented and totally turned around, from the t-bana (the stockholm subway system). i directed us to a corner with clear signage, cursing and recoiling at the first sprinklings, and installed the grandmother under the overhang as i bumbled with the aforementioned map of shame. "i do believe i felt rain" i hear in an unmistakable drawl, as i attempt to suss out our location. i am superstitious. do not say rain, do not speak of it, if you feel it, ignore it. i said nothing and, deciding to just take a whack at getting us un-lost, began walking. and that's when it happened. unmistakable: rain, unleashed from arctic skies, pummeled us mercilessly. we were ill prepared. there was one plastic head-wrap i associate with russian babushkas or southern grande dames of the supermarket and a travel size umbrella between us. mama becky called it in. losses were cut, defeat was admitted. we got in a taxi for the measly yet unnavigable in downpour 4 blocks we had til the hotel. and here we lay, mama becky supine in what appears to be some sort of yoga pre-nap pose and i, cheered by a chocolate bar and dry clothes, perched on the window seat.

the day, however, was a success. we initially walked to the island of skeppsholmen intending to take in the museum of modern art (which is supposed to be one of the finest contemporary collections in the world). i was pumped. the walk out to skeppsholmen was really beautiful, very lush and green.

we arrive to find out the museum is actually closed on mondays! such a bummer. i am determined to go and check it out before we leave. mama becky actually staged this photo op. you may have noticed i am a fan of bright lipstick...

we had to walk back to the hotel and regroup. we settled on taking our chances and heading out to the millesgarden. the sky looked questionable, but it was relatively sunny in downtown stockholm so we went to catch a train and then bus. mama becky was elated. we navigated the subway and bus situation with no difficulty, and walked right into millesgarden.

millesgarden is the home of famous swedish sculptor carl milles. he and his wife olga, a respected artist in her own right, built their home overlooking the sea. today, it has been converted into a fantastic museum and outdoor garden space. there is a terraced yard with dozens of enormous sculptures and fountains. their home has been converted into a museum, displaying more of carl and olga's work, as well as their impressive private collection of works spanning thousands of years, from antiquities to medieval sculpture to contemporary glasswork.

i took over 200 photos and several pages of notes today. to say i enjoyed the millesgarden is an understatement. as an artist myself, i was incredibly moved by the scale of milles' vision... his integration of his craft into his daily life, his motivation to surround himself with creative nourishment, and his incredible generosity in dedicating it to the swedish (and international) public.

 the hand of god. 

one of my favorites.

 venus. 

 olga milles' studio and work desk.

i am intensely interested in artists' working spaces...

besides milles' work, i am most impressed by their collection of medieval and renaissance work. much of it is religious (reiterations of the madonna and child) but all emanates a palpable gravity. i went through the room these were housed in twice!

 my favorite room with an incredible selection of medieval to renaissance works.

mama becky, waiting patiently while i document everything...

intriguing exhibit in the main museum space about an artist famed for his simple fashion sketches. i liked the exhibit but honestly found it underwhelming after the scale of the rest of the museum.

take a look at the layout though. beautiful.

postscript.

full disclosure, today was a bit of a challenge. to sum it all up, getting home from millesgarden was more difficult than getting there. we tried to board a bus right outside the garden that was going back to the station but our passes wouldn't work. i had assumed, like an idiot, that we had round trip tickets when we really just had one way. cut to the next scene, which involved an arduous conversation with a very patient grocery store clerk, who gave us directions that included the phrase "walk on this street until you can walk no more" and we were on a vague quest to the presbyrian (convenience store that sells bus passes). 

we have recovered from our aquatic adventure, ate a huge dinner, and are now back in the warmth of our hotel room for an early night.

xo

on foot in another world

slipping into stockholm's rhythms is easy. falling in step behind the commuters, unimpressed by the centuries old architecture or the illumined merging of sea and skyline, requires a blankness that is aided by white earbuds and a stride that seems purposeful. only, i have no purpose. i slip behind them, mimicking their certainty, conveying a weary resigned air of routine, imagining that this place has lost its luster by either birthright, banality, or schedule. it is easy for me. i, a perpetual chameleon, a studier of people and a collector of characters, need very little costuming or adaptation to disappear amongst this place's shuffle. it is delightful, a real-life flight of fancy feeling so little exterior tweaking necessary to be mistaken so completely for someone else. i am another stockholmer here. a tall blonde creature whose blood is from icerbergs and dark skies, long winters with little light. when they speak to me in swedish, it pulls me back to another continent, my own two-dimensional chamber of habit, when i must shake my head and admit the truth. it is all an act, a study in perception, a practice in possibility. no, i say, i dont speak swedish.

drottningholm & map anxiety

and the day began with the navigational power team of yours truly plus grandma hitting the town with a scribbled upon map and general directions ("it's intuitive" being a direct quote from hotel reception) to catch a ferry, with the goal of heading to the island of drottningholm outside of stockholm. please note... stockholm is not an intuitive city, even for the savviest of navigators. it is a series of islands (fun fact: sometimes referred to as "the venice of the north") connected by a network of bridges and the ensuing under- and overpasses. there's lattices of transit lines, alleyways, and squares... all in non-memorable swedish consonant garble.

when we first arrived on day 1, i was terrified of looking like a tourist. pride, however, went out the window this morning as i toted the hotel-provided map in my hand all the way down vattugatan to statdhusbron, where the exact direction disappeared into a forkful of twisted road pasta with a melee of under and overpasses. where were we, we wondered; the gigantic, shameful glossy tourist map spread out between my outstretched arms as we combined our feeble but determined powers of directional deduction. mama becky had thoughts, which i silenced. she actually put us on the right track, however, noting a stair case that would take us to a large intersection closer to the waterfront.

it looked tense for a moment. but, like a beacon, we saw the ticket booth for the drottningholm ferry.

 every directional victory is sweet.

another almost outrageously beautiful morning in stockholm, awaiting the ferry.

what is drottningholm, you might inquire. well. drottningholm was originally built in the late sixteenth century for a queen (drottning meaning queen in swedish) whose name is escaping me. the original structure burnt sometime toward the late seventeenth century, necessitating a rather convenient rebuilding. convenient because structural and interior vogues had changed considerably in the ensuing century. drottningholm was reimagined as a grand summer palace in the baroque style, grand enough to rival anything continental europe (i.e., france/versailles) had going on. the result, which you will see in a moment, is spectacularly gorgeous. it is the current residence of king carl gustaf and queen silvia (who seem like pretty cool monarchs) so only part of the palace is available to be toured.

the ferry ride over was fun. a young french boy spilt a fresca with great acoustical bombast all over the front deck, and watching europeans from different nations politely communicate the logistics of clean up was a treat. i was a little scared of motion sickness for a moment, having never ridden on a large boat before and finding the sensation at first a little unsettling, but anxiety ebbed into a pleasant excitement as i enjoyed the sights of stockholm ceding into green space out the window. 

drottningholm comes into view. 

it is like a beautiful cake.

after getting off the ferry, we dove into exploring drottningholm and its labyrinthian grounds. camera was only permitted outside the actual structures, but we toured the palace, chinese pavilion, and theater. the theater is noteworthy because it has fully functioning original stage machinery, from the eighteenth century that is still in use today.

photo credit: a befuddled older russian gentleman.

photo credit: a couple of middle aged brit lads

the weather looked like it was, for the first time since our arrival, about to devolve into a storm. though i dreaded getting stuck in a silly dress in a scandinavian downpour, i was exhilarated by the gorgeousness of the sky, in its wild feral tones, and its contrast with the cultivated beauty of drottningholm, an exquisite confection of human enterprise.

until tomorrow,
xo