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