travelswithalice

May 19, 2015

Stockholm

According to The Guardian, ten percent of Europeans were conceived on an IKEA bed. As this was the most significant information I had on my next destination, I naturally expected that 1) I'd have no trouble finding a good bed to sleep on; and 2) this is the place for design, the overarching theme for this trip. As it turned out, neither bed nor design were easy to find.

At the Stockholm Hilton in Slussen, our bed was lumpy and sloping at the edges. Citing Sweden's reputation for having the best beds in the world, we asked for a better one. We were given the option to be moved, downgraded actually, to the back end of the building where they have kept their Swedish beds, away from the prying eyes of Hilton hotel inspectors who enforce a mandate to use only Hilton beds. So we traded down to the back end, to a bigger room, a balcony, a superb view, and a deliciously comfortable bed.

We walked all around Sergels Torg, the city's main square, in search of the ever elusive design places. Finally, at Kulturhuset, the Nationalmuseum Design was closed. Oh no, it wasn't closed after all, according to the gallery attendant who came running after us, all flustered, apologetic, and embarrassed. But in the end, there wasn't any design exhibit to see as the museum's collections await the renovation of the Nationalmuseum building scheduled for completion in 2017.

At the Moderna Museet the architecture and design exhibits were not available. Louise Bourgeois's monstrous insects don't appeal to us; there's a permanent installation at the Mori Square in Tokyo's Roppongi district that we always manage to avoid. We opted for the Constructing Worlds photography exhibit.

I knew I was tired when I smashed a glass plate in the photography gallery.

As usual, it's the casual art in public areas of museums and art galleries, as well as street art, that catch my attention.

Colorful spirals on the ceiling of the museum cafe.

Metal sculpture at an apartment complex going up in Norrmalm district, a.k.a. City, where most people work and shop.

At Ardberg Embassy, a bar in the Old Town, whisky is serious business and tme marches backward. The fish soup took a long time to prepare but it was well worth the wait.

A surprise find on our last day: an American Apparel store where I eagerly stocked up on cotton underwear which unexplainably had disappeared from AA outlets elsewhere.

We asked the sales girl where she would go for a meal, a substantial meal, not a herring or salmon sandwich. She steered us directly to Urban Deli.

The deli/bistro is across the street from a children's school at the far end of a pretty avenue where Saturday market stalls were packing up for the day. Several bars and restaurants on either side of the street were serving late lunches and early cocktails on the curb.

Our place was packed but it didn't take long for us to be seated. The receptionist checked the handwritten list on a giant paper roll mounted on the wall, crossed out a listing with a marking pen, and quickly led us to a table where she handed us menus with a bright smile. No fuss, no checking on a computer, no "One moment please while I check."

Seating is communal. It's a friendly neighborhood deli; we seemed the only foreigners. I had a delicious steaming hot fish pot.

I wanted to have a picture taken among the apple blossoms but Stuart wasn't willing to go all that way as it was so cold. The locals however considered it lying-on-the-grass weather.

Note the two figures on the grass behind me:

We scurried back to the hotel where the lounge has a clubby corner by the fire.

A note about the Swedish monarchs: the unimposing stance of these royals, as suggested by ceremonial seating so close to the ground, may go some way in explaining the absence of revolutionary ferment among the seemingly content general populace.

Labels: Stockholm design

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 19, 2015

May 17, 2015

Stockholm skies

The light here is clear, crisp, pure. I keep thinking how Mommy would have loved to paint this scenery. The skies are dramatic and painterly; the buildings look intelligent and clean. How does a building look intelligent, you ask? By not looking prettified or histrionically over-designed.

I keep nipping out to the balcony to take photos and Stuart keeps calling out for me to get back in. It's cold out there!

It's supposed to be spring and people here seem to think this weather is suitable for strolling in the park, sitting on the grass, and lunching al fresco. Somebody ought to tell them 7 degrees is not warm yet.

At sunset, the Stockholm skies put on a show.

The light is constantly changing.

Then at dusk, Jupiter and Venus rising.

The following day, a reality check.

The skies put on a different kind of drama.

It's a good time to leave.

Labels: Stockholm

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 17, 2015

May 16, 2015

To St Petersburg without a visa!

Because we were going to be in Warsaw anyway, we felt we just had to go to St Petersburg too. It was practically next door! But as this trip was unplanned, we didn't have time to secure Russian visas.

Stuart found a way though: a ferry crossing from Helsinki for a 72-hour stay without a visa. Brilliant!

Day1 was Victory Day, a state holiday. Palace Square, usually quiet and peaceful, was busy with parades, WW II vintage military equipment on show, war movies on a big screen, sentimental war-era music blaring.

Day2 was a washout. The Hermitage was closed (as are most museums on Mondays.)

We had booked a tour of The Fabergé Museum but turned out we had booked the German tour. So Stuart went earlier to have our booking changed to the already sold-out English tour. That done, we were no-shows anyway because I wasn't feeling well.

Prescription: chicken soup at Tepló and an afternoon nap. Recovered in time to go out to dinner at The Idiot Cafe.

Great name (after Dostoevsky's book), good atmosphere, food not so good.

Labels: ferry, St Petersburg, Tepló, The Idiot Cafe

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 16, 2015

May 15, 2015

Stockholm: at the opera

Stuart surprisingly came up with box seats for Maria Stuarda at the Royal Swedish Opera.

The theater is small and intimate and looks like a perfect wedding cake. What seemed to me a predominantly local crowd was an appreciative audience; and so were we.

We had champagne at Intermission and posed for pictures with members of the cast.

Dinner was next door at Operabaren, a lovely Art Nouveau setting, perfect from the stained-glass ceiling, to the wood-paneled walls, down to the curvy seats.

The restaurant is known for good classic Swedish food. Dinner was simple, unfussy, and delicious. But my oysters came from Brittany and the lightly salted salmon was Finnish. The potatoes in dill cream were Swedish.

Labels: Maria Stuarda, Opera Baren, Royal Swedish Opera

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 15, 2015

May 13, 2015

At the Hermitage, Part 2

Day3 was Day2 at the Hermitage.

One quick review of the important pictures at the Hermitage, then across the square for the Hidden Collection at the General Staff Building before heading back to the dock for the ferry back to Helsinki.

The Hidden Collection includes an entire collection of modern art pieces that had been mothballed during Stalin's time because he disliked modern art. He considered it immoral and debased.

It also includes properties left behind by wealthy Russians who fled the revolution. These properties were subsequently nationalized by the revolutionary government.

And then there are the controversial spoils of war. At the end of the war, the victorious Allied forces decided it would be right to get back from Germany whatever had been appropriated by Hitler's marauding forces. Russia then reclaimed art pieces that they felt were rightly theirs: those that had been stolen from them. And then some, as reparation.

Labels: General Staff Building, Hernitage, Hidden Collection

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 13, 2015

May 11, 2015

At the Hermitage, Part 1

Sergei walked us in a wide circle through the museum complex, talking us through events relating to the rooms and the objects in them, the characters populating the stories behind them, the protagonists of Tzarist Russia, their triumphs, their scandals, their secret loves. He showed us where historic moments were memorialized, where dramatic events happened.

The clock on the mantel is permanently stopped at 2:10, marking the moment when Bolsheviks broke into this room and rounded up the entire membership of the Provisional Government who had been meeting that fateful day of October 26, 1917.

The various rooms, doorways, staircases, corridors... they all have stories to tell.

There are two things that set this museum experience apart: the manner in which the art is presented and the venue itself. The accessibility, the immediacy of the art, the way it is presented almost casually, intimately; this to me is unprecedented. I couldn't have stood closer to a Leonardo, studying his brushwork, trying to find a trace of eyebrows on the Madonna's face, if I had the painting hanging in my own living room.

The very rooms that house the art are themselves extraordinary. I wandered from room to room as in a daze, barely glancing at the ridiculous wealth of art objects on display, spending an inordinate amount of time inspecting ceilings, doors, floors. The hi-octane gilding of Russian Baroque, the mosaic work in glass, stone, and malachite, the opulent parquetry underfoot...

I also kept looking out at views of this lovely city framed by the museum windows

At the start of our tour I asked Sergei why it's called Hermitage. He said he preferred to answer me later. Towards the end, having completely circled the much-extended building, he pointed to a small garden now being restored, just off the Pavilion Hall, the one that houses the fabulous clockwork peacock.

It was Catherine the Great's private garden, her sanctuary, her hermitage.

Labels: Russia, St Petersburg, The Hermitage

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 11, 2015

May 10, 2015

St Petersburg

You just have to love this place. Having been served champagne on checking in at the Marriott’s Renaissance, we headed off to our room, glass in hand, porter in tow. Way to start the day!

We arrived just after breakfast, dropped off our bags at the hotel, then straight on to the Hernitage Museum for a private tour with Sergei Akopov, Ph.D., political science associate professor of the National Research University "Higher School of Economics".

http://www.akopovsergei.com/

The long anticipated museum visit (next post) was followed by a cozy dinner at Tepló on the recommendation of our professor-guide who not only gave us a brilliant introduction to the treasure that is the Hermitage but also directed us to a wonderful place for dinner. With some prodding from me, he even told us what to order as well.

The atmosphere is casual and cheery, the crowd smartly-dressed urban family types, the service staff even younger, welcoming and enthusiastic. The food is good, particularly the desserts. Their apple layer cake is from a recipe by the owner's mother.

The restaurant is decorated like a lovely child-friendly home with whimsical touches in unexpected places. There are dressed-up mouse dolls hanging with the wine glasses above the green-painted bar.

And the bill arrived in an envelope decorated by children partying in the playroom at the far end of the restaurant.

Labels: Russia, St Petersburg

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 10, 2015