Travel Guides: All Countries / Europe / Sweden
 |  | Travel Reviews : Sweden |
|
| | | | Joining Juno to Sweden's great lakes
From the Daily Mail
The day before our cruise began we wandered down to Riddarholmen, Stockholm's Island of the Nobles, to look at our boat. Built in 1874, M/S Juno is the oldest registered cruise boat in the world.
There she was, next to a flashy gin-palace yacht which was once the toy of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. Our Juno looked more like she should be steaming down the Mississippi, to the tune of Ol' Man River.
Next morning, we're back early to embark. For four days, Mum and I will be crossing Sweden on the Gota Canal; well, actually, we'll be going through two seas, a river, three canals, eight lakes and 65 locks. At five knots.
We've never been on a cruise before and we're not the cruising type. But when we get chatting to the other passengers, they agree they'd also hate the kind of trip that's cocktail dresses at eight for the captain's table.
Captain Eriksson tells us that he has lifeboats for 75 people; there's only 49 on board, so that's all right. But, please, he says, when we go through the locks . . . don't jump over the boat-rails as the deckhands do, it isn't as easy as it looks.
Most of the passengers look as if they would be challenged just scaling the top bunk in their tiny cabins. Which is something Mum and I are still discussing. 'Do you think we could get a sailor to give us a shove?' asks Mum.
It is a bright, mid-summer morning as we leave Stockholm, heading gently across Lake Malaren, past the lovely royal palace at Drottningholm, with the King's small runabout launch moored outside.
And then we're on the Baltic, in the Sidermanland archipelago; there's so many islands, you'd think the Swedes could have one each. Pretty ones, purple with lilac, give way to bare, grey skerries where only lichen grows.
By now we're sitting on the bridge deck, wrapped in blankets. As it said in the brochure: 'Passengers look like butterfly larvae, as they sit cocooned.'
Though the dress code for dinner is 'sportily elegant', we're so windswept that we fail miserably; our table compromises with earrings, lipstick and fleeces. The sea changes from sunset pink through turquoise to black, as rain lashes the decks.
Travel guide: Sweden
It's a real pleasure
Clean and fresh, traditional and cheery, Sweden is a pleasure to visit. Home to ABBA and au pairs, Sweden is relaxed and interesting. The weather is as unpredictable as it is here, although when it snows it really snows!
Stockholm is quaint, the people are friendly, but the goods are rather on the expensive side. If you want to escape the sun and fancy a shop, a trek, a tour or a ski or skate, Sweden is your ideal resort!
Travel guide: Sweden
Sweden - ski under the midnight sun
By May, most Alpine ski resorts have long closed but in Riksgransen, Sweden, things are just getting going.
By June, the lifts stay open until 1am so that skiers can take full advantage of the midnight sun.
Around 200km north of the Arctic Circle, the Kiruna Alps are remote to say the least - the road was only built in 1984. This means no lift queues, no traffic jams and no crowded pistes.
You know you're not in another purpose-built Alpine resort as soon as you arrive at tiny Kiruna airport.
A huge stuffed bear stands guard over baggage reclaim and there isn't a customs officer in sight.
Riksgransen - an hour's drive from Kiruna - is the world's most northerly ski resort. It is surprisingly warm, considering the latitude, as the Gulf Stream runs by neighbouring Norway.
It is also home to one of the most northerly spas in the world, which opened this winter.
With pale grey tiles, wooden walls, a log fire, floating candles and an outdoor hot tub, the spa looks out across the mountains and frozen lake.
It offers several types of massage, facials, thalassotherapy treatments and full-body mud wraps - the mineral-rich black mud is shipped in from Iceland. Being smeared head-to-toe in the stuff was quite an experience. Therapist Charlotte wrapped me in a sort of heated duvet to allow the mud to do its cleansing work. A mud-mask followed and, after the whole lot was rinsed off, a divinely relaxing face massage.
Travel guide: Sweden
Stockholm's Grand hotel
From the Mail on Sunday
Ladies and Gentlemen,' announced the esteemed head of the Swedish Academy, 'this year's Nobel Prize Winner for Literature is Simon Heptinstall for his excellent travel articles in The Mail on Sunday.'
The cheers rang out as I stood to receive the world's greatest writing prize. The international recognition was, of course, no more than I deserved. The million-pound cheque would come in handy, too.
But, as I waved to the crowds, it seemed that the trumpet fanfares were sounding increasingly like bells. Then I woke up. It was my alarm clock.
Oh well, it's easy to have ambitious dreams when you are sleeping in the Nobel Suite in Stockholm's Grand Hotel. This magnificent four-roomed penthouse is where the Nobel Literature prize-winner is put up before the awards ceremony each year.
The British writer V.S. Naipaul has become the 100th recipient of the Nobel Literature Prize and stayed in the room I occupied.
I can picture him anxiously pacing around the glass-topped coffee table practising his acceptance speech - there's a copy of Alfred Nobel's will on the wall to remind him of what it's all about.
Or he may have calmed his nerves in the giant whirlpool bath under its glass-domed roof or enjoyed the private mosaic-tiled sauna cubicle.
But if he tried to hide in the bedroom, with its wonderful view over the Royal Palace across the harbour, there is a stern portrait of Alfred Nobel staring down at him.
The Nobel prize-winners get the best rooms at the Grand - but during the rest of the year ordinary guests like me get to stay in them. The Nobel Suite, though, costs a hefty £740 a night.
Do many people really go on holiday to use the bath where Samuel Beckett wallowed in 1969 or to eat breakfast in the rooms where Einstein ate in 1921?
Travel guide: Sweden
Stockholm without the expense
Ever since I was a little girl I've longed for clogs and spotted just the pair in Stockholm for me.
Black, with hand-painted strawberries I found them in Dys-Boden, a handicraft shop in the narrow cobbled streets of Gamla Stan or old town.
But I decided to return the next morning having whizzed (whizzed is no exaggeration as shops shut at 2pm on Saturdays) into the 'antik' shops Nautiska - a sailor's den of charts and instruments, and Jobs which sell bright traditional floral fabrics.
A long weekend in Stockholm may not have been my first choice of destination but unlike most capital cities I returned refreshed and revitalised after a dose of clean air, big skies and handsome architecture.
Imagine how relaxing it feels to walk through quiet streets in this city of just 700,000.
It's an invigorating place, encircled by islands, accessible by ferry or bridge where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic.
Here locals swim and fish in water that supplies the city. I couldn't believe how deliciously clear tap water tasted and after bathing my skin felt spa-soft, the secret, obviously, of the fabulous Swedish complexion.
Sweden's only five-star hotel, The Grand, has perched on the waterfront since 1874 and were the Royal Family still in residence I might have waved to the Royal Palace on the opposite bank as I worked through the smorgasbord breakfast on the veranda.
Toast will never be the same after plates of smoked herring, anchovy, sausage, prawn blinis and waffles (originally a Swedish staple, not American).
I had expected exorbitant prices but Stockholm is on a par with London. A chicken salad for two and four glasses of champagne came to £45.
In some areas, however, prices do border on the ridiculous - a small mug of hot chocolate at Sjocafe on the river boardwalk came in at £2.70.
Travel guide: Sweden
Clean, fresh capital
It may not have the romance of Rome or the elegance of Paris, but Stockholm is easily one of Europe's most beautiful capitals.
Situated on a series of interconnecting islands, it can be disorientating, but it's saved by being flat and boasting a wealth of impressive landmarks to navigate by.
Much of our visit was inevitably spent in the Gamla Stan (old town), wandering through the tiny cobbled streets and myriad of shops and admiring the stunning architecture on the other islands from its shores.
Our January trip was obviously chilly but there are coffee houses on nearly every street in which to warm up. The coffee is strong, the cakes gorgeous - my favourite was the loganberry pie.
The only thing that's hard to come by is good old tea. Ask for a cuppa and you'll be presented with Earl Grey... and don't drink too much of it - the toilets are always locked, and the staff need to buzz the doors open for you.
My two-day stay was too brief to really explore the museums. I took the most pleasure in purchasing funky knick-knacks in the trendy furniture shops, then simply stopping to watch the icebergs float by.
Hotels are pricey, and food and drink is on a par with London, but treat yourself; a cleaner, fresher capital you'll find hard to find... except maybe in Norway.
Travel guide: Sweden
Luxury that's best enjoyed at sea
London's spectacular Tower Bridge only lifts on special occasions. The last time it opened, it opened for me.
Sailing under the bridge to the cheers of hundreds of riverside tourists was an awe-inspiring start to my trip on the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Pride.
Equally impressed, one fellow passenger told me in no uncertain terms: "This is one of those rare occasions when one simply has to do the royal wave."
The Seabourn Pride's emphasis is on easy and relaxed travel in style. Measuring some 277sq ft and carrying no more than 200 passengers, the ship has an unusual feeling of spaciousness and light. My immaculate, well-turned-out suite, complete with Egyptian cotton robe, personalised stationery and plates of fresh fruit, was also surprisingly roomy.
Being a cruise novice, my indulgences were largely enjoyed in the ship's bars and restaurants. For me, breakfasts at sunrise were best taken al fresco in the Veranda Cafe or, on lazier days, in bed. Barbecue lunches in the Sky Bar and meticulously-prepared course-by-course dinners in the main restaurant were highly sociable occasions - a great way to get to know other passengers.
Enjoying the gastronomic pleasures of a five-star cruise ship isn't about counting calories but burning them off is easy, even enjoyable. Try several lengths of the swimming pool, a few jogging laps around the top deck and some weights in the gym - you'll certainly feel revitalised.
Relaxed surroundings, attentive service and the odd evening of light entertainment all go to make the Seabourn Pride perfect for romantic couples over 50.
Not having a partner and being in my 30s, I did sometimes feel like the odd one out. But there were some advantages... when the ship's captain asked me to dance with him in the piano bar to the tune of Blue Moon was one memorable moment.
Travel guide: Sweden
The Swedish Loch Ness monster
From the Mail on Sunday
Some people find it hard to see the point of monster spotting. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people head to Scotland in the hope of seeing Nessie. Most return disappointed. They are the lucky ones. Imagine the ridicule you'd face if you claimed to actually see the Loch Ness monster.
Anyway, Nessie's passe these days. Classier monsters are found elsewhere and one of the most seen, if least known, is Sweden's Storsjodjuret in Lake Storsjon, near the Norwegian border. People around the town of Ostersund have been seeing their monster since the 17th century - a very impressive snarling creature.
In 1894, King Oscar II put money into a company which hoped to catch the monster with a dead pig and a metal bait that is now on display in the town museum. The scheme's notable lack of success has led many to believe this is a vegetarian monster. Recent descriptions imply the eel-shaped creature is no bigger than three metres.
You may think it a sad way to spend a holiday, but monster spotting is perfect for getting out of other activities. A cable car trip to Sweden's highest mountain, where rare orchids are to be found in summer? Horse riding in the tundra? Kayaking or cycling? Be firm, stay inert and concentrate on the monster.
It is one of the most relaxing hobbies ever invented. As with fishing, you should never underestimate the therapeutic qualities of looking at water for long periods of time. You're not even expected to turn up with a catch (though you could combine the two - fishing is very big here).
The best thing is the lack of commercialism. There may have been more than 400 sightings but exploitation is low (just some rather nice monster-egg chocolates). Ostersund exudes a Scandinavian sense of wholesomeness the British can only aspire to.
Those expecting the traditional Sweden, all that Land of Tall Majestic Pines and Clear Blue Lakes stuff, are not disappointed. Views stretch for miles; a fantastic, unsullied landscape where berries and mushrooms grow in profusion and the water is so clean locals drink it straight from the lake.
I'm sure it's wonderful to jog or cycle around but much better, I feel, to cruise across the lake on the restored Victorian steamer SS Thomee, with a meal in a stately home on the island of Verko thrown in, combining food and wine with impressive monster-hunting opportunities.
Sweden is not the place for bargain-basement monster spotting but it's not ruinous. Most hotels offer a stunning buffet breakfast and some surreptitious picnic-making goes on.
Should junior spotters tire of watching water, it's probably best to head to nearby Jamtli museum, a living history museum with shops, farmhouses and authentically grumpy goats.
The monster proved elusive on my holiday but people here take it seriously. In 1986, the government made it illegal to kill, injure or capture it. In Ostersund, feelings about Storsjodjuret's growing profile are mixed. As one local put it: 'I don't think we should investigate too much. It wouldn't be a good thing if we discovered the monster is just a very big fish.' Very pragmatic, the Swedish. It must come from looking at all that water.
Travel guide: Sweden
Ripples of Swedish serenity
From the Daily Mail
Picture this: a little pontoon moored under river alders, a checked tablecloth, shrimps and gravadlax, white wine chilling in a bucket. Then cast yourself off to drift lakewards as a nightingale sings and bird cherry blossom perfumes the evening air. No, not an overblown fantasy, but a routine treat at a Swedish country hotel. It lasted less than an hour, but, as a fairly seasoned globetrotting hack, I can tell you that few such thoroughly pampering experiences have come my way.
There was a puzzling familiarity about the Swedish countryside around Lake Malaren, the huge, island-studded waterway just to the west of Stockholm. Little red houses stood muffled in orchard blossom, classy-looking horses strolled, knee-deep in buttercups. After a day or two of wondering why I kept wanting an Ovaltine and a rich tea biscuit, it dawned on me.
I had arrived in a storybook scene, the ideal country of those old nursery pictures full of geese and little girls in sunbonnets. Laid back and leisurely, Lake Malaren is the ideal place to relax after the chic urban pace of nearby Stockholm. Not much visited by foreigners, this is a favourite playground of the Swedes.
With the pound strong Sweden is less expensive than one might fear. I found tariffs in seductive country hotels, offering full weekend packages from around £80, compared quite well with UK equivalents. Farmhouse stays and the right to camp for a night anywhere you please are other Swedish specialities.
Reluctant to leave the dreamy lakeside after dinner, even for my candlelit whirlpool bath, I found a boat with a difference moored at the jetty. Dash it all, I could have had a floating supper and an onboard sauna. I could get used to this. For a really posh wash, I promised myself I'd return in winter to Gripsholm Vardshus at Mariefred, for the pleasure of a bathroom with a log fire in a porcelain stove.
The pretty bedrooms of Sweden's oldest inn, furnished with antiques and hand-painted wallpaper, overlook the stark bulk of Gripsholm Castle, one of the most dramatic on the lake, its uncompromising bulk spelling power and royal prestige. By contrast, most of Lake Malaren's castles look, to British eyes, more like ultra-stately homes. I loved these eccentric mansions, many run on a shoestring by their owners.
Countess Catharina Piper, who showed me round Angso, had a severe cold and a soft spot for the long-dead family reprobates who make her home the most spook-ridden castle in Sweden. Skokloster Castle was built to dazzle by a nouveau riche military supremo of the 17th century. When its owner died, work on the half-built banqueting hall stopped dead - an untouched, 300-year-old building site remains, a rare time capsule complete with scaffolding and tools.
Nearby Sigtuna, Sweden's oldest town, hummed with visitors, its dinky single street lined with wooden cottages and tempting coffee shops. I was too early for a river boat trip, but, by road, Sigtuna paired well with Skokloster.
Uppsala, 15 miles to the north, is Sweden's Oxford, an ancient university city kept lively by a youthful, bike-riding populace. Easy to reach from Stockholm, its gothic cathedral, gardens and colleges made for a satisfying weekend. Uppsala remembers with pride its 18th-century botanist Linnaeus, inventor of the plant classification system still in use. Perhaps Linnaeus helped pioneer the Swedes' love for what they call 'The Nature' - a passion that lends gaiety to their summers.
All along the lake I came upon families picnicking under frothing apple blossom, children splashing off wooden jetties, little boats chugging between the islands. I took a mini-cruise to Birka, a Viking island abandoned 1,000 years ago. Birka looked serene and beautiful, its past asleep under a profusion of wild flowers.
Runestones in the Malar region mention the expedition of one Ingvar the Far Travelled to the land of the Saracens. Those Vikings who made it back could not, I felt, have seen many bonnier sights than the road that led home.
Travel guide: Sweden
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Slow and stately
By now I can tell that Mum has had enough of the Baltic. I give her a leg up into the top bunk; she's 78 but my excuse is that there's more of me to shove. By 10.30pm, everybody has gone to bed. Except me.
Alone on deck, wrapped up in three blankets, I watch island after island pass in pools of mist. The northern sky is a pale, silvery grey. Suddenly, this seems like a voyage.
Swedish emigrants to America would have travelled by this same steamer to Gothenburg to board transatlantic ships. What puzzles me is how women in 19th-century gowns ever squeezed into our cabin - it's no bigger than a sleeping compartment on a train.
At last I go to bed and at 1.30am Juno shudders and is still. This means we have arrived at Mem, at the mouth of the Gota Canal.
The earlybirds are up by 4.30 am as we enter the first lock. Mum and I don't manage that; but by 6 am - unheard of for me - we're striding along the towpath.
Slow and stately, Juno overtakes us - but we'll catch her up at the next lock. When we get back on board, there's a smell of bacon frying.
By now, we know almost everyone on the boat. Besides us, there's only one British couple; Howard and Barbara. Howard's father made this journey in 1933, so for him this is a lifetime's ambition.
The rest are (mostly elderly) Swedes, Germans and wealthy, but un-flashy, Americans. One American couple is shipping a Volvo back to the States, as they've done each time one of their children learns to drive; this time the dealer threw the boat trip in for free.
There's a Swedish husband, with biker badges on his leather jacket; he's been press-ganged by his wife and, as the days pass, is clearly going cabin-crazy.
Put your snowshoes on
Sweden's best downhill and off-piste skiing can be found at Riksgransen. Although it has just 21km of piste, there's good heli-skiing and touring.
The country's landscape of forests, lakes and miles of unspolit wilderness will appeal most to those after an all-round winter break rather than a ski-a-thon.
Riksgransen also offers skidoo rides - about £50 for half a day - ice fishing, husky dog sleigh rides and lots more.
Just down the road is Bjorkliden - a ski resort on the banks of the 70km-long Tornetrask lake.
It is famous for its subterranean snowshoe treks inside Scandinavia's largest cave system.
Ski touring is the big thing here - a mix between cross-country and downhill. Hire a guide, though - there are miles of mountains to explore - and keep an eye out for the grazing reindeer herds.
For a taste of real wilderness, stay at Sweden's highest mountain lodge - the tongue-twisting Laktatjakko.
You either hike up or catch a lift in a sort of snow tractor.
Inside, the lodge is rustic without being either shabby or pretentious, with comfy chairs and a log fire. The restaurant specialises in Lapland food and I can report the velvety reindeer with lingonberries was superb.
Make the most of the Swedish wilderness by hiring a pair of snowshoes and trekking through the forests.
In Bjorkliden, you can walk over the snow-covered frozen lake, past frozen waterfalls with long, bluey-green icicles, in almost complete silence.
Flights with SAS cost around £320, rooms at Riksgransen from £27, a set lunch at Bjorkliden about £5. Swedish Tourism and Travel: 020 7870 5600.
http://www.visit-sweden.com
Swedish inventor of dynamite
We don't hear that much in the UK about the Nobel prizes but in Sweden the presentation and dinner are the biggest events of the year. There are five hours of live TV coverage, tickets are almost as valuable as a Nobel prize and the winners are treated like royalty for a whole week of ceremonies.
So what's the story behind these unique global honours? The Nobel Museum in Stockholm's old town clearly explains (in English) how the Nobel prizes have been awarded since 1901 as decreed in the will of Alfred Nobel, the multimillionaire Swedish inventor of dynamite.
Every year panels of experts award gigantic cash prizes from Nobel's legacy to individuals who have excelled in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and the promotion of peace.
The winners should 'have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind', said Nobel. To encourage them he left a big chunk of his fortune. This year's prizes are worth more than £1 million each.
The museum's special centenary exhibition turned out to be a world-class presentation of the Nobel story.
There's an overhead conveyor belt dangling portraits of the prize winners, continuous shows of excellent short films about famous winners, interactive computer terminals, audio tapes and lovely old news footage.
The daunting list of Nobel Laureates over the past 99 years includes Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Alexander-Fleming, Lech Walesa, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King, Einstein and Mother Teresa.
And the Literature prize winners include some of the truly great writers such as Hemingway, Kipling, Golding, Solzhenitsyn, Galsworthy and George Bernard Shaw.
As well as the cash prize, a gold medal and a posh dinner, the Nobel Foundation traditionally pays for the award winners to stay in the most luxurious and historic hotel in Stockholm.
The Grand has stood for 125 years on a quayside in the heart of one of Europe's most picturesque capitals. There's an old- fashioned grandeur throughout and some of the rooms look as though they belong in a stately home. In fact the hotel has been declared a Swedish National Monument.
Serious, quiet and subdued
To get the best feel for Stockholm take a Royal Canal Tour boat cruise (£8 for an hour) starting from the waterfront, passing the parks of Djurgarden, palatial embassy residences and the grand homes on StrandVagen.
In a pretty square in old town, you will find the Nobel Museum charting the prize winners' achievements and from here you can walk to the Swedish Parliament and Dtrottingatan for High Street stores.
Back across the bridge and adjacent to The Grand Hotel, the National Museum of Fine Arts (£6), is where art lovers will appreciate the extensive works of Carl Larsson as well as lesser-known paintings by Manet, Renoir and Degas.
Swedes really are - and I didn't want to mention him - like Sven Goran Eriksson; serious, quiet and subdued.
They aren't sullen like the French; they are courteous, queue nicely but do seem sort of - down.
They embrace any fine weather and from May onwards, as temperatures crawl to a weedy 25C, out come flasks and picnics, while walking, jogging, cycling, rowing, picking berries and getting 'in the nature' are the leisure pursuits.
Oh, and my guidebook was wrong. Only a few shops open on Sundays. Yes, dear Reader, those strawberry clogs are still waiting for me.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
The Leading Hotels Of The World offer stays at the Grand Hotel, Stockholm. Reservations through The Leading Hotels Of The World: http://www.lhw.com tel: 00800 2888 8882.
British Airways flies from London Heathrow to Stockholm-Arlanda six times a day. British Airways (http://www.ba.com tel: 0845 7733377).
Scandinavia bound
My cruise took me to regal Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden and Denmark - with stopovers in Oslo, Stockholm and Odense.
The sail towards Oslo and Stockholm, through the Oslofjord and the archipelago of Stockholm, was beautifully dramatic. On arrival at each city, the ship docked strategically - as soon as I stepped onto land I found myself bang in the centre of city hubbub.
On reaching each cruise destination we were pushed for time but good organisation pays off. This ship organises group excursions to many of the tourist-spot highlights but if you want to make the most of your time, it's best to go off on your own.
In Oslo, don't be put off by the sombre exterior of the city hall - inside it's a work of art. The folk and Viking ships museums are equally captivating, giving an extraordinary insight into the culture and history of Norway and its people.
In Hans Christian Andersen's home town of Odense, I was disappointed by the unimaginative museum dedicated to the innovative fairytale writer but it's definitely worth popping into the Gothic cathedral where you can gawp at King Canute's 900-year-old bones.
Stockholm is best explored on foot. The city has some great museums but there are also numerous churches with magnificent interiors and the occasional free concert, which shouldn't be missed.
My trip on the Seabourn Pride was one of the most enjoyable I have made but luxury cruising doesn't come cheap. A 14-day cruise of Scandinavia and Russia costs from around £8,266 per person, but the price includes almost everything.
For details about Seabourn Pride cruises and other Seabourn journeys call freephone 0800 052 3941, or visit website: http://www.seabourn.com/. For a brochure, call 0845 601 1720.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Waterway dug by hand
But the star of the boat is Klara, the youngest deckhand - who has just left school. Klara hauls ropes while strong, Swedish men stand by and watch her. She can walk a tightrope (well, nearly).
In the evening, she sings Irish rebel songs - and is up at dawn, picking flowers for our breakfast tables. Klara is a credit to Swedish feminism. She does everything.
As the countryside passes by, all golden fields and red-roofed farms, we could be in an advert for Ambrosia creamed rice. In fact, the Gota Canal is the cradle of Swedish engineering, a 190km waterway dug almost entirely by hand.
It was the hugely ambitious dream of one man, Baltzar von Platen. Helped by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford, von Platen, a Swedish naval officer, sought to link Sweden's two greatest lakes, Vanern and Vattern, and create a waterway right across the country.
Work started in 1810. For seven million working days, 58,000 soldiers shovelled soil and blasted away solid rock. Von Platen died three years before the opening celebrations in 1832.
He is buried on the canal bank, 'beside the waters he had mastered', alongside his chief engineer . . . and as Juno passes the grave she respectfully sounds her horn.
The horn sounds, too, to warn Juno's greatest fan of our approach. Weine Hult, who is over 90, lives in a bungalow beside the canal and for years has serenaded passengers on his violin.
It is only 7am when we pass his house, but there he is in a wheelchair in his pyjamas, and everyone applauds.
You can't lie in bed on this trip or you'd miss something. There's a ding-dong sound, like Avon calling, every time we pass something interesting, such as Marie Antoinette's Swedish lover's manor house. I didn't even know she had a Swedish lover.
When the canal narrows and twists, sometimes there's only a few centimetres give on either side - Captain Eriksson's skills are put to the test.
The wooden poles hanging over Juno's side take the brunt as we squeeze through the tight bits; when the deckhands replace them, even the new ones are soon splintered.
The colourful King Zog
The Nobel prize winners are just the tip of the iceberg of celebrity at this hotel. Unusually for a discreet top-people's retreat the Grand is very forthcoming with tales of famous guests.
Frank Sinatra, for example, was said to have been bedridden during two visits. Once he caught a terrible cold while singing in the freezing Swedish weather, the other time he got so drunk a doctor had to be called.
Reclusive film star Greta Garbo lived up to her motto of 'I want to be alone.' She would allow only the Grand's manager to enter her locked room. And even then she hid in the bathroom while he delivered her meals.
In 1915 American motoring millionaire Henry Ford suddenly booked 70 rooms and ordered the furniture to be removed. He arrived with a vast team of staff with their own desks and typewriters.
Ford had decided to try to arrange a peace treaty to end the First World War but, after two months at the Grand, he and his staff left, having failed miserably.
The colourful King Zog of Albania turned up at the Grand in 1939 after Mussolini invaded his country. His well-built retainers carried a large heavy box to his room that turned out to contain the entire Albanian exchequer. Zog refused to put it in a bank so the Swedish police had to mount a guard outside his suite 24 hours a day.
Staff at the Grand still talk about how Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was made ill by eating too many Swedish herrings in the hotel restaurant, Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium proposed to Swedish Princess Astrid in a suite at the Grand, General Patton simultaneously signed autographs, ate dinner and smoked a huge cigar in the dining room and actress Ingrid Bergman received an average of 10 phone calls every minute, jamming the hotel switchboard.
Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev ordered vodka to be specially flown in from Russia for dinner and singer Joni Mitchell walked arm-in-arm with Sweden's King Gustaf while Bruce Springsteen chatted to Queen Silvia at one recent dinner.
It's impossible not to feel some of this celebrity atmosphere rubbing off, especially when staying in the Nobel Suite. If you're visiting Stockholm for a city break - and it's a perfect choice for a romantic winter escape - you couldn't be better looked after.
I completed my Nobel experience at the venue for the prize-giving dinner. The dour-looking City Hall was built in 1923 but the ugly exterior becomes fascinating inside with lots of bizarre architectural touches, including a ceiling modelled on an upturned Viking longboat and carved gargoyles representing the builders.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Trolls dance on the clifftops
Juno looks magnificent descending a staircase of seven locks - and you can only marvel at von Platen's grand vision. Crossing the lakes, she picks up speed to 10 knots.
On our last night, everyone sits up late as we race across Vanern, through a northern midnight that never goes dark.
We're waiting up to see fairy-tale castle, which belonged to yet another royal lover; Swedish Queen Christina confiscated the castle when she realised he was less keen on her than she was on him.
This time Mum is the one who doesn't want to go to bed. It's so blustery we're worried that our blankets will blow overboard. 'Shall we sit up until dawn?' she says. 'No, Mum . . . I'm freezing.'
We have to be up at daylight, anyway, to see one more impressive engineering feat on the canal.
This last but one lock system is the biggest of all - at Troll-hattan, where Hans Andersen wrote fairytales and trolls are said to dance on the clifftops.
Klara is hauling ropes and negotiating a bowl of cereal at the same time. The floodgates open. There is a rush of water, like pulling out a bath plug - and, as we start our 32 metre descent, 300,000 litres of water empty away each second.
Our last morning ebbs away. By lunchtime we're sailing into Gothenburg. It's over. Four days on board and it felt like a fortnight's holiday.
Travel facts:
Scantours offers packages on the Gota Canal: 0207 839 2927. For further information and brochures on the Gota Canal and Sweden, contact the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council. Freephone: 00 800 3080 3080. Or visit www.gotacanal.se
Veal eaten 24,000 times
The formal royal banquet tomorrow in the Blue Room of the City Hall is the pinnacle of the Nobel pomp with more than 1,000 diners eating a gourmet feast, making toasts, having processions and hearing trumpet fanfares.
For the rest of the year the City Hall cellar restaurant allows diners to re-enact this occasion. You can choose any of the Nobel dinner menus from the past 100 years and you even get to use the specially made gold-trimmed Nobel crockery and cutlery.
I ate last year's three-course Nobel dinner which cost around £65 a head including the same champagne, wines, coffee and water. My souvenir menu was numbered, showing I was the 6,599th person to sample the 2000 menu.
Restaurant manager Lars-Goran Andersson told me the most popular Nobel menu is from 1994. That fillet of veal with sage has since been eaten more than 24,000 times by Japanese fans of the literature prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.
To round off my own mock ceremony the waiter even brought a gold Nobel medal apparently just like ones the prize winners receive. I was a little befuddled with the various drinks and perhaps my gratitude was over-enthusiastic. I thought I'd been given a real gold medal.
The poor waiter looked a little embarrassed.
Only when he'd gone did I pick the thing up and realise that my Nobel medal was made of chocolate covered with gold foil. Perhaps that's as close as I'll ever get to winning a real one.
TRAVEL FACTS:
Details on flights from Scandinavian Airlines: 0845 607 2772 or www.scandinavian.net. To contact the Grand Hotel, ring 0046 8 679 35 00. Fax 0046 8 611 86 86. E-mail info@grandhotel.se Website www.grandhotel.se/eng. For further information on Sweden contact the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council on 00 800 3080 3080 (freephone) or 0207 870 5600; email info@swetourism.org.uk; website www.visit-sweden.com
|
|
|
|
|
| | Available rental properties in Sweden |
|
|
|
|
