Sweden - 4

Me and all my stuff leaving the hostel in Stockholm, the white boat hostel in the background. Eu e todas as minhas coisas saindo de Estocolmo e atras, o barco albergue.

I got to Stockholm after a "nice sleep" on the floor of the train from Malmo. In fact, I think it was better the floor than the seat I lost because that wasn't the right day of my trip. Right at the train station I bought a city card for 3 days that would give me access to a bunch of museums, boat rides and all other transportation in the city. I took the bus to the hostel that I knew was inside a boat. When the bus driver showed me the boat, I couldn't believe my eyes! A beautiful tall ship, just anchored on the harbour in downtown Stockhold facing the National Art Gallery and the Royal Palace! Just beautiful! The boat had been renovated just a few months ago and was in an amazing condition and very clean. The whole boat had been freshly painted but didn't have that awful smell of oil paint anymore. The floor had been varnished with some kind of aquatic varnish proper for ships and it looked slick and shiny. It was too early to check in, so I left my backpack in the storage room and went out to explore the city. Even though I am not buying anything (since I have to carry everything with me for months!), it feels as if my backpack is getting heavier and heavier as I travel. Sweden was always a country that attracted my curiosity. I think it is very neat that they have a queen that speaks portuguese like me or any other Brazilian. Queen Silvia was born in Germany and as far as I know, she has no "blue blood" from birth. When she was 3 years old, her family moved to Brazil and she grew up there. When she was 18, her family moved back to Germany and in 1972, she worked for the Munich Olympic Games. The same one that had that awful terrorist atack that killed many Israeli athletes. The king of Sweden was also in Munich watching some of the games and met Silvia. They fell in love and now she is Queen of Sweden! This is just a detail that catches my attention but the bigger reason that I always liked Sweden is because they seem to be an advanced society where the government pays a lot of attention to its citizens, with a good welfare system, a government policy that respects all kinds of human rights, has a good number of immigrants and always seemed to be a country where everybody is treated equally. I had heard of it over 20 years ago and now, I had a chance to finally visit another country that I was fond of. The other very nice thing about it is that I realize that I live in a country now that is very similar to Sweden in their standart of living and human rights. Two countries that (in my opinion) are like two socialist countries that went right. I don't have "Sweden" but I have another country that I love dearly! I left the hostel and decided to take one of the boat trips that was included in my card. As I was standing in line to get my ticket, I started to chat with a woman behind me that seemed to be travelling alone. Her name was Baljit, she was from Uganda but lives in Toronto! We spent the whole day together, on two different boat rides around the Stockholm islands, visited museums, compared what we saw with Toronto, etc. While we were waiting for our second boat cruise, an italian couple sat beside us to wait as well. The guy was a bit quiet and seemed to be a bit naturally grumpy. His wife on the other hand, was one of those people that you don't forget easily. A beautiful lady in her 50's, with a very strong and charming italian accent. She talked with such a smile on her face and it seemed to brighten everything around her. Her eyes shined with such a passion for life and everything that you could tell she was having the time of her life (just like in the ABBA song!). It wasn't a good time just because she was on vacation but in her whole life. There was such a beauty in her mood and her voice that she was one of the best things that happened to me in Stockholm! I spent the followind day with her voice and beautiful accent linggering in my mind and following me through the streets and alleys of the city. Baljit was in Sweden for work andstaying at a hotel but she had to go back to meet a co-worker that was arriving from Edmonton. We said bye and I decided to go to a lift that would take to an elevated spot, so I could have a nice view of the city. As I came out of the elevator, I met another Brazilian! His name was Alex and was studying in Ireland and took a week off to travel around Scandinavia. He didn't have a pass so we just walked around and saw some free things like the Dance Museum, etc. We had dinner together and walked beside a river that flows into one of the bays in the centre of the city. There were about 30 fisherman right in downtown Stockholm catching Salmon! We saw just one that had been caught but it was about 2 feet long! The city of Stockholm actually encourages people to fish right there and they have a sign near by telling you that. The mention that the river is quite clean as well. After a whole day walking around, we went to our respective hostels and I met the people in my room. Three French girls and two very funny and nice German guys. The German guys were almost like "talkative twins". One was a bit bossier and the other one just agreed with everything and finished the sentences. I had a great time with them. I was surprised that they weren't siblings but I could tell that they had been best friends for a long time. Since I had the pass, I took advantage of it and saw as much as I could. The booklet that the information office gave me along with the pass, became my bible in Stockholm. There was lots of information about the National Museum, the amazing Modern Art Museum and Architecture Museum, the Nobel Museum and many others. Stockholm has a wealth of galleries and museums that is quite impressive. I took a trip on the outskirts of the city to visit the house of an artist from the beggining of last century called Carl Miller, whom I had never heard before but it looked very nice. He was a student of August Rodin in Paris and became an scuptor of his own after that. His dream was to have his house become a museum after his death and his legacy is quite interesting. His sculptures of angels and horses and faces and animals was quite nice. There's an area of angels flying on top of columns that was quite amazing! From the terrace I could see the port of the Tallink ships. The same company that I was planning to use to take a ferry a few days later to Helsinki. After seeing the Nobel Museum and Carl Miller's home, I sat at the bus stop with a big smile thinking that the world is full of dreamers! And it is a wonderful thing!Sweden is also quite expensive and I have been eating lots of the best nectarines ever! With main courses like simple pasta dishes costing around 30 dollars, I've eating lots of shish kebabs and thai food which seem to be cheaper. I am craving a nice steak but don't want to even see the price of a dish like that. I walked into a meat market and saw some steaks costing 50 dollars per kilo! Imagine in a restaurant after it has been cooked and served on your table! I guess I will just have to wait until I am in a cheaper country to satisfy my "carnivorous needs". LOL!I spent a few days alone in Stockholm and that was what my mood was for. I read about a bar that seemed to have a good crowd on Wednesdays so I decided to check it out. I was hoping to hear lots of Swedish songs but the music was pretty much English and eletronic. I wanted to ask a guy if there was any other bar that would have more local music but the guy was deaf. So, he got a piece of paper to tell me that. We started to "chat" on paper and spent a few hours chatting like that. It was quite interesting. Over the week that I was in Stockholm I just walked a lot. The old part of the city is very charming with buildings quite old, small alleys in cobblestones and even though I had a good map and stayed there for many days, I kept getting lost. The way the downtown area is, with little bays and small islands, I never got it right. By the time I was starting to get an idea of the layout of the city, it was time to leave!On my last day in the city I went back to the Nobel Museum to hear some of the speeches they have recorded of people that have received the prize. Some literature winners, some peace prize winners, etc. It was great! The one from Martin Luther King Jr from 1964 reminded me or what an amazing guy he was and how his ideas are so brilliant! Then, back to the ship hostel to wash my clothes. At the end of the day, I just sat on top of the ship watching the city for the last time in the evening. The transit of the rush hour was starting to diminish. The sun was going down behind the Royal Palace and some rays shone in between very dark and heavy clouds annoucing some rain to come. The windy evening ended up moving the clouds away and brought a blue sky again. A sky that ws slowly and magically changing colours to that golden and orange paint of a nice sunset. I admired that afternoon view for the last time, surrounded by the harbour and all those majestic buildings. Some boats and ships were already moored on the harbour after a days work carrying tourists. Slowly the night arrived and city lights started to appear more and more vibrantly until it was time for me to say, good night Stockholm!Ralf - LevoyageurpanamericanoEu cheguei em Estocolmo depois de uma "noite bem dormida" no chao do trem que vinha de Malmo. Na verdade, eu acho que foi melhor dormir no chao do que dormir numa das cadeiras inconfortaveis do trem. Assim que chegamos, eu comprei um cartao da cidade por 3 dias que me daria direito de usar o transporte urbano como metro, bondes, onibus e ate alguns barcos mais visitar museus, galerias de arte, etc. Eu peguei o onibus para o albergue e ja sabia que o mesmo ficava em um barco. Quando o motorista parou pra mim e me mostrou o barco, eu nao acreditei! Um barco veleiro bem grande anchorado no centro de Estocolmo de frente para o Museu Nacional e o Palacio Real! Maravilhoso! O barco havia sido reformado e pintado recentemente mas nao tinha mais aquele cheiro horrivel de tinta a oleo. O piso havia sido envernizado com algum tipo de verniz aquatico para navios e tava brilhando bastante.Como estava cedo para poder colocar as coisas no meu quarto, deixei a minha mochila no deposito do albergue e fui conhecer a cidade. Mesmo nao comprando nada nessa viagem, ja que eu tenho que carregar tudo o que eu comprar por meses, parece que a minha mochila esta ficando cada vez mais pesada.A Suecia sempre foi um pais que sempre atraiu minha curiosidade. Eu acho bem legal o fato de que eles tem uma rainha que fala portugues como eu ou qualquer outro brasileiro. A rainha Silvia, nasceu na Alemanha e pelo que eu sei, ela nao tem nenhum "sangue azul" por nascimento. Quando ela tinha 3 anos, a familia dela mudou para o Brasil e ela cresceu la. Quando ela tinha 18 anos, a familia dela mudou de volta para a Alemanha e em 1972, ela estava trabalhando nos jogos olimpicos de Munique. O mesmo que teve aquele atentado terrorista horrivel que matou varios atletas Israelenses. O rei da Suecia tambem estava em Munique vendo alguns dos jogos e conheceu Silvia. Eles se apaixonaram e agora ela eh Rainha da Suecia! Este eh apenas um detalhe que eu sempre achei curioso sobre a Suecia mas a razao maior eh que eu sempre ouvi falar que eles parecem ter uma sociedade mais avancada onde o governo da mais atencao aos cidadaos, com um sistema de welfare, uma politica de governo que respeita todos os tipos de direitos humanos, tem um numero bom de imigrantes e parece um pais onde todos sao tratados iguais. Eu ja ouvia a esse respeito ha mais de 20 anos atras e agora eu estava tendo a chance de visitar esse pais que eu ja admirava. A outra coisa muito legal eh que eu percebo hoje que vivo em um pais bem parecido com a Suecia na qualidade de vida e nos direitos humanos. Dois paises (que na minha opiniao) sao como dois paises socialistas que deram certo. Eu nao "tenho" a Suecia, mas tenho um outro pais que eu amo imensamente!Eu sai do albergue e decidi fazer um dos passeios de barco que estava incluido no meu cartao. Enquanto eu estava na fila para pegar o meu ingresso, eu comecei a bater papo com uma mulher que estava sozinha e tambem parecia estar viajando sozinha. O nome dela era Baljit, ela era de Uganda mas vive em Toronto! Passamos o dia todo juntos, em dois passeios de barco em volta das ilhas de Estocolmo, visitando museus, comparando com o que viamos com Toronto, etc. Enquanto estavamos esperando pelo segundo passeio de barco, um casal italiano sentou perto da gente. O cara era mais calado e parecia ser naturalmente meio mal humorado. A esposa dele por outro lado, foi uma daquelas pessoas que voce nao esquece facil. Uma senhora muito bonita por volta de uns 50 anos com um sotaque italiano muito forte e charmoso. Ela falava com um sorriso no rosto que parecia iluminar tudo ao redor dela. Os olhos dela brilhavam com tanta paixao pela vida e dava pra perceber que ela estava vivendo o melhor momento da vida dela (como a musica do ABBA!). Nao era o melhor momento da vida dela por que ela estava de ferias mas vivendo o melhor momento na existencia dela. Havia tanta beleza na maneira dela conhece-la foi uma das melhores coisas que aconteceram comigo enquanto eu estava em Estocolmo! No dia seguinte, a minha memoria carregou a voz, o sorriso e o sotaque dela pelas ruas e becos da cidade.Baljit estava na Suecia a trabalho e ficando em um hotel mas ela teve que voltar mais cedo para ir encontrar uma outra colega de trabalho que estava chegando de Edmonton, uma outra cidade do Canada. Nos despedimos e decidi subir um elevador de onde eu teria uma visao bem bonita da cidade. Assim que eu sai do elevador, eu conheci um outro brasileiro! O nome dele era Alex e ele estava estudando na Irlanda mas decidiu tirar uma semana para viajar pela Escandinavia. Ele nao tinha o passe da cidade que eu havia comprado e acabamos andando bastante visitando as coisas que eram de graca na cidade como o museu de danca, etc. Jantamos juntos e depois fomos caminhando na beirada de um rio que desagua em uma das baias no centro de Estocolmo. Haviam mais ou menos uns 30 pescadores bem ali no centro pescando salmao! Nos vimos so um salmao que havia sido pescado e ele parecia ter uns 60 centimetros! A prefeitura de Estocolmo inclusive encouraja as pessoas a pescarem ali e tem uma placa por ali perto te falando isso. Eles tambem indicam que as aguas ali sao bem limpas. Depois de um dia todo caminhando, eu e Alex nos despedimos ja que estavamos em albergues diferentes. Dai, voltei e conheci as pessoas no meu quarto. Tres meninas francesas e dois alemaes bem engracados. Os dois eram como dois gemeos falantes. Um era mais tipo o cabeca e o outro so concordava com tudo e terminava as sentencas do primeiro. Foi muito legal e engracado ficar conversando com os dois. Eu fiquei surpreso que eles nao eram irmaos mas dava pra ver que eles eram bons amigos ha muito tempo. Ja que eu tinha o passe, aproveitei para ver o maximo que eu pudia. O livrinho que o servico de informacao me deu junto com o passe, virou minha biblia em Estocolmo. Havia o Museu Nacional, o incrivel Museu de Arte Moderna e o Museu de Arquitetura, o Museu Nobel e muitos outros. Estocolmo tem uma riqueza muito grande de museus e galerias que eh bem impressionante. Eu tambem fiz uma viagem para fora da cidade para visitar a casa de um escultor do inicio do seculo passado chamado Carl Miller e que eu nunca tinha ouvido falar e parecia ser bem interessante. Ele havia sido estudante de August Rodin em Paris e depois virou escultor tambem mais tarde. As esculturas dele de anjos, cavalos e caras e outros animais era bem legal. A area onde haviam estatuas de anjos voando no topo de algumas colunas foi bem legal! Do terraco dava pra se ver o terminal dos navios da companhia Tallink. A mesma companhia que eu estava planejando comprar o meu bilhete para viajar ate Helsinki alguns dias depois. Depois de ver o Museu Nobel e a casa de Carl Miller, eu sentei no ponto de onibus e fiquei sorrindo e pensando que o mundo esta cheio de sonhadores! E isso eh muito maravilhoso!A Suecia eh tambem um pais muito caro e eu tenho comido muitas nectarinas deliciosas! Com alguns pratos como uma simples macarronada custando por volta de 50 reais, eu tenho comido muita comida lebanesa e comida tailandesa que eh mais barata. Ta dando uma vontade de comer um bifao bem suculento mas nao quero nem saber o preco de um prato assim! Eu entrei em um acougue outro dia e vi um quilo de carne por uns 80 Reais o quilo! Imagine em um restaurante depois dessa carne ser preparada e servida na mesa! Eu acho que vou ter que esperar ate eu chegar em um pais mais barato para matar a "minha vontade carnivora"! He he he!Passei alguns dias sozinho em Estocolmo e era o que eu estava com vontade de fazer. Eu li sobre um bar que ficava mais movimentado na quarta feira a noite e fui pra la. Eu estava esperando ouvir bastante musicas e sueco mas a musica era mais musica en ingles ou eletronica. Cheguei perto de um cara e perguntei se havia outro bar com musica mais local mas o cara era surdo. Dai, ele pegou uma caneta e um pedaco de papel pra me falar isso. Nos comecamos a "conversar" no papel e passamos algumas horas batendo papo assim. Foi bem legal e interessante.Na semana que eu fiquei em Estocolmo eu caminhei bastante. A parte velha da cidade eh bem charmosa com predios bem velhos, pequenos becos de paralelepipedos e mesmo tendo um bom mapa e ficando la por varios dias, eu sempre acabava me perdendo. O jeito que o centro da cidade eh, com varias baias e ilhas pequenas, eu nunca tive uma ideia boa do lugar. Quando eu comecei a entender as ruas e tudo la, ja estava na hora de sair. No meu ultimo dia na cidade, eu voltei no Musel Nobel para ouvir alguns dos agradecimentos de pessoas que haviam recebido o premio Nobel e o museu tem varios gravados. Alguns premios de literatura, outros da paz, etc. O discurso de Martin Luther King Jr. de 1964 me lembrou que pessoa especial ele era e como as ideias dele sao brilhantes. Dai, voltei para o albergue barco para lavar minhas roupas. No fim do dia eu sentei la em cima no navio admirando a cidade pela ultima vez a tardinha. O transito estava comecando a diminuir um pouco. O sol estava ja se pondo atras de Palacio Real e brilhava entre algumas nuvens bem negras e carregadas anunciando chuva. Os ventos daquela tarde acabaram movendo as nuvens emborae trouxe um ceu azul novamente. Um ceu que lentamente e magicamente foi mundando de cor e trazendo aquela cor laranjada e dourada de um por do sol muito bonito. Eu fiquei ali admirando a vista daquela tarde pela ultima vez, rodeado de tantos predios majestosos e a beira do mar. Alguns barcos e navios ja estavam parados no cais depois de um dia todo carregando turistas. Devagarzinho a noite foi chegando e as luzes da cidade comecaram a aparecer mais e mais vibrantes ate que foi a hora de dizer boa noite Estocolmo!Ralf - Levoyageurpanamericano