Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

August 27, 2025

The Nobel Prize Museum honors the winners of the Nobel Prize, which is presented for contributions that have conferred the "greatest benefit on Mankind" in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economics, and Peace. The prizes were established by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist and inventor. The first prizes were awarded was in 1901, five years after his death.

One of the fun things about the museum is that winners who have visited the museum over the years have signed the underside of chairs in the museum

Fun Facts about Sweden and Stockholm!

• Swedes are one of the world's top coffee drinkers, and they drink a lot of it. Coffee breaks are referred to as "fika." Fika is an element of Swedish culture that is observed twice daily and involves coffee, cake, and pleasant conversation.

• In Sweden, there are over 95,000 lakes where swimming is permitted. The lakes are mostly clean, and their sizes range from little forest ponds to big lakes.

• The Scandinavian country recycles 99% of its locally produced waste. They also import garbage from other countries like Norway. The waste recycling in Sweden is known to have the highest standards in the world.

• The narrowest street in Stockholm is in the Old Town area and is 35 inches wide at its narrowest point.

  
  

Local Legends:

• The Legend of the Mälaren Mermaid:  A mythical creature said to inhabit Lake Mälaren. According to the legend, the mermaid would appear on the shores of the lake and sing beautiful songs to fishermen.

• The Legend of the Ghost of Drottningholm Palace:  One legend tells of a young queen who was locked away in a tower and died of heartbreak. It is said that her ghost still haunts the palace.

• The Legend of the Sea Serpent:  Some believe it lives in the waters around Stockholm. It is said that the serpent is a guardian of the city and protects it from danger.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the largest city in Scandinavia. It spans 14 islands of a larger archipelago (of 900+ islands), and those 14 islands are connected by 57 bridges. One of the newer bridges is the Gold Bridge, which is interesting because it was built in China, and then shipped to Stockholm to be installed.

Some of the many islands outside of Stockholm

By Scandinavian standards Stockholm in a new city, founded in 1252. Before that time, the many islands of the area had only occasional visitors. Visits by Vikings are documented by the discovery of Viking rune stones in the area, inscribed with names, dates, and other short descriptions of things important in those times. The rune stones are dated from 975-1025. When Stockholm started to become a town/city, some of the rune stones found in the area were used in the construction of buildings.

The rune stone is embedded in the wall, behind the old cannon, which was placed there to protect it.

The architecture in the city today is a mixture of architecture from all over Europe. Since Stockholm was founded later than other cities, people came from all over Europe to live there; therefore, they built homes and businesses in the style from where they had previously lived. Also, since Sweden did not get involved in the wars of the 1900's, they did not get bombed; so, most of the buildings survived in their original state.

The economy of Sweden benefitted from the involvement in the Hanseatic League in the 13th-15th centuries, which brought funding and grew the economy. Currently Sweden's economy benefits from many large companies which began there, such as IKEA, Volvo, SAAB, H&M, Minecraft, Spotify, and a dynamic artistic colony, such as ABBA.

Sweden is now a Constitutional Monarchy. Members of Parliament are elected, and then those members pick the Prime Minister. The Monarch has no political power.

Sweden is regularly listed as one of the happiest countries in the world. They consider the country to be socialistic and progressive, welcoming and accepting all people. As an example, the world's first openly lesbian Bishop of a mainstream Christian church, served as the Bishop of Stockholm from 2009-2019, and was in a partnership with a woman. And that was totally accepted. Also, over the years the country has welcomed many immigrants, and accepted them into their lives and culture.

We did not take the Ghost Walk, but if you look in the window you may see a ghostly figure you recognize!

This is the smallest statue in Stockholm, and it is considered good luck to leave a coin or rub its head.

Great piece of art! It would go really well in San Diego!

Of course we saw some birds, in this case mute swans.

Bye for now! Tomorrow we will be in Tallinn, Estonia.