Getting to the end of our time here in Stockholm for Nobel Week 2009 honoring my father and the other 2009 Laureates, most of whom I met.
I arrived here with dad on Friday afternoon. We had flown out of Washington DC, and had had a long-ish layover at LHR, time enough to pass through immigration and visit mum's sisters for a quick lunch. It was good to see them after a number of years. Then it was off to Stockholm. On arrival, we were met by the Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy of Science, Gunnar Oquist, and our Nobel attendant (attache) for the week, Eva Wiback. They met us right outside the airplane door, and we walked down the stairs to the tarmac, to get into a limo that drove us to the VIP arrival lounge. There, we chatted a bit while immigration and baggage collection were done for us by others. And then we were whisked into the city, and the Grand Hotel.
We arrived a day earlier than most, but the press and autograph seekers met us at the hotel. We got out of the car to camera flashes and immediately accosted for a signature from dad. We signed one photo and made an appt for the next day to talk to the Apple Daily people.
Our last meal had been a light lunch several hours earlier, so we needed to eat. It was somewhat late, and with nothing within close walking distance of the hotel, we ate at its main restaurant, the Veranda. Not bad, but better food to be found elsewhere, especially for the price.
Saturday was a day off, before the main activities started on Sunday, so we had the whole day to ourselves. Well, not really to ourselves, because we let ourselves be accompanied by the Apple Daily team when we went out to walk around in the afternoon. Before that, though, we went with Eva to the tailor, where dad tried on his tails. For lunch, we were trailed by Apple Daily. We also again met the autograph seeker of the night before -- he had wanted two photos signed, and we had only signed one, so he was onto us for the 2nd, so we gave him another signature and he went away.
We were aiming for lunch at the Bakficker restaurant at the Stockholm Opera House. It's one of their smaller restaurants, well known for classic Swedish fare. I had Swedish meatballs, and dad had a fish, but he ended up not liking it too much so we switched after a while. Between waiting for space at the counter (it's first come-first served, and very crowded esp on the weekend, apparantly), it was 4pm by the time we finished. By this time, it was dark; we went on a random walk and ended up in the main shopping district, with the NK department store, and H&M next door. We wandered around the stores, partly to keep warm. NK was a standard upscale department store. The sort of store that could be in any big city in the world. We ended up buying a scarf at H&M though (which also could have been anywhere in the world).
For dinner that night, we walked into Ostermalm, to a place called Rue du Pont Nouveau (see earlier post). Very good.
And then it was Sunday, the day that everyone else in the family arrived. I was getting dad ready in the morning, and they all arrived. They were able to have gotten the limo to pick them up at the airport (though they had to go through normal immigration/baggage, unlike us), since the 1st event of the day wasn't until 10am. That event was at the Nobel Museum, an introductory get-together for the laureates and friends/family who were there. It's a small museum that doesn't focus specifically on all the laureates (except that they have sort of train track on the ceiling that slowly displays cards for all of the 800+ laureates. A particular laureate takes about 6 hrs to go around (mostly, they're in the holding area before getting their trip around the ceiling). The museum also displayed one of the two remaining Galileo built telescopes.
I arrived here with dad on Friday afternoon. We had flown out of Washington DC, and had had a long-ish layover at LHR, time enough to pass through immigration and visit mum's sisters for a quick lunch. It was good to see them after a number of years. Then it was off to Stockholm. On arrival, we were met by the Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy of Science, Gunnar Oquist, and our Nobel attendant (attache) for the week, Eva Wiback. They met us right outside the airplane door, and we walked down the stairs to the tarmac, to get into a limo that drove us to the VIP arrival lounge. There, we chatted a bit while immigration and baggage collection were done for us by others. And then we were whisked into the city, and the Grand Hotel.
We arrived a day earlier than most, but the press and autograph seekers met us at the hotel. We got out of the car to camera flashes and immediately accosted for a signature from dad. We signed one photo and made an appt for the next day to talk to the Apple Daily people.
Our last meal had been a light lunch several hours earlier, so we needed to eat. It was somewhat late, and with nothing within close walking distance of the hotel, we ate at its main restaurant, the Veranda. Not bad, but better food to be found elsewhere, especially for the price.
Saturday was a day off, before the main activities started on Sunday, so we had the whole day to ourselves. Well, not really to ourselves, because we let ourselves be accompanied by the Apple Daily team when we went out to walk around in the afternoon. Before that, though, we went with Eva to the tailor, where dad tried on his tails. For lunch, we were trailed by Apple Daily. We also again met the autograph seeker of the night before -- he had wanted two photos signed, and we had only signed one, so he was onto us for the 2nd, so we gave him another signature and he went away.
We were aiming for lunch at the Bakficker restaurant at the Stockholm Opera House. It's one of their smaller restaurants, well known for classic Swedish fare. I had Swedish meatballs, and dad had a fish, but he ended up not liking it too much so we switched after a while. Between waiting for space at the counter (it's first come-first served, and very crowded esp on the weekend, apparantly), it was 4pm by the time we finished. By this time, it was dark; we went on a random walk and ended up in the main shopping district, with the NK department store, and H&M next door. We wandered around the stores, partly to keep warm. NK was a standard upscale department store. The sort of store that could be in any big city in the world. We ended up buying a scarf at H&M though (which also could have been anywhere in the world).
For dinner that night, we walked into Ostermalm, to a place called Rue du Pont Nouveau (see earlier post). Very good.
And then it was Sunday, the day that everyone else in the family arrived. I was getting dad ready in the morning, and they all arrived. They were able to have gotten the limo to pick them up at the airport (though they had to go through normal immigration/baggage, unlike us), since the 1st event of the day wasn't until 10am. That event was at the Nobel Museum, an introductory get-together for the laureates and friends/family who were there. It's a small museum that doesn't focus specifically on all the laureates (except that they have sort of train track on the ceiling that slowly displays cards for all of the 800+ laureates. A particular laureate takes about 6 hrs to go around (mostly, they're in the holding area before getting their trip around the ceiling). The museum also displayed one of the two remaining Galileo built telescopes.
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