Day 29

Day 29 – Lenda returns to school 37 years later (crap – that’s a long time!)

Staying at the greatest place in Uppsala.  It’s a former university hotel for traveling professors with well-appointed rooms, a great smorgasbord breakfast, and 24/7 coffee and cookies.  Sweet!  Headed out the door with Diane and went nostalgic on her.  37 years later, I still remember the academic buildings that make up Uppsala University.  First stop:  Uppsala Cathedral, the tallest gothic church in Sweden.  Without any difficulty, walked in and knew right where to look on the floor of the church to locate the tomb of Carl Linne the Swedish botanist who developed the system of nomenclature used today to classify every plant on our planet.  My grandfather arrived at Ellis Island with the name of Adolph Robert Karlsson, and walked out into his new life as an American named Robert A. Linne.

Took quite a few photos of the tomb holding the remains of Sweden’s St. Bridgette as well as St. Eric.  He’s in a sterling silver casket, and her remains are in a much smaller container (she was moved several times before her final placement at Uppsala).  But one of my favorite things is a relatively new (2005) wax figure of “Maria Waiting”.  Maria is ‘every woman’, and she is shown as the mother who is questioning/thinking/waiting/watching/hoping for her Son.  She could be of this generation, or from 2000 years ago … absolutely amazing work of art.  Diane thought she was a real person standing looking into the chapel.  Google her.  Very thought provoking.  Last but not least, is the tomb of Gustav Vasa, the “main man” when it comes to Swedish kings.  He is shown full size on top of his casket, with each of his two wives (full size) at his side.  Pretty impressive – this king was beloved.

Our second stop ended up being just a “walk by” as the Gustophtanium was closed.  Wanted Diane to see the round tower that had circular rows of standing areas rising above a central table.  The table?  That’s where human dissections were first undertaken back in the 1500’s, and the standing room only circles provided perfect classroom viewing for physicians-in-training back in the day.  However, the subjects didn’t exactly volunteer.  They were usually executed criminals … or so they say.

Last stop of Lenda’s back to school tour was the river that runs through Uppsala and the Nation building where she stayed that summer of 1974.  Nations are pretty much like co-ed fraternities or soroitories.  Lots of fun at the Nations, as well as on the river.  At graduation time, the college kids put on their white caps, grab anything that can float, & celebrate by running the river rapids - with a good supply of beer before commencing aforementioned river running.

Well, all good things must come to an end, and we are spending our last night in Sweden at Arlanda, right by the airport.  As I’m typing this, I’m looking at three totally overloaded suitcases.  I should have bought a small carry on for all the stuff we’ve picked up over the last 4 weeks.  I’m absolutely sure that I’m going to be paying a weight fee for the bags.  Maybe I can find something at the airport tomorrow morning – but then again, sitting in the beautiful 78-degree weather one more time might be a better way to spend our last few hours here in Sweden.  The sun set at 10pm tonight and it’s starting to rise again.  Got to get in a few hours of sleep.  Goodbye Sverige – we’ll be back!  But it’s back to the USA tomorrow – New York, here we come!