Stockholm | My Punks Mom

This is a random post; however, this is a peek into the past year of my life and why I question the universe at times. There are some things I just don’t understand. Let’s start off simple.

Why can no one throw away empty boxes left in the refrigerator or pantry, or for that matter, change a toilet paper roll?

Why is my dog dressed as Princess Leia?

Why does Ol’ Blue Eyes have to go out of town to cool places (literally) without me?

Why (pray tell) do I play around in Photoshop and come up with these kinds of things (and why in the world do I post them here?)?

Why would McDonald’s ever think this creepy clown cow was ok?

Why does Ol’ Blue Eyes text me this to let me know where he is in the store?

Why does my son never tire of making paper guns?

Why can’t Universal Studios either give up the recipe to Butter Beer, or mass produce it for everyone’s pleasure?

Why do we have to live so far away from some of our family?

Why is my son staring down an Egyptian statue in The British Museum when he’s supposed to be reading and learning? And finally…

When seeing King Henry VIII armor in the Tower of London, one must ask himself, “Was this really necessary?”

Ol’ Blue Eyes recently took a trip to Sweden to attend an international conference with Cisco Systems (and left me here, darn it). The conference started in Stockholm, Sweden and then they took a train to Oslo, Norway. He wrapped up the conference by attending the Nobel Peace Prize Concert (deep sigh, poor me). Anyways, he took my backup camera with him and got a few pictures out and about that I’d thought I’d share here on my blog. Enjoy!

Sweden

Gamle Stan (The original establishment of Stockholm)

Here’s some information from Wiki: “Stortorget is the name of the scenic large square in the center of Gamla Stan, which is surrounded by old merchants’ houses including the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building. The square was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath, where Swedish noblemen were massacred by the Danish King Christian II in November, 1520. The following revolt and civil war led to the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the subsequent election of King Gustav I.”

What you see below is Stortorget, the square. Note the fountain in the middle of the square. More on that coming up.

This fountain was built in honor of the 99 men who were massacred by the Danish King in 1520.

The building on the left has 99 stones to represent the 99 who were massacred. Interesting to note that today’s reigning Swedish Royalty have descended from King Gustav I. Gustav was the son of a farmer and one of the 99 who were massacred in the town square. You see, King Christian told the men that if they would meet in the town square, he would grant them amnesty, but the King turned on them and had them murdered (hanged or beheaded) instead. Gustav’s father was murdered, but Gustav survived by hiding. He the went on to lead the revolt against the Danish King and thus became King.

Not your normal My Punks Mom reading, but interesting nonetheless, huh?

Architecture in Gamle Stan