Northern Lights have returned to Sweden, from Luleå last night pic.twitter.com/eMFXLPHK7p
— Sweden.se (@swedense) August 28, 2013
Needless to say: we love this view! (SK480 on final, runway 26 ARN) #sas #flysas #cockpitview #flightdeck pic.twitter.com/wzjefpPrkd
— SAS (@SAS) May 12, 2013
Final approach on runway 26, Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
Välkommen till Sverige -Welcome to Sweden.
To give you some perspective on how far north Stockholm really is, the air miles from Washington, D.C. to Stockholm, about 4134, is less than 50 miles farther than a flight from Stockholm due south to the Equator.
Above, screenshot of early Monday's Aftonbladet online coverage on this week's trip.
Meanwhile, Dagens Nyheter has one of those great graphics they do, this time about the official limo, which always fascinates people no matter what country it is in:
http://www.dn.se/sthlm/grafik-sa-skyddas-obama-i-sverige/
SVT news video: Så skyddas Obama.
This news segment about the president's protective detail, featuring comments by former Washington Post reporter and author Ron Kessler, ran during Monday night's evening news and is mostly in English.
On Tuesday night I will be uploading my blog post about some things that President Obama really ought to know about Sweden in advance of his flight to Stockholm on Wednesday, but which I'm pretty sure that he will not be briefed about by the State Dept., owing to certain cultural and myopic weaknesses.
But I've got it covered.
Not so much a Top Ten list, per se, since I'm not sure how many things will make the list, but don't be surprised to see some things mentioned here that you didn't know, or thought you knew about Sweden -but didn't.
But as just as a bit of a teaser, I'll remind you, again, that Sweden is NOT Switzerland.
(Switzerland is where American actor, social activist and jet-setter George Clooney chooses to live, on Lake Como, and Sweden is where the shining example of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, a man who made a huge difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people, in that he made it possible for them to actually stay alive, quite contrary of the wishes of the Nazis.
But in a sign that no good deed goes unpunished, he died in a Soviet prison for his heroic efforts, yet lives forever in the hearts of his countrymen.)
But Tre Kronor, the Swedish National Mens Hockey team did defeat Switzerland 1-0 in the IIHF Championships in May in the Gold Medal game played in Stockholm, which prompted lots of celebrating in the hours and days afterwards, including at Sergels Torg, one of my favorite places in all of Stockholm.
Awesome pic! RT @IIHFHockey Royal reception & a party with 20,000 fans. Sweden celebrated #IIHFWorlds gold winners. pic.twitter.com/uTXe67U8ha
— swedennewyork.com (@swedennewyork) May 21, 2013
Tre Kronor på Kungsträdgården, Stockholm; The public celebration ceremony the day after winning the 2013 World Ice Hockey Championship
Samtidigt på Sergels Torg media.shootitlive.com/7mRMcKxjaD8zee…
— Marcus Jerräng (@blisk) May 19, 2013
Marcus Jerräng @blisk: Samtidigt på Sergels Torg
I listened to the game LIVE online via Sveriges Radio despite my lack of knowledge of the words for many hockey terms in Sweden, and watched the game when it was finally televised -NOT LIVE- in the U.S., but rather late the next night on NBC Sports Network with no build-up, which sucked.
SVT news video: Early on Monday morning Foreign Ministry Chief of Protocol
Caroline Vicini appeared on SVT's Gomorron program and spoke about what events would be taking place and ironing-out things logistically so everything is smooth sailing.
Here's a copy of the email I received last week from the City of Stockholm:
Heavy traffic problems expected during President Obama's visit (Stockholms stad: Kraftiga trafikstörningar väntas i samband med president Obamas besök)
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Heavy traffic problems expected during President Obama's visitStockholm - August 29, 2013 11:25 EDT
Following President Obama's visit to Stockholm on 4-5 September expected heavy traffic problems in many parts of the Stockholm area.
In particular, the inner city and the main roads to and from the airport will be affected.
Some parts of the city is completely closed to traffic. This applies primarily to the area around Nybrokajen, Harbour Street, Finland - Old Town, around the castle.
All modes of transport are affected: automobile, public transportation; mainly bus, plane and to some extent also boating.
Motorists urged to leave their cars at home and use public transport.
Public transport travelers are recommended to first use of rail transport ie subway and / or train.
All road users can expect delays.
Those scheduled travel days to / from Stockholm and Arlanda should contact their tour operator for details of current departure times
Current traffic information will be provided via Trafik Stockholm. Radio Stockholm and at the following websites:
Current traffic Trafik Stockholm, www.trafiken.nu
City of Stockholm, www.stockholm.se Transport Administration, www. Police, www.polisen.se SL, www.sl.se Contact: Mats Freij, Traffic Telephone 076 1226160 mats.freij @ stockholm.se Below is Police Dept.'s info page on changes to auto, bus, rail, bicycle and pedestrian traffic patterns related to the Obama visit.Long story short, they want people to avoid going into downtown area if they can avoid it, and even encourage people to work at home if possible.Because Stockholm is, of course, a series of many islands with connecting bridges and has an extensive subway system, the authorities will NOT allow any trains to run under areas where escorts are taking place, which means that train passengers, both local and regional, will be adversely affected.
Translation -strong possibility that train passengers can and will be stuck on trains for quite some time.
Just saying...
Så påverkas trafiken under Obama-besök |
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