Today was one
of my favorite days in port, and I didn’t expect it to turn out that way. I
went on a field program by myself, and by that I mean that I didn’t go with any
close friends. This isn’t something I usually get excited about because I am
not always super comfortable with large crowds right away; I need some time to
adapt. The amount of time a field program takes is not usually long enough to
get chummy with a bunch of people you vaguely know—if you know them at all. The
reason for this field program was partially for an assignment for my Religions
of the World class and partially because I wanted to do it for me, no matter
what my friends decided to do that day. The field program went to Uppsala, a
place mentioned, along with Stockholm, in The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, for those of you who like to
make literary connections. Because I’m a nerd I was kind of pumped. Also, it’s
always fun to experience cities other than the one the ship happens to be
docked in.
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| The exterior of Uppsala Cathedral |
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| The interior of Uppsala Cathedral |
The first
thing we did was walk through a beautiful cathedral in Uppsala. It was very
ornate and there were dead royals buried inside, something I find morbidly
interesting. Next up was Odinsborg, the absolute most wonderful place to ever
eat lunch. Odinsborg means “Odin’s fort” and again, the mythology nerd inside
me cheered with glee. The food here was superb. It was legitimate Swedish food:
Swedish meatballs, delicious mystery bread, tons of salmon prepared in
different ways, herring—which I discovered I am not a fan of, some form of
deviled eggs with seafood and mayo, potatoes in amazing sauce, cold cuts,
mystery punch, and a decadent brownie-cake for dessert. So while I can remember
what the food looked like and tasted like, I knew only about half the
ingredients used to make the food I had for lunch. After that meal, which I
would compare to an American Thanksgiving dinner, I can say that I was stuffed
but regretted nothing.
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| Dessert was a must! |
Next we walked around Gamla
Uppsala—an area full of huge burial mounds—right outside of Odinsborg. It was a
bit of a steep incline to get to the top of the mound, so it was amusing to
watch everyone struggle up the mound and be breathless at the top. I felt a bit
like an overlord standing on the fallen bodies of my enemies. Perhaps not the
best way to feel when standing over the actual bodies of people who lived
centuries ago. I shouldn’t have to make excuses, but I think the Viking blood
running through my veins was activated by being in another Scandinavian
country. I was not the only one. One of the guys also has Scandinavian ancestry
and we had a good time going from one burial mound to the next—breathless
though we were. Next, everyone on the field program walked over to the church
next to Gamla Uppsala, but the coolest part was the rune stone outside. I want
to return to Scandinavia just to decipher rune stones—they’re that interesting.
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| Here I am on top of one burial mound with another in the background |
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| Used a filter but it makes it possible for you to see me, the little white speck on the right, with my arms up in the air |
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| Rune Stone! |
The last
stop we made before returning to Stockholm was also pretty great: Uppsala University’s
library. Not the whole thing, of course, just the part with ancient books,
pages, sketches, and maps. Because I know little about ancient Sweden and its
tomes, I was appreciative, but more than ready to get back on the road. It
wasn’t until I saw THE map that I got crazy excited. At the back of the exhibit
there is a 9-piece map (of the northern part of the world) called the Carta
Marina. It was everything I could have ever wanted to see in a map and more. The
sea space was full of drawings of ships and mythical, monstrous sea creatures
and the land packed full of drawings of men, plant life, ships, and even more
monsters. Basically, it was the greatest map I’ve ever seen in my life and I
made damn sure to buy a copy of it, a very large copy, and a postcard of the
Sweden portion of the map. The copy of the Carta Marina is now up on my wall in
my room where it will stay for the foreseeable future. Stopping at the
University library was certainly unexpected, but it turned into a very pleasant
surprise. I’m very glad I decided to join this field program or I would’ve
missed out!
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| This is not my photo, but this is what the black and white version looks like, the version I bought |
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