Last day in Stockholm
June 28, 2019
This was the day I celebrated as the tenth anniversary of my retirement. On June 28, 2009, I preached my last sermon at Cramerton United Methodist Church. After the luncheon the church had for me, John Williamson and I went back by the parsonage and loaded up his truck and my car with the last items I was taking with me, and we came on to Davidson.
Besides that anniversary, it was the day of our last performance. That particular choir will never sing again, though many of us will continue to sing together and see one another in church. We boarded the bus for a 10 am rehearsal and a noon performance at the Santa Clara Kyrka.
Our concert was limited to 45 minutes, so we sang an abbreviated program, and Joe didn't get to play the organ for us.
After we cleared our stuff out of the chancel and they served us coffee and pastry, we had free time until the farewell supper.
This is when I got my best shot of the Grand Hôtel. I took some scenic bus and streetcar rides.
I headed over to the National Museum and saw the time line exhibits there.
Napoleon named Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte as Marshal of the French Empire. In 1810 he was unexpectedly elected as crown prince of Sweden. He took the name "Charles John" and was de facto regent until he became king of Sweden and Norway in 1818. Michael Rennie portrayed him in the 1954 film Désirée. The museum features items of the Empire style from the time of his long and peaceful reign.
Next I walked down toward the modern art museum and found a festival going on. I think there were boat races the next day.
The church on the hill had been converted to a concert hall.
There turned out to be little to see inside the modern art museum. A big exhibit was to open the next day, so most rooms were closed off. In front of the museum was a guy tap dancing on a sort of stage. He was dancing when I went in, and he was still dancing when I left, so I figure he must have been part of that objet d'art. Down near the street were fanciful sculptures that included a kinetic piece and a fountain.
After the museums, it was time to head back to the hotel to catch the bus for our farewell dinner. We had a fancy meal at the Fem Små Hus restaurant. Most of us made an early night of it. We had to be ready to leave on the bus at 4:20 am on Saturday to get to the airport. And thus ended our tour.