Kultural Stockholm

August 17, 2026 djarmul Leave a comment

We came to Stockholm and enjoyed Iraqi oud music, Lebanese pop, Jamaican reggae and a gospel choir, along with Catalan castells, or human towers (shown below),

That’s because our visit coincided with the city’s annual Kulturfestival, a five-day open-air celebration. Stages featuring live music, dance, art, theatre and global food markets were set up around town. Everything was free.

We did manage some traditional sightseeing, beginning with a historical walking tour where we learned about Sweden’s rivalry with Denmark and its long line of kings named Gustav. The first Gustav led a revolt against Denmark after the Danes slaughtered the local elite in a bloody massacre that inspired the infamous “Red Wedding” scene on Games of Thrones.

Less glorious was his grandson, Gustav II Adolf. He built a massive warship, Vasa, that sank within minutes before horrified onlookers on its maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was salvaged 333 years later and is now displayed in an excellent museum, one of Stockholm’s top attractions.

We also visited the Nobel Prize Museum, which does a great job of explaining science to the general public. I was fortunate to work with several Nobel laureates during my career and enjoyed reading about them in the exhibits, which include objects ranging from a pink headscarf worn by Malala Yousafzai to the discovery of the DNA double helix, above.

We wandered around Gamla Stan (the Old Town), enjoyed the gardens beside the imposing city hall and watched boats and ferries sail along the waterfront, above.

Once we discovered the festival, though, we spent almost all of our free time taking in its music and shows. My favorite was Tensta Joyful Noise, top photo, a diverse and energetic choir that showed how gospel music now reaches far beyond America.

Also great was Tarabband, above, a world music group from Malmö, Sweden, led by Iraqi-Egyptian singer Nadin Al Khalidi.

Our experience in Sweden’s capital illustrated anew the wonderful serendipity of travel, which we treasure. Here in Stockholm, we expected to find herring and lingonberries but ended up feasting instead on Iraqi ballads and gospel hymns. Hallelujah!

Subscribe to Not Exactly Retired. It’s free.

Copenhagen, Easily

August 14, 2026 djarmul 2 Comments

Copenhagen is stylish, historic, fun and easy.

It has the Little Mermaid statue, Tivoli Gardens and world-famous restaurants. More than half of Copenhagen’s residents commute by bicycle daily. They swim in the clean harbor. Their city, Denmark’s capital, consistently leads global liveability and happiness indexes.

Alas, Copenhagen is also very expensive, which is why Champa and I only visited for two and a half days while kicking off a trip to Scandinavia, as shown on the map.

We strolled Copenhagen’s cobblestone streets and rode a boat through its canals. We admired elegant shops along Strøget and the view atop Christiansborg Palace, above. We saw wedding parties at the beautiful city hall and people dancing to this singer at an outdoor club across from our hotel.

Compared to our recent travels in places like Kosovo or Indonesia, Copenhagen was frictionless. Everything worked and ran on time, except for a ridiculously long line at the airport’s passport control. Everyone spoke English. We didn’t even change any money since all transactions are electronic.

We were struck by Copenhagen’s progressive spirit, from its souvenirs mocking President Trump’s desire to take over Greenland to a city-wide celebration of Pride Week, including a “Fluid Festival” celebrating diverse gender identities.