The illuminated sign
outside the ABBA Museum in Stockholm invites visitors to WALK IN, DANCE OUT. It
fails to mention that anyone who does walk in might have to be dragged out, kicking
and screaming, because it’s such a fun-filled experience that nobody wants to
leave. With the group’s universally-loved hits playing non-stop, a visit to the
interactive ABBA Museum means you can dance, you can jive, and you’ll
definitely be having the time of your life. It’s the Swedish capital’s latest
world-class visitor attraction, and it’s ABBAsolutely fantastic.
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| ANY MINUTE NOW: Still waiting for Agnetha to call |
There’s a 1970s-style red plastic telephone in the ABBA Museum that will
sometimes Ring, Ring. If you’re nearest to it when the bell trills and pick it
up, you’ll find yourself speaking with Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny
Andersson or Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad. They’re the only people in the world
who know the number, and now and then one of them will call and chat with
whoever answers. Knowing my luck, if I’d answered it would have been my bank
manager looking for some Money, Money, Money.
Then again, it might well have been a member of one
of the world’s most successful pop groups of all time – calling to complain.
The thing is, there are three booths in the museum where visitors can draw the
soundproof curtain behind them and sing along, karaoke-style, to an ABBA song
of their choice. Better still, by swiping the bar code on their entrance
ticket, would-be chart stars are recorded and the result can be downloaded
online. I couldn’t resist. I donned the headphones, stepped up to the
microphone and launched into what I thought was a world-class rendition of
Dancing Queen. My friends, who can be very cruel, thought otherwise. When they
heard the recording later, they said: “Thank You (but No Thank You) for the
Music.”
An electronic scoreboard awards points while you
sing. The better you sound, according to the software, the more points you
accumulate (I’d just like to point out here that computers are fallible).
Anyone with half-a-note in their head can expect to score around 2,500. A good
singer will get between 5,000 and 8,000. And a really good singer is up there
in the 10,000-plus club. I got 744. They’ll have to get a technician in.
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| ABBAKADABRA: As if by magic, Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid appeared beside me on stage |
Undeterred, I jumped at the chance to “become
the fifth member of ABBA”. This is where visitors, one at a time, can get up on
a stage and sing along with animated holograms of Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and
Frida. There’s a choice of songs, and not wishing to fall victim to
another computer glitch I chose Money, Money, Money. The lights came up, the
ghostly band appeared either side of me, the music began – and so did the
abuse.
It’s not easy trying to dance, read lyrics from a
monitor and sing at the same time when, on the other side of the glass that
separates artiste from audience, people you thought were your pals are laughing
their heads off. They were sticking their thumbs in their ears and wiggling
their fingers, poking their tongues out, pulling grotesque faces and making
rude gestures. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme a break, I thought. Mind you, when I
downloaded the video later (swipe your ticket before going on stage for another
unique souvenir) I could see their point. It was comedy gold.
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| VOULEZ-VIEW: A look inside the studio in which ABBA recorded most of their singles and albums |
Every one of the thousands of exhibits in the
museum is the real thing – there are no replicas. The band recorded most
of their singles and albums in the Polar Studios in Stockholm, and the ABBA
studio has been installed in the museum. It contains the original mixing
console, instruments and other gear, but best of all, there’s a piano that
occasionally springs into life. It’s hooked up to another one in Benny’s studio
on nearby Skeppsholmen – one of Stockholm’s 14 islands – and when he plays
there, the piano in the museum plays too.
Turn a corner and there’s the helicopter from the
cover of the 1976 Arrival album. Hop in, grab the joystick and have your
picture taken. Close by is the green park bench from the Greatest Hits album
(also 1976), with a backdrop of Benny and Frida eating the faces off each
other. Next to them, Agnetha sits looking miserable and Bjorn reads a
pharmaceuticals brochure promoting antibiotics (the photographer was supposed
to bring a copy of Time magazine but forgot, and the brochure was all he had in
his bag).
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| I HAVE A DREAM: A quick kiss for Agnetha while Bjorn is occupied. Below, the helicopter from the Arrival album |
Continue wandering and you’ll see the white upright
piano from Benny and Bjorn’s songwriting hut on the island of Viggso, band
manager Stig Anderson’s office and ABBA’s on-tour dressing room. The most
photographed exhibits, though, are the costumes ABBA wore and the star-shaped
guitar Bjorn played when they won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton,
England, with Waterloo (the Wombles were the interval act, God love
us). There are many more costumes from the band’s world tours displayed in
glass cases, each vying for the gold medal for gaudiness.
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| HUT PARADE: White piano from Bjorn and Benny's island hut where they wrote all the ABBA songs |
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| GAUD LOVE US: Gaudy costumes ABBA wore when they won the Eurovision and, below, Bjorn's guitar |
Album covers in umpteen languages cover every inch
of wall space, along with concert posters, programmes and tickets. There are
gold discs, platinum discs (and the distinct danger of slipped discs if you overdo
the dancing in the museum’s disco). If you’ve more than a passing interest in
the band, there are several touch screens on your journey through the museum on
which you can test your ABBA knowledge with quiz questions ranging from
easy-peasy to nerdishly knowledgeable.
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| WATT A SIGHT: The enormous ABBA light bulb sign |
Just inside the museum entrance is the giant
sign with ‘ABBA’ picked out in light bulbs that was used as a stage
prop on the group’s 1979 tour of Europe and America. Four years later,
they went their separate ways and ABBA was no more. Or rather, ABBA the
band and ABBA the two married couples – Bjorn/Agnetha and Benny/Frida – were no
more. ABBA the brand, however, lives on.
Since 1974, fans have bought 380 million albums and
singles, which still sell by the truckload. Mamma Mia!, the ABBA stage musical
which debuted in London in April 1999, has been seen by 50 million people worldwide
and grossed more than $2 billion. And Mamma Mia! the movie, starring Meryl
Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, which cost $52 million to make, has
grossed $602 million since its release in July 2008. DVD sales to date are $138
million and counting.
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| HAPPY NEW GEAR: Here's how I'd look in Benny's stage costume |
The ABBA museum is clocking up impressive
statistics too. A couple of weeks ago, after being open for only 17 months, it
welcomed its 500,000th visitor. Even though the computer that gave me a miserly
774 points for my virtuoso singing can’t count, I can (with the aid of a
calculator). Half-a-million visitors divided by 17 months is 29,411 a month,
which is way beyond what museum bosses had hoped for, so the word is out and
people are pouring in.
My taxi driver home from Dublin airport was
convinced that if ABBA were to re-form tomorrow and announce a world tour, the
tickets would sell out in minutes. It’s a nice thought, but sadly – or maybe
fortunately given that the members are now all in their mid to late-60s – it
won’t happen. However, we can still be grateful for their songs. So, ABBA,
thank you for the music – and thank you for the museum. For two laughter-filled
hours I made an absolute fool of myself and enjoyed every second. It was Funny,
Funny, Funny.
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| DANCING SWEEN: Throwing shapes, and caution to the wind, in the disco |
The ABBA Museum (Djurgardsvagen 68, Djurgarden) is part of the Swedish
Music Hall of Fame and is open from 10am to 6pm from Saturday to
Tuesday and 10am to 8pm from Wednesday to Friday. Tickets (buy
online via the website below) are for pre-selected time slots to avoid
overcrowding and so visitors can avoid queues.
Admission costs 195 kronor (€21.35) for adults, 50kr for an accompanying
child aged seven to 15 and 145kr for each additional child (children up to
seven enter free). No cash changes hands, so bring a debit or credit card
(prepaid cards are available to buy in the Melody Hotel in the same
building).
A fascinating audio guide narrated in English by the members of ABBA (it
was written by Catherine Johnson, who scripted the Mamma Mia! movie) is
available to rent for 40kr.
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| NAME THAT TUNE: Here's a clue to an ABBA song. Answers on a postcard, please |
OTHER GREAT THINGS TO SEE AND DO
Vasa Museum (Galarvarvsvagen 14, Djurgarden): My long-time favourite museum in the
world. The great Swedish warship Vasa, which was launched in Stockholm on
August 10, 1628, had a very brief maiden voyage. It had gone only 1,300 metres
after setting sail when a gust of wind caused the top-heavy vessel to tip over,
and within an hour Vasa was 32 metres beneath the Baltic. On April 24, 1961,
after sitting upright on the seabed for 333 years, an extraordinary salvage
operation brought Vasa to the surface. Thanks to the brackish water and the
absence of the destructive teredo worm which can’t survive in the Baltic, the
ship’s timbers remained intact for more than three centuries. Step inside the
museum on the island of Djurgarden and there she is, a massive, magnificent wooden
warship, pieced back together and preserved in showroom condition. It’s an
amazing, overwhelming sight. You can read the whole remarkable story of ‘Sweden’s
Titanic’ in my article ‘Sweden: Holm Swede Holm’ (www.tomsweeneytravels.blogspot.ie/2013/02/sweden-holm-swede-holm.html).
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| WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT? The lovingly preserved Vasa warship. Below, a sentry at the Palace Photos: Ola Ericson |
Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace, Gamla Stan): The official residence of King Carl Gustav,
though his actual residence is Drottningholm Palace, which is accessible by
boat during the summer. The 18th century Royal Palace, built in the Italian
baroque style on the site of the old Three Crowns Castle which burned down in
1697, is in the old town and is one of the world’s biggest inhabited palaces,
with more than 600 rooms. The daily changing of the guard, sometimes on
horseback, is great for photos.
Stadshuset (City Hall, Hantverkargatan 1): This is where every December
10 the Nobel Banquet is held. It’s a glittering occasion in equally
glittering surroundings – the Golden Hall is adorned with 18.5 million gold
mosaic pieces and is a magnificent must-see. Inaugurated on Midsummer’s Eve
1923, this red brick, super-sized Italian Renaissance palace by the water is
one of Stockholm’s most popular visitor attractions (there are fabulous views
from the 110-metre tower, summer only). It’s also the city’s administrative
centre, with hundreds of people working there, so tours (guided only) can
sometimes be cancelled at short notice because of events inside. Individuals
can turn up and join one of the regular tours, but groups of more than 10
should book in advance.
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| SUMMER NIGHT CITY: City Hall and the freshwater Lake Malaren at night Werner Nystrand |
Fotografiska (Stadsgardshamnen 22): If it was captured on film or digital, it’s on
show here. Fotografiska hosts four large and 20 smaller exhibitions of
international contemporary photography each year. There’s a great restaurant
that has helped turn Fotografiska into a popular meeting place, and the bar on
the top floor is one of the city’s best viewing points. Open until 9pm, so
there’s no excuse to miss it.
Skansen Open-Air Museum (Djurgardsslatten 49-51, Djurgarden): Step back through five centuries
of Swedish history in the world’s oldest open-air museum, founded in 1891 and
staffed by characters in period dress. Skansen has more than 150 historical
dwellings, farm buildings, shops and workshops brought from all over Sweden and
reconstructed amid beautiful gardens and woodland. There’s also a zoo that’s
home to wild Nordic animals including wolves, lynx, elks, moose, bears and
seals; several great restaurants and plenty of snack outlets; plus souvenir
shops selling Swedish handicrafts. December is a great time to visit Skansen,
when the weekend Christmas markets are in full swing.
Skyview (Globentorget 2): Visitors can travel up the outside of the world’s
biggest spherical building, the Ericsson Globe, in 16-person glass gondolas to
the top (130m). As you might imagine, the views over the city from up there are
something special.
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| SPHERE OF HEIGHTS: The Ericsson Globe Tommy Andersson |
Nationalmuseum (National Museum of Fine Arts, Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 2): You could
easily spend all day in here admiring and marvelling at the permanent
exhibition of 20th and 21st Century design. There’s everything from pop art and
post-modern furnishings to everyday household and industrial items, all
displaying the simplicity and functional beauty that are the trademarks of
Swedish craftsmanship. The wider collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures
and graphic arts includes works by Hanna Pauli, Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn, Renoir,
Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, Degas and Gauguin.
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| SIGHTSEAING: Cruising around the Stockholm archipelago Conny Fridh |
Archipelago Tours: Stockholm’s archipelago is among the world’s most spectacular, making a
boat tour a not-to-be-missed opportunity. The Fjaderholmarna group of islands
is only 20 minutes from the city centre, so it’s ideal for visitors on short
stays. The island of Sandhamn is home to the Royal Swedish Yacht Club plus
hotels, an inn and several restaurants and bars so you can make a full day of
it or even stay overnight. The charming waterside town of Vaxholm with its
wooden houses painted in sorbet shades is postcard-pretty, and the Waxholm
Hotel is a favourite with locals and regular visitors for lunch or dinner.
Millennium Tours: Fans of late thriller writer Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy will
struggle to contain their excitement on a guided walking tour in the footsteps
of Lisbeth ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ Salander and investigative journalist Mikael
Blomkvist.
GREAT PLACES TO EAT
Meatballs for the People (Nytorgsgatan 30, Sodermalm) sounds like a revolutionary rallying cry,
and it hasn’t gone unheard. Opened only last year, this corner diner with additional
tables outside is busy morning, noon and night, and no wonder. As the name
suggests, it serves meatballs, in 10 delicious varieties – ox, veal, elk,
reindeer, pork, lamb, wild boar, roe deer, rooster and veggie – with boiled
potatoes and cream or tomato sauce or oxtail gravy. A dollop of lingonberry jam
is a must, and you might also order a jar of pickled cauliflower or gherkins or
a side salad.
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| VEAL MEAT AGAIN: Ten varieties of meatballs are on offer at Meatballs for the People |
Nystekt Stromming (Sodermalmstorg 1) is a Stockholm institution beloved by locals and
in-the-know visitors. For 20-odd years this street food cart outside Slussen
subway station has been serving the most delicious fried Baltic herring, and
from the day it opened squawking squadrons of seagulls have been trying to
deprive customers of their combo plates. Order fillets of fish accompanied by
mashed potatoes, pickled cucumber, red onion and fresh dill or try my
favourite, a herring burger. Open from 10am to 8pm, sometimes later.
Angbatsbryggan (Strandvagen 18) is a floating restaurant built on a barge and flanked
by historic steamboats on the waterfront. The open kitchen produces fabulous
dishes inspired by the first-class menu from the Titanic, with starters from 45kr
(gazpacho and gambas) to 175kr (caviar and toast) and mains from 195kr (shrimp
salad with eggs and avocado) to 310kr (grilled halibut with scallop,
cauliflower and arancini with blue cheese). Dine inside or out and watch the
world flow by.
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| FULL FEED AHEAD: Dine in style at Angbatsbryggan |
Snotty Sound Bar (Skanegatan 90, Sodermalm) is not to be sniffed at, despite the
snigger-inducing name. There’s nothing snotty or, indeed, snooty about this affectation-free
Seventies-style meeting, eating and well-worth-tweeting place. Album covers and
band posters adorn the walls and hipsters adorn the sofas, seats and stools.
Eat, drink and take note of what the fashionable Swedes are wearing and
listening to (mostly indie rock) and be a much-admired trend-setter when you
return home. Open from 4pm to 1am (bar food served until 10pm).
Verandan at the Grand Hotel (Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8) is ‘the’ place to go for
the famed Swedish smorgasbord, the culinary equivalent of running a marathon.
Or rather, walking a marathon, because this is a self-service banquet where you
take your pick and take your time. A useful pamphlet informs the uninitiated
(including Pharrell Williams who was there on the same night as me and looked Happy) that the
smorgasbord is a four to six-course meal involving several trips to the buffet,
but you’d need to be on a diet (or on fire and in a hurry) if you stuck to only
six courses. Forget the guidelines and go for it, in this traditional order:
herring (half-a-dozen varieties to try) with boiled potatoes, plus tangy
Swedish cheese and crisp bread accompanied by a shot of aquavit and chased with
ice-cold beer; other fish dishes, mainly salmon, in smoked, poached and
marinated (gravadlax) versions, the last served with mustard sauce with dill; a
selection of salads, egg dishes and cold cuts of meat and poultry; and hot
dishes, including homemade meatballs. Price per person is 485kr.
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| DESSERT ISLAND: Bla Porten on the island of Djurgarden is the place to go for fika |
Bla Porten/Blue Gate (Djurgarsvagen 64, beside the ABBA Museum). The distinctly Swedish
tradition of fika, or coffee and cakes in convivial surroundings and good
company, is taken to a colourful and irresistible new level in this delightful
indoor and outdoor restaurant. You can almost hear the long wooden tables
creaking like a ship’s timbers under the weight of the eye-popping array of
cakes, cookies, cinnamon buns, open sandwiches and other treats. Fika fare is
available throughout Stockholm, but there’s something especially friendly and
homely about Bla Porten that makes it stand out from the rest. As an added
bonus, it’s a short stroll from some of the city’s top tourist attractions.
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| CRACKING CHOICE: Choose your own lobster and get cracking at B.A.R. Tuukka Ervasti |
B.A.R. (Blasieholmsgatan 4A, behind Grand Hotel). No restaurant in Stockholm
loses as many menus as this one – customers keep ‘accidentally’ walking out
with them under their coats. While such pilfering can’t be condoned, it’s
understandable – anyone who has dinner in B.A.R. wants to show their friends
back home what they’ve missed. If any restaurant in the world is going to
convert vegetarians, it’s this one. Choose from meat, fish and shellfish
specialities (select your own lobster from the tank), grab a bib and get tucked
in. It’s a wee bit pricey, but worth every penny.
Kvarnen (Tjarhovsgatan 4, Sodermalm). Busy restaurant by day, laid-back bar by
night that’s full of character and characters. Kvarnen’s name will be familiar
to Stieg Larsson fans – it’s mentioned in the Millennium books as one of the
hangouts of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. They have excellent taste.
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| DELI-CIOUS: Try the cold plate at the super-trendy Nytorget Urban Deli Tuukka Ervasti |
Nytorget Urban Deli (Nytorget 4, Sodermalm). Every city should have a place like this. NUD,
as it’s known to the locals, is a mix of grocery store, food hall and
restaurant/bar where you can buy everything you need for a picnic or sit and
enjoy a wine or coffee while tucking into a freshly-prepared sandwich, salad or
pastry.
Herman’s (Fjallgatan 23B, Sodermalm). Vegetarian buffet with a big veranda
(heated in winter) offering views of Gamla Stan that are as tasty as the food.
Superb organic dishes and the chance to photograph spectacular sunsets over the
Old Town. A message on the website expresses the wish that customers might
“walk in peas”. I’m guessing they mean “peace”, though it might be a veggie
in-joke.
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| RAILLY GOOD: The centrally-located new HTL Hotel, a short stroll from the train station |
GREAT PLACE TO STAY
HTL: There’s a hip new hotel in town, and it’s going to be a huge hit. To
keep costs down, HTL (Kungsgatan 53) has cut out everything deemed unnecessary,
including apparently the vowels O and E from its name. The 274-room
minimalist-modern HTL opened only five months ago, but word-of-mouth has
quickly established it as a good-value, good-looking, good-vibe place to stay.
I stayed there a couple of weeks ago, and I can’t wait to go back. Here’s why:
It’s super-affordable. For example, a room for two
people for two nights including breakfast costs from 2,098kr (€230). That’s
€115 each, or €57.50 per person per night.
It’s ideally located, a mere five-minute wheelie-bag
drag from the central train station.
It’s staffed by the cool kids who graduated top of
the class from the school of charm, but without the smarm. They’re really nice,
and deserve generous tips.
You can check-in online before you arrive and
receive your room key direct to your smartphone, which cuts out reception desk
queues. Or, if you’re technologically-challenged like me, just tell one of the
cool kids you’ve left your smartphone at home and they’ll give you a keycard.
There’s no checking-out – as your room is paid in
advance and incidentals are paid as you go, simply pack and leave. No queuing
to get in, no queuing to get out.
The smartphone app that provides your room key
comes with a digital Stockholm guide, Local Everywhere, offering great insider
tips from Swedish journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, designers and stylists
who know their capital city inside out. It’s packed with top recommendations
for bars, restaurants, cafes and shops.
Wifi is free throughout the hotel, including in
the rooms – none of that old lobby-only nonsense or, heaven forbid, being
charged for it.
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| GOING HOLM: SAS flies from Dublin to Stockholm |
FLY
Fly SAS Plus from Dublin to Stockholm from €110pp one way, including 2 x 23kg
checked bags, changeable tickets, fast-track security, lounge access and
complimentary food/drink on board.
Fly SAS from Dublin to Stockholm from €76pp one way, including 1 x 23kg checked
bag, coffee or tea on board, as well as several services to save time,
including mobile check-in.
During the winter months, SAS flies four times a week from Dublin to
Stockholm.
CONNECT
Frequent Arlanda Express trains connect Arlanda Airport with
Stockholm Central Station (20-minute journey). Express coaches connect Arlanda
with the Cityterminalen and leave every 10 to 15 minutes. Or travel in a
six or eight-seater supershuttle mini-cab with other passengers and share the
fare, with hotel drop-offs and pick-ups. The standard taxi fare (you can
pay by debit or credit card) between Arlanda and the city centre should be
around 500kr/€55.
SAVE
Buy a Stockholm Card and enjoy free admission to 80 museums and
attractions. Available for 24, 48, 72 or 120 hours, the card also offers
unlimited free travel on the subway, buses, commuter trains and trams plus free
sightseeing Royal Canal Tour. There are also discounts on the Stockholm
Panorama and Open Top Tours sightseeing buses and on island-hopper boat trips
within the harbour and archipelago. Make full use of your card and it will
quickly pay for itself.
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| THANK YOU, MALM: Sodermalm, where all the hipsters hang out Ola Ericson |
