Augusta’s friend Lotten didn’t cry over spilled milk. She just laughed as she spilled milk over her white dress. It turned out to be the most enjoyable evening. “My dear Augusta! Thank you, my dear friend, for your long-awaited letter… … Do you know the most enjoyable day I have had this winter? It was last Monday at my aunt’s. She had a reception and […]
The first real flying reindeer? A reindeer flying over Stockholm in 1851? Seriously? Yes, it happened. I was rereading Augusta’s diary entry about her outing on 18 June 1851 to watch the first balloon ride in Stockholm. On Wednesday we walked to Skeppsbron to, if possible, take a boat over to Djurgården, where an Italian intended to ascend by an air balloon, but seeing the […]
You can get to Stockholm’s international airport either by train or by car. Either way, you will pass Rosersberg, a small community northwest of Stockholm. If you are having a rental car, this is where you start looking for a gas station to fill up the car. If you are going by train, you just enjoy the beauty of the landscape. In the winter, there […]
Under the moss on the gravestone, you can discern the words chiseled in the polished marble: NEVER FORGOTTEN. We have reached the final destination of our trip to the west coast of Sweden – Varberg. This is where Augusta, at the age of 28, spent a short time to treat her tuberculosis with sea air and spa water – the only prescribed treatments available before […]
Announcement. The paper, STOCKHOLMS FIGARO, of which the first issue hereby is presented to the public, will be published during the year 1845, every Sunday afternoon, and will be available these days between noon and 2 in the afternoon in Bonnier’s Bookstore at the Bazar, with the entrance on the side. Well, I thought, what a cool coincident! This year, 1845, was the year when […]
It all started with a promise to a charming captain in the summer of 1850. Our captain’s name was Krüger. He was a very polite and charming young cavalier who fulfilled all the duties of a host on his steamboat. He entertained me quite pleasantly during the trip, a trip which is also one of the most beautiful and comfortable one can undertake, and before […]
Look, do you think these are Elisabeth Schwan’s? I ask Kerstin. On a small round table, some beautiful antique fans are displayed under glass. Kerstin and I are visiting Stjernsund’s Castle where Augusta’s friend, Elisabeth, lived after she and her husband bought the beautiful castle from the royal family in 1860. I wrote about her earlier this year (The Girl in the Yellow Ball Gown: […]
Kerstin and I are on standing on the deck of S/S Bohuslän, the steamer that will take us on the same journey that Augusta and her family made in July of 1850 – from Gothenburg to Strömstad. It is a beautiful day – no clouds in the sky and a slight sea breeze. We are not alone enjoying this day out at sea. We wave […]