Evening star., 1950-08-21

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The cozy house was the dwelling
place of Ingrid Bergman in the
days before Hollywood beckoned
and she was known chiefly as a
promising young graduate of the
Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern
here.
The sightseeing boats pass in
front of it near the end of their
two-hour trip over the lakes and
through the canals which give
Sweden's capital its name, 1.-The
Venice of the North"
When the passengers are told
that on their right is the place
where Ingrid Bergman raked the
leaves. cooked the food, washed
the dishes. and all the other
things that good Swedish house
wife does. necks are craned to the
cracking point, "oh's" and "ah's"
all but rock the boat, and the
skipper of the boat, knowing
human nature, throttles down to
a mere crawl.
Tourist Boat Buzzes.
II the boat I was on is typical,
tourists pay no attention to the
next five minutes of the trip, so
busy are they discussing Miss
Bergman's f1amboyant departure
from the role of staid housewife.
whether or not her career is
ruined, whether she gives a hoot
if it is, and the mystery of why
she chose the balding Rossellini
when she undoubtedly could have
gotten a man with a full head of
hair.
(This last annoyed me. What in
the world is wrong with a man
who. is growing bald gracefully?)
If you don't care to explore the
inSides Of museums, libraries, pub
lie buildings and the like, most of
Stockholm can be seen by boat.
Along about the third month of a
trip many tourists find the insides
Of historic buildings almost repel-
lent. I am entering this stage
now, and by the time I get to
Switzerland I probably wouldn't
cross the street to hear an Alp
yodel.
The symptoms Of this disease
known by the rather long name of
Tets sit outside while the -
others go in" - are very pro-
nounced. You know you are catch
ing it when, no matter how beau
tiful the staircase, you find your
self counting the number of steps
1t has. Another symptom is the
disinclination to walk the length
Of gallery to see a Rembrandt or
a Velasquez when you've already
seen one.
Stockholm Is Ideal.
Stockholm is the ideal city in
which to catch this tourist fatigue
because it is such lovely city that
you need not feel ashamed about
not going inside buildings for your
beauty. Other cities may have one
or two more breath-taking views
than Stockholm, but certainly no
city can match it in the endless
number of delights to the eye it
has to offer.
1t is a city of islands, and the
city fathers have seen to it that
man has not been allowed to
crowd nature out of the picture.
To walk about Stockholm is to
walk in vast park. Hundreds of
sailboats dot the blue waters.
Graceful bridges connect the
many islands. A few minutes walk
from almost any Of the CONNER
cial centers and you can see ducks
and swans padding around in the
main waterways.
I haven't seen all of Stockholm
by any means, but it must have
fewer ugly buildings than any
other capital anywhere. Even
though knew that Sweden was
ahead of the rest of the world in
social progressiveness, I was not
prepared for the sight of the old |
peoples home here. It is situated
on a high hill, and is the first big
building travellers by ship see when
they enter the harbor. Everyone
seeing it takes it for the Royal
Palace, it being about as big and
a more handsome building than
King Gustav's Royal Palace.
Stockholm being as lovely as it
is, and having so many advant-
ages, it may puzzle you to know
that thousands of Swedes dream
throughout each year of the vaca-
ton that will take them to Copen-
hagen for two weeks, or longer if
possible.
Tomorrow will let you in on
some of the reasons for this
Swedish exodus to Denmark.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate. 1nc.)