TALK TO TRAVEL CLUB ON VISIT TO SWEDEN

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27794, 20 October 1955, Page 2

TALK TO TRAVEL CLUB ON VISIT TO SWEDEN

Smorgasbord luncheons were quite a tradition on the Swedish ship on which he and his wife travelled from London to Sweden, said Mr L. J. Roy in an address to the Canterbury Travel Club in the D.I.C. tea rooms yesterday morning. At one end of the ship's dining room was a large table set with a great variety of dishes. They were mainly of the hors d’oeuvre variety, and like all Swedish meals there was a great variety of fish, including a whole salmon cooked and garnished. Passengers joined a queue to obtain a plate, then walked round the table and helped themselves to food. The best plan, he found, was to take little and visit the table often. Waitresses, not stewards, were employed on the ship. “We were expecting stewards, and it was a pleasant surprise to find these attractive girls in their pastel-coloured smocks coming round' to attend to our needs,” said Mr Roy. The voyage from London to Qothenberg took two nights and one day. When the ship tied up at Gothenberg it was virtually in the middle of the town. With other passengers, Mr Roy and his wife boarded a bus, which took them to the station, by way of the great fish market, which is one of the most famous in. Europe. The journey from Gothenberg to Stockholm took eight hours by the electric train in which the couple travelled second class. There were three classes in Swedish trains, he said. A first class train, which had left a little before the train on which he travelled, arrived at Stockholm two hours earlier. Second class was equal to English first class. Mr Roy said that they travelled through the lower part of Sweden, which was mostly farming country, fairly flat, with here and there small forests and Jakes. One did not see the huge forests that were, he surmised, further north. The fields were planted with grain crops mainly, and the farm buildings appeared very tidy. There was no rusty machinery lying round the boundary fences, and no broken down fences. Even the smaller establishments were neat and tidy. The farms were comparable in acreage with farms in New Zealand. There were some small holdings, and some holdings of 1500 to 2000 acres. “Here I felt we were back in New Zealand,” said Mr Roy, speaking of their arrival at Stockholm. There were very few porters, and he found most people carrying their own luggage. His, he found, had not been checked further than Gothenberg, but he had no trouble getting it up the next day, which was a Sunday, After interviewing an authority about the matter, Mr Roy said, he joined a queue for a taxi. In London

; lqueues were very orderly. In Sweden ! they were not so orderly. They were about four deep on that occasion with r a policeman at the head, who did not ■ Seem interested. The hotel where Mr Roy and his wife stayed was for nine months of ’ the year a students’ hostel. For the , long vacation, a travel agency took it , over and ran it as a first-class hotel. ; The rooms had individual shower ’ cabinets. There was no dining room, [ but a self-service cafeteria. The em- , ployees were university students, who ; were there partly to earn money, but 1 mainly to improve their knowledge of ' languages. There was a constant ’ coming and going of tourists from ■ many parts of the world, he said. About 46 countries were represented ; at the medical congress which Mr Roy ; attended at Stockholm. There were • between 300 and 400 delegates. Their ’ wives and visitors brought the number attending to about 600. The Town Hall in Stockholm, where the congress was held, was one of ; Europe’s famous buildings, Mr Roy • said. It was a modern building with ; the semblance of a medieval building. The architect had done this most suc- ; cessfully. The interior decoration ; gave the impression of an old medieval building. The greatest highlight of entertain- ' meat during their stay was a special • presentation of “The Music Master” ! in the theatre at Drottnholm Place, f the summer residence of the Royal • Family, he said. Gustavus 111, who was King of Sweden in the eighteenth 1 century, built the theatre, and dilting ' his reign the standard of acting and [ art in Sweden rose considerably. “The Music Master” was one of the plays 1 frequently presented at the place, and » actors wore eighteenth century clothes • and powdered wigs. The two Royal I chairs in the middle of the aisle had s been kept more or less as they were ■ in the time of Gustavus 111. ■ For one day the congress was transl ferred to Upsala, the old capital of • Sweden. Upsala University was one ! of the oldest in Europe and was ’ founded about 1477, he said. ’ At the old castle at Upsala, origin- ? ally the Royal residence, delegates J were entertained at luncheon by a J business firm. Waitresses in single file, - each bearing a plate containing a whole salmon, garnished and decor rated, walked in single file down the ' dining room, and were given a great J ovation by delegates. There were 1 about 30 or 40 salmon, said Mr Roy. • Mr Roy and Mrs Roy returned by i the inland waterways of Sweden to t Gothenherg in a small boat in mod- ? erate discomfort, but what the boat lacked in comfort it made up for in r good food, he said. He found the ‘ people of Sweden delightful, courteI ous, and altogether wonderful hosts.