Whiffenpoofed

Wiffenpoofs at Church Immanuel   

Well we got whiffenpoofed last weekend!   We can hear the reaction of our friends and family, “Gosh, you guys are so lucky!”  Yes, we are indeed quite lucky.

We learned from our American Club of Sweden’s website that the Whiffenpoofs, the Yale University a cappella singing group, would be performing in Stockholm.  Since our Nordic perch is so far removed from the ivy halls of New Haven, Connecticut, we had simply written off ever being whiffenpoofed while in Stockholm.  So given the chance to be regaled by splendid tenor and bass voices, we did not let the opportunity escape us.

Okay, we confess we had to Google Whiffenpoofs too. 

Mae West

Although living in Stockholm has become less exotic as we have settled into daily routines, we have maintained our fidelity to seeking out adventures big and small.  As we approach our one-year anniversary in Sweden this month, we are reminded of the sage advice we quoted on our BeingInBangalore blog when we reached our one-year anniversary in India.  “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”  Thank you Mae West.

The 60-minute concert was held at the Church Immanuel, a large Protestant, Bible-based religious home for many Swedes as well as for English and Korean speaking Christians. 

This unique group of Whiffenpoofs, (only those who are seniors can belong) was on a three-month tour.  Where they had been or where they were going escaped us, but we were grateful to have had an opportunity to include the Whippenpoofs of 2012 in our Swedish adventure

Since echoes in the large sanctuary compromised our video sound quality, we are including Youtube links to another 2012 Whiffenpoof concert with better visual and audio quality where they sang the same songs we heard. Enjoy.

• Operator
• Rainbow Connections
• The Boxer
• Midnight Train to Georgia

Archipelago Cruise

The archipelago of nearly 30,000 islands and inlets in the Baltic Sea approach to Stockholm beckons with a “come hither” allure to tourists and locals alike.  Encouraged by an evening boat cruise arranged by the American Women’s Club, we came a hither-ing and surrendered to the allure of the island clusters.

The evening shrimp dinner cruise of the archipelago is a well-worn ritual with boats of various sizes loading passengers around 7:00pm for a three hour cruise around the islands.   

Just a few minutes into the cruise we were past the storage buildings and commercial loading docks and were enjoying the charming view of well-cared for, expensive houses. Island homes have long been a Swedish tradition. As early as the Viking days, people have been living on these isolated islands. By the early 1700’s it was estimated that nearly 3,000 people, mostly fisherman and farmers, called an island in the archipelago home. We suspect life was pretty tough on these isolated island homes. In fact, in the decade following World War II, many Swedes concluded that city life and a steady job were more desirable than life on an isolated island. Fishing villages and farmers disappeared from the archipelago as inhabitants migrated.

However, given the well-appointed and splendid homes we saw that now dot the islands, it is appears that island life is no longer so ruggedly demanding. Today, having a summer cottage in the archipelago is Stockholm chic.

Another discovery on the shrimp cruise was the shrimp. We consider ourselves somewhat “shrimp savvy.”  Our days on Tybee Island off the Georgia coastline pulling a shrimp net gives us firsthand insight of the  “harvest to table” cycle of shrimping. ”Net, de-head and shell, cook, serve.” We discovered the Swedish rendition of this cycle on a boat ride consists of “net, cook, freeze, thaw, serve.” Hmmmm…

Bowl of Huge Thawed Shrimp

Bowls of cooked thawed shrimp arrived at our table. We dutifully engaged as did the other cruise guests in self-preparation of shrimp for consumption.  We were also totally surprised to find a plethora of egg laden females on our dinner plate. Some things can only be learned though firsthand experience.

Vaxholms Kastel

Our cruise took a short break at the old island fortress of Vaxholms Kastel. The defensive works were originally built in 1548 to protect the approaches to Stockholm with chain barriers erected between island passages.  The martial mission of the island fortress has long been dormant.  

On our visit, Swedish folk songs blared from the loud speakers of our cruise ship, Störmma Kanal, evoking spontaneous communal dance circles by the local Swedes. As we noted, some things can only be learned through firsthand experience.


A Stockholm summer evening that sees daylight lingering past 9:30pm followed us back to our embarkation point.  Seen from the water, Stockholm definitely has magnetic beauty and allure.

Standing in front of Vaxholms Kastel

Another day, another adventure.