Friday July 9, 2010, Sweden

Next Stop Gotland

Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic Sea, is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden. The region includes the small islands of Faro and Gotska Sandon to the north, and some tiny islands, including the Karlso Islands to the west. The area is rich in medieval history and there are many medieval churches and an impressive fortress in Visby. Limestone mining, concrete production and tourism are the island's main sources of income. Now a hot summer destination for the young and a seclude get away for those in need of retreat, restaurant as hotels have been cropping up all over the island.

Swimmers at the pool of the Djupvik Hotel

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Friday May 28, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Preparations for Sweden's royal wedding

The royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Mr. Daniel Westling on June 19 is a highly anticipated event. It is the first wedding of a female successor to the throne in the list of Swedish monarchs. It is also a historic event in the history of the Swedish monarchy. When The Crown Princess becomes Queen she will be Sweden's fourth female regent after Queen Margareta (reigned 1389-1396), Queen Kristina (reigned 1632-1654) and Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Younger (reigned 1718-1720). The groom, Mr Daniel Westling, will be granted the title Prince, Duke of Västergötland. Much of the country is excited as preparations, including commemorative merchandise are completed. However, many have raised disgust at the use of tax payer money for the event, igniting a call to dissolve the monarchy.

Commemorative buttons for sale

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Tuesday November 24, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

Family battle over late writer's estate

Erland and Joakim Larsson, father and younger brother of the late Stieg Larsson, author of the blockbuster Millenium series of crime novels. Since Stieg's untimely death at age 50, his family and his common-law wife, Eva Gabrielsson, have been locked in a brutal battle for control of the literary estate. Both sides maintain their concern is not for the money but to ensure fulfillment of what they believe Stieg would have wanted. With the book sales mushrooming past 20 million in Europe alone, already best sellers in the US and Hollywood movies in the offing the sheer amount of money at stake is breathtaking. As the Swedish crime novelist Leif G.W. Persson aptly observed, it's "a legal aftermath that is so unpleasant, not even Larsson could have thought it up".

Erland Larsson (L) and Joakim Larsson (R)

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Sunday June 27, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Inaugural Women's World American football Championship

The United States and Austria made American football history at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm when they kicked off the inaugural IFAF Women's World Championship. The first-ever U.S. Women's National Team, assembled and managed by USA Football and the Independent Women's Football League, cruised to a 63-0 victory as Boston Militia running back Mia Brickhouse rushed for two touchdowns. The U.S. defense also did its part by stifling the Austrian attack, which showed glimmers of promise through team MVP running back Marie-Theres Michelitsch, who rushed for 71 yards. New York Sharks wide receiver Adrienne Smith scored the first historic points in IFAF Women's World Championship history with a 52-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jennifer Schmidt of the Kansas City Tribe.

Members of the USA Woman's American Football team in the locker room before the game

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Friday May 28, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Preparations for Sweden's royal wedding

The royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Mr. Daniel Westling on June 19 is a highly anticipated event. It is the first wedding of a female successor to the throne in the list of Swedish monarchs. It is also a historic event in the history of the Swedish monarchy. When The Crown Princess becomes Queen she will be Sweden's fourth female regent after Queen Margareta (reigned 1389-1396), Queen Kristina (reigned 1632-1654) and Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Younger (reigned 1718-1720). The groom, Mr Daniel Westling, will be granted the title Prince, Duke of Västergötland. Much of the country is excited as preparations, including commemorative merchandise are completed. However, many have raised disgust at the use of tax payer money for the event, igniting a call to dissolve the monarchy.

Storkyrkan (Big Church), the oldest church in the country will be the location for the royal wedding

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Tuesday April 13, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

SoFo burgeoning neighborhood in Stockholm

SoFo is an acronym for South of Folkungagatan, denoting a neighborhood in Stockholm on the island of Sodermalm centered on Nytorget park. Within the past five years the area has blossomed into a creative place with art galleries, craft shops and interesting food shops and idiosyncratic restaurants springing up. Its bohemian character makes it unique in Stockholm, a pleasant, livable city but bereft, elsewhere, of much in the way of street life. On any sunny day in SoFo the streets around Nytorget are crowded with people strolling about or relaxing in the park. The area is now a trendy, expensive place to live.

The scene in front of Gildas Room; a cozy, most welcoming cafe and one of the anchors of this SoFo neighborhood; people gather to eat, drink and talk

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

2009, Sweden

Agneta Lagercrantz

Agneta Lagercrantz born 1956, journalist and author, is a columnist for SVENSKA DAGBLADET, one of Stockholm's daily newspapers where she has worked since 1979. She writes a regular features covering pychology and religion. In 2002 Ms. Lagercrantz won the prestigous John Templeton European Religion Writer of the Year Award. Together with Swedish artist and singer Lill Lindfors, Lagercrantz has written a new book entitled "Sa du gula höns?" (Say You Gold Hens?," Wahlström & Widstrand, Sweden, that will be released mid-May 2009. The book is a discussion between two baby-boomer women, one a prominent author, the other a famous artist and singer, about life, love and growing older. The book is getting a lot of press in Sweden and is expected to become a best seller.

Lill Lindfors and Agneta Lagercrantz

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Sunday March 28, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Djuret the meat centric restaurant in Stockholm

Djuret in Swedish means "the animal," an apt name for the meat centric restaurant in the Gamla Stan or “Old Townî neighborhood in Stockholm. The restaurant "honors" the animal, by using as much of it as they can on the menu. Unlike so many meat-centered restaurants, the menu here changes regularly to reflect whatever animal is then in season. The décor is replete with meat references; butchers scales are on the walls as coat hooks, dining room walls are festooned with paintings depicting hunks of ham. Chef Gustav Otterberg, 27 years old, is head chef at Djuret and is now thought of as one of Sweden's most imaginative chefs.

Djuret's sous chef Goran Svartengren puts finishing touches on rack of pork with butter and herbs,roasted garlic, onions and potato croquettes

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Saturday November 7, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm's Skyview

London has it's Eye and now Stockholm has it's Skyview. In February 2010 a funicular railway known as Skyview opened on the outside of the Sony Ericsson Globen arena which takes visitors to the top for a virtually unobstructed view over Stockholm. There is no known such arrangement elsewhere in the world. Each of the two gondolas accommodates 16 passengers who will be 130 meters high when at the top.

Ariel view of the Skyview dome

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Thursday August 13, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

Author Dr. Trita Parsi

Dr. Trita Parsi is founder and president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian politics, and the balance of power in the Middle East. Author of "Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States" that won the silver medal for the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations. Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins' School for Advanced International Studies where he received his Ph.D. He founded NIAC to provide a non-partisan, non-profit organization through which Iranian-Americans could participate in American civic life. Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN, where he served in the Security Council, handling the affairs of Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan and Western States.

Dr. Trita Parsi in Stockholm

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday May 25, 2009, On The Baltic Sea, Sweden / Finland

On board Mein Schiff

On board of "Mein Schiff" ("My Ship") on its maiden voyage from Hamburg, Germany, visiting ports around the Baltic Sea and Norway before heading back to Hamburg to begin regular service. "Mein Schiff" first entered service in 1996 as MV Celebrity Galaxy, a Century class cruise ship owned and operated by Celebrity Cruises. It was built in 1996 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, as MV Galaxy. In May 2009 it was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between Celebrity Cruises' owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI AG. The ship has been renamed MV Mein Schiff on 15 May 2009. With a crew of 909 people, it has a capacity of 1870 passengers.

Not all passengers ran off the boat in Stockholm. These people chose to lounge about on the ship's pool deck and soak in the sun.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday May 25, 2009, On The Baltic Sea, Sweden / Finland

On board Mein Schiff

On board of "Mein Schiff" ("My Ship") on its maiden voyage from Hamburg, Germany, visiting ports around the Baltic Sea and Norway before heading back to Hamburg to begin regular service. "Mein Schiff" first entered service in 1996 as MV Celebrity Galaxy, a Century class cruise ship owned and operated by Celebrity Cruises. It was built in 1996 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, as MV Galaxy. In May 2009 it was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between Celebrity Cruises' owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI AG. The ship has been renamed MV Mein Schiff on 15 May 2009. With a crew of 909 people, it has a capacity of 1870 passengers.

Monika Gangolf, left, and Daniela Herget take in the view from the ship's sauna at the Spa & Meer.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Wednesday May 6, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

Wingardh builds Stockholm's largest hotel

Well-known Swedish architect, Gert Wingardh, created the Hotel Clarion Sign, a spectacular granite and glass building. Located in the heart of Stockholm city it leans over the square and reflects the green park. It all started with the idea to create a unique, timeless, first-class hotel utilizing a collection of design icons that together would celebrate Scandinavia. The interior was provided by Scandinavian designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Bruno Mathsson and Alvar Aalto. All over the hotel you will find beautiful black and white photography by well known Scandinavian photo artists. Marcus Samuelsson of New York's Aquavit restaurant contributed the culinary delights.

ID Balthazar Norrman (L), in a plexiglass hanging chair, with his sister Lina Norrman (R).

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Wednesday May 6, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

Wingardh builds Stockholm's largest hotel

Well-known Swedish architect, Gert Wingardh, created the Hotel Clarion Sign, a spectacular granite and glass building. Located in the heart of Stockholm city it leans over the square and reflects the green park. It all started with the idea to create a unique, timeless, first-class hotel utilizing a collection of design icons that together would celebrate Scandinavia. The interior was provided by Scandinavian designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Bruno Mathsson and Alvar Aalto. All over the hotel you will find beautiful black and white photography by well known Scandinavian photo artists. Marcus Samuelsson of New York's Aquavit restaurant contributed the culinary delights.

Exterior of the Hotel Clarion Sign from below.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday April 5, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Urban Deli Stockholm's premium deli and grocery spot

Open Sunday through Thursday from 8 am to 11 pm and 12 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the Urban Deli serves as an anchor for the arty Sodermalm Stockholm neighborhood. People stop by for some groceries, a snack at the deli, diner in the resurant or to say hello to the clerk as he straightens out the flowers out front. The Urban Deli also offers bags pre-packed with every ingredient needed to prepare the recipe printed on the outside of the bag for 4. One of the owners had come back from New York particularly impressed with Dean and Deluca, and wanted to recreate the similar feel. Like Dean & Deluca, the Urban Deli sports a deli fully stocked with the freshest fruits and vegetables and grocery shelves lined with the basics and also the priciest items. The restaurant offers weekly themes adding a bit of fun to the permanent menu.

Diners inside the Urban Deli; it is an informal place where people come to relax

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Wednesday May 26, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Family battle over late writer's estate

Erland and Joakim Larsson, father and younger brother of the late Stieg Larsson, author of the blockbuster Millenium series of crime novels. Since Stieg's untimely death at age 50, his family and his common-law wife, Eva Gabrielsson, have been locked in a brutal battle for control of the literary estate. Both sides maintain their concern is not for the money but to ensure fulfillment of what they believe Stieg would have wanted. With the book sales mushrooming past 20 million in Europe alone, already best sellers in the US and Hollywood movies in the offing the sheer amount of money at stake is breathtaking. As the Swedish crime novelist Leif G.W. Persson aptly observed, it's "a legal aftermath that is so unpleasant, not even Larsson could have thought it up".

Erland Larsson (L) and Joakim Larsson (R)

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday November 24, 2008, Stockholm, Sweden

Nordic OMX

The Nordic OMX, the Nasdaq branch overseeing the Baltic region is an entirely electronic exchange. With the exception of the traditional bell signaling the opening of trading, there is no trading floor. The Nordic OMX supports and manages seven other Nasdaq exchanges in other Baltic and Scandinavian countries.

Nordic OMX

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Thursday October 26, 2006, Kista, Sweden

Ericsson AB CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg

Ericsson AB CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg is widely credited for turning the struggling company around. Svanberg is perhaps best known for his moves to forge a partnership with Sony for the production of cellular phones.

Carl-Henric Svanberg at Ericsson AB headquarters.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Wednesday October 12, 2005, Stockholm, Sweden

Hstorget Open air market in Stockholm

Hstorget (pronouced: Heu-tory-ett) is a plaza in downtown Stockholm that is the site of an open-air market which has been there since the middle ages. Open seven days a week, the stalls there sell mostly flowers and fresh produce but also clothing, nuts, dried fruits and Swedish handicraft. Bordering Hstorget on one side is Konserthuset (the blue building with columns) Stockholm's symphony concert hall, PUB department store and Hstorgetshallen, a vast underground international food market. The sculpture in front of the Konserthuset is entitled, "Orfeusgruppen"; it was executed in 1936 by Carl Nilles.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday October 7, 2002, Rekjavik, Iceland

Iceland's hardcore band Minus

One of Iceland's hotest bands Minus at the Blue Lagoon in near Keflavik. Minus was one of the first hardcore bands in Iceland. However their latest album Jesus Christ Bobby, a collaboration with Curver, creates a hybrid of electronica and progressive hardcore sounds and could well be the next big think to come out of Iceland.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Saturday July 19, 2003, Stockholm, Sweden

SWEDES VOTE ON THE EURO

July 19, 2003 Stockholm, Sweden: Rosalin, age 6, with a balloon bearing the "JA!" emblem of the pro-Euro forces. Pro-Euro campaigners were out in force working the crowded beach at Stockholm's Rålamshovparken. Immigrants like the Rosalin and her family, who came here from Peru, are tending to be much more receptive to adoption of the Euro than native-born Swedes who see it as a threat to their culture and an invitation to yet more regulation of their social policies by the European Union.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Sunday June 27, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Inaugural Women's World American football Championship

The United States and Austria made American football history at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm when they kicked off the inaugural IFAF Women's World Championship. The first-ever U.S. Women's National Team, assembled and managed by USA Football and the Independent Women's Football League, cruised to a 63-0 victory as Boston Militia running back Mia Brickhouse rushed for two touchdowns. The U.S. defense also did its part by stifling the Austrian attack, which showed glimmers of promise through team MVP running back Marie-Theres Michelitsch, who rushed for 71 yards. New York Sharks wide receiver Adrienne Smith scored the first historic points in IFAF Women's World Championship history with a 52-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jennifer Schmidt of the Kansas City Tribe.

Members of the USA Woman's American Football team

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Saturday June 19, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Princess Victoria of Sweden weds

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria married her trainer Daniel Westling in an elaborate ceremony which is the culmination of a media event that has dominated Sweden for months. The ceremony itself, costing possibly 200 million Swedish crowns, took the happy couple on a horse drawn cortege through the streets of Stockholm followed by a trip on a royal barge through the harbor back to the Royal Palace for a huge party.

Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling's cortege through Stockholm concluded with a trip on board the Royal Barge Vasaorden through the harbor and back to the Royal Palace.

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Tuesday April 13, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

SoFo burgeoning neighborhood in Stockholm

SoFo is an acronym for South of Folkungagatan, denoting a neighborhood in Stockholm on the island of Sodermalm centered on Nytorget park. Within the past five years the area has blossomed into a creative place with art galleries, craft shops and interesting food shops and idiosyncratic restaurants springing up. Its bohemian character makes it unique in Stockholm, a pleasant, livable city but bereft, elsewhere, of much in the way of street life. On any sunny day in SoFo the streets around Nytorget are crowded with people strolling about or relaxing in the park. The area is now a trendy, expensive place to live.

The scene in front of Gildas Room; a cozy, most welcoming cafe and one of the anchors of this SoFo neighborhood; people gather to eat, drink and talk

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday April 5, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Urban Deli Stockholm's premium deli and grocery spot

Open Sunday through Thursday from 8 am to 11 pm and 12 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the Urban Deli serves as an anchor for the arty Sodermalm Stockholm neighborhood. People stop by for some groceries, a snack at the deli, diner in the resurant or to say hello to the clerk as he straightens out the flowers out front. The Urban Deli also offers bags pre-packed with every ingredient needed to prepare the recipe printed on the outside of the bag for 4. One of the owners had come back from New York particularly impressed with Dean and Deluca, and wanted to recreate the similar feel. Like Dean & Deluca, the Urban Deli sports a deli fully stocked with the freshest fruits and vegetables and grocery shelves lined with the basics and also the priciest items. The restaurant offers weekly themes adding a bit of fun to the permanent menu.

A waitress at the Urban Deli

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Monday November 2, 2009, Riga, Latvia

Traveling Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial center of the Baltics. The city is an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava. With 713,016 inhabitants, it is the largest city of the Baltic States and third largest in the Baltic region, behind Saint Petersburg and Stockholm. Riga's historical center has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture that UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Views of central Riga from the top of the steeple at St. Peter's Church

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Wednesday March 24, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Djuret the meat centric restaurant in Stockholm

Djuret in Swedish means "the animal," an apt name for the meat centric restaurant in the Gamla Stan or “Old Townî neighborhood in Stockholm. The restaurant "honors" the animal, by using as much of it as they can on the menu. Unlike so many meat-centered restaurants, the menu here changes regularly to reflect whatever animal is then in season. The décor is replete with meat references; butchers scales are on the walls as coat hooks, dining room walls are festooned with paintings depicting hunks of ham. Chef Gustav Otterberg, 27 years old, is head chef at Djuret and is now thought of as one of Sweden's most imaginative chefs.

Chef Gustav Otterberg holding the carcass of a spring lamb

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Saturday April 24, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm's Skyview

London has it's Eye and now Stockholm has it's Skyview. In February 2010 a funicular railway known as Skyview opened on the outside of the Sony Ericsson Globen arena which takes visitors to the top for a virtually unobstructed view over Stockholm. There is no known such arrangement elsewhere in the world. Each of the two gondolas accommodates 16 passengers who will be 130 meters high when at the top.

Exterior view of the Skyview gondola and dome

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Saturday July 17, 2010, Visby, Sweden

New generation green cars on display

Car manufacturers, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, KIA, SEAT, Ford and Peugeot displayed their latest model green cars at "Almedalen," on the Swedish island of Gotland. Almedalen is Sweden's version of a political convention. Of particular interest are the plug-in hyrids like the new Toyota Prius. Green cars get hefty incentives in Sweden where buyers get a large tax break off the purchase price along with no-fee vehicle registration for several years. In some places, like Stockholm, green car owners don't pay the charges and get to park free in the city. Boosting the popularity of fuel efficient green cars still further is the high price of gasoline here, hovering at more than US$7 per gallon.

People check out new models of green generation cars on display

Credit: Rob Schoenbaum / Polaris

Rob Schoenbaum