At last the king stood by the Golden Bridge

Published: October 25, 2020 at 1:51 p.m.
Updated: October 25, 2020 at 2:58 p.m.

Aftonbladet’s Oisín Cantwell spent the spring strolling through Stockholm during the time of the virus with the reporter’s block in his pocket.

Bingo halls, hostels, cemeteries: encounters with people and their lives.

The considerations were read, appreciated and noted. Perhaps because we needed more stories than Anders Tegnell’s stern warnings and political squabbles.

In some texts this fall, Cantwell returns to the places he visited.

Here is your first report.

HM Konung Carl XVI Gustaf, Duke of Jämtland, he seemed to be in a good mood.

Not every day does the head of state have the honor of inaugurating something so beautiful, or if it is now vulgar, like a bridge painted in gold.

But now the bell rang in Mariakyrkan and informed us that the inauguration with royalty was still two hours away and the representatives of the press received instructions on where to stand in the carefully cordoned off area in Slussen and the army marching band played their instruments to make sure the trumpets worked.

Molly Hammar, singer, hastily summoned when Sabina Ddumba fell ill, trained her voice, photographers shuddered, and pleasant representatives from the city of Stockholm offered coffee.

Outside the barricades, the curious public thronged with their moving cameras and scarves and a light rain fell, but what did he do?

It probably hasn’t escaped many that the Golden Bridge, built of steel, 140 meters long and 45 wide, 3700 tons transported from China, lifespan of 120 years, but then we are all dead except Keith Richards, has called attention.

Not least, he has complained. And most complaining of all, they have been the cultural editors of the two morning newspapers of the capital. There he always whines per se, but now it has been worse than usual.

Dagens Nyheter has complained that it will take a magic trick for the end of the bridge to blend in with the “delicate historical setting” of the old town.

Maybe we have to Still not mixed in Joe Labero. The old neighborhoods are already infested with burger joints with flashy signs, silly Dala horses for ten crowns and other vulgarities without having suffered aesthetic earthquakes and fatalities.

Svenska Dagbladet regretted that the bridge is too big. That the political decision behind it recalls the brutalism of the 60s when everything was cleared up to get the cars out.

Yes, eight files look great. But the old double bridge was twelve and twice as wide. And now there is more space for cyclists and strollers.

In the end, it was a hassle. Today, Daniel Helldén, Stockholm City Councilor for the Environment and Traffic Council, sighed that the bridge “is done.”

It is inevitable that if we want a land connection over water, it is in the form of construction that is carried out. Do I have to explain everything?

Stop bothering. Let it go here and move on. Get involved in the debate about whether or not the mouth guard should be. That wood is made for people who love to chew.

“Employee funds are fucking shit, but now we’ve pushed them this far,” as Finance Minister Kjell-Olof Feldt shouted in a note as he sat bored on the Riksdag bench.

The musicians exploded, some children were interviewed, films were shown, the moderator Titti Schultz kept a routine order of everything, and the journalists hardly heard a word, which was possibly just as good.

It feels like forever since I was last here. But it was March 12. The same day Aftonbladet decided that employees would work from home and the city became as ghostly as the days after Palme’s murder.

The golden bridge had just come from China and it was bouncing off Saltsjön and I was stupidly watching the show.

It became a consideration in the newspaper. Halla, my Icelandic friend, antiquarian and obsessed with the bridge, was in the text. But an editor changed her name to Hanna, a crime she complained about for months afterward.

But now, seven months later, everything has been fine-tuned and screwed up and the opening time has finally come.

Even happier than The head of state was possibly HRH Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland, and probably for reasons other than that the constitution was changed in 1980 and Sweden received a full analogous succession, which meant that royal boys born with penises no longer had priority to inherit the monarchy.

The new order has been in place for a while and you’ve probably had some getting used to.

Perhaps her good humor was due to the fact that she, unlike her father, did not reach the age of the risk group?

The royalty arrived at 11:57. Grandfather dressed in black. The daughter in beige tones. Granddaughter Estelle in beige and black. It was probably contrived.

In 1935, Gustaf V, the king’s great-grandfather, inaugurated the clover-shaped lock. Grandpa and dad were there too. It is no coincidence that the current regent had half the family in tow.

Should we abolish the monarchy? In principle, I think that democracy should be fully introduced. In such a case, the office of head of state is not inherited.

On the other hand, there is something nice about these anachronistic European royal houses. And what would be the alternative? A president without power. Göran Persson or Carl Bildt would take the assignment and comment on exactly everything from the spread of the infection to the murder of gangs.

Say what you want about the king, but most of all he has the good sense to keep quiet.

The rain increased. me I started thinking about the fake press photos from the township about how we should all in the future sit in Slussen and drink coffee and read newspapers. Propaganda worthy of North Korea.

Sorry, but it will never be possible to fool the locals that your city is on the same latitude as Venice.

At exactly 12 o’clock, Carl Gustaf took over the show. He said something about the bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of Stockholm. It sounded revealing.

Four minutes later he cut ribbons and walked with Victoria and Estelle through the gleaming steel structure, got into a Säpobil and disappeared.

Behind them walked children waving golden flags. The guys from the TV station cameras huddled together and tried to avoid tripping.

The rain had stopped falling. We do not evoke the symbolism of meteorological change.

It was all very nice and moving.

Of: Oisin Cantwell

Published: October 25, 2020 at 1:51 p.m.

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