Sunday, July 29, 2007

Tall Ships in Stockholm

This weekend some of the largest sailing ships of the world moored in central Stockholm. They had come from all over the globe, from Malaysia to Mexico. It was a sight to behold, with the crews on deck, flags waving and a great number of curious bystanders along the quay. On Monday, these ships gather at the start line for the 2007 Tall Ships´ Races, just outside the capital´s archipelago, to compete in crossing the Baltic Sea between a series of ports.
One of the most notable guests was Sedov, the world´s largest sailing ship measuring 118 m from prow to stern. It carries more than a hundred naval students and has a quite interesting background. Built by Germany in 1921, she functioned as a cargo vessel between Australia and Europe until Russia seized it at the end of WW II. Much later, when she was visiting a French harbour in 2000, she was prevented to leave by the government since a Swiss firm claimed it as a token for a Russian debt. Russia, however, insisted the debt belonged to the Soviet Union, and furthermore that the ship isn´t property of the Russian state. A court ruled in favour of Russia. The story

Together with Ali, Johannes, Clara and Rahwa, we spent the evening sampling the atmosphere around these great ships and their crews.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Halli hallå Gabriel! Vilken rolig kommentar du skrev på min blogg om kräftskivan och Martins jacka!!! hihihi Det blev isande kallt senare på kvällen och hela glada sällskapet fick förflytta sig in i radhuset. Hur är det med dig? Jobbar och sliter!!!!?? Det var jätteroligt och peppande att träffa dig i Uppsala, det kändes väldigt bra inuti eftåt :))) Hoppas att vi kan ses snart igen!!!! Du är alltid välkommen ner till Siena också för den delen!! Många kramar Hannah