Sofia Church

9 June 2017

From Katarina Church, I walked to the nearest bus stop to get me to Sofia Church. Now, the mission to find this bus stop was not an easy one. Well, from Katarina Church, one of the graduant's parents directed me correctly to the road Nytorgsgatan. Then, I looked for Nytorsgagatan Bus Stop where Bus 66 goes to Klippgatan. Yes, it does sound pretty easy. 

But no, when there are 3 bus stops call Nytorgsgatan. Haha! Well, I was not laughing then, because I did not want to reach late as it was almost 4pm and the church closes by 5pm. I walked around the vicinity looking for the 4th bus stop and finally found it. Each bus stop will have different buses and even with same bus number 66, the bus will go to the opposite direction. Since my sense of direction is 'off' by default, let alone being in a country where everything is on opposite sides, I could not gauge which direction the buses are turning. Everything seems so messy when I see the vehicles turning opposites from my default mindset. I even fumbled for a while on when to cross the road, unsure which direction to look at prior to crossing the road.

When I found the bus stop, it turns out the bus will only arrive at 4.20pm. I could have walked but I did not know which road to turn into. So, I waited and struck a conversation with an elderly lady (she was waiting for a bus too but changed her mind when I told her the bus has came earlier and will only arrive in 20 minutes) who told me she is the same age as Sofia Church. I laughed and told her that she don't look so old!  

Thankfully, it was just 3 bus stops away and I got to Sofia Church before 5pm. I saw a huge crowd in the compound area. I thought there was another graduation going on but there were lots of kids. 

Sofia Church (Swedish: Sofia kyrka), named after the Swedish queen Sophia of Nassau, is one of the major churches in Stockholm, Sweden. It was designed during an architectural contest in 1899 and was inaugurated in 1906. It is located in the eastern part of the island of Södermalm, standing on the north east peak of the Vita Bergen park. Sofia church belongs to Sofia parish of the Church of Sweden. Source from Wikipedia.

There was a queue in front of the Church and I asked an elderly lady what was going on. She explained that there is a cultural performance at 5pm. It is a short 30-minute performance by school kids to mark the end of school term and the start of summer holidays. I thought it was surprising on how she knows about this until she told me her granddaughter is in the performance. I joined the queue because there was no entrance fee and anyone can watch it. Well, I did look like the odd one out as everyone in the queue were either grandparents or parents. 

I followed the crowd to sit on the next level. It was my first time I went upstairs in a church. I feel so lucky to get this opportunity. At first, I sat in the right wing and realised I could not see much of the downstairs unless I lean against the balcony. So, I followed a group of parents who realised the same thing and went to the center. I just googled Church Architecture and I think the right word to fit my location is called the 'gallery'. I got a lovely view of downstairs and the kids' performance.

As the opening performance, the church priest gave a few words in Swedish. She held an apple in her hand and I wondered if she was speaking about Adam and Eve. Then, the kids gather in front and started their performance. What shocked me (I got so many shocks today - 3 times from Katarina Church) was the cultural performance were all in English. They sang 3 songs and I even knew the last song. Why don't they sing Swedish songs? Well, I was happy as I did not feel too lost listening to the performance. 

After the performance, I did not stay to analyse the interior of the church. I walked back to the bus stop and saw lots of old buildings that have been carefully preserved with their birthyear. 

While waiting for the bus, I saw a small box with the word 'Info' on it. I was curious and because I have nothing else to do at the bus stop other than shivering hard, I pressed the button and out came a voice reading the bus estimated time of arrival. I looked closer and saw Braille words for 'Info' on the box. I realised it was for the vision impaired. How kind, the person who designed this. Although I did find it interesting that not all bus stops have this facility.