{"id":68,"date":"2008-09-02T16:55:07","date_gmt":"2008-09-02T20:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=68"},"modified":"2008-09-02T16:55:07","modified_gmt":"2008-09-02T20:55:07","slug":"a-little-bit-about-greta-garbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/a-little-bit-about-greta-garbo\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Bit About Greta Garbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had to go to Stockholm<\/strong> recently to take care of some very boring business. But because I arrived there about 5 hours before my meeting, I decided to visit Skogskyrkog\u00e5rden<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the Woodland Cemetery. Why? It\u2019s a UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/a>, and if that\u2019s not enough for you, then Greta Garbo<\/strong> is buried there, too. And it just so happens that I\u2019m a fan.<\/p>\n

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\nAnd that\u2019s why one early August morning I found myself boarding the number 18 subway train going to Farsta<\/strong>, sitting down and promptly falling asleep.<\/p>\n

When I finally came to, it turned out I missed the Skogskyrkog\u00e5rden<\/strong> stop where I needed to get off in order to visit Greta, and so I rode the tunnelbana<\/strong> happily to the end of the line and back again.<\/p>\n

Once at Skogskyrkog\u00e5rden<\/strong>, finding the cemetery is very easy as well \u2013 just exit the station, turn right and walk past the flower shop selling funeral wreaths.<\/p>\n

When in 1994 the Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, I immediately started suspecting that perhaps there was an acute shortage of more worthy world heritage sites. The cemetery is just that \u2013 a big, green, wooded cemetery, graves and all. It\u2019s really lovely and a stroll through the grounds is very pleasant, but really, as far as the world heritage stuff goes, the Bamiyan Valley it is not.<\/p>\n

Because it was too early in the morning and the visitors\u2019 center was still closed, I just lazily walked around and went looking for the grave of Greta Garbo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It always surprises me how many people don\u2019t know that Greta used to be Swedish. \u201cUsed to\u201d, because in 1951 she became an American citizen. Back in those days Sweden did not allow dual citizenships, it\u2019s a relatively recent change in the Swedish law, and so Sweden\u2019s loss was America\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Greta Garbo<\/strong> was born as Greta Lovisa Gustafsson<\/strong> in Stockholm on September 18, 1905. She was one of the greatest actresses of the silent-movie era, and in 1999 was voted the fifth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. Incidentally, at number four on that list there\u2019s another Swede \u2013 Ingrid Bergman<\/strong>. But of the two, I definitely prefer Garbo \u2013 she had much better eyebrows.<\/p>\n

Greta \u201cI vant to be alone\u201d<\/em> Garbo was always perceived as cold and serious and very private. But the film of hers I like the best is actually a comedy and she\u2019s even laughing in it. Yes, I\u2019m talking about \u201cNinotchka\u201d<\/em>. In 1990, \u201cNinotchka\u201d<\/em> was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”<\/em>. (Ah, they can say what they want, I know it was selected because of Greta\u2019s magnificently perfect eyebrows.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Greta Garbo died in New York City on April 15, 1990, and after a lengthy legal battle her ashes were brought back to Sweden and buried at Skogskyrkog\u00e5rden<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And that for me was the real reason to visit the cemetery. UNESCO World Heritage simply can\u2019t compare with Greta. (Sorry UNESCO!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Words for today:<\/p>\n