Scandinavia—September 16th

 Stockholm, September 16th

Today we walked 6.8 miles over the course of the day. We visited the Pink Church, walked through Old Town again to the Djurgarden Island ferry where the Vasa Museum is located. After that we walked back to our hotel with a stop for lunch at a mall where we enjoyed a salmon and quinoa and lettuce salad. We surprised ourselves by walking back from the Vasa Museum without having to ask directions or looking at the map. Ya, we got the lay of the land of Stockholm within two days. Strange how that works.

Anyway, we hoped to also visit City Hall, but knew we couldn't make the last guided tour, so we'll do that Tuesday and visit the Royal Armory or take a cruise throughout the harbor as well or maybe wait until Wednesday. We have plenty of time to divide up our excursions so we'll see how it goes.

The highlight today was the Vasa Museum. I took a gajillion pictures (but didn't include all of them) and some information because this museum was even better than the Titanic Experience in Belfast and that was pretty impressive. The Vasa Museum is a must see if you ever visit Stockholm. It is unique among historical recoveries, because it was raised intact, and over 17 years, 98% of the vessel was preserved. It also provides an astonishing view into early 17th century life. The restoration and research are ongoing

Make some time to watch these two videos about the Vasa. The first is a documentary about the raising and preservation of the ship and this link is the first of four episodes documenting the interior and every square centimeter of the ship. Fred Hocker, the American curator of the museum and Director of Research, the foremost authority on the Vasa narrates the four videos. As a boy growing up in New Jersey he learned about the Vasa and was obsessed with it, and Hocker is the man in charge today.

Everywhere you go in Stockholm
there seems to be a church spire. This
one is opposite the Central Station.

Couldn't resist taking this picture. Is that a clown car?

Cool door in Old Town on our way to
the Pink Church.

There's another one.St. Gertrude's, the
German Church, spire in Old Town.

 

Turn of the century telephone booth...

...repurposed with a defibrillator.

The Pink Church, technically named
Storkrykan, is also a must see. Here are
some pics to show why. Click on the 
link here and read about this amazing
cathedral. (The link includes info
about the next pictures as well.)

This is a Royal Pew.

The Silver Altar.

St. George slays the dragon.

Placard about the Sun Dog Painting.

Sun Dog Painting.

Sun Dog Painting with frame.

Gamla Stan Island, looking back at Old Town
from stern of ferry to Djurgarden Island on our
way to visit the Vasa Museum.

Grona Lund is Stockholm's Tivoli.

Just a cool castle taken from the ferry.

Crane adjacent to amusement park
decorated as a giraffe.

Three-master moored near Vasa Museum.

Waiting in line to purchase tickets for
for the museum. We were being extra
cautious in line because of the crowd.

First view of the Vasa. The museum
is enormous, so we took off our masks.

The rest of the pictures you'll see capture the Vasa,
a battleship that sank on it's inaugural launch.

The Vasa looks better with
Marie standing in front of it.

We attended this screening first to get
oriented prior to walking through the
museum as our city walking tour guide
recommended.

All screenings are captioned in English
so we didn't fret about being there for
the Chinese language screening.

Here's the summary of the Vasa. Read more here.

Vasa model.

Vasa model.

 

Upper cannon deck, a life-sized replica.

 

Coat of Arms

A skeleton of a sailor pinned under one of cannons
was recovered and preserved.

His jacket preserved after 333 years under water.

Actual shoes and boots of sailors recovered.

Officers' plates and bowls.

This is a cutaway of how the Vasa's four story 

decks were arranged.

Lion carving on the ship's prow.

Painted replicas of lion.

Lion with King's coat-of-arms
held in paws.

There are several bearded wildmen
carrying clubs decorating the ship,
expressing primordial power, the
Nordic version of Hercules or some
other superhero.

This 17th century Orwellian justification
could have been written yesterday.

One last look at the Vasa.

We walked back from the museum,
taking the longer way back along
the harbor promenade.

This is the most exclusive and expensive area
of Stockholm and you can see why.

This sandwich board in front of a cafe
 along the harbor cracked us up.

Raoul Wallenberg, read about his 
heroism and tragic end here if you 
can't make out the plaque below.

We stopped for lunch and enjoyed a
smoked salmon quinoa and lettuce
salad that fortified us for the next 
two miles to our hotel.

•.  •.  •

Tuesday we'll take a guided tour of City Hall and visit the Royal Armory, which our city guide told us is misnamed. She said it includes some arms and suits of armor, but primarily the armory provides the history of Sweden's monarchy with everyday artifacts from each royal family ranging from the 1600's to the present.