Scandinavia—Stockholm—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 the 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 museum tickets. 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-size 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.

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.