Stockholm, Sweden

 

July 16 - 19, 2015

We just returned from Stockholm, Sweden!
Population approx. 9.7 million. Sunrise: 3:40 am - Sunset: 10:02 pm. In the winter months, the sun sets at around 3 pm! It was a refreshing change from the former Soviet Union cities we have visited and now live in because the air was fresh and the tap water was drinkable!

Stockholm, the capital, is a beautiful city with lots of unique and interesting architecture and a lot of water. 30% of the city area is made up of waterways and another 30% is parks/green spaces. I don't know how that compares to other cities, but it seems like a lot and it is beautiful because of it.

The day we arrived we were fortunate enough to be able to meet up with Jan and Liljana (the Swedish Attache and his wife from Moscow) as they were in Stockholm for their summer vacation. We had such a fun time with this great couple and are so thankful that they took the time to show us their city. They took us for a walk (people walk a LOT here) from our hotel, through downtown towards the Royal Palace and Old Town (Gamla Stan - we love these old towns. This one dates back to the mid-13th century). We stopped at a cafe by a park for our first drink and then moved on towards Old Town through the quaint, narrow, cobblestone pedestrian streets lined with cafes, shops and restaurants. At one of the town squares we stopped for another drink where a beer cost the equivalent of $15 Cdn.! Sweden is beautiful, but not cheap! From there we walked to the Grill Restaurant for a fabulous buffet meal. Craig filled up his meat-o-meter to the top with plate fulls of steak, pork and lamb. It was delicious and we had a  great time with our new friends. They invited us to join them at their summer house on another visit! Craig will love that because Jan (pronounced "Yan") loves to fish!

Old Town (Gamla Stan) - LOVE it!

Old Town - famous square (Stortorget) Stockholm 

A lovely church downtown

Inside said lovely church - love the ceiling

Craig and I - inner courtyard behind Royal Palace

Liljana & Craig at "Grill" Restaurant

Nordik Museum - "Nordika Museet" in Swedish

Same Nordik Museum

The Church of St. Nicholas - or the "Great Church" as it is known. I call it the "Royal Church"

 

St. George and the Dragon - in Great Church

The Royal Princess Victoria of Sweden on her wedding day - June 2010.... I just borrowed the pic.

Cool narrow staircase in Old Town

Opera House

Urban Outfitters store - used to be movie theatre

Train from airport moves fast!

The Vasa Museum

Our first full day there we hit the ground running and toured the ABBA and VASA museums. When in Sweden, ya gotta check these two out if no others. Stockholm has approximately 100 museums, so there's LOTS to choose from. My favorite was the VASA museum. Before going all I knew was that the Vasa was a ship and I didn't think it would be much to see, but it was very interesting. The Vasa was a Swedish war ship built between 1626-28 and it sailed about one kilometer before it sunk on its'  maiden voyage (due to winds barely stronger than a breeze). The ship remained under water for 333 years before it was salvaged and currently sits in the museum with 98% of its' original parts! The ship was built by orders of the King of Sweden to help fight the war against Poland-Lithuania. The ship was richly decorated and was one of the most powerfully armed vessels in the world. However, it was dangerously unstable - obviously! It had too much weight in the upper structure and the bilge (bottom) of the ship wasn't wide enough for the amount of ballast needed. A test was performed before it set sail - 30 men ran back and forth across the width of the ship and it proved to be VERY unstable. However, the King was leading the Army in Poland at the time and a fatal decision was made to set sail despite obvious structural issues. Families of the soldiers were also allowed to sail on the maiden voyage (for the first part of the passage through the Archipelago and several women and children were among the victims of the tragedy. It is not known for sure, but it is believed 30 died of approximately 150 on board. If only someone had the courage to speak up and let the King know that the ship was not sea worthy.

Vasa ship in museum

Me in the diving bell

How the diving cone worked - water pressure

Craig thought this was funny!

Replica of ship in it's full-colour glory!

Back of ship - such incredible detail

Back of the ship and museum shot

  

The ABBA Museum

The ABBA museum was fun and interesting too; very interactive. I don't know the songs as well as I thought, however! I tried out to be the 5th member of the band and I sucked! lol I tried to convince Craig to do a video with the band, but he suddenly got shy! Check out the little girl though - she was not shy AT all. Wish I had done it! I can't get ABBA songs out of my head now that we're home! lol

Frida looks a LOT like ME! lol

This little girl rocked it in her video debut with the band...Craig chickened out!

He showed off his dance moves doing this video though.

Amazing wax figures of the band.... VERY lifelike.

A small part of their record collection