Leo makes a few new friends in Stockholm
Janet, our most excellent Paris tour guide, would have been proud of our tourism savvy in maximizing the use of our Stockholm transit pass. We chose a campsite that was a five-minute walk from a metro station, and then used the metro to get everywhere we wanted. We even found a public ferry to take us to a popular island in the Stockholm archipelago, rather than springing for a tourist ferry.
By accident, a restaurant next to the campsite metro station turned out to be the best meal of our trip. It was a little fancier than we expected and filled on a Monday night with locals, and we'll worth the expense. No photos, too tacky for this place, and a little too close to our fellow diners.
The next day we took the metro (tunnelbana in Stockholm) to Gamla Stan (Old town),
and checked out the narrow cobblestone streets and of course the cafes, settling for a fika at Brod &Salt, where they make a very delicious looking sourdough bread we did not try. What's a fika? Coffee and a Kanelsnaeka, of course!
We also checked out the royal palace andand city hall. We meant to climb the tower at city hall to get the view, but there was a 20 minute wait, so instead we took the ferry
over to Djurgarden for lunch in the Blaporten cafe's garden. Mmmm, delicious Swedish meatballs!
Then we headed over to the Vasa museum. The Vasa was a warship built in the 1600s that sank 45 minutes into its maiden voyage. Built to demonstrate the power of King Gustavus Adolfus, it proved to be too top heavy to be seaworthy. It sat in Stockholm harbour perfectly preserved until 1961 when it was raised and eventually housed in Stockholm ' most popular museum.
In the dimly lit (for preservation purposes) museum it rises up like a ghost ship. We were in the museum for 3 hours, examining the fascinating exhibits. They even display the skeletons of some of the 30 victims, with profiles of the individuals based on their clothing, tools, facial characteristics and even nutrient deficiencies.
Next on the agenda was a trip to a Unesco World Heritage site cemetary, the Skogskyrkogården. It was designed in the 1920s by two cutting edge architects in the modernist style. We particularly liked the meditation grove, accessed by a long stairway to the top of the hill.
The departed are buried right in the forest between the trees.
We finished up with dinner in a tiny restaurant in the old town. So tiny the patrons were seated on child-sized seats so more people could fit in. No wonder we were the oldest people in the place.
We also checked out the royal palace andand city hall. We meant to climb the tower at city hall to get the view, but there was a 20 minute wait, so instead we took the ferry
over to Djurgarden for lunch in the Blaporten cafe's garden. Mmmm, delicious Swedish meatballs!
Then we headed over to the Vasa museum. The Vasa was a warship built in the 1600s that sank 45 minutes into its maiden voyage. Built to demonstrate the power of King Gustavus Adolfus, it proved to be too top heavy to be seaworthy. It sat in Stockholm harbour perfectly preserved until 1961 when it was raised and eventually housed in Stockholm ' most popular museum.
In the dimly lit (for preservation purposes) museum it rises up like a ghost ship. We were in the museum for 3 hours, examining the fascinating exhibits. They even display the skeletons of some of the 30 victims, with profiles of the individuals based on their clothing, tools, facial characteristics and even nutrient deficiencies.
Next on the agenda was a trip to a Unesco World Heritage site cemetary, the Skogskyrkogården. It was designed in the 1920s by two cutting edge architects in the modernist style. We particularly liked the meditation grove, accessed by a long stairway to the top of the hill.
The departed are buried right in the forest between the trees.
We finished up with dinner in a tiny restaurant in the old town. So tiny the patrons were seated on child-sized seats so more people could fit in. No wonder we were the oldest people in the place.
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