Stockholm, Sweden
On this layover day we lingered in our summer-camp bunkhouse until 9. We marveled at how quiet our group of 14 people were last night (no snorers) and this morning (everyone was up and out before Lisa woke up.)
We had breakfast, made our plans for the day and set out. Our first stop was a post office to mail some things back to our families. The post office was in a shopping center, AND it was combined with a wine store. Strange!!!
One thing about post offices here. When you enter, you take a number that is fed out of an electronic machine. There are several TV's and readerboards that show the customer number that is being served and at which window number. That way, you don't have to wait in line. You can read, write postcards, relax, or whatever until your number comes up.
Well, when I entered this combination post office and wine store, I got a number. It was only after talking with some people that I realized I had a number to be served in the wine shop -- not the post office. My dumb mistake. NO big problem though. I got the right number (and it was lower :-) and enjoyed the conversation with others there.
The post office was in a mall. Lisa was looking for a bathroom. The only one available, it seemed, was in a McDonalds. She went there and was amazed to find that SHE HAD TO PAY to get into the bathroom. Though it was not much money, (only 5 SKR which is about $0.40 US), it was the principle! . . . so she held it.
We walked from there down into the center of town. We checked a couple sport shops and bike shops for some clothing items we needed. (Swedish printed bike shirts, Goretex vest, socks, quick-dry running bra, support stockings.) Our only success was with the running bra.
We heard about a really compete bike store on the edge of town. We took a subway out there, but to no avail.
We did enjoy the subway though. It is spacious, clean, frequent and fast. It's a spider-web type system with lines emanating out from the center of town in all directions -- much like Washington's Metro or London's Tube.
We took the subway back in to town and then to the Gamla Stan area. We walked to the Jerusalem Kebab & Cafe, a place we had spotted a yesterday, for lunch. It's in a small, cobblestone alley just off the main, pedestrian, shopping street in the old town.
After a delicious lunch, we decided we didn't want to go to a movie on this last day in Stockholm. Because the weather was so beautiful, (By the way, many Swedes thanked us for bringing them this good weather. These were the first two sunny days they've had this year, they said.) we decided to tour around a bit more. Lisa checked out a few more shops.
From the Gamla Stan we took a ferry over to the Skansen, another island in the city (another by the way, Stockholm is a city that includes 14 islands and 27 bridges). This island was recommended in our Europe book as worth a visit.
The short ferry ride brought us to the Grona Lunds Tivoli, Stockholm's amusement park. We waved at the riders as we walked by on our way to the Vasamuseet. Now that was a sight.
The Vasamuseet is a building that was constructed to house the Vasa, a huge galleon-type, 1600's warship that was salvaged in 1961 and has been refurbished to it's original 1628 glory.
The Vasa has quite a story behind it. It was constructed in three years for King Gustaav Adolphus of Sweden. It was to be the King's ship -- the largest, grandest, most beautiful and most powerful warship afloat.
It was constructed from Black Oak. It had more than 500 sculptures and carvings on it's exterior surfaces. Each was painted in bright colors and/or was gilded. These were meant to impress onlookers with the wealth of the owner (the King).
It had 2 gun decks -- unusual for those times -- with 64 cannon. Forty-eight of them were the very large 24 pound cannon. Obviously these were meant to impress any enemies.
Unfortunately, shipbuilding was more of an art than a science in those days. So when the King insisted on the second gun deck and the very high tail, the shipbuilder did not adjust accordingly.
So, the ship sunk on it's maiden voyage in 1628, right in the Stockholm Harbor. It sailed for about 20 minutes, covering about 4,000 feet, when a breeze caught the sails and it heeled right over. The lower gun ports started taking on water and the ship sunk immediately.
Most of the cannon were salvaged at the time and the ship was forgotten about. It wasn't until 1958 that an archeologist realized that the brackish water of the Baltic Sea meant there would be no ship-worms to eat the wood, therefore the ship may be still well preserved in the mud at the bottom of the harbor.
The ship was salvaged in 1961 -- 333 years after it sunk. And it was in amazingly good shape.
What an interesting visit that was!
From-there we walked back to the hostel for dinner and a TK&A meeting. At the meeting we got a new itinerary and more info about Helsinki, Russia and Berlin.
Bottom-line? Japan is back in, some of the riding days are a little shorter, the time in Australia is a little sorter, and date and time of the flight to Australia has been firmed up. The general concensus was quite positive.
Whoops! Time for lights out in the dorm.
Love to all, David and Lisa
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