Rick Steves Tour of Scandinavia - Part 3: Stockholm

 

June 5: Stockholm City Walk and the Vasa Warship Museum

A Walk Through Gamle Stan

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Stockholm and met our guide, Håkon, a tall thin Swede with a gray ponytail, right after breakfast. He led us down the hill past a nearby church, the Army Museum, and the big red-brick Army stables, which still house the beautiful horses used by the military here.

Hedvig Eleonora Kyrka is an 18th Century octagonal church.

The Army Museum

Army Stables

Gates of the Army Stables

If I remember correctly, this was an old bakery.

In additional to pointing out various sights on our way to Gamle Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm, Håkon talked a lot about the social structure of Sweden. He was proud that they are the most “woke” county in the world. We learned a lot more about their social democracy: parents get a full year of paid parental leave when they have a new baby, and they can split it up anyway they choose, so both parents can spend time with the new baby. Often the mom takes the first half of the baby’s first year, and the father takes the second half. These men are nicknamed “Latte Dads” as they often spend time in the coffee cafes.

Håkon made us laugh when he said, “King Carl Gustav does his kinging from 9 to 5, then goes home to the Queen, who has dinner ready on the stove.”

We also learned about the Swedish political structure. Around 87% of the population votes in the elections. There are many political parties, and if a party receives at least 4% of the vote, then they will have members in Parliament. There are 349 members of Parliament elected every 4 years. If your party received 30% of the votes, then members of that party will make up 30% of Parliament. I like this so much better than a two-party system. America is so diverse that we can’t really be divided into only two camps with a few fringe and unelectable people in the few alternative parties. Sweden does have a king, Carl Gustav, but he is a ceremonial figurehead now. Håkon made us laugh when he said, “He does his kinging from 9 to 5, then goes home to the Queen, who had dinner ready on the stove.”

Along the way to Gamle Stan, we passed several interesting sights, such as Raoul Wallengberg torg in Berzelii Park, which commemorates the Swedish diplomat who went to Hungary and saved 10,000 Jews from the Holocaust. It stands just outside of the Synagogue of Stockholm.

Statue of John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer and inventor.

Memorial of the destruction of the Jews in the Holocaust

Memorial to Raoul Wallenberg

Synagogue of Stockholm

Menorah at the entry to the Synagogue sits in front of a wall with the names of all 
Stockholm Jews killed in the Holocaust.

We continued on through a park and past the Stockholm Opera House toward Gamle Stan and the views of the Royal Palace.

Statue of King Karl XII, who ruled from 1697 to 1718

The Opera House was undergoing renovations.

King Gustavus Adolphus, who reigned from 1611 to 1632, 
is known as the father of modern warfare.

A view of the Royal Palace in Gamle Stan

Gamle Stan sits right between the Baltic Sea and Lake Målaren. As the land has risen over the years, the lake now sits a few feet higher than the sea, so the Swedes have built a sort of dam between the two under the bridge to Gamle Stan. We strolled past the Parliament Building and on through Gamle Stan, snapping photos of the various buildings that Håkon described. We ended the morning tour with a visit to Håkon’s home, an apartment in a building built in the 1600s!

The barrier between the Baltic Sea and Lake Målaren

The Gates of the Parliament Building

View of Gamle Stan

Walking past the buildings of Parliament

Our group in the square in front of the Nobel Prize Museum

Nobel Prize Museum

I loved the artwork and decorations filling the colorful old city.

Our group walks through Marten Trotzigs Grand,
the narrowest street in Stockholm.

Hakon greets a friend and fellow guide.

This little square was voted the most charming spot in Stockholm.

Our group approaches Hakon's home.

Taking a break from the walking tour in Hakon's library.

The Vasa Warship Museum

Following our morning walk, we took a short ferry ride across to Djurgarden to visit the Vasa Warship Museum. From our ferry, we could see the rides of Stockholm's Tivoli.

Our ferry

Tivoli

Sharon, Joanne, Dan, and I had some fun with the Viking 
in front of the Viking Museum

The masts of the Vasa protrude through the roof of the Museum.

Vasa Museum

Rob and I had visited the Vasa Museum many years before, but I was happy to visit again, as the ship is an amazing sight. King Gustavus Adolphus commissioned the Vasa warship. It was built between 1626 and 1628. The king wanted to demonstrate the might of Sweden, which was at war with Poland-Lithuania, so he demanded that the huge ship have two gundecks. The exterior of the ship was elaborately carved with hundreds of figures of soldiers, lions, and symbols representing Sweden, all brightly painted. When the ship took its maiden voyage in August of 1628, and thousands of people turned out on the docks to watch. The ship sailed majestically out into the bay a few hundred meters, a brisk breeze came up, filled the sails…and tipped the top-heavy ship on its side! It sank within minutes. Many of the sailors escaped, but at least 30 men and women were drowned.

A model of the Vasa in all her original glory stands next to
the remains of the recovered ship.

In 1961, the ship was raised from the sea. Because it had been buried in mud in brackish water, it is remarkably well-preserved. The history and restoration process are explained in an excellent video in the museum. The ship itself fills the center of the huge room, and there are several levels from which to observe the carvings and other features. The carvings are astounding. Soldiers, symbols of royalty, angels, lions, and grimacing gargoyles cover the prow and stern and much of the sides of the ship.

The Vasa Warship dominates the room, showing the double deck of cannons
that helped cause her to sink.

Carvings cover much of the ship

Just imagine this ship when she was launched in all her glory!

Around the perimeter of the museum are displays of reproductions of what the carvings would have looked like when painted, along with actual artifacts taken from the ship…ship supplies, cannons and other armaments, and even clothing taken from the bodies of the sailors, as well as the skeletons of some of the drowned men. There is a room also highlighting the contributions of the women who had helped with the ship’s preparations. This is a “must-see” museum if you come to Stockholm!

Reproductions of carvings painted in their original colors.

Artifacts taken from the wreck include everything from cannons to clothing!

Both men and women died in the sinking of the Vasa.  Scientists recreated their appearances from the skeletons found in the wreckage.

The weather continued to be sunny and much warmer than I had anticipated, so I used the free afternoon to find a large, modern shopping mall and buy a lightweight T-shirt. This was NOT the weather I had packed for, but I can hardly complain about sunny, warm weather!

The Wellington Hotel offers a light dinner for its guests, and after all the walking today in the warm weather, several of us were happy to take advantage of it. Tomorrow, we would be up early and boarding our bus for more of sights of Sweden!