Free Time in Stockholm Day 1

We had two free days in Stockholm on our trip and we tried to make the most of them, although slightly hampered by the OH's disdain for Public Transport. The interesting bits of Stockholm are fairly compact, but fairly compact is a variable concept and his and mine certainly don't co-terminate. I will draw a veil over the bouts of marital discord this engendered, and you will be relieved to hear that I never did take a photo of the huge and painful blister I developed on one of my toes as a result of being forced to walk everywhere all the time even when the sensible option would have been to take the underground.

 

Incidentally as far as the blister goes it went from 'No, there's nothing there, I can't see why it's painful, maybe you've just rubbed your foot against your sandal' to 'Gosh, yes, that's a really horrible blister, you really don't want to be walking any further than you have to on that, and for goodness sake don't prick it' in less than 24 hours. I am fairly convinced that the actuality of the blister didn't change, just a certain person's perception of it. Also, after 36 years of marriage during which I have never ever been tempted to burst a blister I do not really know why he was suddenly so set on telling me not to do it. The thought would never have crossed my (pain-numbed) mind.

 

Anyway one of the free days we spent visiting the Vasa Museum. It was decades, literally, since our last visit so we were keen to go and see it again, take in a bit more of it, and see the updated displays and so on. Here's  the website, and here's what it says on the front page, which tells you what you need to know about what the Vasa is and why it's important.

 

The Vasa ship capsized and sank in Stockholm 1628. After 333 years on the sea bed the mighty warship was salvaged and the voyage could continue. Today Vasa is the world's only preserved 17th century ship and the most visited museum in Scandinavia.

 

One of the great things about the Museum is that there are hardly any restrictions on taking photographs, although to be fair the light levels make personal photography a bit of a challenge. Here's a selection of what I took

 

 

 

The top two are of the small scale model they have beside the original; underneath is a detail from the restored stern of the real thing.

 

more carvings from the interior of the reclaimed ship

 

Our lunch table - as you can see it was a grey mizzly day. But it's a lovey setting for a museum café. Can I just say the Museum Shop is also excellent. We spent a lot of money in there, and could have spent a lot more had we not restrained ourselves.

 

It was a long, possibly refreshing, walk back to our hotel, which wasn't the most conveniently situated to be honest. What with the blister and the rain we decided to eat in the hotel; this turned out to be a mistake as it was the worst, most expensive and inefficiently served meal we had during our whole stay. Possibly because it was Sunday. Or possibly not.