One very full day in Stockholm

We spent yesterday morning in Gamla Stan, the “old” section of Stockholm. While the temperature never climbed much above 50, it was an amazing, blue sky day, and it was fun to walk around the narrow, cobblestoned streets. We walked up by Parliament, a large stone building near the water. We then went up to the Palace where we saw the soldiers getting ready for the changing of the guards.

We had lunch at a wonderful little cafe in Gamla Stan, where we had pressed sandwiches and a Swedish Apple Crisp doused in cream (we're going to gain 10 pounds each this trip!). Rachel did some shopping and perused the small boutiques while I meandered the streets taking pictures and listened to the street sounds of two fiddle players.

In the afternoon, we went back towards central Stockholm and over to the Vasa museum. We took a guided tour (in English), so I was able to learn the following:

The Vasa was a Swedish warship built for King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Construction began in 1626 and ended in 1628. The ship was made in preparation for Sweden's war with Poland, and King Gustavus Adolphus thought it would establish him and Sweden as a true power in Europe.

But the Swedes (and the dutch fellow they hired) apparently weren't the best warship builders. The elegant boat, decorated with fancy moldings of figures like King David and the Roman Emperors, was very top-heavy with inadequate ballast.

On August 10, 1628, the Vasa made its maiden voyage from outside the palace in Stockholm. The crew brought their women and children on board to celebrate the occasion (they planned, of course, to drop them off at one of the islands along the archipelago before heading off to war). They fired salutes to the Sweden before heading off to sea as thousands thronged the docks in celebration to see the ship make its glorious trip towards Poland, where the Swedish king was awaiting his new weapon.

But they didn't get that far.

In fact, the boat got no more than 15 minutes away from the dock when it tipped to one side, failed to right itself, and slipped rather sadly into sea. About 30 were killed, and many survived due to the accident occurring close to shore.

Because the Baltic sea isn't every salty, it doesn't allow a type of worm to thrive that typically eats away things like wood on the ocean floor. As a result, the Swedes were able to pull the ship up in the early 1960s. They couldn't just let it dry quickly though, because the wood would eventually just crack apart. In order to preserve it, they sprayed polyethylene glycol on it for 17 years and then allowed it to dry for nine years.

The result is truly incredible. It's the only fully-restored boat from the 17th century. They placed it in this museum and now it's eerie to look at this ship and think of its doomed voyage 400 years ago. Though it wasn't seaworthy, it looks glorious. The moldings along the side are extremely elegant, and it evoked various Hollywood images of conquest and war.

In the evening, we met Sarah around 5:30 p.m. and headed for the southern part of Stockholm to see the Hammarby Football (Soccer) Club. We stood in the general admission section, located behind the goal, with the hardcore fans. They screamed and sung songs the entire game enthusiastically, watching their team exercise futility against a much better Helsingborg team. The cold and wind swept up the stands and the three of us huddled together drinking Swedish beer.

Down two goals with only about 15 minutes to play, a fan threw and object at one of the officials and the game was called early. While they were deliberating whether or not to call the game, we hightailed it out of there because when they call a game they lock in the hardcore fans until the opposing team's fans leave.

In the evening, we retreated to the Scandic Alvic for a drink before heading to bed. Today, we're off to hopefully take a ferry today to one of the islands.