3/8/26 Nordic Museum

 

    Today we're off to the Nordic Museum , we walked past here on the way to the Vasa Museum the other day . The roof is different .

This is the end of the museum building 

The main entrance doors are impressive .

King Gustav Vasa dominates the area just inside the doors , looking down at you from his pedestal .

Each wing extends out from the entry doors , massive ceilings above are tricking you , thinking you are looking at the sky - it's a projection .

Going up the stairs at the end we start at the top and work our way down . The view down the stair well is interesting .

The display starts way back when life was simply but hard , working it's way through time . Displays are good . These are made from the bark of the Birch tree

A sewing machine from well back , still working and hand driven .

We worked our way down through the exhibits and down to ground floor , looking back at the other end . The rocking horses almost look like giants .

The day was over again and we made our way back to the house . Later in the evening the deer that we saw the other day was back , and she brought her family with her , this young one was enjoying having a play with mum in the back yard . Mums the blurry bit to the right of junior . Must have wanted to say goodbye to us , as we leave tomorrow .

2/8/26 Skinnarviksparken

 

    Yesterday , we stayed at home , the lunch the day before wasn't sitting well . Justin & Isla went to the amusement park in town and had a ball - she came home with the biggest smile , but was completely knackered . We managed to go out for a walk to the supermarket to get some supplies . 

   Today however , we were back on track and went back towards the city , but stopped one station short , before jumping onto another train taking us a few stops west . There we wandered up to a park were Isla had a play before continuing on to a vantage point on top of a rock hill . There's an antenna on it and around the base are 3 murals .

 Made for an interesting view .Talking of views , we overlooked the Town Hall 

More impressive buildings lined the waters edge where many boats were moored , ready for cruises or dining or both , not to mention the ever present ferries .

Definitely not dull looking buildings at all .

Walking back down we found another playground for Isla , then counted toward a restaurant Justin had found for us . This well restored Dodge was in a carpark .

Through a busier section we found another park with impressive fountains in it .

Interesting building , corners recessed for the doorway 

Someone enjoyed the Lions .

An interesting way of stopping vehicles from entering the area , beats bollards !!

We made our way to a restaurant , ready for our genuine Swedish meal . 

Here's our menu 

The restaurant was nicely setup 

And here was my meal - Reindeer Stew with cranberries and mashed potatoes - it was delicious , sorry santa 🍖 Justin and I both enjoyed this .

Lyn & Isla had the meatballs , which was also delicious .

 Everything went well with a couple of swedish beers , served by a wonderful gentleman who kept us entertained . 

   Back to our usual transport and back home . We bought a weekly travel card for each of us , and it lets us travel on trains , trams buses and ferries . We haven't had to buy any other fares during our week here - win, win ,win . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1087u_6UAe49awBQuTFAAW6ugm42X7tA&usp=sharing

31/7/26 Vaxholm & Vaxholmen Castle

 

   Today , a different track . To Central station , a tram and a walk to a ferry terminal to Vaxholm . The rides all went sort of to plan , with some parts cancelled , so we walked between stops and caught the next tram . Miscalculated a bit we ended up having a longer walk , but took us past some more impressive architecture .  This building is the Royal Dramatic Theatre , fairly dramatic gilt lights & portico .

This is The Esplanade Hotel on the left and the Diplomat Hotel on the right 

Continuing on , we arrived at the ferry terminal in time and didn't have to wait long before we boarded the ferry . Vaxholm is about an hours ferry ride away , out in amongst the islands . Here's the crew .

 Someone was a bit interested in my photo .

   As we pulled out from the dock , we became one of the multitude of boats & ferries out on the water .I sat inside for a bit , but it was far better being out on the back deck in the fresh air , checking out all the views . This sculpture caught my eye , a man on a board reaching for the stars .

 

The ferry stopped at a few locations along the way , many of them on small islands that don't have road access .

     Coming into Vaxholm , we spotted a castle , which is approximately 200m away from Vaxholm dock . It's Vaxholmen Castle .

  

We discovered a bustling little town , restaurants & bars everywhere . We spotted this Hotrod - who would have thought a Volvo could look this good 😆😉

 Not to be outdone , an elderly gentleman drove up in this Ferrari convertible , and showed he probably shouldn't be driving , by the way he hit the gutter & mounted the curb !!

These yellow boats are vehicular ferries and were constantly going between Vaxholm and another island nearby , for the whole time we were here . They were carrying buses , trucks , cars etc.

       

After some Thai for lunch , we crossed over to Vaxholem castle via another ferry and wandered around it for a while . This family of swans were there to greet us .

                                                There were a few geese as well

    The castle seemed to have it's fair share of weaponry to protect it , from cannons to modern day guns .

    Some definitely would have been in place here , but others were brought in for display .

We caught the ferry back to Vaxholm , then the ferry back to Stockholm, our day done . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1-57KysOWU3KRD7GcFDA2-KVkojrwNZo&usp=sharing

30/7/26 Vasa Museum

 

   Today we headed back to the old city again , this time to catch a ferry across to the Vassa Museum . The ferries run frequently and there are boats going in all  directions . We watched a small cruise ship come in and anchor up yesterday , it was still there today . Getting off the ferry we walked up past the Nordic Life Museum , another impressive building .

The spires above it glistening gold in the sunlight .

Seems they have museums for everything here in Stockholm , never imagined this one though !!

  Arriving at the Vasa Museum , we walked straight in with our pre purchased tickets , jumping the queues of people waiting patiently outside . There are hundreds of people here already .

The story of the Vasa - it sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 , about 1.3klms from the dock , it overturned and sank to the bottom of the harbour where it stayed till 1961- that's 333 years on the bottom of the harbour . About 30 people died . Up to 2025 approximately 45million visitors have seen it and remains 98% intact . It was grossly overloaded with cannons causing it to be top heavy , and it overturned when a  wind stronger than a breeze was blowing , causing water to rush in some of the cannon hatches .

The carvings and finish of the boat were remarkable 

 There are several levels to view the boat from and lots of different artefacts on show as well 

The bronze cannons were recovered in the 17th century , but nothing else . Some of the original sails were recovered , along with clothing , leather gloves , cutlery , cooking equipment etc .

 Some of the cannon balls were impressive as well , the spilt one at the end designed to bring down ships rigging , the next 2 to tear the sails , and the all round one to blast holes in the hull .

This boat was to be a showpiece for the navy and lead the fleet , but never got anywhere near that !!

     The mast's aren't fully extended in the museum , so this would have been a mighty ship back in the day. But if it hadn't of sank to the bottom of the harbour , we wouldn't be able to see it now .

We also visited another small museum on the way back to the ferry , it was to do with recovery of things in the ocean , showing procedures and methods for recovering things . 

We got the ferry back to Gamla Stan and back on the train /bus trip home . Later that evening , we had a visitor in the backyard . This elegant young deer decided to come & say hello .

   Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1moU9CmoTx2zuLmSVj6C1BUIfX-yBBrg&usp=sharing