Stockholm Day 2-Vasa and Skansen

After our long travel day we all slept pretty well. Ali woke up just after midnight with leg pain, she gets that from time to time but she went back to bed quickly. I woke up at about 5:00 am. I spent some time checking emails and looking on Facebook and finally got up at 6:00. We woke the kids up around 6:30. We were pretty amused to find them sleeping in totally different spots than they fell asleep. Ali's head was by Connor's feet and they'd switched the sides of the bed they were on!

My crazy sleeping kids

We headed down to breakfast at about 7 am and my parents were already down there. There was hardly anyone at breakfast. The breakfast buffet had plenty to choose from and everyone found something they liked. It is so nice to have breakfast and dinner included at the hotel, it just makes things so much easier. When we were finished with breakfast I checked with the person at the desk to make sure my plan of taking the bus to where we were going today was the best choice, she assured me it was the best way.

Ali and I had matching braids today

We came back up to the room to get what we needed for the day and then set off to find the bus stop. Since we are only here for 3 days we decided not to get a prepaid card for our unlocked cell phone so we only have data service in wifi areas. It is making us a bit crazy though because we underestimated how much we rely on things like GoogleMaps when we don't know where we are going. Luckily we found the bus stop without a problem and we only had to wait about 15 minutes for the next bus (we'd just missed one). I was impressed that at the bus stop they had a computerized sign that updated how long until the next bus would be there. It was very nice to not just have to stand there and wonder.

The bottom screen shows how long until the bus arrive, it wouldn't show up in the picture but it was nice!

The bus came and we had no problem getting on with our Stockholm Cards. It was a short bus ride to our destination. Once we arrived we had a very short walk to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa Museum is a very popular tourist attraction in Stockholm. The museum opened at 8:30 and we arrived at 8:35. There was no line when we got there and the museum remained pretty empty until about 9:00 am when the tour groups started rolling in from the cruise ships, by the time we left at 10:30 it was packed with people and tour groups. Arriving early was a very good choice!

The Vasa Museum is amazing! The Vasa is a Swedish warship that sank just outside Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was top heavy and apparently a small gust of wind came up and the ship went over. The ship remained underwater until it was raised in 1961. The ship is in amazing condition for spending 333 years in water. The cold temperatures and brackish water in the harbor were apparently the perfect conditions for preserving it.

At the Vasa Museum you can see the ship today and they have many interesting exhibits about life on board the ship in that time period, the building of the ship, the sinking of the ship, and the recovery and conservation. We learned some fun facts, like with the sailors rations they were given 3 liters of beer a day because beer stayed good longer than water. We also learned the the barber on the ship also served as the doctor on the ship. If you visit the museum I encourage you to watch the 19 minute movie they show, it was interesting and we learned a lot that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Aren't the carvings amazing!

 

These are the colors that the carvings originally were

When we left to Vasa to head to Skansen we saw that that the line was very long to get into the museum, we were so happy that we'd arrived when the museum opened! It was a short walk to Skansen. On the way we stopped at a street vendor to buy a bottle of water, I told Dan to be sure not to get one with bubbles (mineral water) and he thought it didn't have bubbles but it did. Nobody in our family drinks mineral water so it went in the trash, next time he'll ask if it is "still" water. It was a pretty funny mistake and one I'm sure a lot of Americans make, we just aren't used to having more than one choice for water. Skansen is an open air folk museum. Entrance was included with our Stockholm Card, when we went through the entry gate they asked us if we'd like to pay extra to take the tram to the top of the hill. My parents opted to take the tram, my family opted not to. Honestly it was a short but kind of steep walk to the top of the hill. We actually arrived at the top the same time my parents did. I was happy to save a few dollars and just walk.

Skansen has homes and farm buildings that have been moved to the museum from around Sweden. It is a living history museum so there are also demonstrations you can see. We visited many of the homes, in the homes that were open there was a person inside who was happy to tell you about the home if you asked. We visited the post office and the kids were able to deliver mail to one of the farms. They were given a mailbag and a horn to blow to announce their arrival at the farm. It was a fun activity and both kids enjoyed it. When they delivered the mail, the lady at the farm building gave them a letter to take back to the post office. The kids were given a free postcard when they returned the mailbag and the horn to the post office.

Ready to deliver the mai

Connor's band skills came in handy with the mail horn

The kids loved this climbing structure!

We had an early lunch at the Skansen Terrace, we were early enough (11:45) that it really wasn't crowded. The food was very good. Everyone but me had Swedish meatballs and I had a cheese and veggie sandwich. The restaurant was self service so you went through a line and ordered and then carried your tray to the table. There were great views of the city from the restaurant.

Connor skipped the lingonberries with his meatballs

After lunch we explored some other parts of the museum. At one of the farm houses they had activities for the kids, Connor learned how to make a boat from a long leaf. Both kids tried carrying the water buckets with a yoke, I don't think heavy labor is in either of their futures. They also have animal exhibits at Skansen. We walked through some of them, the kids especially enjoyed seeing the Reindeer. I had pretty high expectations for Skansen, I think the Ballenberg Open Air museum in Switzerland is better but we still enjoyed Skansen.

This peacock seemed to want to walk with Dan

"This is heavy!"

"I'm smiling, can I put it down yet?"

Connor learning to make a boat from a leaf

Reindeer

Allotment Garden from the 1930's

On our way out we stopped at the Skansen Aquarium. It is a separate admission fee but was included on our Stockholm Card so we figured why not. They had a strange variety of animals including different kinds of monkeys, squirrels, fish, rodents, snakes, and lizards. To be honest I wasn't at all impressed. I was rather concerned about the living conditions of some of the animals, especially the monkeys. The tamarins were in an enclosure that wewere allowed to walk through, I wasn't concerned with our safety but it just didn't really seem fair to the tamarins to have a steady stream of people walking through their home all day. The Aquarium (with more furry animals than fish) wasn't my thing but I am sure some people would like it.

When we were done with the Aquarium we make a quick stop at the Skansen gift shop and headed to the bus stop. After a short bus ride and walk we were back at the hotel. We all rested before heading down to dinner at 6:30. The dinner buffet was busy again but we had no problem finding a place to sit. Tonight they had salmon as a main dish, my family doesn't eat fish but we found plenty of other things to eat on the cold buffet. It really is easy just to have dinner at the hotel and to not have to worry about heading out to a restaurant when you are tired from a long day!

I'd say our day today was a definite success! I'd recommend both the Vasa Museum and Skansen to visitors from Stockholm.

Tomorrow: Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace, and City Hall

 

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