Wasa Museum

Another neat ship I told the lady at EZ Storage about was the Swedish warship Wasa. The ship was ahead of its time in that it was the first double decker warship. If the ship had worked, it would've given the Swedish Navy a huge advantage in naval combat. Unfortunately, ship building at that time was hit and miss and, this ship missed. The ship was top heavy. Swedish naval authorities knew the ship had problems. Swedish Vice Admiral Klas Fleming was present during a test done at the ship's pier where 30 men ran up and down the rigging. The ship nearly capsized at the pier. Fleming is reported as saying he wished the King (Gustav II Adolf) were there. Presumably so, the King could see the problems his ship had.

On August 10th, 1628, the ill-fated ship set sail. It didn't even make it out of the harbor before the ship heeled to port, took massive amounts of water through its gun ports and capsized. Later, in 1956, Anders Franzen researched and searched for the sunken Wasa. With the help of diver Per Edvin Falting, he successfully found the Wasa. He would arrange salvage and, in 1961, the Wasa returned to the surface. In 1990, the museum that displays the Wasa was opened (Source:http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/The-Ship/Life-on-board/).

The ship is incredible and 95% original. It looks very much like a ghost ship. Also, the ship is huge. The museum that holds the magnificent ship is approximately 3 stories high. In my opinion, this museum is one of the must see museums in Stockholm. The ship is really impressive and is a time capsule into the 17th century. As far as I know, it is the only surviving 17th century warship in the world. I highly recommend this incredible museum. A web site with information in English about the ship can be found at: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/

Karlstad

After my last post, I walked over to O'Leary's Sports Bar. It's a nice restaurant filled with memorabilia from Massachusetts. One wall had an advertisement promoting Ted Williams Root Beer. Another had an newspaper article telling about the retirement of Carl Yeztremski's number (he played for the Boston's Red Sox). Because this is Sweden, they were showing British Football matches on the numerous television screens they had on the walls. Food wise, I was very pleased. I ordered they Celtics Bar-b-que hamburger with fries. The burger was large and so was the order of fries. Beer wise, I wasn't impressed with their selection of international brews. I had a Newcastle Brown Ale and a local brand export lager. They were nice. It ended up being a nice meal and I'd recommend the place if you're ever in Stockholm. After this fine meal, I chilled in my hotel room till I crashed.

The next morning, it was time to depart Stockholm. I quickly packed my bag and left it outside my hotel room for pick-up. Because it was Sunday, we left later than usual. Gripsholm Castle doesn't open till 11 a.m. on Sundays. The castle was originally built by the Lord Chancellor of Sweden back in the 13th or 14th century. Later, King Gustav Vasa bought it and changed it into a royal residence. The castle is filled with portraits of royalty and other nobles. It has something like 4,000 such portraits and is the largest such collection in the world. The people who run the castle provided us a guide who showed us around the castle. She was fantastic. If you ever visit Mariefred, this castle is worth visiting.

Also, at Mariefred is the Mariefred railway. It's a small train that runs on small gauge track. It's a beautiful train and looks like it would be a lot of fun to ride. It actually runs all the way to where you could catch the modern trains to Stockholm so it actually serves a legitimate purpose besides providing a neat experience to those lucky enough to ride it.

Once people were done seeing Gripsholm Castle, it was time to continue our journey on to Karlstad where we spent the night. It's a nice enough town and on our way to Norway. At Karlstad, we checked into a hotel that had been a former prison. It supposedly housed some of Sweden's most notorious criminals. Its a neat hotel.

This morning, we depart for Lillehammer, Norway. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

Stockholm Continued

Last night, I got to do a walking tour of the Old City of Stockholm. There are buildings there that date from the time of the Hanseatic League. It was something to wander the cobblestone streets. The Old City is filled with shops and restaurants. Our guide took us to one that has a 13th century wine cellar. There, we enjoyed a glass of wine, a bowl of onion soup, reindeer stew (or fish) with mash potatoes and linden berries and a slice of apple tart. The food was fantastic and with the tour of the Old City made for a wonderful night.

This morning, we had the tour of the city proper with an optional tour of the Wasa Museum. Our guide was a city guide. She knew the ins and outs of Stockholm and was a delight. She had a very funny personality. With her guiding us, we got to see the city hall where the Nobel awards banquet is held. It's a beautiful building reminiscent of an Italian piazza. After that, we visited a spot where we could get a good shot of the hall. Then, we were off to where we could get good views of the harbor. We also drove around with her giving us a narrative of the city.

After the city tour, those who didn't sign up for the Wasa tour either returned to the hotel or were dropped off by harbor where they could take a harbor tour or do some shopping. Then, it was on to the Wasa Museum.

The Wasa Museum holds the 16th century warship Wasa. It was commissioned by Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus the II. It was the first double deck warship. Unfortunately, it was top heavy and sank on its maiden voyage. It remained on the bottom of Stockholm harbor until 1961 when it was raised. The warship is a striking ship because it is so well preserved. It also has over 700 statues adorning it. The museum shows a 25 minute movie clip that tells of the history of the ship and how it was raised. The museum is fascinating and worth doing if you like history or sailing ships.

After the Wasa Museum, everyone had a free afternoon. I chose to go in search of the Hard Rock Cafe so I could get some Stockholm t-shirts. I got one heck of a shock when I finally found it. It isn't close at all to the harbor. I had a long walk getting there and a long walk getting back. Still, I got my t-shirts.

I'm a little pooped so I plan to check out a sports bar and restaurant that is close to the hotel. I'm hoping they'll have some Victoria Bitter. If not, they'll hopefully have a good burger. For some reason, I'm really in the mood for a good hamburger. We'll see. That's all for now. Cheers all!

Stockholm

I've arrived in Stockholm. Now, I'll fill you in what's been happening since my last post. Globus provided a free dinner for us last night at the hotel. It turned out to be so-so. I found it disappointing after the awesome dinner we had in Arhus, Denmark. We had an early departure so I hit the sack early. To my annoyance, I couldn't get the air conditioning in the room to work right. Because of that, I didn't sleep well.

One good thing about not sleeping well is it makes it easy to get up early. I did and had my bag ready and waiting. Then, I headed to breakfast. It turned out the hotel did a better job on breakfast than it did on dinner. I was pleasantly pleased.

After breakfast, I chilled for a little before boarding our bus. We had a long drive as we had to drive completely across Sweden and then go North. It ended up being a 6 hour trip with a 1 hour stop for lunch. The drive was nice as we got to see the Swedish countryside and some of their numerous lakes. It rained some but that wasn't a problem as we were inside the bus. Finally, we arrived in Stockholm around 3:15 p.m. Ironically, we arrived early and the hotel wasn't ready for all of us. Cleaning ladies were still working on our rooms. As they finished, we received our room assignments.

Tonight, for those of us who signed up for it, we get to do a walking tour of the Old City of Stockholm. After that, we have dinner in a 13th century wine cellar. It should be a nice evening. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

Tour Update

I've arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden today. We took a ferry from Fredericshavn, Denmark. The ferry crossing was uneventful. Harvey and I explored the ferry and there wasn't anything exciting. After we arrived and got back on the bus, Arvid our guide, took us up a hill where we could see all of Gothenburg Harbor and the city. It was an impressive view. I took a few pictures. Then, we drove around the city a little before arriving at our hotel. The Scandic Europa is all right. After I dropped off my bag in my room, I headed for the Gothenburg Hard Rock Cafe where I bought t-shirts for my sister and I. There are only 2 more cafes on my list: Stockholm and Oslo.

Now, I'd like to catch you up on everything else that has happened. Yesterday, it was time to depart Copenhagen. We pulled out around 8 a.m. and drove to Odense. Odense is the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson. We visited his home/museum. It was very nice. I was particularly struck by all the hardships Anderson suffered in his life. He showed incredible perseverance.

After Anderson's home, we headed to Arhus where we visited Den Gamle By. Den Gamle By houses a number of old Danish buildings from the 16th to early 20th century. I found the old buildings fascinating. We had an hour and a half to explore and I wish we'd stayed longer. It is definitely worth visiting.

It was time to head to our hotel. We stayed at the SAS Radisson. According to Arvid, it is the best of the hotels we'll stay in. My impression was it is a superb hotel. I wish we had stayed in something like it in Copenhagen. At 7 p.m., we had a group dinner though dinner doesn't do it justice. It was more of a feast. If you didn't leave stuffed, it was because you didn't want to. The dinner was outstanding. The next morning, I cut back on breakfast because of the dinner the night before.

That's all to report. Tomorrow morning, we depart for Stockholm. It'll be a bit of a long drive, over 300 miles. Still, we'll get to see lots of Swedish countryside. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers!