William and Adessa vs. The Caviar

I thought this was too funny! Love them.

Sweden Day 3- Big Bad Vasa

On our last day in Stockholm, dad and I went to dinner with Jorgen and his girlfriend Angela. They took us to their favourite restaurant that they said was "very special." When they like something a lot like a place or a food dish they say that it is "very special." I sat down to order and asked them what was good. Jorgen suggested I get this appetizer with "shrimps," but Angela quickly responded that she wanted to "control" me and suggested that I order this certain appetizer. Jorgen then suggested the salmon, so I took his advice. The appetizer....grilled bread bits with red caviar on top and filled with a shrimp dill cream filling. The funny thing is that the dish is served with vodka, and with each bite of shrimp and caviar you toss it down with a shot of vodka. Since I don't drink I told Jorgen he was welcome to my vodka, he told me if I didn't drink it they would think I was from another planet.....which I sort of am ;) I told him I wanted him to enjoy it, but Angela said "no way, the vodka is mine," and then she drank it gone. Angela and I had an instant connection and we became immediate friends. When the salmon and potatoes came the salmon was raw. Apparently raw salmon is customary in Sweden, but I am not accustomed to it, so I didn't love it. Dinner was fun and Jorgen and Angela are great.

During the day dad and I went to the Vasa museum. This is an amazing old ship that was salvaged from the water 300 years after it sunk. They say that the recovery of the Vasa is as amazing as the building of it. The ship was able to recover in 1 piece which is miraculous and was so well preserved because she sank where the sweet water and the salty water meet. If she had sunk further either direction she would have been destroyed by the nature of the water.

The Vasa was built between 1626-1628 and sank less than a nautical mile on its maiden voyage. The ship lay still in the water until it was rediscovered in 1950. The ship was salvaged in 1961. The story of the Vasa is fascinating and includes a history of a crazy narcissistic king. For more about the Vasa click HERE  

The Vasa as she was recovered.

The Vasa as she looked when she set sail.

The King had designed the ship and the architects were too cowardly to confront him about his flawed design. Because the ship was so top heavy, had two rows of cannons, and wasn't built deep enough, it began to tip as it started to sail. When the ship tipped water began to rush in through the canon holes causing the ship to sink even more quickly.

The carving and intricacy of the ship is remarkable. I have never seen such finite detail on anything in my life, especially something that was going to be in the water.

This is what the carved figures would have looked like before the colour disappeared under water.

These are piles of dye and the sources from which they came. These are the dyes that were used to create the paint that was used on the Vasa.

The pictures are blurry because it was really dark inside the museum, and when I used my flash it darkened out the intricacy of the work.

We spent longer at the Vasa than either of thought we would have wanted to. After the Vasa we headed to the Nobel building.

This picture is for Chris Jenkins our architect friend. I saw it and thought that he would love it since he likes modern architecture.

The Nobel building is right on the water. You walk through the arches and down some steps that lead right into the water.

Stockholm is amazingly beautiful. I know that I have said that a lot, but is one if not the most beautiful city I have been to.

Alfred Nobel was the inventor of dynamite. In 1888 when his brother passed away his passing was mistaken for Alfred's. When a false obituary was written of Alfred calling him "the merchant of death," Nobel decided that he did not want to be remembered in this way. Thus the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Dalarna Hess has become one of the symbols of Sweden. I knew that when I came I wanted to get my own Dalarna Hess to add to my ever growing eclectic assortment of treasures. Jorgen being the sweet man that he is bought me a Dalarna Hess and then said that they have them on hand to give to clients....wink wink. I loved it.

Dad and I were a bit tired of walking so we ditched our shoes, sat on a step, and put our feet in the cold water. In the winter time the sweet water freezes over.

I was a little sad to leave this beautiful place. I loved Sweden and the warm friendly and loving Swedish people. Jorgen was so thoughtful, sweet, and kind. He spoiled us evil.... me in particular with that beautiful Dalarna Hess. Seeing Inga was a dream come true and I have already received an email from Gunilla about our family and possibly coming again. Inga loved her book I gave her and sent me home with a doll that had belonged to my grandma's sister Karren as well as with a crystal dish. Hospitable and loving.....I am proud to be a Swede. Now, if I can only work on that "big American" bit......lol.

Sweden Day 2

I knew when I came to Sweden exactly what I wanted to see. Hubby and I had been to the Ballenberg Open Air Museum in Switzerland and loved it, so when I saw Skansen Open Air Museum (the first open air museum) in Stockholm, we WERE going. Jorgen was excited that we were going to Skansen and told us to go on Tuesday when they have their "All Sing." Skansen's "All Sing" has been going since 1940, and is a live music sing along television program. Dad and I were excited for both the museum and the sing along.

Rather than walking dad and I rode this rickety tram to the top of the museum.

Timber houses

Family house

Tapestry of Saints

Baby Swing

The green thing in the corner is the husband and wife's bed. You pull the curtain around to....for....umm....to keep the snoring from waking up the children ;) ;) ;)

My obsession with windows prevails.

A weaving loom. We were told that before a girl could marry she had to weave all of the blankets and towels that would be necessary to sustain a household. I think the number was 11? Should have written it down. Anyway, it would take her about 2 years of weaving before she was completed and ready to enter her own home.

I loved these beautiful wooden spoons.

Viking Rune Stone. Most of these stones were to mark the grave of death of a fallen warrior.

This is one of the most popular churches for Swede's to marry in to this day.

Another house

Window obsession

 This house belonged to a blacksmith. Blacksmith's made more money than farmers so they had nicer homes.

This peacock was a total poser!

The All Sing was amazing. It was so much fun to see people of all stages come and enjoy the traditional and new music of Sweden. I felt very much at home here, there were a lot of families and people who were happy and friendly.

The last number of the show had a Jewish person, a Nun, an Arab person, a Gay person, and others performing to a song that was about "it doesn't matter who you are we love each other." It was really quite funny and a bit propaganda-ish, but it had a good message. Looks like they are ingraining it into the young via live music television.

When we left Skansen I suggested we take the scenic route back to the hotel. Scenic it was!

However, just because it was scenic doesn't meant it was a good idea. Dad and I were lost walking the streets of Stockholm at night for 1.5-2 hours. Thank heavens for dad's Swedish and the fact that we were in a great city. Had this happened in Lausanne, Switzerland I am pretty sure people would still be looking for our bodies. We got to the hotel somewhere in the time frame of 11:00-11:30 p.m. We laughed pretty hard on our walk. Dad asked a guy for directions, he told us "You are way way way far away" he then offered to give us a ride, dad declined. Next time I am going to take the ride and let dad find the hotel on his own ;)