Stockholm!

Hello again!

The summer of fun has continued for Amanda and I: right after enjoying a two week visit from Amanda's parents, we had the chance to go to Stockholm, Sweden this past week:-)  We had been hoping to go to Stockholm for a year now, and thanks to generous bonuses from the school and Christmas money that we had saved for six months, it was possible!

Normally we wouldn't plan to travel again so soon after having visitors, but due to some timing issues associated with our visas, June was the best time for us to leave the country so we packed our bags and headed off to Sweden for nearly five days.

Stockholm is a gorgeous city that dates back to the 1200s and is only a one hour flight from St. Petersburg.  The old city is centered on the water that leads to a series of islands that connect to the Baltic Sea and is home to many historic buildings, palaces, and churches. We did our best to pack in as much as we could in the time that we were there and in the process managed to visit six museums, three historic churches, an open-air museum that recreates historic Swedish villages, and a few other buildings of interest along the way.  Needless to say, we spent a lot of time on our feet:-) Thankfully, most of the points of interest that we wanted to see were very close together so we were able to walk to many of them.

The biggest benefit of the trip for us was the chance to relax and get outside of St. Petersburg for a bit.  This past school year was wonderful in so many ways, but was also very tiring and we have been looking forward to a chance to unwind a bit.  This, plus the fact that virtually nothing in the city is open after 8 at night, meant that we made sure to enjoy some downtime as well.

We (and by "we" I mean mostly Amanda) took quite a few pictures, and what follows gives a glimpse of what we saw and did in our time in Stockholm! Clicking on the invidual photos will lead to much larger and more detailed images.

The oldest part of the city was built on an island.

There are many narrow streets and alleyways in the old city.

Central Stockholm is also home to a large number of beautiful brick churches.

A view from the water.

A view of the Royal Palace from the island across from it.

A view of the downtown area from an observation area further away.

The Stockholm metro has a number of fun stations, including the Thorildsplan station, which was closest to our hotel.  It is painting to look like a game of PacMan.

Amanda posing next to a boutique bearing her name on one of the main tourist streets in the city.

We visited the royal palace on our first full day in the city.  Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, with the king and royal family occupying a mostly symbolic position.  This palace in the center of Stockholm is the official residence of the royal family, although they spend most of their time at a palace outside of the city.

The palace itself is home to a number of museums and points of interest.  We visited the armory museum, royal chapel, royal apartments, and state rooms in the palace.

The armoury contained all sorts of historical artifacts from Swedish history, including armor, weapons, clothing from the 16th century forward, and many items belonging to the past kings and queens of Sweden.

An interactive portion gave visitors a chance to try on some replicas of things from the museum.

Queen Amanda under the considerable weight of a crown.  The monarchs of yore evidently had strong heads.

In the basement of the armory was a room that held several carriages used by the royal family over the centuries.  The low lighting of the museum makes it a bit hard to see, but the carriages are covered with paintings and detailed carvings.

One of the many churches that we visited was Storkyrkan, the Stockholm Cathedral. 

The massive altar dominates the center of the church.

A statue of Saint George slaying the dragon from the 1400s.

Parts of the cathedral still have beautiful painted ceilings.

We also visited the nearby German church.

The church boasts an impressive pipe organ.

A living statue that we came across in the old town.  If it weren't for the fact that she would blink periodically, I don't think we could have known that she wasn't a real statue!

When I put money in the hat she had laid out she briefly broke character:-)

Riddarholmskyrkan is another striking church in the old city. In addition to its beautiful exterior and striking spire, the church's interior serves as a crypt for many of the kings and queens of Sweden.

At the front of the church lie the sarcophagi of two Swedish kings: one from the 1200s and another from the 1400s.

The altar in the church.

An underground crypt containing several kings and the queens from the late 1600 and early 1700s.

A sign that I found amusing in the Medieval Stockholm Museum.  All of the museums that we visited had special areas for children to do hands-on projects and the Medieval Stockholm Museum had a special section devoted to comparing modern diet versus how people ate in the past.  However, that still doesn't quite explain the need to cross-stitch that helpful piece of advice that I photographed above.

The Medieval Stockholm Museum was a pleasant discovery that we hadn't planned on visiting but ended up going to because it was open until 7 on Weds. (virtually all the other points of interest close at 5).  The museum even had a miniature version of what medieval Stockholm would have looked like. 

This is actually a tiny model in the wall of the museum that shows what a typical medieval church interior in Sweden would have looked like.

The national historical museum was another destination of ours.  It has a large collection of items dating from the time of the Vikings (as well as from earlier and later materials).  This photo is of Viking-era silver jewelry.

Amanda was especially interested in seeing Viking artifacts since she had the chance to teach Norse mythology to her 10th and 11th grade class this past year and enjoyed getting into the history and literature of the Vikings.  The detailed artwork found on swords and ax-heads was a particular highlight. 

The museum also had a number of rune stones.  Runes were the symbols that the ancient Viking writings were left in and they were often carved on stones that were used to commemorate events or mark the grave of a person.

This massive rune stone was Amanda's favorite.  The pictures tell the story of a warrior entering into Valhalla (the place where warriors spent the afterlife in Norse mythology).

Ax-heads from Viking times, once again with detailed etchings.

The Ericsson Globe Arena was another fun site that we visited.  It is the "largest spherical construction in the world" and is a venue used for sports and concerts.  However, the reason we visited was to ride up to the top of it in one of the clear round gondolas that allow you to see an amazing view of the city.

Here is one of the gondolas.  Each one can hold around 16 people.

At the top and beginning our descent back down.

Looking down towards the ground from our gondola.  

A glimpse of the city from the top of the Ericsson Globe.

The Stockholm Town Hall was one of the sites we visited on our last full day in Stockholm.  The building was only finished in 1923, but it was made to look older so as to fit in with the surrounding area.

The interior of the building employs a number of different architectural styles, including this hall which is modeled after a Renaissance Italian palace and plaza.

We visited the Town Hall on Midsummer, one of the most popular holidays in Sweden that marks the day following the summer solstice.  Traditionally, people were crowns made out of flowers, which our tour guide was doing.  We saw many people throughout the day dressed with their flower crowns as well as a few individuals wearing traditional Swedish folk dress.

The city government of Stockholm meets in the Town Hall and this room is the location of their meetings.  The ceiling is modeled after the traditional long houses of the vikings.

One of the halls in the Town Hall was covered in gold mosaics in a Byzantine style.

A massive mural depicting Stockholm as a woman with the countries of the East and West on either side of her.

One of the coolest things we did in Stockholm was visit the Vasa Museum.  The Vasa was a ship that sunk in 1628 that was raised in 1961 in near perfect condition.  Over 98% of the ship is original and it is on display in Stockholm.  The level of preservation makes it something unique in the world and I would easily rank it among the most interesting things I have ever seen and a must for anyone who visits Stockholm.

The prow of the Vasa.  The ship was the first one built for the Swedish navy and was to be used in a war against Poland.  Unfortunately, the ship was far too narrow for its considerable height and a gust of wind caused it to capsize just ten minutes into maiden voyage in 1628 after it had traveled a distance of only 1200 meters.

The ship is covered in intricate wood carvings that have survived for nearly 400 years.

The back of the ship contains some of the most detailed carvings.

A view of the top of the ship.  Unfortunately, our camera battery died so we did not get as many photos as we would have wanted of the Vasa.  However, it was still easily a highlight for both of us:-)

That in a nutshell was our trip to Sweden.  We don't have any other plans to do major traveling this summer, so we will be settling in to a quiet time in St. Petersburg and will be working on ideas for school for next year and hopefully visiting a few places nearby.

Thanks for reading!

-Matt