My day began by purchasing a Stockholm Card, which allows access to all the city's museums and public transportation for an upfront fee. With all I wanted to see, I'm sure it will be worth the upfront expenditure. My first stop was the Nordic Museum. Originally designed to chronicle the history of all Scandianvian people, they gave up along on the way and now focus only on Swedes. Housed in a Danish Renaissance style castle (compare to the picture of Frederiksborg Palace), the Nordic Museum has a number of fascinating exhibits. My favorite was Dining Throughout the Years, an exhibit on the eating habits of Swedes over the years. Check out this setting from the 1600s, when Sweden was in its heyday. They would use (and re-use) the swan's neck, head, and wings as a centerpiece, while putting the goose roast where the swan's body should be. Imagine rolling this out at your next dinner party!
From there, it was a short stroll to the Vasa museum. Built in 1628 during Sweden's war against Poland and the Holy Roman Empire, the Vasa was to be the first two cannon-deck ship built in Sweden. Everything from as big as the size of it to as small as the intricate carvings was designed to convey the power and might of the King Gustavus Adolphus. The boat was launched with great fanfare from Stockholm and managed to sail all of 20 minutes when a gust of wind caught it sails and tipped it over, sinking the ship. It lay in the Stockholm harbor for 333 years before it was re-discovered, raised, and restored. Over 95% of the ship you see is the original parts, meticulously replaced by craftsmen. Pretty neat.
Last stop of the day was at Skansen, the original culture park in Europe, where you don't have to go to all of Sweden, all of Sweden comes to you. The most interesting part was a demonstration of traditional glass blowing techniques. I sat mesmerized as the glassblower took a lump of ghot glass and made a little cat out of it!
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