Stockholm Diary – Part 3

I woke stupidly early Saturday morning. Breakfast wasnt until 10am, but I was wide awake at 8:30. Especially after I saw the snow outside! Deciding not to waste the next hour in bed, I got up and dressed and went for a wonder in the snow. Felt like a blizzard at some points. Was cool though.

Went back to the Hostel, had breakfast, checked out, and discussed on how to get back to T-Centralen where we would get the bus. In the end we all went by metro.

We got the bus to Grona Lund on the island just east of the old town. Grona Lund is a theme park that closes for the winter season, but was opening its doors for its annual 'Christmas market'. Now I'm no expert, but normally a Christmas market should have, you know, market stalls of some sort.

Anyway, it was rather lovely all covered in snow (would have been truly rubbish otherwise) and me and my friend did have fun in the house of mirrors...

After Grona Lund, we decided to look for somewhere to eat and warm up before heading to The Vasa museum. In the end, we got to Vasa before we found somewhere selling food, so decided to eat in the restaurant there.

My friends tried the soup while I decided to go for the more traditional meatballs. This is possibly where it all went wrong. I'm convinced they are what made me sick, as they were the only things I ate that my friends didnt. However after contacting the restaurant, they insisted it couldnt have come from them. So who knows..?

Anyway, after that we got stuck into the museum. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. Numerous people recommended it, and I'm so glad we found time for it. The sight of this beautiful boat alone is worth the entrance money, but there are a ton of extra exhibitions for you to read through also.

In fact there was so much to look at that we were there for the last 2 hours before closing, and I was still left wanting to see more. So if ever I return I think this will still be worth a visit.

Briefly for those who want to know the story behind The Vasa;
- It was a ship commissioned by the King in the 1620s
- He demanded it have extra cannon decks without increasing the width at the bottom
- This meant there was not enough space for the required ballast
- 20 Minutes after leaving Stockholm, the boat began to tip, and water began to come in the low open cannon holes
- Unable to right itself, the boat sank just outside the harbour where it remained for over 300 years.
- Due to the lack of salt in Nordic waters the boat was well preserved, and has been painstakingly restored and set up in this museum.

And that is the story of Vasa in a nutshell. But honestly, if your in Stockholm, you should check it out. I'm not a very nautical person, but still found it fascinating. Unfortunately my photos really dont do it justice.

After that we rushed back to T-Centralen to get our stuff and head for the ferry port. At which point I began to feel ill. A 10 hour ferry ride later, I was back in Turku and went straight home to bed. The poor girls that were meant to be sharing the cabin with me left me alone for the night, and amused themselves at the disco. I'm sure they didnt mind too much.

Overall, the trip itself was really enjoyable, but way too short! Given how cheap it is to get there from here, I will definitely be going again in the spring - if I can find time that is!!