We flew directly from New York JFK to Stockholm. This would be our only stop outside of Norway, and our entry point to Scandinavia. We spent about three days here before moving on to Oslo.
Poppin’ around? Look at Scandinavia | Stockholm | Oslo | Bergen | Stavanger | Preikestolen .
We stayed near the central rail station, within easy walking distance of the old town (Gamla Stan) and some other sights to see; bus and tram service was very convenient, and the hotel had bicycles free to use.
On our first day, we set out to perambulate with no particular destination other than Gamla Stan; walking around a historic neighborhood would let us get acclimated to the weather and the time zone. We stopped in a small Jewish Museum which featured an exhibit on the ground floor of a Swedish woman photographer in the mid-twentieth century; the second floor had artifacts from the city’s Jewish history.
Moving on, we found a small private art gallery run by a cooperative of artists; Izz showed some of her drawings while I demurred on any purchases. Being the dowager aunt from New York City, I was a bit of a mark. We found a bookstore and some fun shops and took in some of the local food offerings.
The next day, we set out to visit the Vasa, a 17th century sailing vessel that sank in the harbor on her maiden voyage. She sat in the semi-brackish water for centuries, protected from the things that usually destroy wooden ships, until she was raised in the twentieth century, restored, and put on display.
The ship is immense, and ornately decorated. She was the first of a set of vessels meant to be flagships of the Swedish navy in their war with Poland. What sank her was insufficient ballast, coupled with being the first ship to have two gun decks. Without sufficient ballast, when the ship tipped over in a relatively light breeze, she could not recover, and she quickly took on water.
The naval architect had previously died of natural causes, and a subsequent royal inquiry essentially found no one culpable. On display are the remains of some of the victims, who have been given arbitrary names, with descriptions of who we think they are based on where they were found. They were not only enlisted sailors and officers but also their wives or girlfriends. One tragic soul was found having likely been trapped under a fallen beam.
After the Vasa, we visited the Rosendals Tradgard (Rosendals Garden), a large royal estate on the scale of Central Park in New York. Mostly we walked trails, stopped at a cafe or two, and simply enjoyed being outside. We also came across a variety of interesting sculptures.
On our last day, we took a lengthy walk along the Katarina Sofia waterfront, ultimately ending up near the Sofia Church and Vitabergsparken. On the way back, we strolled through Gamla Stan once again, stopping at a comic book shop, before heading to the hotel to prepare for the train ride to Oslo.
