I haven't had a chance to write about the shows that I went to before leaving for Stockholm, so I'll do that now before I get into more Stockholm pics.
- PJ Harvey & John Parish, Shepherd's Bush Empire, 4/21/09 -
Incredible. Polly Jean never missed a note, not that we would ever expect her to, but the sheer flawlessness of her performances is still awe inspiring. She took the stage barefoot in a well fitted little black dress. Sometimes I would look down and see her big toe curl over the toe next to it. It was really cute. The stage seemed set up in quite a particular manner. The two amps on the end, the bass amp and a larger Vox, were the same height. In between those, two matching Vox amps, and a Lanzer all matched up in height as well. On the middle amp, she had a small bag of kleenex, and a glass of water with a bottle for refill. She sang songs mostly from her and Parish's new album, A Woman A Man Walked By. But she sang an older song by her and Parish, and just once John sang a song of his own. I didn't take my camera, because Shepherd's Bush had a posting on their website that "professional cameras" are not allowed. I know from past experience that that refers to any camera that you can take the lens off. Below are some of the better pictures I found online by user p a h on flickr.com. These are taken from the balcony. I was front center of PJ, right against the rail in the standing section. I was so lucky to find a last minute ticket on ebay, as the show was sold out for 4 months by the time I got here. The guy was asking 40 pounds and I bartered down to 32 with first class shipping. Boom.
See the guy right in front of PJ, with the long hair, I'm just a little to his right and behind. I was looking through the space in between him and his girlfriend during the show.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Roundhouse, Camden Crawl, 4/24.09 -
Insane is the best word for this show. By this time I've already figured out the art of queueing (waiting in line) in London. Londoners queue for EVERYTHING. For Camden Crawl, I had a physical ticket. I had to queue about 20 min to hand my physical ticket in for a wristband. I did that. THEN, I had to queue for 2 hours, from 12:30-2:30, to get my wristband for the headliner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. To top it all off, I came back at 5, and had to queue to get INTO the venue. Fun.
I get in, and I am about 4 people back from the stage. Bad idea. Camden Crawl is sorta like Sasquatch Festival, but it's in a city not in the middle of nowhere. So people had been drinking ALL day. By 7:15, it's insane. The girl next to me couldn't even stand up straight by that time, and kept leaning on me so that she wouldn't fall over. My point is, that by the time Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the stage, people went CRAZY!!! I had to get outta there ASAP. I forced myself toward the back. It took me a good 20 min to get to the back of the extremely packed room. I underestimated the size of the room and the mass of people. Whoa. Anyway of course it was an amazing show. Karen O was fantastic. It was great watching them with the new setup, with the keys. They pulled off the new addition no problem. Again I didn't have my camera but here is a video of the show.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zero
Here is an article about the show.
Mtv.co.uk
Mtv sponsored the event, and recorded it as well. I am curious about when we could see some live footage on their website.
- Echo and the Bunnymen -
The night ended at a bar called Koko. It was really cool inside. It had at least three floors of bar that wrapped around with balconies that overlooked the stage. Echo and the Bunnymen took the stage at about 10pm with 2 of the original members, one of the guitarists, and of course the singer, Ian McCulloch. It was a solid show. Not much for eye candy or fancy moves like I had just experienced with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This was just a straight up rock show. Ian McCulloch seemed agitated a lot though, and had two guys running across the stage to fill his water, beer, get him a new towel, or pick up stuff that had been thrown on the stage. At one point one of the photographers in the front row was being shooed off the stage by Ian while he was singing. When he didn't leave, Ian looked back at one of the guys and made hand gestures implying that he wanted him to get the photographer the hell away.
Echo and the Bunnymen, Lips Like Sugar
- Stockholm Day 3 -
Not sure where to start here. My third day in Stockholm I did a little wandering on my own and I took a boat tour which was nice. It's been sunny and warm and being on a boat sounded good.
The first few photos here are when I was wandering on my own, I'll try to explain what everything is to the best of my memory lol.
I should say, for those who might be familar with Stockholm, there are 14 islands that make up Stockholm. The hostel where I was staying is on the island of Norrmalm & Vasastaden.
This building here is St Clara Kyrka. It's a brick 16th century church located across from Central Station. It was built during the reign of Johan III. Dutch architect Willem Boy designed the church, and Carl Harleman redesigned its roof and spire after a fiew in the 18th century.
Interior of St Clara Kyrka, painted with biblical scenes.
Ahlens department store takes up an entire block and has no windows.
Kulturhuset was designed by architect Peter Celsing, in the early 1970's. The upper floors contain temporary art galleries. The top floor has a cafe that overlooks the square. Kulturehuset is also home to Sweden's only comic book library. I went in there the other day to check out exactly what a comic book library would look like, but it was already closed.
NK is Sweden's most exclusive department store. Across from it is Gallerian, which is less expensive.
The other night I was walking around the city, it must have been about 9:30 and I heard a lot of music coming from one direction. So I walked in that direction, only to find the music coming from a VERY busy TGIF! LOL. It made me laugh so hard. I came back the next day to snap this pic. Swedes must think TGIF is the shit.
Here I am walking from Norrmalm toward the Grand Hotel, which is where boat tours are launched.
This is St Jacobs Kyrka. It was commissioned in 1588 by King Johan III.
Across the water is the National Museum, which I have close up pictures of below of as well.
19th century iron bridge.
Launching point for ferries headed to the Archipelago.
In the distance there is the vasamuseet, where the famous vasa ship is displayed. I have more pics below.
Junibacken. Mini outdoor theme park. It's devoted to Pippi Longstocking and other characters created by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Man I used to LOVE Pippi Longstocking when I was growing up! She's such a badass.
This is a bar / club called Patricia. We tried to get in the night before but my friend wasn't old enough. In Stockholm the bars decide what the minimum age is. Some bars I've seen it's 20, some I've seen it's 27. Anyway it looked cool, it's on a ship.
One of Stockholm's 2 locks that takes you from Lake Malaren into the Baltic Sea.
Grand Hotel again.
On the tour I learned a few interesting things. One thing that is amazing is that the water in Stockholms canals are clean enough to swim in, which is not the same for us in Seattle. They pride themselves on how environmentally friendly they are. When I was walking in the morning you could see a bunch of people fishing off the pier. Once a year near Gamla Stan, which I have pictures of below, they release Salmon into the water. Sweden has the longest life expectancy, 77 for men and 82 for women. Out of 41 European countries, Sweden covers the 1/5 largest area, so it is the least densily populated, especially for a capital. During the viking crusades, out of a 200,000 person population, 90% were farmers, 9% were free traders, and 1% were vikings. I'm pretty sure my ancestors were that 1%. YAH!
This is also something I didn't know. The Nordic Region consists of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The Scandinavian countries are Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. I do recall from my Sociology of Religion class that Scandinavians are the least religious people, and that's in part due to the fact that they are so well taken care of. They have a great medical insurance program, expecting fathers get 1.5 years PAID paternal leave, retirement is 61-65.
Modern Museet.
This is a boat that has been turned into a youth hostel. It's pretty cool. It's called the Af Chapman. I have one more night in Stockholm when I return from Copenhagen and I checked on prices here but you have to be a member of some youth hostel society or it's too expensive. Blech.
On the island of Skeppsholmen looking over at Norrmalm.
Again National Museum.
I took this picture from the island of Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan was the original Stockholm. That was more than 3 quarters of a millennium ago. The streets are very narrow. Gamla Stan itself is extremely tiny. It's hard to imagine that ANYBODY lived on such a small piece of land. It would be like if Seattle was just the area that makes up Pike Place Market, but circular. It took me no time at all to walk from one side of the island to the other. Gamla Stan is referred to as "the city between the bridges".
Kungliga Slottet. Was once a fortress, Tre Kronor, which was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1697.
It was time for an ice cream pit stop.
In Stockholm you can throw some change into these machines and grab a bike and go, it's really cool. Haven't done it yet though.
Narrow streets of Gamla Stan.
This is Parliament. It's tucked away in a little space between Gamla Stan and Norrmalm. I believe the older building is on the right and newer on the left.
There was a demonstration going on in front of Parliament, which lots of shouting and bloody pictures.
Here I am looking at the oldest part of Gamla Stan. This is roughly 13th century. There are cast iron bars on the windows that are meant to depict those found in Paris at the time.
Gamla Stan had a lot of touristy shops with Viking stuff.
This street name is Kakbrinken, it dates from 1477. Kak means 'pillory' and brink means 'steep hill.' Traffic has always been a problem on the narrow street so they put in clever little things to keep people from hitting the walls, like a cannon, and an iron gate.
This is what they call steep? Geez. This is a cake walk.
This square here is called Stortorget. It used to be the central meeting place with the main market, and courthouse. Stortorget is where the famous Stockholm Bloodbath took place in 1520. Look it up, it's a really crazy story.
Here in the square is the Nobelmusset. It opened in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of the Nobel Prizes. Because Arthur Nobel, who invented the Nobel Prize, was Swedish.
This is the Tyska Kyrkan, German Church. It used to be the guildhouse for German merchants and in the 1570's was converted into a church.
Gargoyles on Tyska Kyrkan.
In front of this building the poet Lasse 'Lucidor' Johansson was killed in 1674. He was stabbed to death.
Where Lasse Johansson died.
This pub, Den Gyldene Freden, opened in 1772 and became the most popular tavern.
Again the Kungliga Slottet, from another angle.
Storkyrkan, 'The Great Church.' Oldest congregational church in Stockholm. Site of many royal weddings.
Obelisk in front of the church. Designed by Louis Jean Desprez. Erected in 1799. Memorial to those who fought in Gustav III's war against Russia in 1788-90.
Dinner! After all the walking I went to a little Pizza and Kebab place.
Getting ready to go out.
New friends! Yuri on the left is from Italy. Yeoh-Hee on the right is, FROM SEATTLE! No kidding. She is studying abroad as well through the University of Washington but in Sweden.
The courtyard of the hostel, where every morning we would come out and drink coffee and plan our day.
- Stockholm Day 2 -
Yeon-Hee, Yuri, and I are headed to Djurgarden to go to Skansen and Vasamuseet.
People were fishing off this pier.
Jet Skiers, SO FUN!
Just pretty.
Boats.
The bridge over to Skeppsholmen.
National Museum.
I am so jealous of all the house boats on the water. God, the life!
Swedish flag hanging there being all prideful.
Looking over at Djurgarden.
Nordiska Museet, the city landmark. Designed in the style of a Nordic Renaissance palace. Holds historical and cultural objects from all over Scandinavia.
Skansen!!
150 plus traditional buildings, homes, churches, shops, barns and workshops make up Skansen. It's a huge open air museum and also home to many Scandinavian animals, such as the Lynx, Brown Bear, Wolverine, Eagle Owl, European Bison, and more. Nearly all of the buildings are original and were moved to Skansen whole or piece by piece from all over Sweden. The staff dress in folk costumes and do traditional work of the time.
Miniature map.
View from the top of Skansen.
Real rune stone!!!
Viking rune stone!
Traditional Swedish fences.
Reindeer.
- Vasamuseet -
One of my favorites sites so far!
The Vasa, the largest and best preserved shop of its kind in the world. Built in the 1620's when Sweden was at war with Poland. The Vasa had 2 gun decks and 64 cannons, making it the mightiest ship in the fleet. Unfortunately, the gun decks and heavy cannon made the ship top-heavy. The maiden voyage went ahead, and after only a few minutes after the Vasa had set sail from the near present-day Slussen on 10 August 1628, she began to list to one side. The gun ports filled with water and the ship sank after a voyage of only 1,300m. Of the 150 people on board as many as 50 died. The reason the Vasa was so well preserved at her recovery in 1961, 95% of the ship is original, is because the Baltic Sea is insufficiently saline to contain the tiny shipwork which destroys wood in saltier seas. SO COOL! This ship is HUGE!
Mini scale of the Vasa.
A suit they wore when going down to retrieve the ship.
This is a display that shows how colorful the Vasa was painted.
From the skeletons that they found in the Vasa they recreated what they thought that the sailors would look like.
Only 2 women were on board the Vasa.
Dinner!! Most amazing cheeseburger.
All gone.
Where we ate.
Stockholm is an amazing city. I can honestly say it's been my favorite European city so far. Before this I've been to Germany, Holland, and Austria.
Stockholm is gorgeous, it's laid back, the people are friendly and pretty, lol. It's amazing!
Today is my first day in Stockholm. I took the train over at 6:10 this morning, arrived at my hostel around noon. I have pictures to share when I get more time to upload them. From what I've seen Copenhagen is pretty damn cool too. But more about that later. I just might need a pint before bed :) Tomorrow I'm thinking about heading over to Tivoli, Denmark's largest and most famous amusement park.
Night.
AGAIN my usual disclaimer. Ignore any spelling or grammatical errors. I really only have time to post my blogs, not usually re-read and edit them to perfection.
- PJ Harvey & John Parish, Shepherd's Bush Empire, 4/21/09 -
Incredible. Polly Jean never missed a note, not that we would ever expect her to, but the sheer flawlessness of her performances is still awe inspiring. She took the stage barefoot in a well fitted little black dress. Sometimes I would look down and see her big toe curl over the toe next to it. It was really cute. The stage seemed set up in quite a particular manner. The two amps on the end, the bass amp and a larger Vox, were the same height. In between those, two matching Vox amps, and a Lanzer all matched up in height as well. On the middle amp, she had a small bag of kleenex, and a glass of water with a bottle for refill. She sang songs mostly from her and Parish's new album, A Woman A Man Walked By. But she sang an older song by her and Parish, and just once John sang a song of his own. I didn't take my camera, because Shepherd's Bush had a posting on their website that "professional cameras" are not allowed. I know from past experience that that refers to any camera that you can take the lens off. Below are some of the better pictures I found online by user p a h on flickr.com. These are taken from the balcony. I was front center of PJ, right against the rail in the standing section. I was so lucky to find a last minute ticket on ebay, as the show was sold out for 4 months by the time I got here. The guy was asking 40 pounds and I bartered down to 32 with first class shipping. Boom.
See the guy right in front of PJ, with the long hair, I'm just a little to his right and behind. I was looking through the space in between him and his girlfriend during the show.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Roundhouse, Camden Crawl, 4/24.09 -
Insane is the best word for this show. By this time I've already figured out the art of queueing (waiting in line) in London. Londoners queue for EVERYTHING. For Camden Crawl, I had a physical ticket. I had to queue about 20 min to hand my physical ticket in for a wristband. I did that. THEN, I had to queue for 2 hours, from 12:30-2:30, to get my wristband for the headliner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. To top it all off, I came back at 5, and had to queue to get INTO the venue. Fun.
I get in, and I am about 4 people back from the stage. Bad idea. Camden Crawl is sorta like Sasquatch Festival, but it's in a city not in the middle of nowhere. So people had been drinking ALL day. By 7:15, it's insane. The girl next to me couldn't even stand up straight by that time, and kept leaning on me so that she wouldn't fall over. My point is, that by the time Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the stage, people went CRAZY!!! I had to get outta there ASAP. I forced myself toward the back. It took me a good 20 min to get to the back of the extremely packed room. I underestimated the size of the room and the mass of people. Whoa. Anyway of course it was an amazing show. Karen O was fantastic. It was great watching them with the new setup, with the keys. They pulled off the new addition no problem. Again I didn't have my camera but here is a video of the show.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zero
Here is an article about the show.
Mtv.co.uk
Mtv sponsored the event, and recorded it as well. I am curious about when we could see some live footage on their website.
- Echo and the Bunnymen -
The night ended at a bar called Koko. It was really cool inside. It had at least three floors of bar that wrapped around with balconies that overlooked the stage. Echo and the Bunnymen took the stage at about 10pm with 2 of the original members, one of the guitarists, and of course the singer, Ian McCulloch. It was a solid show. Not much for eye candy or fancy moves like I had just experienced with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This was just a straight up rock show. Ian McCulloch seemed agitated a lot though, and had two guys running across the stage to fill his water, beer, get him a new towel, or pick up stuff that had been thrown on the stage. At one point one of the photographers in the front row was being shooed off the stage by Ian while he was singing. When he didn't leave, Ian looked back at one of the guys and made hand gestures implying that he wanted him to get the photographer the hell away.
Echo and the Bunnymen, Lips Like Sugar
- Stockholm Day 3 -
Not sure where to start here. My third day in Stockholm I did a little wandering on my own and I took a boat tour which was nice. It's been sunny and warm and being on a boat sounded good.
The first few photos here are when I was wandering on my own, I'll try to explain what everything is to the best of my memory lol.
I should say, for those who might be familar with Stockholm, there are 14 islands that make up Stockholm. The hostel where I was staying is on the island of Norrmalm & Vasastaden.
This building here is St Clara Kyrka. It's a brick 16th century church located across from Central Station. It was built during the reign of Johan III. Dutch architect Willem Boy designed the church, and Carl Harleman redesigned its roof and spire after a fiew in the 18th century.
Interior of St Clara Kyrka, painted with biblical scenes.
Ahlens department store takes up an entire block and has no windows.
Kulturhuset was designed by architect Peter Celsing, in the early 1970's. The upper floors contain temporary art galleries. The top floor has a cafe that overlooks the square. Kulturehuset is also home to Sweden's only comic book library. I went in there the other day to check out exactly what a comic book library would look like, but it was already closed.
NK is Sweden's most exclusive department store. Across from it is Gallerian, which is less expensive.
The other night I was walking around the city, it must have been about 9:30 and I heard a lot of music coming from one direction. So I walked in that direction, only to find the music coming from a VERY busy TGIF! LOL. It made me laugh so hard. I came back the next day to snap this pic. Swedes must think TGIF is the shit.
Here I am walking from Norrmalm toward the Grand Hotel, which is where boat tours are launched.
This is St Jacobs Kyrka. It was commissioned in 1588 by King Johan III.
Across the water is the National Museum, which I have close up pictures of below of as well.
19th century iron bridge.
Launching point for ferries headed to the Archipelago.
In the distance there is the vasamuseet, where the famous vasa ship is displayed. I have more pics below.
Junibacken. Mini outdoor theme park. It's devoted to Pippi Longstocking and other characters created by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Man I used to LOVE Pippi Longstocking when I was growing up! She's such a badass.
This is a bar / club called Patricia. We tried to get in the night before but my friend wasn't old enough. In Stockholm the bars decide what the minimum age is. Some bars I've seen it's 20, some I've seen it's 27. Anyway it looked cool, it's on a ship.
One of Stockholm's 2 locks that takes you from Lake Malaren into the Baltic Sea.
Grand Hotel again.
On the tour I learned a few interesting things. One thing that is amazing is that the water in Stockholms canals are clean enough to swim in, which is not the same for us in Seattle. They pride themselves on how environmentally friendly they are. When I was walking in the morning you could see a bunch of people fishing off the pier. Once a year near Gamla Stan, which I have pictures of below, they release Salmon into the water. Sweden has the longest life expectancy, 77 for men and 82 for women. Out of 41 European countries, Sweden covers the 1/5 largest area, so it is the least densily populated, especially for a capital. During the viking crusades, out of a 200,000 person population, 90% were farmers, 9% were free traders, and 1% were vikings. I'm pretty sure my ancestors were that 1%. YAH!
This is also something I didn't know. The Nordic Region consists of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The Scandinavian countries are Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. I do recall from my Sociology of Religion class that Scandinavians are the least religious people, and that's in part due to the fact that they are so well taken care of. They have a great medical insurance program, expecting fathers get 1.5 years PAID paternal leave, retirement is 61-65.
Modern Museet.
This is a boat that has been turned into a youth hostel. It's pretty cool. It's called the Af Chapman. I have one more night in Stockholm when I return from Copenhagen and I checked on prices here but you have to be a member of some youth hostel society or it's too expensive. Blech.
On the island of Skeppsholmen looking over at Norrmalm.
Again National Museum.
I took this picture from the island of Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan was the original Stockholm. That was more than 3 quarters of a millennium ago. The streets are very narrow. Gamla Stan itself is extremely tiny. It's hard to imagine that ANYBODY lived on such a small piece of land. It would be like if Seattle was just the area that makes up Pike Place Market, but circular. It took me no time at all to walk from one side of the island to the other. Gamla Stan is referred to as "the city between the bridges".
Kungliga Slottet. Was once a fortress, Tre Kronor, which was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1697.
It was time for an ice cream pit stop.
In Stockholm you can throw some change into these machines and grab a bike and go, it's really cool. Haven't done it yet though.
Narrow streets of Gamla Stan.
This is Parliament. It's tucked away in a little space between Gamla Stan and Norrmalm. I believe the older building is on the right and newer on the left.
There was a demonstration going on in front of Parliament, which lots of shouting and bloody pictures.
Here I am looking at the oldest part of Gamla Stan. This is roughly 13th century. There are cast iron bars on the windows that are meant to depict those found in Paris at the time.
Gamla Stan had a lot of touristy shops with Viking stuff.
This street name is Kakbrinken, it dates from 1477. Kak means 'pillory' and brink means 'steep hill.' Traffic has always been a problem on the narrow street so they put in clever little things to keep people from hitting the walls, like a cannon, and an iron gate.
This is what they call steep? Geez. This is a cake walk.
This square here is called Stortorget. It used to be the central meeting place with the main market, and courthouse. Stortorget is where the famous Stockholm Bloodbath took place in 1520. Look it up, it's a really crazy story.
Here in the square is the Nobelmusset. It opened in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of the Nobel Prizes. Because Arthur Nobel, who invented the Nobel Prize, was Swedish.
This is the Tyska Kyrkan, German Church. It used to be the guildhouse for German merchants and in the 1570's was converted into a church.
Gargoyles on Tyska Kyrkan.
In front of this building the poet Lasse 'Lucidor' Johansson was killed in 1674. He was stabbed to death.
Where Lasse Johansson died.
This pub, Den Gyldene Freden, opened in 1772 and became the most popular tavern.
Again the Kungliga Slottet, from another angle.
Storkyrkan, 'The Great Church.' Oldest congregational church in Stockholm. Site of many royal weddings.
Obelisk in front of the church. Designed by Louis Jean Desprez. Erected in 1799. Memorial to those who fought in Gustav III's war against Russia in 1788-90.
Dinner! After all the walking I went to a little Pizza and Kebab place.
Getting ready to go out.
New friends! Yuri on the left is from Italy. Yeoh-Hee on the right is, FROM SEATTLE! No kidding. She is studying abroad as well through the University of Washington but in Sweden.
The courtyard of the hostel, where every morning we would come out and drink coffee and plan our day.
- Stockholm Day 2 -
Yeon-Hee, Yuri, and I are headed to Djurgarden to go to Skansen and Vasamuseet.
People were fishing off this pier.
Jet Skiers, SO FUN!
Just pretty.
Boats.
The bridge over to Skeppsholmen.
National Museum.
I am so jealous of all the house boats on the water. God, the life!
Swedish flag hanging there being all prideful.
Looking over at Djurgarden.
Nordiska Museet, the city landmark. Designed in the style of a Nordic Renaissance palace. Holds historical and cultural objects from all over Scandinavia.
Skansen!!
150 plus traditional buildings, homes, churches, shops, barns and workshops make up Skansen. It's a huge open air museum and also home to many Scandinavian animals, such as the Lynx, Brown Bear, Wolverine, Eagle Owl, European Bison, and more. Nearly all of the buildings are original and were moved to Skansen whole or piece by piece from all over Sweden. The staff dress in folk costumes and do traditional work of the time.
Miniature map.
View from the top of Skansen.
Real rune stone!!!
Viking rune stone!
Traditional Swedish fences.
Reindeer.
- Vasamuseet -
One of my favorites sites so far!
The Vasa, the largest and best preserved shop of its kind in the world. Built in the 1620's when Sweden was at war with Poland. The Vasa had 2 gun decks and 64 cannons, making it the mightiest ship in the fleet. Unfortunately, the gun decks and heavy cannon made the ship top-heavy. The maiden voyage went ahead, and after only a few minutes after the Vasa had set sail from the near present-day Slussen on 10 August 1628, she began to list to one side. The gun ports filled with water and the ship sank after a voyage of only 1,300m. Of the 150 people on board as many as 50 died. The reason the Vasa was so well preserved at her recovery in 1961, 95% of the ship is original, is because the Baltic Sea is insufficiently saline to contain the tiny shipwork which destroys wood in saltier seas. SO COOL! This ship is HUGE!
Mini scale of the Vasa.
A suit they wore when going down to retrieve the ship.
This is a display that shows how colorful the Vasa was painted.
From the skeletons that they found in the Vasa they recreated what they thought that the sailors would look like.
Only 2 women were on board the Vasa.
Dinner!! Most amazing cheeseburger.
All gone.
Where we ate.
Stockholm is an amazing city. I can honestly say it's been my favorite European city so far. Before this I've been to Germany, Holland, and Austria.
Stockholm is gorgeous, it's laid back, the people are friendly and pretty, lol. It's amazing!
Today is my first day in Stockholm. I took the train over at 6:10 this morning, arrived at my hostel around noon. I have pictures to share when I get more time to upload them. From what I've seen Copenhagen is pretty damn cool too. But more about that later. I just might need a pint before bed :) Tomorrow I'm thinking about heading over to Tivoli, Denmark's largest and most famous amusement park.
Night.
AGAIN my usual disclaimer. Ignore any spelling or grammatical errors. I really only have time to post my blogs, not usually re-read and edit them to perfection.
