First of all, Stockholm is very different than Oslo. Now that I'm back in Oslo, I'm not sure which city I prefer. Stockholm is definitely the 'big city' in Scandinavia, but the big cities of any country or region aren't always the best. While Stockholm has amazing buildings, streets and culture, Oslo has a quiteness and sensibility that's really enjoyable. Right now, as I'm typing, I almost feel that Oslo is more scandinavian than Stockholm, since it isn't diluted by tourism and American influence. I'm not even really sure what 'scandinavian' means, so I could be entirely wrong.
Anyway, yesterday, while being my last day in Stockholm, also felt like the last day of summer - it was warm and sunny, with blue skies all around, but the leaves were turning more and more yellow evert minute.
Here are a few photos from the morning:
I took a trip out to the Vasa Warship Museum. I was hesitant to visit the museum because it seemed like it would be such a tourist trap, but I'm really glad that I did. The Vasa, for those who are wondering, was a massive warship built in the 1600s, intended to be Sweden's largest and most powerful warship. Unfortunately, on its maiden voyage, as it was about to sail out of the harbour, a wind came along and the ship sank. Three hundred years later, the ship was salvaged, and today the Vasa is the only ship of its kind to sit in a museum. It's absolutely huge, and almost entirely original - the restoration team had to make a few new pieces, but these new pieces are easily identifiable and are definitely not common.
Here's the Vasa:
Following my time at the Vasa, I took a walk over to a former royal summer home, just down the street. Unfortunately, I found the walk to be more intereting than the museum. One highlight was getting to ride on the coffee car, as part of Stockholm's public transportation. For 60SKr, I was able to sit down to a nice coffee and pastry (which was a little stale) and ride the tram back to the ferry dock. The woman working on the coffee car was very proud of it, and kept assuring me that people normally use it, but today was simply an exception because it was so nice outside (I was the only person in the car). Here are some photos of the walk and coffee car:
I went to the Museum of Modern Art, and despite was the lady at the Vasa Museum said, it was a really great place - great collection and in a very nice setting. The highlights for me were the Alexander Calder pieces:
After my time at the museum, I ran into town (literally) and hopped on a tour of the waterways. This was an alright way to spend a few hours, and it was a good opportunity to see some of the more outlying parts of Stockholm, but if you're short for time, I wouldn't recommend sacricing other sights for it (regardless of what the tourism info people tell you). Anyway, here are some photos from the remainder of my time in Stockholm:
1 comment:
From your photos it looks like you had Stockholm all to yourself!
Post a Comment