Day 11: Home of the Vikings & Island Hopping
An Introduction to Stockholm's Seafaring History
June 26, 2022
As decided the night before, we had most of the day to ourselves, with only a 2 pm visit to the Spårvägsmuseet (the Tramway Museum) scheduled. Since the transportation museum was located in northern Stockholm, I knew I should stay relatively close to the city center no matter what I planned to do that day, and figured I could make my plan over breakfast.
Making my way downstairs to breakfast, I was curious to see what it would consist of in Stockholm since I had become so accustomed to my usual breakfasts in Denmark, however, I was surprised by the spread. Seemingly, the breakfast in Stockholm offered a wider variety which included, different types of breads, various types of overnight oats, fruits, grains, baked goods, deli meats, and cheeses.
For my first breakfast in Sweden, I opted to make the typical granola, fruit, and yogurt combo I had become accustomed to in Denmark, however, I also wanted to try Swedish pancakes with some jam (I previously hadn’t been a big “breakfast food” person, but I think Swedish pancakes could change that for me, as they soon became one of my favorites). Over breakfast, I decided to visit the Vasa Museum with my free morning, which housed a fully preserved Swedish warship that had been submerged underwater for 300 years (which apparently still is 98% original!), and two of my other classmates decided to come with me.
Since the museum opened at 10 am, we left a bit before, deciding to take the metro and tram, since it seemed to be the quickest way there and would drop us off right in front of the museum. Taking the green line from our hotel stop (Skanstull), we passed through Gamla Stan, getting great views of the churches that towered over the old town. Arriving at T-Centralen, the stop at the heart of Stockholm’s metro where all three lines meet, we ventured above ground, walking to the nearest tram stop that was headed to Djurgården (the island that the Vasa Museum is located on).
One of the most interesting things from our time in Stockholm was just how different each island was even though they all made up the same city. Stepping off the tram platform, it was clear to us that Djurgården had a character all of its own. From my previous research, I knew that it was an island of museums and parks, however, I didn’t picture just how peaceful it was. With tree-lined boulevards and waterfront views from many of the parks, it didn’t feel like we were in a major city, nonetheless the capital of Sweden. Walking past the ornate Nordiska Museet (The Nordic Museum), before arriving at the Vasa Museum.
The Seafaring Past
Looking at the exterior of the museum, it seemed a bit unassuming with hard linear lines and three ships masts on the side, but upon entering it was anything but. Although I had previously seen a few pictures of the ship and had read a bit about it, the pictures absolutely did not do it justice, as the ship itself was amazing (I would strongly recommend checking it out!). Entering the climate-controlled room, the ship itself was of course the centerpiece standing nearly 180 ft, with 6 levels wrapped around, all with various elements from the wreckage such as pottery and clothing, as well as the history of the ship and Sweden in the 17th century.
Of the museum, each of the floors offered interesting information, with our personal favorites probably being the ground level as well as the fourth and sixth levels. On the first level, there was information on how the Vasa was preserved once the ship was recovered, as well as brought you “face-to-face” with some of the crew who had been on the ship, with restorationists having extensively studied the skeletons and clothing found in the wreckage. Meanwhile, on the fourth level of the museum - where the entrance was - a model of the Vasa showed what she would have looked like in all her glory with sails, flag, and paint intact, and the sixth floor offered up-close views of all the ornate details that could be found on the back of the ship (it’s hard to believe they all survived underwater for so long!).
While we initially had set aside a little over 2 ½ hours to see the museum before our group activity, we found ourselves not nearly done by the time we had to leave around 1 pm and decided we would return after our group museum visit was done, to finish up the last few levels. Leaving the museum, we had a few extra minutes so we walked over to Lusthusportens park, a green space that lead to the waterfront and featured the popular Blå porten (the blue gate), before jumping on the same tram we had taken to get to Djurgården (we figured we could take the tram and then pick up a bus that would take us to the Spårvägsmuseet, which would take us a little over 45 minutes).
From Historic to Modern-Day Transportation
At Spårvägsmuseet, the Tramway Museum, the class met up at 2 pm and we were able to learn more about the various transportation methods and history of transportation in the city of Stockholm. Housed in a brick warehouse, which formerly served as a gas works, the museum had renovated the space to be very family and child friendly with interactive exhibits and games throughout. Seeing how the city progressed with various forms of transit, I was able to better appreciate the infrastructure that was currently in place and see the future steps that were planned.
Since the museum wasn’t too big, we were able to make our way through it in a little over an hour and a half, so my classmate and myself decided to return back to the Vasa Museum, and caught a bus that dropped us off in Östermalm, which was relatively close, but still gave us the opportunity to explore a bit on our way there.
Walking back towards Djurgården, it was clear how Sweden’s seafaring history shaped the city, with some buildings even having the mast of a ship on the roof. Arriving back around 4 pm, we both decided it was well past lunchtime, so we wanted to grab something to eat seeing how the Vasa museum was open until 6 pm. Stopping at Sjöcafeet/Djurgårdsbron, a restaurant/cafe that was within the same complex as the museum. Picking up a salmon croissant sandwich, we ate with great views of the water and Östermalm, being able to watch people boating around, and enjoying the sunny day.
Returning to the Vasa
Returning back to the Vasa museum, we spent the rest of our afternoon soaking in all the details and learn more about its history (I have to admit maritime history was not my strong suit, so I felt like I learned a lot). Finishing up the museum about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to close, we didn’t necessarily want to leave just yet and found up on the seventh level stacked seating areas where people could sit overlooking the boat and museum. Sitting there for about half an hour, we could see and hear tourist groups making their way through, as well as seemingly locals - some of which brought reading materials with them just to relax on the seats overlooking the Vasa (it made me muse about what it would be like to live in Stockholm and just have such an amazing museum to visit at my leisure).
Island Hopping
Leaving the museum around closing time, we wandered around Djurgården some more, stumbling upon Galärvarvskyrkogården (a cemetery). Having been in Copenhagen the previous week, it was interesting to see the difference between Swedish and Danish cemeteries, with the Swedish one seemingly prioritizing function over design, however, there were much more nautical engravings on various stones throughout. Continuing on, we made our way to the waterfront, where we were able to pass by a few other museums - now all closed - before finding an ice cream stand that we decided to stop at (Stockholm was going through a heatwave when we were there with temperatures over 86℉, which could get a little uncomfortable since many of the buildings were built to withstand the cold and didn’t necessarily have air conditioning). Keeping with the maritime theme of the day, we thought to take one of the ferries to leave Djurgården, as both an ode to the Vasa and to see the city from the water for the first time. Departing from next to Gröna Lund, an amusement park, we took the ferry through the archipelago, and got off at Skeppsholmen after seeing an interesting-looking castle.
We walked around for a bit seeing the conference center, some “bug hotels” (insect housing), and the local geese, before taking the bridge to Kastellholmen to see Kastellet Stockholm, a small citadel. Near the citadel, which was located on top of a hill, we found a spot to sit that overlooked Djurgården across the water.
Around 8 pm, we decided it was time to get dinner, having gotten a recommendation for Boo Burger from some tourists we had met and the Vasa Museum, a burger spot on Södermalm that stayed open until 11 pm (an extreme rarity in Scandinavia!). Taking the ferry, we left Skeppsholmen, picking up the metro at Slussen, we made our way to the restaurant that we had found on Google, arriving a bit before 9 pm, and the burgers and milkshakes certainly didn’t disappoint. On a side note, it was interesting to see how many burger places there were throughout Stockholm, something I hadn’t necessarily expected. The following day, we had another free morning, so my classmate and myself decided we’d go check out another museum early before our group activity at 3:30 pm. Since we had to get up early, we decided to head back to the hotel - around 10 pm, so we could get an earlier breakfast the following morning.
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