--Emily Carey There’s this amazing island in Stockholm called Djurgarden, and I went the wrong way on a bus for about an hour before I realized I was heading out of town in the opposite direction very quickly. A bus stop in the middle of the road led me astray, and cursing myself, I exited the bus, stomped across the street, and awaited the bus going in the correct direction. My confidence navigating a foreign city was demolished, so I really had nothing to lose. Time to see a million museums! There’s no way around it: Djurgarden can be overwhelming, but it is in the best way possible. There is an amusement park, large amounts of green space for biking and walking, a variety of cafes and food carts, and most notably, museums covering a vast variety of topics along the waterfront. I decided it would be best to just choose my own adventure based on my interests instead of stressing about seeing everything. The first task is to get there: and this is a win-win as the two ways to reach the island, by ferry and over the bridge from Ostermalm, are both dramatically beautiful. The ferry comes from Gamla Stan, so if you have started the day in the old town, it is easy to make it to Djurgarden for more sightseeing. This is particularly wonderful at sunset, as the water and islands are unreal in the evening glow, but any time of day will provide you with a wonderful perspective of the various islands.
It is important to note that the Stockholm card gives visitors to Djurgarden access to almost every attraction on the island, so time can be spent as long or as short in each place as you desire. The bridge entrance from Ostermalm is particularly helpful because of the visitors center with information on each museum and helpful maps of the various attraction locations. Stopping in the Nordic Museum gives insight into the Swedish history and customs while seeing a beautifully designed building from the early 1900s, but my preferred stop was Skansen, the world’s oldest open air museum. I learn upon arrival that Djurgarden (literally used in earlier centuries to keep deer, reindeer, and elk for the king, thus giving it the name) became a popular attraction after the additions of the Rosendal Palace, Skansen, and Grona Lund (an amusement park) were built in the late 1800s for the citizens of Stockholm. Of these three, visiting Skansen first is my recommendation because the open air museum has a wonderful variety of Nordic people, animals, and treats. I chose to huff it up the steep entrance hill, but there is a tram available for a price for anyone who doesn’t want to make the trek. I come upon a traditional village with shops and houses that have been literally moved to the sight for visitors to explore and learn from. Friendly citizens dressed in traditional garb greet me and explain Swedish life in olden days. I watch a pottery making demonstration in a quaint cottage and feel transformed back in time; until the shutters of digital cameras and dings of smartphones go off of course. It is still a wonderful experience, just funny to see time periods clash.
I appreciated Swedes taking a huge failboat and turning it into an educational experience. There were even archaeologists working on the ship pieces that visitors could talk to through a cage as they sat at their workstations. It was a little weird at first, especially after coming from Skansen where animals were in cages, but we had a cool conversation about the pieces of the ship he was working on.
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--Gabriella Mondelli When it comes to royal families there are quite a few I’ve heard of over King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. Upon my arrival to Sweden I came to know a number of the country’s previous monarchs, and have come to find that in the Swede’s eyes one stands - literally if we’re talking about his many statues across Stockholm - far above the rest. Few are more loyally beloved by their kingdom than Gustav II Adolf. When you walk up the broad, gravel entryway you are invited to look upon all of Stockholm’s major waterfronts. From the King’s perspective you can see many of the city’s largest attractions - The National Museum and Grand Hotel on Stromkagen, the Museum of Modern Art on the island of Skeppsholmen, and even the sailing masts of the ill-fated Vasa across the waters of it’s (almost) final resting place. Looking out into the bustling waterway with your fika (a latte and cinnamon bun from Brod & Salt are my go-to) you can almost pretend that you yourself are the great royals of Sweden’s past. You can put yourself in Gustav II Adolf’s shoes and wave to your adoring people, for you are their great hero of the 30 Years War, or even mourn the loss of the great Vasa, built to honor to the achievements of his grandson Gustav III. You can even come to picture life as a royal today because King Carl XVI and his wife Queen Silvia use the palace as a part-time home and place of work. You can do all of this because, unlike the gated facades of Buckingham Palace and Europe’s major sights, the Swedish Royal Palace has opened it’s arms to the public and allowed tourists over the years to not only walk the entryways and gaze upon the Roman facades, but come inside and see the world from their eyes. --Courtney Braese
When visiting Stockholm, Sweden, there is one story that tourists will have memorized by the time they depart and this is the story of the Vasa. No matter what tours you attend in this beautiful and historic city, the Vasa always seems to be brought up in presentations and conversations. This can seem a little confusing at first considering it is one of Sweden’s biggest, and most humiliating, failures. The Vasa is a Swedish warship that was built between 1626-1628 because the Swedish King, Gustav Adolphus, wanted to prove to Denmark, whom they were currently at war with, and the world that Sweden was the most powerful nation with the most powerful military. The way to prove this was to do something that had never been done before, build a ship that had two rows for guns. Although, King Gustav must not have been a very good architect because the ship ended up being too top-heavy and sank twenty-five minutes into its maiden voyage thus resulting in the big fat failure. When you first hear this story, you can’t help but laugh. Two years of building a magnificent, powerful ship that was supposed to intimidate all who encounter it and one gust of wind knocks it over. Plus, its sister ship was finished soon after and all that needed to be added to the width was a total of one meter of wood, but I digress. As you stroll around the Vasa Museum though, you realize that this was actually a great tragedy for the country of Sweden and that the King essentially tried to sweep under the rug. He literally ordered the masts the be cut down once the boat was fully submerged so no one could see it in the Baltic Sea. You also learn that sailors were not the only ones on board, but women and children too because the sailors were allowed to bring family and friends aboard for the maiden voyage celebration as the entire country of Sweden sat along the shoreline. Apparently, the captain of the ship was even aware that it was too top heavy after conducting a test on the boat, but was too afraid to tell the bossman, King Gustav, thus ending the lives of thirty innocent people: sailors, women, and children. And do you know who was held accountable for this tragedy? No one. Not a single person because it essentially led back to King Gustav and his poor planning of the ship and do you really think a King is going to sentence himself to death? Below the main exhibit in the Vasa Museum are the skeletal remains of 17 people that were found preserved with the Vasa when it was salvaged in the 1950s; 13 sailors, 2 women, and 1 child. Scientists were able to study these remains and figure out the their age, height, diet, and medical history. They lay displayed with fake names attached to the glass cases and models of what their faces might have looked like surround these cases. Scientists believe that the 30 people who died on the Vasa were all trapped in some way on the ship as it was sinking because they were located on the lower levels. So if you ever get the pleasure of traveling around Stockholm, be prepared to hear this story retold over and over again. The story of the Vasa will always be a humiliating one and will generally give people a good chuckle every now and then, but it is also a story of tragedy because many lives were lost and no one was held accountable for their actions. |
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