Journal no. 3

 we started bright and early at Vasa Museum, which houses the wooden ship that sank before it sailed anywhere.
this ship, built in the 1600s, was salvaged almost intact in the 1960s and preserved immaculately.
i asked C if it was worth seeing this ship, and she replied that yeah it's a ship, but it's pretty interesting!

 how it must have looked like to the surprised locals - an ornate warship sinking at the dock before its maiden voyage.
 it was a good thing we arrived early before the queue started snaking outside the building.
we encountered busloads of tourists, from Korea and China.
so there she is, 3 stories tall, with a ridiculously fancy backside.
looking at this, it was no wonder she sank once she hit the water.
too many gun ports and not enough ballast in its narrow base!

 the regular Swedish sailor at that time.
dashing!
 a mini-version of what the Vasa looked like with its sails.

 the front of the ship has a magnificent lion. roar!
Sweden was certainly powerful then.
we enjoyed following the free mini-guided tour conducted by the cheerful and professional English guide. she explained some of the back story behind the engineer's decision to let the ship be instead of warning the king that it wouldn't float, and how the modern people preserved the wood with layers of stuff that took years to dry.

then, we went to the Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet), which was in a imposing brick building unmissable from the main road.
compared to the Vasa Museum, this was a lot less crowded and loads more interesting.


 here is its glorious main hall, sadly skewed in the photo.
we got free audio guides at the reception and enjoyed its extremely comprehensive collection of furniture and cultural artifacts.

 they had very cute exhibitions like this, which were like blown-up versions of a doll house.
the season for daisy crowns and strawberries and cream.

 and this is christmas.
 and examples of Swedish feast settings for the different classes and periods in time.
it's a swan!