Baltic Cruise - July 1, 2015 Stockholm, Sweden

What a beautiful sight it was as we woke up to our ship slowly cruising through the 37 miles of small island chains in Stockholm, Sweden.  The small summer-homes along the shores made it an absolutely gorgeous experience!

These are some of Europe's most scenic islands (24,000--big and small). 

The summer homes reminded us of Island Park.

This city means so much to us as Rigby children because our great grandmother immigrated to America from here in the late 1800s.

We boarded a bus for a tour of the city. 

Renaissance buildings with palatial rooftops-- one of the most prestigious addresses in town.

Joyce loves flowers and name almost every kind there is!

Always fun to see the Embassy of the United States in the different countries!

We were so excited to see one of Europe's great sightseeing attractions-- the Vasa Museum!

This glamorous but unseaworthy warship--top heavy with an extra cannon deck...

...sank 20 minutes into her 1628 maiden voyage when a breeze caught the sails and blew her over.

After 333 years at the bottom of Stockholm's harbor, she rose again from the deep.

Rediscovered in 1956 and raised in 1961, this is today the best-preserved ship of its age anywhere.  Painstakingly restored, 95 percent of the wood is original....

..housed since 1990 in this brilliant museum.

The reason why the Vasa was so well-preserved was because the  brackish water in the harbor was not salty enough for ship worms.  Also, the polluted water killed a lot of bacteria!

Some of the 500 carved wooden statues draping the ship--shown painted in bright colors as they were before the sinking--were all symbolic of the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus,' power and glory.
 
 Painting of King Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden (1611–32), who laid the foundations of the modern Swedish state and made it a major European power.

 This is how brightly colored the wooden statues would have looked when the ship first set sail.

A reproduction of what one of the floors inside would have looked like.  It was so short, I couldn't even stand upright!

Amazing how this warship, the Vasa, was dredged from the sea floor and raised with cables.  As they brought the ship up, polyethylene glycol (wax) was sprayed on it for preservation!

Another amazing fact:  The Vasa was discovered in 1956 and by 1961, the Vasa had been made watertight.  Then, with hydraulic jacks the ship was slowly raised.  This 17th century ship's rescue spread across the world.  The hull still leaked.  However, with pumping and sealing continuing, ten days later, the Vasa was hauled into dry dock on her own keel, afloat after 333 years!

Thousands of artifacts and the remains of at least 15 people were found in and around the hull.  Among the many items found were clothing, weapons, cannons, tools, coins, cutlery, food, drink and six of the 10 sails.

The display reads, "He was about 35 years old and roughtly 5'1/2" tall.  He carried a knife and had coins in his pocket.  When disaster stuck, he was pinned down under a gun carriage..."  These were his clothes.

Can you believe these items survived in such amazing condition after being in water and mud for over 333 years!?!

Amazing how even the smallest of hooks and eyes for clothing were even recovered.

The sign reads:  "The contents of this tub are most likely the equipment of a cook, but could also be used to prepare medicines.

No one had ever even opened this chest since the Vasa sank.  The hat inside was in almost perfect condition.

A tiny reproduction along side the real ship to show what it looked like before it went down.

In all, there were 64 guns aboard.

More artifacts that were salvaged.

Model showing the Vasa all new and brightly painted.
Basically what the sign is telling us that on Sunday, August 10, 1628, during the afternoon, the Vasa was next to the dock, and then sets sail in a light breeze.  After a few hundred yards, she tipped when there was a squall (sudden sharp increase of wind speed), but  she righted herself.  Then, another squall and the Vasa began to tip heavily and to start taking water through the gunports.  Off the island of Beckholmen, the ship capsized only 20 minutes after it left shore.  About fifty people drowned when the Vasa sank with "sails set, flags flying, and all." 

So this beautiful ship sank on its maiden voyage--just like the Titanic.  What caused this?  As can be seen in the mock-up above, there just wasn't enough ballast for this large of a ship. 

Even in a light squall, there wasn't enough ballast to enable the vessel to cope with it.  For stronger winds, considerably more ballast was needed, but then the ship's gunports would have been too close to the waterline.  The hull should have been somewhat wider and deeper to make room for more ballast.

This was an absolutely fascinating experience to see this grand old ship!

Back to the bus, we passed Nordiska Museum--historical museum of Sweden......housed in a beautiful 19th Century Renaissance style castle...

One of Stockholm's most popular streets is Drottninggatan ("Queen street").  This pedestrian street is located in the downtown area of Stockholm, running north to south for almost a mile and a quarter. 

We next toured the City Hall, built between 1911 and 1923.  It looks much newer than that. 

It is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet and is one of Stockholm's major tourist attractions.

The largest pipe organ in Scandinavia is located in Stockholm City Hall. Music is played on it as the Nobel Prize winners and other VIPs march down steps into hall.

The Blue Hall, with its straight walls and arcades, incorporates elements of a representative courtyard.  Its walls are in fact without blue decorations, but it has kept its name after Östberg's original design. It is known as the dining hall used for the banquet held after the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony.

The Nobel Prizes are held there every year on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. (All Nobel Prizes except the Peace Prize are awarded in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. Another banquet is held there.)

The City Council Chamber

A series of wood beams crossed at right angles hangs below a rich blue pattern in the ceiling.

Looking through the window at Stockholm across the water.

The last major room on the tour was the Golden Hall. Unlike the Blue Hall, the “golden” in “Golden Hall” does describe the color of the room. Real gold is pressed into tiles on the walls.

The Golden Hall also plays a role in the Nobel Prize ceremonies. It serves as a ballroom for dancing after Nobel reception.

The Golden Room is well decorated with a number of mosaics representing Swedish history.

One wall is largely filled with a mosaic of the Queen of Mälaren, the alleged guardian of Stockholm’s lake of the same name, in a sitting position.  This mosaic was rather controversial when it was unveilder because of her Medusa-like snake hair.   

 The mosaic depicts her at the crossroads of and receiving homage from the east and the west (you’ll spot an American flag there), didn't seem to bother the Swedish people as much as her hair did!

Outside City Hall looking over to downtown Stockholm from the City Hall garden.

Royal Palace--largest palace in the world still being used by a king--
including 608 royal apartment rooms (one more than Britain's Buckingham Palace). The family lives at Drottningholm Palace. 
The Palace is guarded 24 hours a day by the Hogvakten, which consists of special guards dating back to the early 16th Century. 
The Stockholm Palace is the royal palace and official residence of the Swedish monarch, in Stockholm. Personal offices of the king and other members of the Royal Family, as well as administrative offices of the Royal Court of Sweden, are located here.

 Storkyrkan Coronation Cathedral--(built in 1279 the exterior dates mainly from the 1700's.  Royal baptisms, coronations and weddings take place here) with obelisk that dates back to 1788.

We next visited Gamia Stan, the medieval old town, where we wandered the old cobblestone streets--well, at least the girls wandered.  Hah!

The Old Square of Stockholm (Storatorget) is picturesque and filled with history...

.and ringed with lovely 18th century buildings.

The old town pump--people still come by with containers to fill with fresh water.

Christin II used the square as the site for the 1520 "Stockholm Blood Bath."  He got rid of almost all of his political opposition by having them beheaded in this public square.

Now, there are outdoor restaurants and shops lining an important meeting place!

The cobblestone, narrow streets in Gamla Stan (Old Town) are like a walk back in time.

This Rune Stone (raised Viking stone with symbolic inscription) was used by a housebuilder as building material...

..The cannon leaning against it was probably put there to protect the wall from the careless horse and buggy drivers of the 17th Century!

We loved wandering this little town looking for souvenirs.

This was interesting--the Special of the Day:  Reindeer roast with game sauce!

On our way back to the bus, we saw some gentlemen playing a game like bocce ball.

Another great day and a beautiful scene as we leave Stockholm, Sweden!

Tomorrow--we sailed the entire day.  We loved played cards and had fun shopping a little on board.  That night we had our second formal night dinner.