Stockholm

Stockholm

An artist using the sky as a canvas, a boat sunk twenty minutes into its maiden journey, and of course, some Rick Steves. We couldn’t get bored in Stockholm!

After checking into the hotel, we headed to Bistro Bestick. When writing this post a while after the trip, I was looking on the restaurant’s website. Since I don’t speak Swedish (yet), I had to use google translate to read the page into English. I read the menu to wake up the memory of eating the meal, and when I was reading it, I looked at the top of the webpage and saw that it said: “Bistro Cutlery.” What?!? I thought that there had been a mistake. Whoops! Wrong website! However, when I looked at the URL, it said Bistro Bestick in it (see for yourself: bistrobestick.se). This had me very confused. So, I put Bistro Bestick into an online translator. It came out as Bistro Cutlery! It turns out that, “Bistro Bestick ” means “Bistro Cutlery” in English. Who knew? We chose Bistro Bestick (Bistro Cutlery) because when we did some research before the trip, we saw that it was one of the highest ranked restaurants in Stockholm (#14, but who’s counting?). We ordered just a few appetizers to see how we would like their food — and then had to order more because it was just that good! I wish that I lived in Stockholm so that I could go to Bistro Bestick for every meal. The meatballs were amazing and the scallops, which melted in my mouth, were delectable!! The meal made me want to keep eating even after I was full. It was by far the best meal of our trip (so far!).

DAY ONE:

The next morning, we headed to the Vasa museum right at opening time to catch the museum without crowds, which is a trick we have learned from many years of travel. The Vasa is a huge ship that sunk 20 minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628. The boat capsized because the king wanted the boat to be super tall and thin to house more cannons, but turns out it was too tall and thin to keep the ship afloat. The people testing the boat knew from their various tests that the boat would fall over, but nobody said anything about it, because they would have to inform the king and the king would be angry if he was told. The king really wanted the ship to be taller than realistically possible.  After the ship went down, there was a trial and the person they found guilty was… already dead! They did that so that no one would have to bear the consequences of bad decisions that were really not their fault, as no one at the time could go against the king. The museum tour guide noted that this careful application of justice, finding a way for someone to be held officially accountable without doing anyone wrong, is a very Swedish thing to do. The tour guides tell the story in a really amusing way- although they acknowledge the fact that thirty people died, it was a long, long time ago and they also take a light and humorous spin on the story of their king’s folly. It’s a pretty sad story if you ask me, but I must admit, it was quite a beautiful ship. It’s still preserved today, in a very well put together museum that engaged me in every exhibit. The guide knew anything and everything about the Vasa.  We also watched the film that goes along with it. The film told the story of the Vasa’s times, and how in the 1950s they discovered and then rescued and restored the ship. They were only able to recover the Vasa in the 1950s and 1960s because the people of Stockholm tried to recover the ship right after, in 1628. They were not successful, but they managed to turn the ship upright, which slowed down the rotting process. After that, the Vasa was found 300 years later to be taken out of the ocean. The restoration process took many years, and they ranged from replacing the wood to drying out and spraying the entire structure with polyethylene glycol. They also found bones of those who didn’t survive and objects like candlesticks, rings, and cannons. The only thing that I didn’t like about the museum was the wax head recreations of some crew members’ faces based on their bones. Eek!!!  On a less morbid note, there were fun games about guiding the ship or anchoring the ship correctly, which were displayed on large screens. They were very hands-on. I would not have been a good captain! My favorite part of the Vasa museum was, of course, the ship itself, which is huge and fully restored. You really get to see what an ancient ship looked like.

When we finished exploring the Vasa Museum, we headed on foot toward Skansen, a large outdoor museum. On the way, we walked by something called the Abba museum. I don’t know what this is, but my parents wanted to take a picture there.

After the short walk, we arrived at Skansen. Skansen is a compilation of all of the old buildings in Sweden that people were willing to donate. In most of the buildings, they have an in-character staff member who acts as whoever would have inhabited the building in historical times.  That person would “play the character” from way back when and answer questions. It’s one thing to see the rooms recreated in museums or objects displayed under glass, but it’s so different in Skansen. You really feel immersed in history, like you are a part of it. It’s not just a fun experience, but an educational one (this takes nothing away from it- learning is FUN!!!). We also took a dramatized tour and it was quite informative as well as entertaining. We were supposed to be inside the summer house of a wealthy family. The guide was giving us a tour as if we were newly hired gardeners, teaching us about how the people there lived and about the house. After, we found a nice spot to picnic in the park. We grabbed fresh and delicious baked goods from the old bakery, too! 

After finishing our exploration of Skansen, we headed to Bastard Burgers, supposedly the best in town. They were great burgers, but the fries were not quite as spectacular. Once all filled up, we headed to bed.

DAY TWO:

The following day, we headed to the City Hall early and signed up for a tour. The tour was good, but I didn’t care about the information. I only wanted to see the gold room, a dazzling chamber covered in gold tiles. It is very grand and unique.

When the tour finished, we headed to Gamla stan, a neighborhood in Stockholm, to take Rick Steves’ self-guided tour.  The tour included the Iron Boy Statue, Stortorget, and the Royal Palace. We stopped there to see the changing of the guard, which I didn’t find interesting or worth the time at all, but my brother did. All that I recommend is sitting on the ground to see through other people’s legs. It was crowded, hot, and unpleasant. We also wound through side streets and noticed the phoenix and crown above certain houses, signifying that they had paid their taxes and could be saved by the fire department. Luckily, that’s not the case today. In those days, you’d better pay your taxes or live next to people who do or you’re toast!

When we finished up the tour, we headed to Millesgarden, a large, mostly outdoor, museum that used to be a famous sculptor’s house. The sculptor is Carl Milles. He was a very prominent artist whose family decided to make his home into a museum for his sculptures after he died. The sculptures are so beautiful. What’s best is that the artist uses the sky as his canvas by putting the sculptures on pedestals. The museum is quite kid-friendly and they even had a scavenger hunt that kids can do. My favorite sculpture was the Hand of God, a sculpture of a small man standing on a large hand. What makes it look amazing is the background of the sky.

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When we saw all that there was to see at Millesgarden, we started our dinner cruise, which we had reserved the night before. The food was pretty good and the views were even better. We floated by archipelagos, which are scenic in the first place but look so much better in the sunset. The sky was purple and orange, and the silhouette of Stockholm stood out against it. It was such a beautiful view… a great way to end our time in Stockholm.

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Dora