Blogs from Sweden, Europe - page 4

At long last, a location which is brand new for me and two days to indulge myself to the max, in this “beauty on water” (as Stockholmers call their city) - now, where to begin? Despite the well-preserved historic core (Gamla Stan), Stockholm is the last thing from a museum piece: it’s modern, dynamic, and ever evolving. When it comes to cultural assets, this city is scandalously rich. Take Gamla Stan for instance - the city’s oldest district is the stuff of storybooks. In just this one “Old Town” you receive all free visitor gifts including a Royal palace, gabled buildings, and endless cobblestone streets. And, just for good measure, throw in world-class museums and galleries which harbor everything from glittering Viking treasures; an ill-fated warship; ABBA props and subversive contemporary art pieces. It’s hands down ... read more

There is a small island just off the coast from Torekov where we are staying and a ferry runs 2 or 3 times a day. Yesterday the wind was too strong for the ferry to operate, so we drove to the Kullen peninsular. On the way we stopped at a memorial to where a UFO was reported as landing in 1946. I haven’t read the details as these are in a book, but next to the memorial is a place where 2 dead aliens were supposedly buried temporarily while the UFO made repairs. Will try to find a copy of the book in English. On the peninsula we walk to the Kullen lighthouse. This is the oldest lighthouse in Scandinavia and was originally built in 1561. It is also the highest and the most powerful in ... read more

One of the best ways to experience the west coast of Sweden is to do some hiking. J finds a trail to a place that sounds interesting - King Tryggves grave on the island of Tryggo. The island is not connected to the mainland but I'm told you can walk across at low tide. High tide today isn't until 5pm so we should be fine. Turns out the information isn't quite correct and we need to wade across but the water isn't more than knee deep. The grave itself is a huge cairn of stones 20 metres across. The history of the site is not well understood. The cairn is considered to be from the Bronze age and Kung Tryggve died in 963, and though a stone coffin was found in the centre of the cairn ... read more

There are many houses on the islands outside of Stockholm, though most are not main residences but are weekend or summer houses for the more wealthy Swedes. A boat trip through the archipelago is both scenic and interesting and makes for an excellent day trip from Stockholm. There are in theory plenty of options and different islands/places to visit, but as we are out of main season the number of these are reduced. Without too much fuss we settle on the trip to Sandhamn which is on one of the outer island in the northern area. The boat leaves at 10am and takes just over 2 hours to reach Sandhamn and returns at 15:30 so we have about 3 hours on the island. This looks to me to be an ideal day trip as it also ... read more

The most visited museum in Stockholm is not the Abba museum but the "Vasa" museum. The Vasa was a 17th century Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage just outside Stockholm, was raised in 1961 and is now brilliantly preserved in a special museum on Djurgarden. The ship is very very impressive. I had not expected it to be so intact, particularly as over 90% of what is on display is the original ship with only a few additions (rigging , masts etc) to improve the overall appearance. This incredible condition is due mainly to the water here which being cold and polluted did not support the oxygen that would normally have caused the wood to rot. The raising of the vessel and the subsequent preservation work are also impressive achievements and are featured in ... read more