Stockholm
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A
Quick Look Round
The highlights of this quick excursion were Djurgarden, the Vasa and Gamla Stan. And of course the ferry rides.
Stockholm is built on 14 islands
between Lake Malar and an arm of the Baltic Sea. The islands are linked
by 57 bridges. The city offers 38 parks, 70 museums and over 100 art
galleries. Brenda and I had one day to spend there, which gave us time
for two islands, two museums and one park. After
peering at the viking and pre-viking exhibits in the dimly lit
Historiska Museet, we had time to take a look at the famous Djurgarden,
where the Vasa Museum is located, then hop a ferry to Gamla Stan. We
had promised to return to our gracious hosts, Goran and Ingrid Eklund,
and we weren't going to show up late for a home cooked meal!  DjurgardenIt's a
short walk from the Historiska, over the Djurgardsbron, to the island
of Djurgarden. Looking back from the bridge, you can see, left, a busy
street ( Strandvagen) lined with heritage buildings in the background,
an avenue along the waterfront and a floating restaurant that rents
sailing dinghies. Djurgarden (meaning deer  park) is an inviting green space with gardens,
massive trees and several museums, amusements, boating and woodlands.
Below, above the treetops you see the spire of the Nordiska
Museet. At the park entrance gate Brenda checks out
the visitors' map (below). We're at the red spot,
centre left, and will be heading for the Vasa Museet at the western
(left) edge of the island.   On
the way I had to get my picture taken with this enormous Eastern
Cottonwood (populus
deltoides). This is a fairly common tree where I live,
Southern Ontario, but I had never seen one this size. My
wingspan is about 71 inches, so this one has to have a
circumference of at least 18 feet. North America boasts some big
cottonwoods
too (Central Park, NYC, 13 feet; St. Paul Minnesota, 21 feet;
Chatham, Ontario, 27 feet) But this tree is growing at 59 degrees
latitude, far north of the others! It says something about the mildness
of the climate here, or perhaps about the Swedes' regard for trees.   The birds above are Barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis).
I don't know whether these are wild or captive. They seemed less
territorial than the Canada geese I'm accustomed to.
Vasa
MuseumLeft, this fine model of the Vasa looks better
from the stern than from the bow (because the foresail obscures the
bow). The Museum's models photograph better than the ship itself, which
is a dark brown colour, having lain at the bottom of Stockholm harbour
for 333 years (from 1628 to 1961). The Museum has to be kept moist and murky, to preserve
the ancient wood.
King Gustavus Adolphus
commissioned the Vasa
in 1625, and it was completed by Dutch shipbuilder Henrik
Hybertsson
in 1628. On 10 August 1628, on her maiden voyage,
the vessel heeled in a breeze, water came in through the open
gun
ports, and the ship went down in Stockholm harbour. In the
diorama below, the model appears to be sinking
into
the table beneath. The problem is thought to have been insufficient
ballast.
There was just enough light reflected off
the transom (below) to get a half-decent picture of the ship itself. The Vasa Museum has many related
exhibits, a film theatre and a restaurant.
Next we hopped on the ferry for Gamla
Stan (Old Town).
Gamla Stan (Old Town)There's
shipping of all kinds in these waters, and tall ships like the one
below aren't rare.
Few things could be finer than
riding around in boats when you're downtown in one of the world's great
cities.
The ferry crossing had lots of interesting
things besides boats and ships to look at. There are many
beautiful buildings and landscapes, a constant movement into and
away from interesting skylines.
The next few shots are a sequence of
scenes and skylines between Djurgarden and Gamla Stan, a few minutes'
ride to the west.
 This pretty tower (left) is Kastellet, on the
small island of Kastellholmen.
(Below)
That's our destination, Gamla Stan, straight ahead. The
higher ground (left side, next picture) is in Sodermalm.
 Here
comes the Storskar
(below), heading east for the archipelago where we're going tomorrow
(oh boy! more boat rides!). That faint round thing over a building near
the middle of the picture marks the famous century-old NK (Nordisk
Kompaniet) department store on Hamngaten.  As
we get closer to Gamla Stan, below, you can see the steeple of Knight's
Church, burial place for Swedish royalty. To the right is the clock
tower of Storkyrkan, Stockholm's cathedral.
Above
and below, we're docking at Gamla Stan. The good-looking wooden vessel
is a hop-on, hop-off water taxi. The Djurgardena ferry is shown in the
last photo, below.
(left) One of the narrow, winding streets the Old
Town is noted for.
(Below,
left), a sentry stands guard outside the main entrance to Kungliga Slottet
(the royal palace).
(Below), there's a
long ramp going down to street level from the palace, I would guess
designed for horses and carriages. This picture looks from there northeastward towards
the bridge called Strombron. To the right, on Stromkajen, is the Grand Hotel, and to its left the Svenska Handelsbanken.
Then
we took the Djurgarden ferry (below) back, hopped on a
44 bus to the train station and got back in good time to be met by Goran,
mission accomplished.
Tomorrow we head for the
pretty seaside town of Vaxholm, for an excursion in the Archipelago
just east of the city.
Links off this siteThe Vasa Museum has its own web
site in many languages, and the English one is hereYou can
learn a whole lot more about the Geography of Stockholm from
Wikipedia.
Books about North American Trees
Alan Mitchell and David More (illustrator), The Guide to Trees of Canada and North America. Limpsfield, Surrey, UK: Dragon's World, 1987. Cottonwoods are on page 18.
Gerry Waldron, Trees of the Carolinian Forest. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 2003. For Eastern Cottonwoods, see pages 150-51.
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