This Cost How Much?!?

Skeletons of Some of the People Who Died in the Ship Wreck, on Display at the Vasa Museum


Reconstituted Face of One of the Victims of the Vasa Ship Wreck

Lunch at the Vasa Museum

Reindeer at the Skansen Zoo

People Awaiting the Royal Cortege Near Djurgarden

The Royal Cortege on Strandvägen

I was dead tired last night and hit the sack as soon as I finished my crême brûlée. I was so tired, I didn´t bother asking for a wake-up call. Instead, I woke up on my own. And that was, remarkably, at 7:00 a.m. this morning. I spent some time just lazing in bed catching parts of reruns of American sitcoms -- "The Nanny", and "According to Jim", as well as "The Biggest Loser". Boy oh boy, can I waste time in front of a TV.

I got ready and dressed and went to get this morning's complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Alas! no maple syrup for my pancakes this morning, so I had the Queen jam instead. After breakfast, I went to the Skanstull metro station and sat on the subway for close to ten minutes, waiting for it to leave the station. Because of the Royal Wedding today, all modes of travel were running late, and the buses were actually not even running.

I finally got to the Slussen station, then walked to the ferry to Djurgården. On my way, I bought a metre of lace-like candy, watermelon flavoured. I figured I could munch on this during the day for extra energy. I wasn't entirely sure where I was heading today, but I figured I could find lots to keep me busy on Djurgården. The ferry crossing was once again very quick, and I could look at the warships stationed in the harbour for the wedding.

I got to the island around 10:30 a.m., and figured I could probably start with the Vasa museum today. I checked at the hotel before leaving this morning, and the staff reassured me that despite the wedding, all museums should be open during regular hours.

The Vasa was the largest ship ever built in Sweden. When it set off for its maiden voyage on 10 August 1628, it sank in the Stockholm harbour in front of thousands of horrified eyes. Apparently, the ship's ballast was not enough to counterbalance the weight of the guns and masts and for this reason it sank. The shipwreck was located in 1961, and it was salvaged and tons of conservation work was done on it. Today, it sits in a museum which was inaugurated in 1988. Words fail to describe just how majestic the ship wreck really is, and there is no way to evoke how haunting the whole experience really is.

The ship takes up about the whole six floors of the museum, and there are floors built around the ship that feature various exhibits. The film on the main floor is a brilliant introduction to the subject. It runs for 25 minutes (fortunately in English) and is narrated by Stellan Skårsgard, one of the three possible fathers in the film version of "Mamma Mia!".

My favourite part was an exhibit on the second floor called "Face to Face". It allowed us to learn more about the unfortunate people who perished in the catastrophe. Most people managed to jump ship and flee to safety, but about 30 people died, and the museum displays about 10 of the 15 skeletons they have found. A truly gruesome display. The skeletons are named: the first one is called Adam because he was the first one located. Then, each subsequent discovery begins with the following letter of the alphabet, all to way to Johan. These people's personal effects -- scraps of clothing, money, keys, etc. -- are also on display. But most amazingly, with the funds collected by visitors who make donations to the museum, the curators have been able to use the latest scientific technology to analyse the skulls and to reconstruct the faces of some of the people who died in the wreck. So, in the display, I could stare at the reconstructed faces of people who had met their doom nearly 400 years ago.

Around 12:30, having finished touring the museum, I went to the museum's restaurant for lunch. According to the menu, it was rather expensive, but I didn't really pay all that much attention. I decided to get a bottle of water, the räksmörgås (an open-faced shrimp sandwich with mayo, a boiled egg and fresh dill, served on rye bread), and a glass of white wine. When I got to the cash, she announced that that came to 250 SEK (about 35 dollars Canadian). That came as a total shock. Oh well, Dad had said that I should spend an extra thousand dollars on my trip, so maybe this is the way to start doing that... My meal was superb, and I definitely want to have that again, although perhaps not in this expensive restaurant!

I exited the Vasa Museum around 1:15, so I was wondering what to do next. The Royal Wedding korteg (cortege), where the newly-wedded couple would parade around town, would only begin at 4:40 p.m., so I had plenty of time before then. I was hoping to meet Hans on Jarl Birgersgatan in Östermalm around that time. So, I decided that since I was on Djurgården anyway, I should go back to Skansen and see the rest of what I missed yesterday because of the thunderstorm we got.

The entire area around Gröna Lund, the Vasa Museum and Skansen was thriving with tons of people celebrating the wedding, carrying Swedish flags, having picnics on the various green spots, playing games with their children. I finally got to Skansen on foot, and entered once again the historical reconstruction of Swedish yesteryear. I especially wanted to see the zoo area that I missed yesterday.

The first site I came to in Skansen was the Solliden, which I missed completely yesterday. It was here on the Solliden stage that Frida won the Nya ansikten (New faces) contest in 1967, launching her career. It was also here that Agnetha gave an outdoor concert in 1975 and sang "Tack för en underbar, vanlig dag" and "De har glömt". From the heights of Skansen, I had a pretty good view of the city, all the way to Södermalm and my hotel, and even beyond. In fact, I had a good view of the Globe theatre, a huge golfball shaped concert venue where Benny and Björn joined U2 on stage in 1992 to sing "Dancing Queen".

I gradually made my way to the area that houses all of the Swedish animals, and I expanded my Swedish vocabulary by seeing the varg (wolf), the vildsvin (boar), the häst (horse), the svartbjörn (black bear), the brunbjörn (brown bear), the elg (elk, or moose), the gråsäl (grey seal) and the ren (reindeer). Near the church at Skansen, which is, according to the brochure I have, one of the most popular churches in Sweden in which to get married, there was a small wedding ceremony, but it wasn't the princess. A coachman was waiting for them with his horse-drawn carriage.

On my way out of Skansen around 4:00, I felt like having a slush at Gröna Lund. So, I found a concession stand that had slush machines in the window, and I ordered a cola slush. She handed me a two-foot long, narrow plastic bong thing and said that I could fill it myself at the machine. Total cost, 49SEK (7 dollars Canadian!) So, I made my way to the Djugården ferry with my 7 dollar slush in hand. Problem was that the ferry service was down for the royal wedding. The woman at the dock said that I could still leave the island on foot if I hurried to cross the Djurgården bridge before it closed. So, I went through the throngs of people, on my way to cross a narrow bridge that remained open next to the real Djurgården bridge, which was closed to traffic for the wedding. It took forever to cross it, as there were masses of people trying to reach Djurgården, but eventually, I made it to Östermalm. I knew there wasn't much time left before the cortege was scheduled to arrive, and I wondered whether I would have time to make it to see Hans and his Red Cross flag on Birger Jarlsgatan. But suddenly I heard loud cheering coming towards me, and I realized that the cortege was making its way down the street I was standing on, Strandvägen, on the waterfront. The media reports that there were hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets for the cortege, and I can believe it! I got closer to the street to have a view and caught quite a few pictures of the passing guards. Then I saw the princess and her new husband, a commoner, drive by. It was so quick, I couldn't get a picture. But Hans would tell me later that I was lucky because he didn't even get to see them at all.

Since I was in Östermalm, I thought I would return to the Saluhall to see if I could get some kroppkakor. I have been in Stockholm for well over a week and I have still not tried this delicacy. And the staff at the hotel tells me that the Saluhall has them. Problem was, when I got there around 5:15 p.m., it was closed. It closes at 4:00 on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays. Grrr. So, I checked my Frommer's Guide and decided to have dinner at a recommended restaurant nearby, the KB.

I decided that I had had too many McDonald's and Subway meals and that tonight, the night of the royal wedding, I would treat myself to a good meal. I ordered a glass of white wine (a Bordeaux), and for my meal, the seafood Wallbergare, basically a fish version of the meat dish I had had at the hotel, with dillpotatis (baby potatoes with fresh dill), fresh snow peas, and a cream sauce with chives for the fish burgers. Absolutely delicious. For dessert, the raspberry souffle with a side of fresh blueberries, strawberries and blackberries in ice wine, served with a scoop of pear sorbet. My meal cost about 60 dollars, but it was delicious. Still, I eyed the open-faced shrimp sandwich my neighbour was having. I definitely want that again!

After dinner, I took the subway back to my hotel for a bit, to change so that I could go out to the bear bar. The bar turned out to be quite disappointing. I got there early, around 8:30, while Hans had said that he would meet up with me there at 9:30. I ordered a Swedish lager, a Sofiero, which was served almost at room temperature, and sat in a corner, taking in the room. People came in in groups and stuck to each other to socialize, so it was very hard for me to break the ice... especially since I could only hear Swedish. Nine thirty rolled around, and Hans wasn't there. Simply stated, I was really getting bored. The highlight (lowlight?) of the evening was when a young woman tried to enter the bar. When she was told that this was a men's club, she crouched down on the floor and started screaming at the top of her lungs, but I had no idea what she was saying. She was calmly escorted out the bar. Around 10:00, I got up and left the building. Hans would later tell me that he was delayed at a restaurant by a waiter who was slow in getting their bill.

So, I took a subway home to the hotel, wrote my blog for a while, then went to bed. Before doing so, I asked the staff of the hotel to book a reservation for me for the next day to go to the Grand Hotel for an authentic Swedish smörgåsbord (buffet). And I went to bed without requesting a wake-up call.