After breakfast and a trip to the drug store to deal with some friction burns from my boots, we headed out towards old town again. We started the at the local Skechers as I had found a hole in the top of my sneakers large enough to put my thumb through. So now I have new shoes with memory foam soles.
Having finally dealt with all the Walking Dawn issues, we went to the church included in yesterday's ticket. The building is medieval, but a spire that burned at one point was replaced with a gothic style spire.
Unlike the churches I saw so recently in London, this one is no longer used for regular services. It functions solely as a burial church. And in several chapels, the remains of royal families are interred in sarcophagi, making it apparent just how many children died in or shortly after child birth a few hundred years ago.
After that, we wondered around a bit more in old town, picking through some souvenir shops, and eventually getting lunch at Hairy Pig Deli, which makes their own sausage, beer, and cider. They didn't have a house made beer on tap, but they did have a cider, and a couple of Swedish whiskies. I tried the cheaper whiskey, which tasted young, but was still pretty good. Bill got the cider.
For the afternoon, we went to a different part of town, an island largely covered in museums and parks. Mondays are a rough day for finding open museums, but we found a couple. Also quite near each other.
I was originally going to pass on Vasamuseet, having so recently been on the HMS Belfast. How good could a museum about a boat you can't even get onto be? Then Bill explained that the Vasa was supposed to be this amazing ship that kept getting more and more stuff added to it while being built, and sank on it's maiden voyage, not even leaving the harbor. So, basically, a museum about how important my job is as told through a massive failed project. Requirements creep, schedule pressure, and inadequate analysis of test results combined to sink the massive ship.
50 cannons were recovered with diving bells in the 1600, which is amazing considering the ship was 40 meters down. The project to raise the ship began in the 1960's, and archaeology work is ongoing. 15 skeletons were found in the remains, including two women. There is a room discussing women's lives in 1620's Stockholm that talks about the woman who owned the ship yard (after being widowed) and the two women found on the ship. Also included is this choice quote:
All in all, a very cool museum well worth the visit.
Next, we wandered through the park and down the street to the ABBA museum. This was a much smaller, but far more interactive museum than Vasamuseet. Admission was kind of pricey as well. The subterranean donut that forms the museum is a nonstop audiovisual sensory overload chocked full of memorabilia, dioramas of important locations, and costumes.
Several displays have headphones in case you want to focus more on the particular audio at a display. For interactive content, you can play with a simulated soundboard to try to reproduce ABBA's sound. Record yourself singing from a selection of songs, virtually try on some wild outfits, and get up on stage to sing and dance with projections of the band. Visitors are also encouraged to sit on some exhibits and take pictures. I had fun singing like nobody was watching and dancing like it hurt. (Only Bill and the lady running the exhibit were watching.)
We then strolled around a bit, enjoying the wide, pedestrian friendly boulevards, and made our way to Speceriet for dinner. This place does small plated featuring local ingredients. Everything was good, but the beet root dish with the marrow and toasted nuts was amazing. A marvelous combination of flavors and textures.
Tomorrow, we'll be up early to catch the first of many flights to our next destination, so the rest of the evening will be low key drinks at the hotel bar, and packing.
Having finally dealt with all the Walking Dawn issues, we went to the church included in yesterday's ticket. The building is medieval, but a spire that burned at one point was replaced with a gothic style spire.
Unlike the churches I saw so recently in London, this one is no longer used for regular services. It functions solely as a burial church. And in several chapels, the remains of royal families are interred in sarcophagi, making it apparent just how many children died in or shortly after child birth a few hundred years ago.
After that, we wondered around a bit more in old town, picking through some souvenir shops, and eventually getting lunch at Hairy Pig Deli, which makes their own sausage, beer, and cider. They didn't have a house made beer on tap, but they did have a cider, and a couple of Swedish whiskies. I tried the cheaper whiskey, which tasted young, but was still pretty good. Bill got the cider.
For the afternoon, we went to a different part of town, an island largely covered in museums and parks. Mondays are a rough day for finding open museums, but we found a couple. Also quite near each other.
I was originally going to pass on Vasamuseet, having so recently been on the HMS Belfast. How good could a museum about a boat you can't even get onto be? Then Bill explained that the Vasa was supposed to be this amazing ship that kept getting more and more stuff added to it while being built, and sank on it's maiden voyage, not even leaving the harbor. So, basically, a museum about how important my job is as told through a massive failed project. Requirements creep, schedule pressure, and inadequate analysis of test results combined to sink the massive ship.
50 cannons were recovered with diving bells in the 1600, which is amazing considering the ship was 40 meters down. The project to raise the ship began in the 1960's, and archaeology work is ongoing. 15 skeletons were found in the remains, including two women. There is a room discussing women's lives in 1620's Stockholm that talks about the woman who owned the ship yard (after being widowed) and the two women found on the ship. Also included is this choice quote:
All in all, a very cool museum well worth the visit.
Next, we wandered through the park and down the street to the ABBA museum. This was a much smaller, but far more interactive museum than Vasamuseet. Admission was kind of pricey as well. The subterranean donut that forms the museum is a nonstop audiovisual sensory overload chocked full of memorabilia, dioramas of important locations, and costumes.
Several displays have headphones in case you want to focus more on the particular audio at a display. For interactive content, you can play with a simulated soundboard to try to reproduce ABBA's sound. Record yourself singing from a selection of songs, virtually try on some wild outfits, and get up on stage to sing and dance with projections of the band. Visitors are also encouraged to sit on some exhibits and take pictures. I had fun singing like nobody was watching and dancing like it hurt. (Only Bill and the lady running the exhibit were watching.)
We then strolled around a bit, enjoying the wide, pedestrian friendly boulevards, and made our way to Speceriet for dinner. This place does small plated featuring local ingredients. Everything was good, but the beet root dish with the marrow and toasted nuts was amazing. A marvelous combination of flavors and textures.
Tomorrow, we'll be up early to catch the first of many flights to our next destination, so the rest of the evening will be low key drinks at the hotel bar, and packing.
No comments:
Post a Comment