Stockholm

Stockholm was another part of our Scandinavian trip last week. This Swedish city is made up of 14 islands on the Baltic Sea. Even though it rained most of our visit I still really enjoyed Stockholm. It was my favorite of all the cities we visited in Scandinavia. 

Inside the Stockholm Cathedral were two incredible ornate boxes where the royal family would worship. Angels hold up a golden crown over the royalty. 

Also in the Stockholm Cathedral is this sculpture of St George slaying the dragon. The story of St George is different in Scandinavia than in England (where he slays enemies to Christianity). Here St George (representing Swedish statesmen Sten Sture) saves a princess (Sweden) who was being held by a dragon (Danish King Christian I). This sculpture uses real animal horns and antlers for the dragon, which made it look really interesting and unique.

We went on a really great guided tour of the Riddarholm Church, which was built in the late 13th Century. It was used as a burial site for many Swedish royals, including King Magnus III who commissioned the building of the Riddarholm Church. 

In 2011, archaeologists opened the grave under the shrine to King Magnus III but found that the bones inside dated from the 15th century. They later opened the grave under the next shrine over for King Charles VIII but still did not find the bones for King Magnus III. They received permission to dig in between the two shrines and found artifacts consistent with the late 13th century and are waiting for permission to test the samples to confirm. This is a very exciting time for fans of King Magnus III (our guide was definitely a big fan of his). 

We missed the guided tour of the royal palace but were still able to go through the rooms by ourselves. They were beautiful and ornate but I wish we had made it on the tour since I know very little about the history of the palace. 

We had lunch at a fish stand and it was so good we went back the next day. We got fish, mashed potatoes, lingonberries, potato salad, pickled cucumbers, and a crispy rye cracker. 

We had a couple of mishaps at the grocery store in Sweden. We tried to buy milk but accidentally bought something more like sour cream. We tried to buy liquid laundry detergent but ended up with fabric softener. But I thought it was really interesting that you can buy frozen shrimp or berries in a bulk bin. Seems like a really clever idea rather than buying it prepackaged.

The Vasa was a war ship that sunk less than a mile into its maiden voyage in 1628. It was found in the 1950s and raised in 1961. This beautiful boat was preserved in the cold water of the Baltic Sea and provides a fascinating glimpse into another time period. 

The king added a second row of cannons to the design which made the ship top heavy and unstable. Just a strong wind blew it over and it took on water through the cannon slots.

Our last day in Stockholm we toured the Town Hall building. It looks much older than it actually is as it was completed in 1923. This is the venue for the Nobel Prize banquet. 

The Golden Hall inside the Town Hall has 18 million tiles with mosaics showing scenes from Swedish history. At the Nobel Prize banquet, this is the room where the winners meet the Swedish royal family before heading down for the banquet. 

We had a great time visiting Stockholm. The sites are interesting (especially with the guided tours), the food was great, and I especially loved the architecture. I would go back to Stockholm in a heartbeat!