Sverige by land and by sea

Ducks on Djurgarden!
see all photos »

A and I arrived in Stockholm on a beautiful, cool, sun-drenched day. We were ready to explore this capital city spread on several islands and headed into town to the visitor center to get the lowdown. Unfortunately, someone had other, more sinister ideas - the resulting theft of A's backpack was suddenly a giant wrench thrown into the mix.

Added to the difficulties we had contacting anyone to file a report about missing credit cards, passport, and personal effects on a weekend was the difficulty of finding a hostel; the airport and train station had been strangely empty, but damned if we couldn't get a room anywhere but on a boat! I wouldn't trade our time on the Rygerfjord for the world, but the apparent popularity yet noticecable lack of the usual city confusion was certainly a conundrum.

A great place to commune with ducks or rent a paddle boat and see the city from the rolling waves

The Vasa.
see all photos »

A lot of our few days were spent in search of money and the reassurance that A would be able to get out of the country. It's amazing how easily one can lose the most important means to traveling aside from money - their passport; I can't be thankful enough that it wasn't my bag that was taken, and you can bet I was more diligent with the ever-chafing moneybelt (and locking my important stuff up) afterward. To make a long story short, it all worked out in the end: on Monday, there was money for A through Western Union to make up for lack of credit cards, his bag was reported found at a restaurant across the city, and we secured him a manpurse to guard his valuables in a closer place (it's a manly shade of navy, FYI).

Yours truly on the Rygerfjord!
see all photos »

I didn't get as much Stockholm in as I could have in three days, but I'm positive it's a beautiful, laid-back place I'd love to see again. We spent a good amount of time on the city park island of Stockholm, Djurgarden (deer park). That was a great place to commune with ducks, rent a paddle boat and see the city from the rolling waves, check out the Vasa, a monstrous, preserved warship from the 17th century (that sunk on its maiden voyage in that same harbor!), and try my first and perhaps only portion of Swedish goose liver paté. The latter took me about an hour to eat, but I ate every ounce.

Viking silver. Arrrrgh.
see all photos »

Quote from the Vasa Museet: "The Consequences are harsh for the people, even of a war that ends most victoriously and which was founded upon the most righteous principle. The common people and the poor become its innocent victims..."

- Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist (1466-1536)

In Östermalm, we visited the Historiska Museet to learn about vikings  - what good is a trip to scandinavia without them? Their national museum was really well-done, and I was disappointed to not have more time to spend there. We also saw exhibits on 6 bog people that were used as case studies to show various lifestyles and artefacts from the prehistoric era. The exhibits were so aesthetically thorough, and incorporated a variety of up to date technologies to make everything appealing and relevant. Needless to say, every catalogued object had a name, and most had descriptions (you realize, I can't say the same about Lisbon or even Granada).

Fast viking fact: In the early 13th century, under Gutalagen law, a dead person's survivors received compensation for a killed person in the form of silver. The amount varied as follows:

Free Gotlander = 4.8kg

Free non-Gotlander = 2kg

Slave = 225g

One more bonus about Stockholm - everyone spoke perfect English! It was so easy to get around and feel at home; the same is true of Oslo, and I'm willing to bet it's true of the other Scandinavian countries that we missed, too.

Caitlin