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August 21, 2004
Day Two in Stockholm
Today's post is about yesterday's activities:
Today is beautifully sunny, and we take advantage of that by starting our sightseeing before noon. First, we head over to lunch at Ortagarden - umlaut over the 'O', and circle over the 'a'. This is a vegetarian buffet restaurant, and is different from any other vegetarian restaurant I've been to. The slaw and rice dish is especially good.
After lunch, we head to the Vasamuseet, which houses the Vasa. The Swedes built the Vasa in the 1600s, and she sank on her maiden voyage, due to stability problems - within the first fifteen minutes of her launch. I was impressed that the Swedes possess enough humility to build such a large museum around probably the largest disaster in the history of Sweden. Live and learn, I guess. They probably thought about the Vasa when the Volvo was being designed. This is one of the most unique museums I've ever been to, and I recommend it highly. The original ship has been salvaged and restored to great detail, and it is truly impressive to stand in front of the ship and see how much work went into it. Sweden was at war with Poland when the ship was being built, and it is apparent in the details of the wooden carvings that some mokery is being made of the Polish people. We probably spent three hours easily in this museum.
Next, we head to the Royal Palace, where the Swedish royal family lives. Unfortunately, it is past opening hours, and we settle for looking at the outside of the palace. However, I did manage to get some cloudberry ice cream on my way over to the Palace. Apparently, cloudberries - which look like small blackberries, but are yellow - are popular in August.
Next, we head over to the Storkyrkan, which is a 700 year-old cathedral, and is the oldest parish church in Stockholm. The royal family has their own pew there. The church is used for royal ceremonies, and contains a very large painting called 'Last Judgement' which is said to be the oldest painting representing Stockholm. We also see the Riddarholmskyrkan, which is a medieval abbey built in the 13th century, and is the burial place for Swedish kings.
For dinner, we ate at 'Den Gyldene Freden', which opened in 1722, and contains a vaulted cellar. The food there is wonderful, and I have a review on the restaurant, which is in progress. After dinner, we stop by an ice cream shop, and I decide that I want to try the saffron-honey ice cream, which I have never heard of before. I wish they sold saffron-honey ice cream in the States.
Posted by Kathy at August 21, 2004 11:22 PM