Proud to be a Swede

Gamla Stan
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Finally made it to my homeland.  Thank goodness Stockholm is a clean and wonderful city that is rich in both history and heritage.  Just take a look at the buildings.  How can you not like that?  Don't you wish you were Swedish now?

The traveling gang only spent two days in the Scandinavian capital where we really could have been entertained for several more.  We did some walking around the old town, Gamla Stan, which is known for it's shopping and small-style restaurants, and also toured the Vasa Museum.

Gunship Vasa
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The Vasa museum is entirely dedicated to one, yes, just one, ship's misfortunes.  In August of 1628, the gunship's sails were raised during the maiden voyage, and to the dismay of her crew and designer, the top-heavy warship with insufficient ballast turned on her side, filling the multiple cannon holes with water which finally buried the large beast in her cold watery grave for 333 years.   The key word in that last sentence was cold.  Nearly preserved to it's original form, the Vasa was protected by the cold water until a crew began a retrieval process which resulted in a successful surfacing nearly fifty years ago.  There are plenty of intricate carvings on the stern of the ship, including lions, kings, crowns, savages, queens, and...okay, I might be making some of these up, but the carvings are quite detailed.  I told Anne that some of these carvings could have been done by my ancestors, at which time she reminded me that the ballast designer was probably in my direct blood line.  Good point.

Can you find the Hallgren boys?
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Well, time to hit the road to my relatives in southwestern Sweden.  Stockholm was better than anticipated, leaving me proud to be a Swede.