Fun Facts About Stockholm!

Sweden is the third largest country in Europe.  There is an archipelago outside of Stockholm that is composed of 30 thousand islands.  Only 12 thousand people are year round residents- otherwise many of the homes are used as summer homes. The inner islands have bridges and ferries that connect them.  The further out you travel from the mainland the smaller more remote islands have unique methods of transportation and some don’t have cars on them at all.  In the summer, residents travel to and from via small personal boats.  As winter approaches, there is roughly a two-week waiting period for the ice to freeze over the water, and when it does the Swedes drive directly over the ice until late spring.  Residents are entitled to 7 free helicopter rides a year to assist with transportation especially in the brutal winter months.  Now the craziest truth is that to help conveniece the life of those living in the archipelago, there are boats of business that travel around: For exacmple there would be a day of the week scheduled for where you live that these boats visit.  They include a bank boat, library boat, school bus, medical and dental and even a bakery.  That boat must smell good! Imagine your errands coming to you.

Vaxholm is the largest town in the archipelago and my tour took us there for a visit.  A dark red color is standard on buildings and homes in Sweden.  Apparently if the owners couldn’t afford to build a brick building they would just paint it brick color instead.  Vaxholm had a tiny town center of shops and restaurants, but our stop was quite short because we were moving along to other islands in the archipelago.  Gustavberg had an interesting pottery museum with free entry.  Many older pieces as well as modern Scandinavian designs, and even a room of toilets.  But this technical print really struck my fancy.  Next stop, on to a tasty lunch at Siggesta Gard farm.  How freakin adorable is this place?  And a very authentic meal to boot.  I could have eaten three plates of food here.  The best part of being on these tours is the free lunch.  Now traveling from island to island, we crossed over with our coach bus on the ferry. 

Leaving Vaxholm by ferry

At the pottery museum..

I spent the rest of my return trips back to Stockholm in the city itself.  Revisited the Vasa Museum (the famous sunken ship that sat in the harbor for 333 years) with some friends who had not seen it.  It is such a fascinating museum and with free crew entry why not see it again?  There are several viewing levels though you cannot actually get onto the ship.  And the basement level has skeletal remains and stories of crew on board.  I also finally found out why the damn thing sank in the first place.  The king who had ordered it built insisted on additional cannons and extreme lavish carved decoration on the vessel.  Despite requests for reconsideration from his ship builder, the king would not accept the fact that the additional weight would affect the ships ballast and therefore it sank on it’s maiden voyage in the harbor.  It was made of oak, but something about the water in the harbor and lack of certain sea creatures kept this boat intact since 1628.  It is supposedly one of the most visited museums in all of Scandinavia.  

You’ve probably heard of the hop on hop off buses that are in most major cities around the world.  Well Stockholm has hop on hop off boats as well.  Not only are they free for crew but they also have wifi.  Score!  So beautiful boat rides around a beautiful city picking us up directly at the cruise terminal.  Could not ask for better transport.  It was far too nice outside to visit the modern art museum but we did stop out front to check out some sculptures.  And a leisurely walk through the older town shopping area plus some local brew with these hooligans is a fantastic way to end the day.