Ferry Cross the Baltic

This is not my ferry. Mine is a lot bigger. The size of a cruise ship. And, even if it were, how would I have gotten that angle?

As many vacations as I have been taken, I have never taken a cruise vacation. In all my vacations, the most time I have ever spent on a boat/ship/floating vessel on a vacation was four or five hours (on a ferry from Sitka to Juneau, Alaska). This would blow that out of the water, so to speak. I was going to spend a total of 17 and one-half hours on a cruise vacation.

This is the ferry: the M/S Gabriella:

This is the Gabriella docked at the Viking terminal in the Södermalm section (island) of the City of Stockholm. I about to embark on the longest cruise vacation of my life.

This is the view of Djurgården, where I had spent the previous day at the Vasa Museum.

In fact, you can see the Vasa Museum very clearly on the left side of the photo below. On the right is a permanent amusement park, Gröna Lund.

I call it permanent because it is open year to year, although not year round. Carnies don't tear it down at the end of the week and move it to the next Scandinavian capital. Even though it closes for the "season," meaning when the days are so short you can hardly call them "days," it is closed, to re-open only whether the weather and length of daylight so justify.

And where is my next destination? Where will I be disembarking at the end of my nearly-a-whole-day cruise vacation fun?

Helsinki, Finland! The flag of Finland flying on the deck of the M/S Gabriella is the giveaway.

The first part of the journey -- and it's a long part -- is through the whole of the Stockholm archipelago:

Stockholm is a series of hundreds of islands stretching to the Baltic Sea.

It's very green.

And there are lots of other boats.

Of all shapes and sizes.

Selfie:

Selfie in a reflective pane of glass.

The dinner buffet was large and rather tasty. You can tell that you are at a buffet in a Nordic country because the buffet featured seven different kinds of pickled herring dishes. You think I'm exaggerating? I could be understating it. It could've been eight. But there were a minimum of seven. I tried one. It was supposedly with some kind of cheese. But the cheese did not taste like cheese. It tasted like fishy herring.

Anyway, I woke up in the morning after a decent night's sleep in my cabin, and saw this.

We were being tailed by a ferry from a competing cruise ship line

And the ferry was a cruise ship. It went on for a more complete Baltic cruise from Helsinki. I sprung for a room with a window. I thought I took pictures of my room, but I didn't. The room was small. About the size of many European hotel rooms in which I have stayed over the years.

After the breakfast buffet, we were soon entering the harbor of Helsinki.

And soon we arrived at marina.

This is a signature view of Helsinki. The "sky wheel" in the foreground. The Helsinki Cathedral (not a real cathedral) (Lutheran) with its green domes in the background.

When I see a city has one of these giant ferris wheels, I think that episode of "The Simpsons" with the monorail salesman, with Phil Hartman voicing the high-pressure monorail salesman pitching the monorail to the Simpsons' Springfield. I imagine that the salesmen pitching these large ferris wheel projects to various cities -- Las Vegas, London, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Helsinki -- use the same high pressure pitch as the Phil Hartman voiced salesman did in The Simpsons. And they are just as successful. And these giant ferris wheels are just as useful as the Springfield monorail. Ferris-wheel. Ferris wheeeeeel. Ferris-wheel.

Soon we were docked at the Helsinki harbor.

And soon I was walking in Helsinki to my hotel. Finland is now the 37the country that I visited. I might add one more this trip. We'll see how it goes.

Stockholm Syndrome: Last Day in the City of Sticks

Sinful Swedes enter the mouth of the beast for their eternal damnation. Best guess as to their sin? Public nudity.

Today is my last day in the City of Stockholm proper. My major observation? I did not schedule enough time here. But you live and you learn. I did not know before I came. But I do now. This is very nice to visit. Lots to see. Lots to do. I would have been worth more time than I what I allocated.

And the sun finally came out, even though it was cold and rainy. This is Vasagatan in the sun.

I have an afternoon ferry boat to catch to my next destinaion, so that means I have time for one more tourist attraction before I set sail like a Viking on a mission of plunder.

And I will travel to that destination via Metro.

The Stockholm Metro is renowned for its vibrantly decorated stations. This is the station "T-Centralen." 

Not bad for a Metro station. Apparently there are others that are even more vibrant. But that will wait for another trip because my trip planner failed to schedule me for a sufficient amount of time in Stockholm. Which, by the way, did you know that the name "Stockholm" means "City of Sticks"?

My destination for my last day in Stockholm was the Swedish History Museum.

I know, that doesn't sound like "saving the best fot last." But the best museum in town is the Vasa, and I did that yesterday. And I love history. And I love learning about the history of the countries I visit.

The first collection viewed was the prehistoric era of Sweden:

The petroglyphs reproduced on the museum floor looked like something one would see in the Nevada desert. Valley of Fire, perhaps?

Bronze tools:

What's interesting is how primitive the area of modern-day Sweden was a couple of thousand years B.C., compared to ancient Egypt. (And, yes, it is "B.C." and not "B.C.E," because that's the way I roll. Respect my acronyms!) When Egypt was building the great pyramids, Sweden could make a decent bronze act. That's not a negative comment on prehistoric Sweden. It's an observation about how advanced was Egypt at that time, relative to the rest of the planet.

They did n't identify either object as a "rune stone," but I will surmise these are rune stones.

They did have a display about the runic alphabet, which was in a children's section. I'm not the curator. The decision was not mine. But adults are interested in the runic alphabet, too, aren't we?

I think this was from the section of Swedish history about the arrival of Christianity:

Scandinavia was a relative late comer to Christianity. It was converted only in the 11th Century. And it did not stay in communion with Rome for long, as it was swept up in the Protestant Reformation only a few hundred years later.

This is a reliquay of St. Bridget of Sweden.

She lived in the 14th Century, which was the time of the Black Death. Sweden's population was just about cut in half during the plague years.

This is, maybe, the most anguished-looking crufixion scene I've seen.

What was most interesting about this museum was the religious art and, most specifically, the religious art from the medieval period.

The art from the time of the Renaissance and from the Bqroque era is nice, but the painted wood carvings from the medieval period are particularly striking.

I really liked this Last Supper:

I'm guessing this figure is Judas Iscariot.

There are 12 disciples presented, so Judas would be present. This one is one of the few sitting on the opposite side of the table from Christ. And this is the only one depicted with his head in his hands. It's got to be Judas. As for the other 11, I do not have a clue. I don't even know, for certain, which one is which in the Leonardo da Vinci version, which, we all can agree, is the definitive Last Supper. But this is the best rendering in wood I've yet seen.

This is Thomas Becket. There was a cult about him in Sweden during its period of Roman Catholicism.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? King Henry II of England purportedly said of Thomas Becket, which prompted his murder. King Henrys and heads of the church in England named "Thomas" seems to make for a bad combination.

These are Saints Eric and Olaf:

Scandinavian martyrs. Depicted standing on the heads of their respective assassins.

And here is a pieta, in wood.

It's not Michelangelo. And this is not St. Peter's. But it's done well.

This one was a stunner:

As was this. We are getting progressively more lavish as the medieval period is about to transition into the Renaissance period.

The figures along the bottom are particularly nice. This is the Annunciation, where the Angel comes to Mary to tell her she will bear a child:

This is Mary's visit to her cousin, Elizabeth:

This is an unusually detailed circumcision of Christ:

And this is the presentment, which I thought was a more polite term for the circumcision but, at least according to this altarpiece, was a separate event.

Mary, with a crucifix from across the room artsily reflected on the artwork:

We then move into the Baroque period.

Again, as I said, nice, but no "wow" to it.

And while there was more museum I could've seen, it was time to go back to my hotel, collect my bags, and head for the ferry dock to be whisked away to my next destination.

This is the Klara Kyrka. seen in the rare Stockholm sun (rare at least on this visit).

And off I head to my ferry boat.

By way of the Slussen metro station, another of the artistically decorated metro stations of Stockholm, the City of Sticks.

The Vasa

This is the 17th Century warship the Vasa, the star attraction of the Vasa Museum

Today was to be a cold, wet and rainy day. What do you do when you're on vacation and it's cold, wet and rainy? Off to the museum!

But there was scenery to see en route to the museum. Such as the Oskarskyrkan, the Oscar Lutheran Church.

Who's the namesake Oscar? Don't know. Could be Oscar the Statuette, or Oscar Madison, or Oscar Mayer Weiner for all I know. I did not have time to find out because I wanted to be in the museum before the rains started.

From a distance, I thought this too was a church.

It was not. It is the Nordic Museum. But that's not the museum that is today's destination. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next time in Stockholm. Time's a-wasting.

This is a view of the building across the Ladugårdslandsviken.

Easy for you to stay.

Once I cross the bridge and enter onto the island of Djurgården, I see:

Blå porten. Translation: the Blue Gate. This is the gateway to Lusthusportens park at the north end of Djurgården.

Shortly after entering through the Blue Gate, I saw a statue of man.

With a live bird on his head.

The bird is resting there as if it were part of the statue.

The statue doesn't mind.

But I'm not here for a walk in the park, as inviting as the park may be.

I'm here for a museum. But not the Nordic Museum.

If it doesn't look like a church, then it looks like the old Admin Building of some ultra-expensive East Coast private university, don't you think? The Nordic Museum is supposed to be worth visiting. The island of Djurgården is positively lousy with museums: Skansen, an open-air ethnographic museum that would be well worth visiting some non-rainy day; the Viking Museum, which really is just for children, and the must-to-avoid Abba The Museum. I love Abba. I respect Abba. But the museum is over-priced and allows no photography inside. Not. Worth it.

But you want to know what is totally worth it?

Yes. The Vasa Museum.

This is a museum dedicated to a war ship that sank 1300 meters into its maiden voyage when it was knocked over by a wind. Hurricane force winds off the Baltic? No. A light gale.

Front corner view of the Vasa

And that is worth a whole museum -- a whole immensely popular museum -- maybe the most popular museum in Stockholm -- why? 

Side view of the Vasa, with rigging

The Vasa was a warship built for the navy of Swden's greatest king, Gustavus Adolphus. It was the largest ship of its kind. You might even call it "titanic" (in size) (and in fate). Once outfitted with all the necessary military equipment to make it the most formidible warship in the Swedish navy, it became top heavy. It was so top heavy that, on August 10, 1628, on its maiden voyage, a light breeze caused it to topple over and sink to the depths of Stockholm's harbor, sailing a mere 1300 meters (less than a mile) from its dock.

And because it sank into the murky depths of the Baltic, it was preserved, relatively intact. Thus, we have an actual wooden warship from the early 17th Century that was almost perfectly preserved. This is not a replica based on plans and drawings. This is the actual ship.

And this is an actual anchor:

This is its actual bow:

This is an actual cannon that was on board.

The smaller, lighter brown ship is a miniature replica. But most of the rest of what it is this museum is real, pulled up from the depths of the Baltic with the Vasa.

Here is an interesting display of cannon balls from the Vasa:

According to the guide, with the spherical balls, aim for the hull. With the barbed balls, aim for the deck. With the chained-together balls, aim for the rigging. There was a science to the design of naval warfare cannon balls. I didn't know before today!

This is a primitive, wooden backgammon set pulled up with the ship:

No time for fun and games when your voyage last only 1300 meters!

This is clothing and other necessities from one of the sailors: 

And this is the view from the stern:

Apparently the low salinity of the Baltic waters aided the preservation of the Vasa as it sat at the bottom of the Baltic for about 330 years.

Let's go in for a closer look:

And even closer still:

Amazing detail on the decorative sculpture adorning what was an early 17th Century warship.

Here are some of the decorative sculptures from the Vasa painted like they would have looked for the duration of the Vasa's 1300 meter journey. The sculptures are not random. They are figures from antiquity, mythology (Roman and Norse), the Bible, and more.

Hercules:

The "Wild Man":

A sea god:

Gideon's Warriors. While this is ostensibly Biblical, KIng Gustav Adolphs would have appreciated the symbolism of the Biblical army to his military.

And, speaking of the Old Testament, here we have King David:

Emperor Titus of Rome:

And, of course, a Roman Warrior:

The statuary was not random. Every piece had a point.

Even the Lion:

Or, maybe, especially the lion.

My time at the Vasa was longer than the total length of time that it stayed afloat on its maiden voyage.

I was thinking of hitting the next-door Nordic Museum next:

But it was time for fika!

My walk to my now-favorite cafe and bakery was about as long as the distance sailed by the Vasa in its history. A little less than a mile.

I passed the interesting looking Royal Dramatic Theatre.

And Berzelii Park:

I wanted to visit this park to see this sculpture by notable Swedish sculptor Carl Milles.

Lekande björnar. Translation: Playing bears.

Soon my feet took me to the Vete-Katten cafe and bakery for my afternoon coffee break. I overdid it. But this could be my last fika in Stockholm as I leave tomorrow.

Clockwise from top left:  Coffee (can't have a coffee break without coffee) (even it is a lighter roast); kanelbullar (cinnamon roll); blåbär vanilj (a blueberry pastry with vanilla pastry cream inside), and, the star attraction of the fika all over Stockholm: the kardemummabullar (the cardamom bun). I know why the denizens of Stockholm pooh-pooh the cinnamon bun: the kardemummebullar is superior in every way. But the  blåbär vanilj might have been even better.

I rested up before my last supper in Stockholm proper. I will have one more night in Stockholm at the end of the trip, but I'll be staying at the airport as time will be tight. My overstretched stomach still recovering from my fika, I had a light supper:

A Bob's Hot Burger, with a side order of cheese fries, from the Gnarly Burger across the street. It's rainy and cold, so I didn't want to go far. And the Gnarly Burger has a burger named for me:  beef patty, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onion, jalapenos, and a spicy mayo. It was quite good. The cheese fries came topped with cheese and jalapenos. Nachos, but only with french fries. The cheese fries had that liquid cheese found in ballpark nachos. So I had jalapenos on my burger and on my fries. Do jalapenos count as a vegetable? And to wash it down I had a Bailey's milkshake. The flavor was nice. but it was a bit on the thin for my tastes. I want my milkshakes a bit thicker.

I may have time for another museum tomorrow before I catch the ferry boat to my next destination. We'll see how much sleep I get tonight.