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29-1-2002


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6 Around the World.

Stockholm

Stockholm


My week in Sweden
Thu-Fri | Sat-Sun | Mon-Tue | Wed-Thu | Fri


My Eurasia Trip 2001
Thailand | Dubai | UK | Sweden | Estonia | Lithuania | Byelorus | (unfinished) Ukraine

Friday, 3rd August

A fairly lazy morning today. Didn't rush around but just made sure all my luggage was ready to move on. In the afternoon we drove out to the Vasa museum.

The sight of this 16th century galleon reconstructed inside this incredible building is just breathtaking. Many people have told me now that if I visit Stockholm then this museum is a must to see. They weren't wrong.

The Vasa

The story goes that the ship was constructed for the King in 1682 and even before it was completed it was known that there was a design fault, that the boat was too top heavy - however no-one dared tell the king. On the launch day, the boat was setting out of the harbour - and just sank. By some luck the shipwright was spared from execution, which was certainly on the cards.

Here's what the Vasa Museum (http://www.vasamuseet.se/indexeng.html) has to say on the story

In the early 17th century, Sweden was busy building an empire around the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. A strong navy was essential. During the 1620s Sweden was at war with Poland. In 1625 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus ordered new warships. Among them the Vasa.

The VasaThe Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard by Henrik Hybertsson - an experienced Dutch shipbuilder. His experience was much needed as the Vasa was to be the mightiest warship in the world, armed with 64 guns on two gundecks.

In 1628 the ship was ready. Sunday August 10 was the day of the Vasa's maiden voyage. The beaches around Stockholm were filled with spectators, among them foreign diplomats. The maiden voyage was to be an act of propaganda for the ambitious Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus.

The Vasa set sail and fired a salute. But only after a few minutes of sailing the ship began to heel over. She righted herself slightly - and heeled over again. Water started to gush in through the open gunports. And, to everyones horror and disbelief, the glorious and mighty warship suddenly sank! Of the 150 people on board, 30-50 died in the disaster. When Vasa had been salvaged in 1961, archaeologists found the remains of 25 skeletons.

The Vasa

After the disaster the captain of the Vasa - Söfring Hansson - was arrested. The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus was not in Sweden at the time. He was waging war in Poland. It took two weeks for him to learn about what had happened. When he did, he wrote angrily that the disaster had happened because of "imprudence and negligence" and that the guilty parties had to be punished. Söfring Hansson and many others were called to inquiries at the Royal Castle of Stockholm.

At the inquest people were troubled by the fact that the shipbuilder Henrik Hybertsson had died the year before the Vasa was completed. Instead his brother and partner, Arendt de Groot, was held responsible for the completion of the ship. But in the end no one was condemned for causing the disaster. The people in charge of the inquiries concluded that the ship was well built - but badly proportioned.

The Vasa in all her glory.
Don't worry, it's not your
eyesight that's going, I had
to construct this photo out 
of a few different views. 
Click on the photo to get a 
closer look!

We spent quite some time looking around the museum and were there almost too long. Luckily for me Sigvald was keeping his eye on the time and dragged me out in time for me to catch the ferry to Estonia. Luckily the harbour isn't so far away but Siggy did have to perform some time saving driving.

What a great time I've
had catching up with Siggy,
but now, alas, it's time to
move on. Thanks Siggy! The crossing ,on the Regina Baltica, was at 5:00 and we were still in the museum gone 4:00. Sigvald got me there in plenty of time though. We said our goodbyes in the car park of the ferry terminal and I thanked him so much for all his hospitality before going through the terminal and getting on board. After boarding I waved goodbye to Siggy, still on the dockside some storeys down below, and then moved inside. It was sad to say goodbye to a friend I'd not seen for so many years and especially after having such a great time with him. Hopefully it'll not be so many years before we catch up again.

I didn't fancy leaving my backpack out in the open and leaving it alone so I took all that I needed for the crossing which would get us into Tallin at mid morning the following day and put my main pack in the holding room. This was locked one hour after departure and not opened again until one hour before our arrival in Tallin. While waiting outside the holding room (until the door was locked and our baggage was securely inside) I chatted with Thomas, a Lithuanian who'd just been visiting Sweden. I found it amusing that Thomas was a trainee Priest who showed a lack of trust in his fellow man. (But of course, not to do so is, these days, quite unwise.)

After we started out I went up on deck and watched our trip through the archepelago of small islands. It seemed we were in fairly heavy traffic of gargantuan passenger ferries bound for international destinations, and it seemed that they all started off around the same time. We passed by small islands, large enough only to hold a house or two. Beautiful painted wooden houses seperated by amply wooded copses. The communication for these islands for centuries would be the small boats moored to bare wooden jetties. Watching the islands become left behind reminded me of the green lilly leaves floating on the lake at Bergshamra.

Despite the wind and the cooler air that was not what I was accustomed to during my time in Stockholm I decided to buy a beer and sit out on deck. There were fixed wooden picnic tables and benches with a few passengers, hardy enough to sit out in the cold wind. I sat for a while and started jotting in my journal. Soon enough, a couple of elderly ladies came and sat with me. They were Norwegian visitors going to visit Estonia and they spoke English rather well. It seemed to amuse their co-passengers that they would sit with me and chat along. A bit of the old 'toy boy' mentality going on there somewhere. I stayed until the wind was too strong for the plastic beaker containing my beer and pushed it over scattering half the contents over the table.

I spent a couple of hours in one of the ship's restaurant's scribbling and watching an episode of The Nanny, chuckling occasionally. Wanting a change of scene I went into the cabaret bar and had a drink while watching the dancers on the dancefloor. The were a few dance routines and then an announcemnt that the karaoke was about to start in the bar on the 7th deck. I knew where I was headed.

There was a young lady in was seemed a little too militaristic uniform to be in charge of a karaoke. She got the ball rolling, well a slight push, with 'Delilah'. I have no idea who gave this girl the job but maybe their thought was that 'oh, this girl can't sing, that should be encouragement for other people to get ut and have a go.' Hey, I know that there are only a select few songs that I can sing well - so I can't criticise too much.

Unfortunately she had a real hard time of getting people up there so, of course, being the helpful guy I am I handed in my slip of paper. Before I even got back to my seat I was called to the front to be first up singing 'Paradise by the dashboard light' (singing both male and female.) I guess you really had to be there but I think I did a fair job of it and was well received. Well received enough to go back a few more times and even have beer bought for me to sing. Cool! That's never happened before.

I think the Karaoke closed before it became 'welcome to an evening with Rob' with my rendition of 'Lady in Red'. Hey, by the end I could have had a sign made saying 'will sing for beer!'

I stopped off in the disco for a short while and had a beer with a couple of Russian guys before hitting the hay.

Saturday, 4th August

Cannae remeber what time I awoke. Had brekkers and got my stuff together before going to the holding room to pick up my backpack. Said hi again to Thomas who was also there to pick up his stuff. The ferry docked and I started queueing up with everybody else. I ran into the Norwegian ladies again and already news of my singing exploits had spread.

After waiting a while we eventually filed out. I made my way past the taxis to what seemed to be direction of the town centre.


Next Page


My week in Sweden
Thu-Fri | Sat-Sun | Mon-Tue | Wed-Thu | Fri


My Eurasia Trip 2001
Thailand | Dubai | UK | Sweden | Estonia | Lithuania | Byelorus | (unfinished) Ukraine


Please send any comments or feedback to
six_a_t_w@hotmail.com


Last updated 25/11/2001- Created using Tripod Freeform by Rob Price.

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