this weekend i was walking on a grey, cold, sun-peeking-out afternoon down cobblestone streets with kai and stefan in gamla stan, the historic old town of stockholm. our life here in stockholm is just beginning yet feeling like a tourist... with my boys exploring somewhere new.
gamla stan was stunning even in the grey. upon entering the narrow streets to the heart of this centre i swear my heart beat a little faster; i was excited. houses are colourful, plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants line the streets, medieval squares (a huge tree was being erected in one, a christmas tree perhaps?) and palatial buildings.
the main attraction on this day was when we happened upon the 'changing of the guard' ceremony. silly me, i imagined one guard but instead there were many, situated all around the royal palace. i read that it took almost sixty years to build the castle (the original burnt down in the 1600s), it's the world's largest, and still used for its original purpose. i guess the latter explains all those guards!
and those guards? they don't smile. not even when a group of giggling girls are taking a selfie with him :)
gamla stan is also filled with museums which i hope to explore during my time here. however, the one museum that was at the top of my boys' list to see was vasamuseet, where an ancient sunken battleship is on display. it's located across the waters on an island called djurgarden (another museum filled place).
we took a chilly ferry ride over and it was certainly worthwhile. the massive warship was to be the royal family's show of pride when it set sail in august 1628, but quickly turned to embarrassment when the top-heavy ship tipped and sank to the bottom of the water just a few hundred feet away. over 300 years later, it was found, rescued, and restored. the museum does a fantastic job in explaining its impressive preservation process (98% of the ship is original) as well as providing a history on what life was like on those 17th century battleships. let's just say, it was rather harsh! i probably would have died of claustrophobia, rather than from a cannon ball, if i had to live on any of those decks.
quality of indoor photos are poor... i forgot my trusty lens.
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