Stockholm
Thousands of people visit Stockholm for the first time each day, yet their very arrival betrays a false impression of the city. The newcomers arrive by train, bus, or car, driving overland to a place that seems like hundreds of other land-based cities. But our entry to the city on Endeavor gives a truer impression of this grandest of all Baltic capitals. Eighty people boarded Zodiacs for a spectacular small boat approach while the ship itself steamed in through the magnificent archipelago, until we berthed, in the heart of Stockholm.
Two world-class museums highlighted the day. We began by taking our Zodiacs to the Wasa museum where we saw the ship that Gustavus Adolphus commissioned, only to see from the reviewing stand, the vessel sink into Stockholm’s bay within minutes of launch. Three hundred and thirty-three years later, through the efforts of a massive salvage operation, the Wasa rose again, and floated into a dry dock that served as a temporary location for nearly two decades before being moved to a permanent home. Few museums have such a stunning opening view – the ship, almost ghost-like, overwhelms your imagination as you enter the building.
In the afternoon some passengers took an extensive walking city tour while others went to Skansen, the world’s oldest open air museum which opened in 1891, for an overview of one of the greatest collections of its kind anywhere in Europe. Here we walked through buildings that provided insight into the lives of ordinary people over the past four centuries.
Tired passengers greeted this evening’s recap at which three of the lecturers reminisced about the day’s events before Tom O’Brien told us about the adventures that lay ahead of us. Everyone had the opportunity to go ashore, but most of us were content to end an incredibly full and delightful day by retiring early to our cozy cabins on Endeavor.
Thousands of people visit Stockholm for the first time each day, yet their very arrival betrays a false impression of the city. The newcomers arrive by train, bus, or car, driving overland to a place that seems like hundreds of other land-based cities. But our entry to the city on Endeavor gives a truer impression of this grandest of all Baltic capitals. Eighty people boarded Zodiacs for a spectacular small boat approach while the ship itself steamed in through the magnificent archipelago, until we berthed, in the heart of Stockholm.
Two world-class museums highlighted the day. We began by taking our Zodiacs to the Wasa museum where we saw the ship that Gustavus Adolphus commissioned, only to see from the reviewing stand, the vessel sink into Stockholm’s bay within minutes of launch. Three hundred and thirty-three years later, through the efforts of a massive salvage operation, the Wasa rose again, and floated into a dry dock that served as a temporary location for nearly two decades before being moved to a permanent home. Few museums have such a stunning opening view – the ship, almost ghost-like, overwhelms your imagination as you enter the building.
In the afternoon some passengers took an extensive walking city tour while others went to Skansen, the world’s oldest open air museum which opened in 1891, for an overview of one of the greatest collections of its kind anywhere in Europe. Here we walked through buildings that provided insight into the lives of ordinary people over the past four centuries.
Tired passengers greeted this evening’s recap at which three of the lecturers reminisced about the day’s events before Tom O’Brien told us about the adventures that lay ahead of us. Everyone had the opportunity to go ashore, but most of us were content to end an incredibly full and delightful day by retiring early to our cozy cabins on Endeavor.
