Vasa and Vodka

Today I took my husband and a friend on a winters walk around Djurgarden, my favourite island of Stockholm City. Its gorgeous all year, but exceptional in Winter and Autumn.

Continuing to work on the list of Museums, we managed to knock off another two in the afternoon.

We started out with brunch at Koknastornet, the tallest building in Stockholm at 155m (a TV Tower) with a Cafe and Restaurant on the top floors. We went to the Skybar Cafe and enjoyed the view while indulging in too many cakes and coffees for brunch.

view from the sky bar, those little dots are people cross country skiing

Then we jumped on a local bus over to the island and walked around the coastline enjoying the peace, quiet and snow covered scenery.

a little cold at this bar today

We then visited the Vasa Museum, you see and here from everyone that seeing the Vasa is a 'must do' for Stockholm. For some reason when anything is reccomended to me on mass, it puts me off, and if the thought of 'seeing an old ship' didn't interest me initially, I became less interested with every 'have you been to the Vasa, I have blah blah blah' However it had reached a tipping point, where I was over being asked if I had, and then having to somehow explain why I hadn't. I gave up, and decided seeing it, interested or not, was going to be easier at this point.

I won't stretch it and say it's a must see, but it was kind of interesting. I can however condense all my interest into one paragraph and a couple of photos. The thirty second history version - keen to show his greatness Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus built the Vasa, c1628 no expense was spared in decorating and equipping it as one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of its time. Impatient to join the Baltic fleet in the Thirty Years' War, the ship was set sail incorrectly balanced and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile . It was then salvaged, largely intact, in 1961.

Then we visited certainly one of the weirdest museums, The Absolut Museum. Described as a journey telling the story of Sweden's at time dubious relationship with alcohol, it did seem a rather thinly disguised advertising campaign for Absolut Vodka. None the less we had some laughs, there were lots of interactive displays designed to show the impact of alcohol on the body in various ways, and a bizarre smell and taste box you carry around and sample at the appropriate point.

Included in the box is a small confectionery looking fish, the receptionist advised us that it is very strong tasting and not actually a sweet, so do not try if you don't want too. Of course I tried it when we got to that point, big mistake, huge, worst pungent fish tasting thing I've ever eaten and I'm standing in the middle of a museum, no where to spit it out nothing to rinse it down with. Blech.

watching a film about drinking at the Absolut Museum,
this is how home cinema rooms should be built

Highlight of the day though, seeing the groundwork of the ABBA Museum is underway, this has been delayed many times over and I thought I'd never get to see it before we return home to Australia. It is now due to open in May 2013, so fingers crossed, I'll get to go!

Arlanda airport is getting the ABBA groove going

The Eurovision contest is to be held in Malmo, Sweden in May too - fingers crossed we can make a trip and catch Eurovision madness and ABBA in the same trip. 

I do hope I get to go, yes I do, I do I do I do I do I do.....