Day 2: Stockholm Syndrome


Today we finally made it out to Stockholm proper. We got a late start due to sleeping in, but considering the six-hour time difference, we'd say that we did pretty well for ourselves. As for Nuri, he slept most of the night through, though he woke up overtired at 3:30 am and screamed for a good long while before going back to bed with much coaxing at 4:30.

The first stop was Gamla Stan (Old Town). Stockholm is made up of 12 islands that are connected by bridges and ferries. Gamla Stan is a small island that features the Royal Palace, and much of the oldest architecture in Stockholm. There was no need to look both ways before crossing the streets. The few cars that dare to drive on the narrow cobblestone roads go at a snail's pace, slowly making their way through the crowd of pedestrians. Quaint alleyways connected "main" streets. One alleyway was simply a staircase wide enough for a single person to walk through.

While wandering around, we serendipitously stumbled upon a Lennart Nilson exhibition at a random museum. Sal wanted to go in since Nilson was the photographer who took the amazing in utero photos in "A Baby is Born" and because the museum was free on Mondays. The exhibit was actually a photojournalistic essay about the Swedish mint and featured the first pictures ever taken of the ultra-secret money printing operation. On our way out, we realized it was the Myntmuseet (Mint Museum). Our knowledge of the Swedish language was, shall we say, lacking. We are getting better.

Andrea convinced us to follow signs to the Royal Palace. When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to see lots of soldiers marching around. Our arrival coincided with the changing of the guards, a full military pageant including soldiers with bayonets, a naval marching band, and a huge throng of tourists. We tried to get some good pictures, but those darn Swedes are so tall that it's hard to hold a camera above their heads.

After grabbing a quick bite at a fast food stall - Andrea had fish and chips, Sal had a kebab sandwich, and Nuri ate tartar sauce (yes, just tartar sauce) - we made our way to the ferry and trekked over to the islando of Djursgarden. We went over to the Vassa Museum, showcasing a massive ship that sank on its maiden voyage in the 1600's and was found and lifted out of the Baltic Sea in the 60's. Nuri found the museum storage lockers and a sign explaining the replica gun deck to be among the most facinating exhibits. He actually sat still (and quiet!) through the entire 30 minute movie about the restoring process. As for us, we just enjoyed looking at the massive ship.

While wandering around Djursgarden, we passed up on an opportunity to go to Grona Lund, a giant roller-coaster park (Sal hates roller coasters, I'm pregnant, and Nuri got scared on his recent Carosel ride). We also missed Skansen, the outdoor museum that demonstrates how things were done in the olden days. We've heard it's a great place for kids, so we might head back tomorrow if we have time.

Finally, we took the subway a few stops over to the central station to briefly check out the downtown and figure out where our train was departing from tomorrow. We came home to a lovely homemade dinner, and Nuri fell asleep while reading a book of nursery rhymes, an ideal ending to the day. After Nuri went to bed, Andrea saved Sal's life (or at least his right ring finger). He had switched hands with his wedding ring so that Nuri could cuddle it at night and his finger swelled up and made it impossible to get the ring off. Andrea's life-saving decision to bring Vaseline on the trip and her heroic efforts to pull the slippery ring over Sal's swollen finger could almost have been featured in an episode of House.

The sun finally set. It's midnight. We need to get to bed. Hopefully we'll write more tomorrow.