Month: August 2018

Stockholm, August 6, 2018

We started out our day in Stockholm buying cherries and blueberries at a fruit stand. The yellow things in the display below are mushrooms.

After a stop for coffee we went to the National Library of Sweden. In the second picture you can see Duke taking the third picture below.

The library has the Codex Gigas which is a velum manuscript created between 1204 and 1230. The book is 35 inches by 19 inches and weighs 165 pounds.

Most of the books in the library are in two large underground stacks, each five stores high. We couldn’t visit those stacks but the building. Itself and the scope of the library is. Impressive.

After visiting the National Library we walked around Stockholm old town.

We ate dinner at an outside restaurant in old town. We started with herring, pickles, crackers and vodka.

Stockholm, August 5 2018

I visited Stockholm back in 1971 with my family. The only thing I remember about that visit was seeing the Vasa. Because of how much I enjoyed my first visit the one thing on my short list of things to do in Stockholm this time was to see the Vasa again.

The Vasa is a wooden warship built for the Swedish Navy. It was launched in 1628 and sank twenty minutes later. It was salvaged in 1961. The ship is in remarkable condition. Back in 1971 the ship was still being conserved. I remember that they were constantly spraying water and a preservative on it.

Today we walked to Djurgården and visited the (new to me) Vasa Museum.

After the Vasa Museum we explored the island a bit and then got hotdogs from a street vendor.

On our way back to the hotel we got caught in a thundershower and got quite wet. Vicky and Valerie continued exploring and Duke and I napped.

For dinner we ate at a fish restaurant, Stockholm Fisk.

Finally we waked around the old town. We have seen no homeless people in Stockholm.

Oakland to Stockholm

Our plane from Oakland to Stockholm was a couple of hours late but other than that we had an uneventful flight.

We took the train into the main Stockholm station. This picture is of the station at the airport while we were waiting to board.

Our hotel is right next to the Stockholm Central Station. As we came out of the station we were greeted by a huge Euro Pride Parade. After we checked into our hotel the parade was still going on so we went for a fun walk along the parade route.

After short naps we had dinner at a sidewalk cafe, Kött och Fiskbaren. Valerie had steak tartare and the rest of us had fish. It was all wonderful.

It was a great day! The weather is perfect, we have a beautiful view from our room, and we are having fun.

On our way to Scandinavia – Reno to Walnut Creek

Valerie, Vicky, Duke and I fly from Oakland to Stockholm today on the beginning of a Scandinavian adventure. My plan is to blog every day so if you’d like to follow along just click follow in the bottom right corner or go to marionvermazen.com to see what we are up to.

Vicky and Valerie will be with us for the first two weeks in Sweden and Denmark. After they fly home Duke and I will spend five weeks exploring Norway and Ireland. On our way home we will stop for twenty hours in Iceland. If you would like to see our itinerary it is available here.

Yesterday Vicky, Nick, Duke and I drove to the Bay Area. Vicky and Nick dropped us off in Walnut Creek. This gave Duke and I the chance to spend some time with a couple of the grandkids. Later this afternoon we are off to the airport for our flight direct from Oakland is Stockholm.