EuroTrip - Day 10

27 km on The Feet

That's how much we walked today just to save a couple of euros and also to enjoy every moment of Stockholm. I wish I could call it my half marathon.

The comfort of sleeping in warm comfortable beds is unmatchable. We overslept and were one of the last few people to leave the ship.

As we are not used to traveling whole day with our luggage on, we decided to drop our backpacks in the left luggage at central station. The harbour where it docked is at around 5 km distance from the central station. So the first challenge in the morning was to walk to central with our luggage (with around 2 euro one way ticket, tubes here are not a cheap way to travel). I won't lie here - it was a really tiring. Just that the two stops on the way - first in Stockholm Olympics Stadium and the next in one big park allowed us to catch some breath and gave respite to our legs and backs.

Stockholm is expensive city compared to cheaper towns in Finland, so search for a good breakfast place took more than the usual time. Subway came to the rescue again. I will surely send a Thankyou card to owner of Subway as soon as I am back to India.

Walking and exploring the rich cultural heritage of the city, we headed for Skansen. Cities in europe are filled with old historical buildings that give them a distinct feeling of warmth. The concrete jungles can never imagine to offer that.

Skansen is an open-air museum - Finland in a nutshell. Founded in 1891, this place has old farmsteads and houses that have been brought from all over the country. For those in India, you can compare it to Chokhi Dhani or other such restaurants. They have recreated many aspect of life in Finland in a part of picturesque green island of Djurgarden. Here at one hand you get chance to see scandinavian animals like reindeers, elks, seals, wild boars, otters etc, while on the other hand you get a glimpse to Swedish culture. We met a native Sami woman who told us about their life and culture. There are pharmacy shop, grocery shop, glass work factory (Skansen Glassworks - www.stockholms-glasbruk.se ), mechanic work factory, pottery, cloth spinning and many more such exhibits where experts showcase these works in their original form. They are more than willing to explain their work and give demo. Friendliness is the norm of this country.

There is much more to Skansen than what I have written so far. My words can never do justice to it's beauty and feel. May be photos will give a small glimpse. I hope TARDi will upload some photos today. Keep looking at this place for details.

Tobaks Tandsticks Museum (Museum of Tobacco and Matches) is a good watch too. The in-charge there made it a really interesting visit with his live commentary and witty trivia. I never knew that Swedish Matches cater to almost 3/4th of the world business in matches.

After a brief break (Skansen is a walk of more than 4-5 km or so), we entered Vasa Museum. Bansi had got nice lunch for us so we were well enthused again for some more walking.

Vasa was a large warship that capcized within minutes of being launched in 1628. An almost forgotten story, it was rescued from the mud some 300 years later. And since than the best of the marine archaeologists in the world are working on resolving the mystery of Vasa. They have been able to reconstruct the ship to its entirety and that too is done in its natural old form (almost 95% of the parts on the ship were recovered and restored). The giant ship is the central exhibit of this museet (museum in sweden) (Vasa Museet - www.vasamuseet.se ) around which they have recreated the lives of 17th century sailors. It's unbelievable to see the amount of money and efforts have been put into this venture. The attention to details is remarkable. You can spend hours here.

One tip for everyone planning to come to Stockholm - many of the museums here offer discounted entrance fee on wednesday after 4pm. We entered Vasa at almost half the entrance fee and then Nordiska Museet for free.

Nordiska Museet is another very good preview of life in Sweden and Sami culture. There are audio guides available for free at the entrance and they provide reach and interesting information. The section on Sami people is especially attractive with its stories, songs and interactive displays. Time runs fast when you are in such a place. We literally had to run our way out of the museum before it got closed to 8pm (on other days, it closes at 6).

The journey back to central station went off quickly in the anticipation of the food that was awaiting us in Bansi's hostel. And indeed that was a treat. Rasam rice, pasta and french fries and a mug of hot coffee. A lavish dinner after such aongoing time!

After the regular planning-the-next-day ritual, we went to sleep dreaming about the Fjords that await us in Bergen.