So, we met our first local guide for a tour of the 2 islands that make up the old town area, and that contain the government buildings. Sweden has a Parliamentary democracy system. Easiest to look up how it works, too much for me to explain.
Here’s the Parliment, which would be most similar to our Congress. It’s on it’s own small island.
And right next door, the King’s palace, where he comes to work. Work for him is more ceremonial, as he doesn’t legislate at all. In the courtyard of this palace is where we saw the guard change yesterday.
And the government buildings are where the department heads are.
And right next door, where the prime minister has his apartment (it doesn’t look much different than nearby places). He heads up the governing.
Both Asa and today’s guide have remarked that the King, Queen, Prime Minister...eveyone, really...are just regular people here. They drive themselves around, and are quite accessible to the people. No limos, guards, paparazzi, or anything.
Then we saw a beautiful square where the Nobel Prize Museum is,
and had a great lunch. We filled our water bottles from the fountain in the square! The weather is warming up! It’s almost up to 70 degrees today, and the forcast for the next few days is even warmer!
After spending the morning on this island, we took a ferry over to Djurgården island for a trip to the Vasa museum.
Wow, this is absolutely an incredible museum, which tells/shiws the mist incredible story of the sinking and resurrection of the Vasa...Sweden’s most advanced (in 1628) warship!
Here’s the rear, with beautiful intricate carvings. This was designed to impress and terrify enemies.
This is incredibly hard to get a good picture of, as it’s HUGE!
So...the story of the Vasa, in short, is this. Sweden was at war, and King Gustav ordered this ship (among others) to be built. He made a few ‘change orders’, and before the Vasa was finished the shipbuilders also changed...so dimensions were quite chaotic. For example, what started as one level of 34 cannons was turned into two levels totaling 64 cannons! So, launch day finally arrives, August 10, 1628. Everyone in Stockholm gathers to watch this ship, the most expensive and magnificent ever built, launch. She launches in a 8 knot breeze...light enough that the sails could be raised and held by hand. 3000 meters from the launch, the cannon doors open for a 64 cannon salute, a bit if a breeze came down the opposite cliff and filled the sails. The ship suddenly heels unexpectedly while the onlookers gasp. She rights, but all is not well. The next breeze heels her even more, and she takes on water thru the cannon ports....and SINKS! Unbelievable! It lay there at the bottom of the harbor in 32 meters of Baltic water, which has a fairly low salinity. This, fortunatly for us, allowed the Vasa to remain quite preserved for the 333 years it took for the sun and stars aligned for it to be raised. It sits now, 98% original, in this museum! Why did she sink? It’s believed that:
1) She was about 1 foot too narrow, probably a consequence of all the King’s change orders and the ship builder’s resultant ‘innovations’
2) She was designed to fire her cannons while stationary, not while sailing (heeling allowed water in)
3) Not enough ballast. The stones in the very bottom of the hull were round, and not tightly packed. They likely rolled and greatly contributed to the Vasa not being able to acheive sufficient righting moment.
Here’s pics of a model, showing how beautiful she was before she sat underwater for 333 years!
Amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment