Nordic Museum
This is Sweden's largest museum of cultural history. In 1880, the founder, Artur Hazelius, adopted "känn dig själv" as the motto. Originally from temple of Apollo in Delphi, it translates to mean "know thyself." I left knowing a lot more about Sweden's fashion and traditions.
The first exhibit was the "Power of Fashion: 300 years of clothing." By showcasing clothes from three three decades (1780's, 1860's, and 1960's) it demonstrated how social groups used clothing to create their identity. I took a history of costume class at college and a 20th century fashion class while studying in Italy but it was a different experience to learn about Swedish fashion.
"Traditions, Celebrations and Festivals from the Cradle to the Grave" was also very interesting because some things like Midsummer and various elements from Christmas were carried over in my family. The same goes for the section of the museum about design.
Vasa Museum
Statistically, this is the the most visited museum in all of Scandinavia. I admit, that the main reason I wanted to go was because I knew my brothers would have been dying to see it had they been there. A big ship from the early 17th century which sunk before it had even travelled one nautical mile out of the harbor? Yeah, it is a true story. The Vasa was a warship built for King Gustavus Adolphus' navy in an attempt to strengthen it's forces. It was the largest of the five ships intended to increase the fighting force against Sweden's enemies like Poland and Denmark.
The reason for it's sinking can be put into simple terms: it did not have proper ballast. Although the ship is too large to fit in a single photograph at once there are seven floors to the museum from which can see every portion from top to bottom.
It turned out that going just to show off the pictures to my brothers and having the bragging rights to hang over their heads wasn't the only advantage. Gustavus considered himself a pretty big deal and had the ship decorated with elaborate wood carvings of various Roman iconography in order to express his power. Once again I found that no matter where I go - no matter how far North of Rome I find myself - Classics is always there waiting for me.
Shopping
In summary, Stockholm was wonderful, amazing, epic, and every other adjective of greatness one can imagine. However, the only con was trying to find suitable souvenirs. What does one buy when one's family already has dala horses of every size, carved trolls and Tomtars, Pippi Longstocking dolls, Viking gear, wood butter knives, and everything by Astrid Lindgren? I love Swedish handicrafts but I was limited on suitcase space for my flights back to Holland. In the back of my mind I knew I should just give in and buy something just to say "Hey, I bought this in Sweden" but I couldn't bring myself to cop out. So, I ended up buying one t-shirt for my brothers to fight over and some wall hangings for my mom and two grandmothers which I will decorate myself with paints (but I don't want to give away the details in case they're reading this.) For myself, a headband of Lapland wool. Note to all travelers: don't let yourself get too wrapped up in buying gifts for others - you deserve something after all that walking and picture taking. You deserve something of your own so that when someone comments or compliments when you wear it you can say, "Oh, this old thing? I bought it when I was in Sweden." And then you can remember, briefly, those two days you spent in Stockholm. But really, how could you ever forget a city as great as this?
