Early the next morning it was necessary to head to the main house for a bathroom trip … and trip we both nearly did. Who knew that the timber decking and steps would be covered in a thin layer of ice. No injuries but a good lesson learned. The sky above was crystal clear and we got our first look at the Northern Hemisphere stars.
After a slow start to the day, we headed into Stockholm in the family Volvo and a small mini-van that Simon had hired. We parked the cars and walked into town marvelling at the level of infrastructure construction going on and passing the ferries that take passengers to Finland.
Before we knew it, it was time for a delicious lunch. You always know it will be a good place to eat when it is full of locals and the restaurant did not disappoint.
Like Copenhagen, Stockholm has done a very good job preserving their historical buildings and our walk through the old part of the city demonstrated this with many buildings built in the 1700s.
Not that the buildings are not used for modern purposes though – we all managed to lose ourselves in a Science Fiction/Fantasy bookstore. Amelia was in her element of course and Hamish was trying to work out how he could get a full size replica of Hans Solo frozen in Carbonite back home to his room.
Arriving at the Livrustkammaren (Royal Armory Museum – under the Royal Palace), I was not sure what to expect. After all, it cannot be easy to locate and preserve weapons, armour, clothing and saddlery from hundreds of years ago. Boy, was I wrong. This place blew me away and although I should have been focussed more on the kids I was quickly drawn into every exhibit. Simon was a great companion in this, many times adding more information than the English descriptions imparted. The most ornate armour I have ever seen must have taken thousands of hours to produce.
Weapons from pikes and swords through to early pistols and rifles were immaculately preserved and displayed. Almost at the end of the displays (thankfully!) my reverie was shattered with a loud crashing sound from upstairs, followed by Hamish’s alarmed voice – “Mum, I didn’t touch anything!”. In a split second I went from “what was that?” to “Oh, my god what has he done?” Visions of a priceless set or armour strewn on the floor, damaged beyond repair danced in my brain. I flew up the stairs, not angry, but very, very worried at what I would find. Racing around the corner, I found not a national historical disaster, but Hamish trying on a set of armour made available for children to try. Which he did touch and…drop.
I don’t mind saying that it took me a few moments to settle. We had a good time in the children’s area with many mock sword fights, horse riding and a lesson from me on the origins of the salute.
After the museum we split up, with Simon, Lydia and Amelia heading off to the airport in the van to pick up the Campbells, while Ylva, Nils, Megan, Hamish and I visited the Medieval Museum underneath the national parliament building. This museum was a showcase for ruins that were discovered by accident when excavations began to build an underground car park for the parliament. What a lucky accident it proved to be. They have combined ruins of the original city walls, with a re-creation of village life around the castle, the various types of homes and a representation of what it was like to live in those times. We were all impressed to hear that in the absence of clean water, the citizens would drink 6-8 litres of beer or wine each day. This prompted Hamish to make the comment, “no wonder they were always at war, they were always drunk!”.
On the way back to the car, we continued our exploration of the old city, once again trying to come to grips with night-time having descended before 4pm.
We briefly visited the Big Church, amazed at the construction and imagining what it would be like to hear the pipe organ played to its potential.
The boys spent some time checking out the nativity scene before a lighting a candle and then it was time to head home.
Arriving back exhausted, we all eagerly awaiting the arrival of Simon and the Campbell’s. They were delayed by heavier than expected traffic but all was forgotten once they arrived. 4 kids became 6 and the excitement was palpable. For dinner we had reindeer – a tasty, lean red meat – After getting all the kids into bed and planning for tomorrow, it seemed like the adults were not far behind.