Stockholm: Day 1 - Vasa

My first day in Stockholm was filled with a visit to one of the most unique museums I have ever visited - Vasa. Carina, Annette and I arrived at the site around 10AM and were greeted with a huge line but it thankfully moved quickly and we were inside just in time to join an English tour of the main attraction - Vasa!

Vasa as she looks now inside the museum.

In 1625 King Gustavus II Adolphus commissioned a ship - a new weapon in the war he was waging.  It took 3 1/2 years to build Vasa in the dockyards of Stockholm but on 10 August 1628,Vasa was ready for her maiden voyage.  The Vasa was the most expensive and richly ornamented naval vessel in Sweden at this time.  When the Vasa sailed forth on her maiden voyage, Stockholmers stood along the shore to wish her good luck.  They were eyewitnesses to the disaster.  The Vasa was struck by high gusts of wind.  She capsized and sank 30 minutes into her maiden voyage inside the Stockholm harbor.

This was a magnificant ship.  No where elese in the world do you have a fully intact 17th century ship.  The carving on the stern was exquisite.  And in 1628 Vasa would have been fully painted,

The Stern - incredible right?

The Vasa became a very expensive learning experience for the Swedish navy - her sister ship completed the following year was improved to have a wider base for better stability.  But Vasa simply sat under water for 333 years until it was located again in 1956 and raised in 1961. After nearly 30 years of stabilizing and preserving, Vasa was opened to the public in 1990.

And she is spectacular