There is a fantastic museum in Stockholm called the Vasa Museet. Excuse me if the history is a little off, but essentially the Vasa was a ship built by King Gustav back in the 1600s. Unfortunately for the Vasa and its crew members, Gustav (like many Kings) was full of himself. Not pleased with the final outcome of the boat he added more gold, more cannon (yes more weight).
In Naval disaster terms this Vasa aspires to be the Titanic. At least the Titanic steamed halfway across the Atlantic before slamming into an iceberg. The Vasa sank so quickly after launch that some on the banks of the sea probabaly thought the christening ceremony puntured a giant hole in the side of teh ship.
While that part of the story is fascinating, the real interesting part comes almost 300 years later when the ship was found and raised off the sea floor. Amazingly it was well preserved and still about 90% in tact.
Only slightly more difficult than raising a 300 year old ship off a sea floor is taking William and Davis to see the Vasa...by train...not knowing where we were going. As Elizabeth put it, however this day was not about seeing the ship, but the adventure of getting there. That it was. I think most people on the train were impressed. They were impressed that Davis can scream so loud.
:-)
I shouldn't put William in the category of difficult to handle on this day. He was a trooper. To be honest taking a baby on 4 trains and two 2o minute walks in freezing temperatures is not easy. Davis did the best he could, but he just wasn't that happy.
The trip did have a happy ending however as the Witherspoons spotted something that looked like home at the end of the day - the golden arches of McDonald's beckoned and we answered. The kids had fries and happy meals and everything seemed normal again.
It was a really fun day and we laughed at ourselves over and over again. We did make a lot of progress on navigating the transit system and we got to see one of the most beautiful parts of Stockholm. Tonight....we go searching for a Catholic Mass. Next post is sure to be titled Glad Påsk OR Happy Easter!
In Naval disaster terms this Vasa aspires to be the Titanic. At least the Titanic steamed halfway across the Atlantic before slamming into an iceberg. The Vasa sank so quickly after launch that some on the banks of the sea probabaly thought the christening ceremony puntured a giant hole in the side of teh ship.
While that part of the story is fascinating, the real interesting part comes almost 300 years later when the ship was found and raised off the sea floor. Amazingly it was well preserved and still about 90% in tact.
Only slightly more difficult than raising a 300 year old ship off a sea floor is taking William and Davis to see the Vasa...by train...not knowing where we were going. As Elizabeth put it, however this day was not about seeing the ship, but the adventure of getting there. That it was. I think most people on the train were impressed. They were impressed that Davis can scream so loud.
:-)
I shouldn't put William in the category of difficult to handle on this day. He was a trooper. To be honest taking a baby on 4 trains and two 2o minute walks in freezing temperatures is not easy. Davis did the best he could, but he just wasn't that happy.
The trip did have a happy ending however as the Witherspoons spotted something that looked like home at the end of the day - the golden arches of McDonald's beckoned and we answered. The kids had fries and happy meals and everything seemed normal again.
It was a really fun day and we laughed at ourselves over and over again. We did make a lot of progress on navigating the transit system and we got to see one of the most beautiful parts of Stockholm. Tonight....we go searching for a Catholic Mass. Next post is sure to be titled Glad Påsk OR Happy Easter!
1 comment:
great looking kids. must have goor looking grandparents. TCF
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