The Group

This was the group that toured Denmark and Norway.  Eleven of us went on to Sweden.

Jun 5 - Stockholm day 3

Today was a warm sunny day.  We decided to explore some of the old town on Gamla Stan in the morning with the sun in a different place.

This is Riddarholm Church (Swedish: Riddarholmskyrkan) is the church of a former medieval abbey in Stockholm, Sweden. The church serves as the final resting place of most Swedish monarchs.  We have been intrigued by the spire.

Storforget - nice light but too many people.

Nobel Museum

The square where we dined on Monday evening.

More small streets

Interesting tower

 Lots of traffic heading into the city center

We walked back near the Royal Palace to get on the Hop On-Hop Off Boat - Stop 1

We rode it to Stop 5 on Djurgården Island.  No - we didn't go to the amusement park.  We walked further on until we came to Skansen.  Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum, showcasing the whole of Sweden with houses and farmsteads from every part of the country.

It sits atop a hill.  Fortunately there is an escalator to take you up.

Once in the area we spent several hours exploring.  It was a very pleasing place with lots of mothers and children, some school children and some adults everyone soaking up the culture and the sun.

It was fun to walk around and see the various buildings, some utilitarian, some modest homes, some more elegant homes.  Some we identified but not all.

Temperance Hall

Summer Pasture Farm

Våla School

Seglora Church

Kyrkhult Farmhouse

Skogaholm Manor and Garden

Bredablick Tower

Hällestadsstapeln Bell Tower - wood

These are the shingles covered the base logs of the tower

Now we can recognize that we are seeing from the boat

Town Quarter

Sami Village

Sami, also called Lapp, any member of a people speaking the Sami language and inhabiting Lapland and adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia.

There was an area of Nordic Wild Animals

Brown Bear

Moose

European Bison

Lynx

Reindeer

Great Grey Owl

Vitryggig Hackspett

(White backed woodpecker)

 These were everywhere - Barnacle Goose

After we finished at the Skansen, we walked back to the pier to get back on the Hop On-Hop Off boat.  We took it back around to stop 2 giving us a nice water tour.

Looking back on Skeppsholmen Island

Coming back to Nybroplan

Headed back to the hotel, tired,  after walking 7 miles today.

The emblem of three crowns has been utilized by Sweden since at least 1336. As there are three crowns this has led to speculation about the symbolism:

•The crowns are representation of the three crowned gods of Uppsala;the city of Uppsala has been the seat of a holy place even before the times of Christianity.
•The crowns represent the three areas of Uppland (the area around Uppsala);these areas had the right to take part in the election of the king.
•The three crowns are representations of the Three Wise Men (or Holy Kings).
•The crowns are just a representation of the king's power, and the number three is without significance.
•Magnus Eriksson was once king of Sweden. Magnus inherited the crown of Norway from his grandfather Haakon V of Norway, and then gained the Swedish crown as his father was the brother of the king of Sweden. In the 1330s king Magnus bought Scania from Denmark, and consequently used the title King of Sweden, Norway and Scania. The three crowns may represent King Magnus' three kingdoms.

On that note, we end our wonderful Scanndinavian adventure.  Time to pack for flight home.