Did Someone Say Meatballs?

We are here in Stockholm and the weather is finally starting to feel like summer. We decided that the rest of our visit will be without any guides/private tours - O was really happy about this!

Nordik Museum

(Yes there is an ABBA Museum!)

In reading about Sweden, I kept seeing two things as a must: 1).Visit the Vasa Museum and see the sunken Vasa ship that was recovered after 333 years and 2). Eat Swedish meatballs.

One thing I’ve noticed about being in Scandinavia for the past week is that everyone is very friendly, speaks English well, and wants to help you. We got on a city bus early in the morning and the lady sitting next to me offered to help me with my map and make sure I got off at the right stop. We got an all-day public transportation pass because unlike Helsinki and Copenhagen, Stockholm is much bigger and there is much more ground to cover than just by foot.

With a little bit of time to pass before our entry to the Vasa Museum, we visited Skansen where the girls had a chance to test out some toys and playground equipment from the “olden days.” It was very cool and although full of kids, not touristy at all.

"Playground" at Skansen

One thing I’ve noticed across the board in almost every country we’ve visited on this trip (and now we are at 9), if you put kids in a playground, even if they don’t speak the same language, they are instantly friends. At Skansen, one little girl tried to teach M a trick (in Swedish) on how to get up on stilts.

Next we arrived at the Vasa Museum and the pictures really speak for themselves. The ship sunk on its first voyage after only being in the water for 20 minutes; of the 400+ people on the ship, only 30 died. It was believed that the ship was structurally not sound and was built to hold only one gun deck (cannons), but the king had two gun decks on board which were too heavy for the ship.

Vasa Ship

With all of the history and learning in the morning, we had worked up an appetite and what better way to fill our stomachs than with some hearty meatballs and lingonberry jam. We headed to the hipster neighborhood Slussen to a small place called Meatballs for the People where they only have on main dish called Classic: Swedish Meatballs, served with mashed potatoes, homemade lingonberry jam and picked cucumbers.

Before M got her teeth into my plate

We love meatballs!

M insisted that she would not try the dish because she wouldn’t like it; so, we ordered only 3 plates. The food came and after numerous pleas with her to just try one bite, she finally did, realizing how delicious everything on the plate was, and proceeded to eat my plate of food.

With full bellies, we opted to walk the 30 minutes to picturesque Gamla Stan (Old Town) instead of riding the bus. After visiting many royal palaces on this trip, we skipped the Swedish Royal Palace and instead walked around the grounds (and climbed on their lions).

Royal Palace

Other highlights of Stockholm were the Nobel Prize Museum and the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial (we were lucky enough to see the other memorial dedicated to him in Budapest outside the Dohany Synagogue.

 
One day in Stockholm is definitely not enough to truly capture the city, but we definitely made a good dent in it.