Another sunny day in Vancouver so we went for a nature walk. We were informed that it is known as “tree bathing” in Japanese culture.
The dead tree stumps add to the ambience of the forest.
Along the walk there were a number of trees that look like faces.
And a trillium flower, even though they are more associated with Ontario.
And the cherry trees were in full bloom.
Tomorrow we head up to the Okanagan.
Our original flight to Vancouver was cancelled, and we were rebooked the next day through Toronto. It was a bit of a pain, but we arrived just in time for … an absolutely gorgeous day. Apparently it was the first sunny day in quite some time.
We went out for a walk in the sunshine and then stopped by a local brew pub for a beer and pizza.
Our trip is off to a great start.
After a pause from travel over the past year, we are taking a trip to the west coast. We are planning to visit wine country in the Okanagan and Vancouver Island before taking the train across Canada to go home. Should be fun.
This isn’t from our trip, but I like the picture, so I’ll show it today.
One of the exhibits in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm showed a combination lock for a chest, recovered when the ship was salvaged. This picture shows the inside of the chest, so that you can see the mechanism.
Ingenious.
In 1626 King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden commissioned a warship that was to be the pride of his fleet and secure his dominance of the Baltic Sea. The ship was completed in 1628 and on her maiden voyage sailed less than a mile before she began to list and then, promptly capsized and sank. The bronze cannons were salvaged, but then the ship was largely forgotten until it was rediscovered and salvaged in 1961. The brackish waters near Stockholm, combined with low oxygen levels, in part due to pollution, meant that the ship was amazingly well preserved. So much so, that after extensive preservation work, a museum was built around the ship. The ship is almost fully intact and provides unique insight into 17th century ship building. Here are a few pictures to give you a sense of the museum.
The lighter colored wood in this picture is restored, but all the dark wood is original. It gives you a sense of just how complete it is.
The Vasa had two cannon decks as well as a third set of cannons on the top deck. This made it top heavy and may have contributed to its sinking. The lower cannon ports were also very close to the waterline, which didn’t help.
You can see people in the lower left on this picture. They give you a sense of scale.
If you are in Stockholm, I highly recommend a visit to the Vasa Museum. Plan on making it a day.
When we were in Budapest the cherry blossoms were at their peak, perhaps even a day or two past peak. The ground was beginning to be covered with “drifts” of fallen petals. A week later, the cherry blossoms in Stockholm weren’t quite as far along (not surprising, given how much further north it is). But they were still beautiful.
On the sidewalk, just outside of Stockholm Central Station, we spotted a pair of ducks, calmly sleeping on the sidewalk in a very small puddle of water. I know that Stockholm is a pedestrian friendly city, but this may be going a bit too far. Or maybe not…
We are back home now, but over the next week I want to continue posting a few random observations about our trip. I’ll begin with the Swedish Krona (SEK). Perhaps you’re wondering what the Krona looks like or what denominations are in circulation? Unfortunately I can’t help you because I never saw any. Not once. And if you were unfortunate enough to have exchanged currency at the airport, you’d have trouble finding anywhere to spend it. Physical currency attracts the same level of curiosity that a 45 RPM record would here – and it’s almost as difficult to use. You think I’m joking? I took this picture at a public toilet that charged 10 SEK (about one dollar) to use. If you look closely you will see that there isn’t a coin slot to pay, but a pad to tap your credit card.
The other thing you’ll notice is that the Swedes have neatly sidestepped the whole bathroom gender issue that gets some people all worked up these days. Build single person washrooms that are gender neutral. Who knew it could be so easy?
It was another lovely spring day in Stockholm, so we went for a long walk (10 km) along the waterfront and through a few parks, all within the city limits. For the first part of the walk we had water on one side, and impressive old buildings on the other.
And then we were into parks. This is just one of the parks we walked through today. There are a number of large parks within Stockholm city limits. You can’t see any people in this picture, but there were many people outside enjoying the weather. On the city streets it was even worse – it was wall to wall people.
One of the parks was dedicated to sculptures. Here is one example.
And then, it was back to the city.
Tomorrow will be cooler, so we will be visiting a museum.
It was a lovely sunny day, with the temperature near 20 Celsius. Apparently this is the first really nice day of spring this year, and it felt like the sunshine brought everyone out onto the street. We used the day to just walk around outside and take in the city. We started by walking over the bridge into the old city.
And then we just wandered, taking in the architecture.
We headed south into Sodermalm, eventually ending up on a hilltop providing lovely views of Stockholm. The warm weather, and sensible liquor licensing laws, brought people up onto the hill where many groups were enjoying chatting with friends while sharing a glass of Prosecco. Very civilized.
More walking is planned for Saturday, as it will be sunny again. Sunday won’t be quite as nice, so that will likely be a day for museums.
If It Was Today... 