When we got up we were greeted by a beautifully sunny day, albeit with a chilly feel to the air. Excellent drying weather, which was a good thing as the reason why we were up was that it was washing day again and the only time that the machines were free was at seven in the morning. As Julie and I walked towards the washing machines we noted that opposite us was a very large cruise liner, which had joined the others that occupy the far bank. These, coupled with up to four or five in the adjacent 'free harbour' means that there could be as many as eight in Stockholm at any one time – big business for the local shops.

Washing done, we wanted to see the famous food market called Östermalms Saluhall which apparently is a prime source of produce for the numerous fancy restaurants in Stockholm . This was brought to our attention by our friends John & Lynne Ladd in a note saying ‘go see it!’ – so we did. It was a 25 minute walk from the boat, quite a pleasant one and we found the red brick building which has been the location of the market since 1888. After a pleasant Roberts coffee, it would be wouldn’t it, I made a beeline for the fish stalls, as I find these sorts stalls the most interesting in any market, anywhere in the world. They had a pretty nice display of our principal food fishes from northern waters and I’ve included a couple of photos, together with another view of the hall.

After this our ways parted. Julie has been shop-starved for 6 weeks or more now and she was looking forward very much to a couple of hours browsing with her more willing shoppers than her husband, who frankly prefers a visit to the dentist! I went to find the supermarket to get some ‘vittles’ and we agreed to meet back at the boat for lunch, which we did in due course.



Now in yesterday’s blog I mentioned the Vasamuseet or the Vasa museum . There now follows a potted history of the Vasa and why there’s a museum. Around 1625, King Gustaf II Adolf , otherwise known as the ‘Lion of the North’ commissioned a warship to add to his fleet and with the intention of sorting out his cousin in Poland, who had a (legitimate) claim to his kingdom. By 1628 all was ready and this, the grandest vessel of his fleet and with no fewer than 800 carvings on her, set off on her maiden voyage down the coast, where she was to pick up the main body of personnel, the soldiers who would man the cannon (64 large bronze cannon). On board for this short journey were the sailors and invited guests and perhaps some stowaways just for the short ride, a total of perhaps 180 people. After 1422 yards, on 10^th August 1628, she was hit by a small gust of wind and this proved too much for her and she listed, her lower gun ports let the water in and she sank. Happily, the water was shallow enough such that the tops of the masts, which were 47m high, enabled many people to be saved as they simply clambered up them as the boat went down. Others swam as it was August and the water would have been warm enough, so that only 30 or so unfortunates actually lost their lives. There was an enquiry which blamed the builder but the real reason for her sinking was a lack of ballast and the number of heavy cannon on board. Most of these cannon were salvaged in later years by very brave people using diving bells but attempts to salvage the boat itself failed and she slowly disappeared into the mud, to be preserved for 333 years until she was finally raised again and housed in a museum. She is quite literally unique, a completely preserved 17^th century warship – orders of magnitude more impressive than our own Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship that suffered a similar fate.

Now I’d seen the Vasa before many years ago and I recalled raving enthusiastically about her to Julie upon my return home. I was a little worried that I may have over-sold my experience and the women might not find the visit to the museum to be as fascinating as I did. I needn’t have worried, they were, as they say, completely gobsmacked and our only regret was that we ran out of time, two and a quarter hours were not enough.

I was going to barbecue that night but it was too cold so Elaine produced a really tasty chicken and rice dish, vaguely Moroccan in flavours but whatever its origins, it was delicious.