Scandinavia

[ewx]

We went on holiday to Scandinavia in August. Some of the highlights…

Copenhagen:

• Photos.
• Viking ship museum at Roskilde (about 20m on the train from Copenhagen). Ancient boats rescued from the bottom of a fjord, an opportunity to chop things, and rowing a reconstructed boat. http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/
• Wandering around Kastellet in the sun and the Tivoli on a warm evening.
• The Nordic Bronze Age. I was already well aware of the Trundholm Sun Chariot but hadn’t realised (with due deference to taphonomic bias) quite how rich was the material culture of that time and place.
• Hire bikes with built in navigation. http://bycyklen.dk/en/

Stockholm:

• Photos.
• The Vasa. It’s big and very well preserved. If your model of early modern ships recovered from the sea is the Mary Rose then you have a treat in store. http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/
• Lemurs. Who doesn’t like lemurs? If you know the answer, I don’t want to know.
• Wandering around Skansen and Djurgården.

Both:

• The public transport worked well.
• Canal tours. Good decision in both cities.
• My usual photographic idées fixes were well served, as you can probably tell…
• Food. We ate at a lot of excellent restaurants, although the passage of time means it’s probably beyond me to review them individually now.
• People. Friendly and with only one exception that I can remember spoke excellent English.