January 21, 2007 - VasaMuseet.

VasaMuseet, or the Vasa Museum, is built around 1 historical find - a 1600's Swedish battleship. This ship never really saw the light of day, as it sank in the Stockholm harbor as soon as it left the dry dock. Some engineers of the time made some gross mis-calculations about the ship and its weight, and loaded it with too many cannons. As soon as the ship sailed, it took in water, and went straight down.

The reason its so interesting is that Stockholm harbor is full of mud. So as soon as it sank, it pratically sank right into the mud - where it layed until the 1980s, when the ship was raised by the Swedish Navy. Because the ship was fully submerged in mud, it was still mainly in tact. It wasn't subjected to the ocean currents and the air and water that would've eroded it away. The boat was preserved in such prestine condition that it actually floated by itself after they cleaned out the mud on the insides.

At the center of the museum is teh Vasa itself, somewhat restored. The three masts of the ship were never found, and the top planks have been eroded away. They were able to restore those and thats how you can see the picture today. The ship itself was majestic - it was adorned with many many ornaments or symbols that protects the ship itself (a lot of good that did, right?) Anyways, the living conditions on the boat was rather tough, and the decks were a lot lower so you'd hit your head all the time (except, that people back then were a lot shorter than we are now cuz back then they were mostly malnutritioned).

As well, it was also sort of a small Swedish history museum. It contained a small section of the history of the ship building and the life of Sweden back then. Boy it was tough! I'm glad at least it wasn't so cold when I was growing up!

:-) After the Vasa, we were ready to do some real work - take the 3 hour train ride into Goteborg (or Gothenborg) to really go do some work!

:-)
john