Pre-Tour: Living History at Stockholm's Open Air Museum
- The Day Distilled: A sunny day in Stockholm's Skansen museum shines through even the thickest jetlag haze.
- Woman of the Day: My mom! As much as she loves to travel and explore new places, getting to the starting point in a faraway country can give her anxiety. But she powers through and then has a wonderful time. It’s inspiring and fun to travel with her.
- Ship’s Log: There’s water everywhere in Stockholm, and no wonder: it’s a city built on islands. Walk along any shoreline and you’ll see colorful yachts, little sailboats, bobbing kayaks, purposeful ferries, and even tall ships.
Jetlag's no fun. Let's get some sun!
We flew from our respective home cities to London, found each other in the throngs of Heathrow, managed to keep each other awake for several hours, then flew to Stockholm. It was dark by the time we checked into our B&B, so “dinner” was a few snacks before crawling into bed for an exhausted-but-restless first night.
The next morning, we enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast in a cozy dining room flooded with morning light. Our strategy for the day was to get as much exercise and daylight as possible, so the Skansen outdoor museum sounded perfect. |
The walk to Skansen offered great people watching, expansive views along the water, beautiful green trees and abundant flowers, and then… What a museum! We had so much fun. Founded in 1891, Skansen showcases original buildings from every region of Sweden and many different periods, spread out over 75 lush green acres. I loved the solidity of the buildings, built of strong wood on strong stone. Some of them were really funky, like a hut that looked like it could just walk off. Each cluster of buildings had docents in period clothing explaining and sometimes demonstrating different professions, such as midwifery (no demos! just explanations), bookbinding, goldsmithing, and baking. We enjoyed watching and learning from the friendly, knowledgeable staff. |
Parent alert: Skansen is great for kids!
In addition to tangible history lessons at every turn, there’s plenty of room to run around, several playgrounds, and even some old-school amusement park rides. It was fun and energizing to see so many families with small kids. This was a theme throughout the trip – Scandinavians invest in family life.
Blame the jetlag, but I don’t have a clue where we had dinner. I don’t even remember getting back to the hotel! Skansen, though, is unforgettable. For more pre-tour photos, check out the slideshow below. |
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