Saturday June 23 - Stockholm Skansen

It was raining this morning but the forecast was for better weather this afternoon - it stopped raining in the afternoon but remained cloudy.  Good job we went on the boat cruise yesterday.  We took the tram to Skansen, an enormous village containing old buildings and animals from all over Sweden.

Stockholm trams fly the Swedish flag at both ends.

This preserved car and trailer was at the car barns.  They told me it would be running on route 7 tomorrow.

Skansen is enormous.  It is built on some rocky ground, approximately 75 acres.  

There is a funicular railway at the entrance.

This lady was demonstrating making flatbread.  The original is only made from barley because that is all that will grow in the north.  It will keep for 20 years.  It was only in the oven for about a minute or so.

This is also a zoo showing animals that live in the Sweden and the north, reindeer, wild boars etc.

Elk

This great grey owl was very tame and came on to the railing of the viewing balcony.  It would quickly turn its head so the photographer had to be quick.

Many of the buildings were open and staffed by people who were very knowledgeable in their subject.  They all spoke excellent English and we spent some time with several of them. One man we spoke to had a degree in history and taught history.  Working here was a great opportunity for him.  We discussed the philosophy of restoration with another - how authentic can you or should you get? is it alright to replace a rotting wooden structure with a similar one using the same materials?

There was dancing around the maypole.  The grass was pretty worn around the maypole so they danced around a Swedish flag instead.

This quickly developed into a free for all with many of the visitors joining in.  Many of them had a garland of leaves on their head to celebrate midsummer and many had come in traditional Swedish costume.  There were many small children and one woman visitor had a young baby in a carrier strapped to her front.  It was pretty vigorous and everyone had a good time.

The goose on the chimney was making a great deal of noise above the grassy roof.

Glassblowing

Spinning

We covered the entire area but must have missed a great deal.  The set up is very good and it provided a great way to understand how people lived and worked in earlier times.

We spent the entire day at Skansen and caught the tram back to the hotel.  The first restaurant we went into for dinner a "bouncer" asked for our coats.  We said we would take them with us.  He insisted and wouldn't tell us why so we left (rudely).  We ate at a place that served Scottish meat across the street.  The meal was excellent.  Black Angus burger (Mary) and beef ribs (Colin).  Both were excellent.