The Vasa Museum

I really did not post all my Sweden pictures. Like not even half of them. So get ready for Sweden and spring! 

And don't worry. If it bothers you that these posts are all so out of order, it bothers me even more. but I MUST POST THEM. Otherwise it didn't really happen. 

Oh the hope and delight of spring!

As we were walking from the metro and bus, Lindsey realized she had lost her metro card. Which is a pain in the neck because you prepay and so she would need to buy it all over again. So we retraced our steps a little and found her card in the grass among some tiny blue flowers. Hooray! 

The Vasa. 

So a few centuries ago, Sweden was at war. The Swedish king decided he needed the battleship to end all battleships. One that would impress and overwhelm the enemy just by looking at it. 

So he commissioned the Vasa. Built to be tall and amazing, it took years to build and decorate. 

These minerals and ground stone were the paints they would have used to paint the Vasa. 

Aren't they gorgeous? 

Cobalt

Some reproductions of the Vasa decorations. 

As it is now, centuries later

As it would have been sailing out of harbor to meet the enemy. 

Impressive! Particularly since they didn't have air sprayers in those days. 

A 1:64 (I think) scale of the ship yards used to build the ship 

Tools of the trade

Smaller model of the Vasa, with full color paint and rigging

Ashley in among the anchors

The area where they work on the constant upkeep needed to keep the ship looking presentable.

The full color model. 

Lion head gun ports

One thing you notice about this ship, it is tall. Really tall. Ridiculously tall. As in, way too far out of the water. 

After loads of money, endless hours of demanding work, the Vasa sailed a grand total of 1.6 km before being blown over by a mild wind and sinking in the Stockholm harbor. No joke. 

Instead of terrifying the enemy, they terrified the families and countrymen watching the amazing ship setting out to take on the enemy. 

Surprisingly, only a few lives were lost of the thousands that were on board. 

For several centuries, the Vasa sat at the bottom of the frigid harbor. Then an intrepid Swede came along in the 1960's who wanted to try raising. First he had to pinpoint the location using centuries old information and the newly invented scuba gear. After pulling up a piece of wood with definite identification, they starting talking about how to raise it. It was an amazing process, but I will not go into it all because I do not remember it all and it is probably best explained by someone who knows what they are talking about. I bet Youtube has a good video about it. 

I love little miniature models. This one was a cross section of the inner workings of the Vasa. 

While people didn't have much time settling into the Vasa and getting jobs done, the museum gives you an idea of what nautical life would have been like. 

A typical Swedish sailor of the age. 

A huge visual of the number of people used to keep a warship of the Vasa's size working smoothly. It was a rather vast number. 

So despite the inglorious history of the Vasa, it is more intact than it could have been if it had not sank into the preserving mud of the Stockholm harbor. 

The artists had several renderings of what their enemies would do upon seeing the Vasa. This guy will clearly cower beneath the benches in the galley in fear. 

The above decks. 

It is hard to actually get good pictures of it, due to the lighting.

Trust me though, it was HUGE and AWESOME. 

And when you come out of the museum, there is Stockholm Harbor. With some of the same buildings that would have been there watching the Vasa sink. 

It is always amazing to me how much history there is in European cities.