One of the things that makes for a classic Lars and Laura travel adventure is running to catch public transport. However, this morning was slightly different. We sauntered. Not because we were early and not going to miss our ride, but because what we were trying to catch was a rather slow morning ferry. It was moving at walking pace, so we were able to just walk along side it, slightly over take it, then hop on board! Destination; Djurgården, and for those who know that can mean only one thing - Skansen.
Skansen is the open air museum/ zoo that was founded in 1891. It comprises of 300,000 square meters (that's the bizzare measurement they gave - not acres of hectares but metres squared). Anyway, in my best Swedish I bought us two tickets and we were in.
Straight to the Nordic Animals it was, I'd promised Laura a moose.
Skansen is comprised of dozens of old buildings that have been transported to their current site from all around Sweden, some dating back a few hundred years. These create a perfect snap shot into Nordic life as it was. This meant we were slightly distracted on our way to the animals.
But eventually me made it. We went straight to the wolverine enclosure, eager to see the three clawed, Australian. Alas, there was no movement in the habitat, but behind us our eye was caught by movement.
It's a well known fact all modern dogs are decended from wolves, but if you put a stupid, ugly little chihuahua next to one of the wolves we saw, the wolf would have been throughly embarrassed to know this is its decendent... and then hopefully ripped its head off.
Anyway, wolves it turns out are the most amazing creatures. Something truly noble about those guys as they circled around their enclosure, panting in the cold air.
We watched them for a while but moved on to see more exotic species. The next of which was a lynx. Which was surprisssingly huge. Much bigger than either of us had previously thought. And being a cat, it took a while to drag Laura away.
The bears were asleep (it being winter) but we eventually got to the main attraction, at least for Laura it was - the moose.
Laura is an excitable person, and there are few things that get her more excited than animals, and especially new animals.
The moose are crazy, absolutely huge creatures, and far far more lanky than you think they are. Needless to say we spent s while there.
By this stage we were getting hungry so we decided to head in search of some kai. This took us past more amazing building, and though the 'old village' which truly hold a tale of times long gone.
Since it was winter, none of the cafes were open in the park so we decided to ferry back across to Gamla Stan and try our luck.
It was a truly amazing day so the boat ride was incredible. The sky was a deep blue that contrasted with the building making the skyline pop like a cartoon.
We opted to take a quick look at the Town Hall before food, and that was a good move because the other side of the island was super quite and devoid of tourists! In fact, and here's a top tip, the whole place was relatively quite so travelling in winter has a huge advantage if you don't want screeds of people around.
Lunch was a sandwich and chips on the way back to the car. Laura having a amazing crayfish, caviar, mayonnaise baguette.
Once we'd packed up it was time to head north to Uppsala, my Swedish 'home town'. The drive of course was amazing. It always is when you are seeing things for the first time (or at least in a long time).
We arrived shortly after dark, checked in to our AirBnB and headed out to dinner.
Laura opted for Max, a local Swedish fast food chain, but it being Valentines Day I convinced her of something a bit nicer!!
Another amazing Swedish day complete, and our first proper day in Uppsala to come, we hit the hay with heavy eyelids.
Ferry on the Archipelago
Yo dog!
Another ferry
That helicopter shot from Europe's 'The Final Countdown' music video
After dinner treat in Uppsala
Labels: Sweden 2017
