Stockholm

Stockholm -- where do I start? We had only one day and a few hours in this capital city. It was not enough time to take in all of the sites. The three attractions that I had a chance to see were the Vasa Museum, Skansen Park and the Royal Palace museums.

Vasa warship

Vasa Museum (130 SEK) -- this museum houses the 17th century warship Vasa. It's maiden voyage lasted 30 minutes before sinking into the sea. 98 percent of the original warship is on display. Only a few missing wooden pieces and rotten ropes have been replaced. The remainder is all original. There is a short movie describing the salvaging of the warship. Around the ship, there are exhibits of artifacts buried in the ship, including a few skeletons of the 30 people who drowned when the ship sank. The 30 minute free, guided tour does a great job of describing the sculptures adorning the warship.

Weaver inside farmhouse at Skansen

Skansen Park (160 SEK) -- 75 acres of preserved Swedish history with interactive exhibits. We walked through farm houses, schools, the manor. Each exhibit had people dressed up in traditional garb that could answer questions about the rooms. We watched a worker cut up lemon for lemon soup in the manor kitchen. Outside one of the farmhouses, a woman boiled collard greens for wool dye. Inside the same farmhouse, a man finished up knitting a pair of mittens from the naturally dyed wool. In the bakehouse, we sampled traditional barley flatbread. There was a delightful string trio playing inside the manor. Outside at one of the stages, Swedish folk dancers performed a variety of dances to a duo of violins. Finally, there are animals ringing the edge of the park -- reindeer, moose, brown bears, lynx. You'll need more than a day to see all the sights of Skansen.

Outside the Royal Palace

Royal Palace museums (160 SEK) -- a ticket to the Royal Palace museums will get you into see the Royal Treasury, the Royal Apartments, the Tre Kroner museum and Gustav III's antiquities museum. The Royal Treasury is two scant rooms in the basement with royal crowns, the robe of a queen and a couple iron chests that used to hold such values. The Royal Apartments are extravagantly decorated. For me, the interesting museum was the Tre Kroner, which is deep underneath the Palace, in the cellar of the original palace. The original palace burned in the late 1600s. But, deep beneath the palace, you can see the remains of the old palace as well as view excavated artifacts. The final museum in the quartette is Gustav III's personal collection of antiquities. He collected these in the late 18th century. The two rooms are preserved as he originally displayed all the sculptures. Photos are prohibited in all four museums.

Changing of the guard. Swedish military band

The real draw to visit the Royal Palace during the day is the changing of the guard. This is a free exhibition outside the Palace. It happens at 12:15 during the week and at 1:15 pm on Sundays. However, make sure that you arrive 20-30 minutes early in order to get a a place to stand and view the show. There is very limited standing room. You won't want to miss the display, complete with military band.