Found inside the Nordiska museet in Stockholm.
Category Archives: Stockholm
From sober to drunk to hungover at the Museum of Spirits
Are you what you drink?
“Well, perhaps you shouldn’t judge
the drink by its umbrella,
but we all know
that’s what’s in the glass
says something about style and class?”
Warm cider or the vintage wine
nobody can pronounce properly anyway?
You drink like the one you want to be.
From the Vasa Museum on the way to Skansen, we happened to pass by the Spritmuseum, and because it seemed so fun, what with the words “vodka” and “Warhol”, we decided to go in. Besides, the entrance was free with the Stockholm Card!
I loved their display of pop art.
This gold dress was worn by Candace Bushnell for an Absolut vodka event, but apparently she was whisked to a date by the real Mr. Big, Ron Galotti. Carrie Candace sent the dress back on the next day.
Warhol is Absolut ❤
Aside from the art, the museum has great lessons in branding and product design.
Fun tip: go inside the Hangover Room!
The Day After
Alcohol attacks the body cells
like a commando force.
Water and salts are cast aside.
The stomach and bowel do their best
against the punch of alcohol.
Blood sugar bottoms out.
Pizza’s looking good.
As if the physical act of crisis management
weren’t enough, you now have to handle
the panic of not remembering what happened
at the party last night.
Or you may remember too much.
Spritmuseum
Djurgårdsvägen 38
Djurgården
Stockholm
Sweden
Opening hours
Mondays, Wednesdays – Sundays: 10:00 – 17:00
Tuesdays: 10:00 – 20:00
Viva la Vasa!
(I know I’m blogging about Sweden, but the Spanish title sounds good, admit it)
The Vasa Museum was definitely one of my favorite parts of Stockholm. I could use the usual words – amazing, awesome, a-mah-zing (any Happy Endings fan, out there?) – but they just wouldn’t be enough. Its history alone is impressive enough. Built as a battleship, it was one of the largest ships with powerful bronze cannons. On August 10, 1628 (we were lucky to visit on its anniversary!) the Vasa set sail for the first time, but because of its top-heaviness, the sails couldn’t handle the wind, and it ultimately sank after only a few minutes of sailing barely 1300 meters. Lying underwater as deep as 32 meters for 333, the Vasa ship was finally lifted in 1961. Excavation, reconstruction, and conservation followed, and up to now, its preservation still is one of the main concerns. The most awe-inspiring fact is that the ship has been restored to 95% of its original state. I mean, look at the result! It’s beyond glorious.
Vasa Museet
Galärvarvsvägen 14
Djurgården
Stockholm
Sweden
Opening hours:
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays – Sundays: 10:00 – 17:00
Wednesdays: 10:00 – 20:00
Stockholm Card – worth it or not?
The Stockholm Card
That’s the Stockholm Card. I was a little bit apprehensive to get it at first because at 795 Swedish Crowns, it’s really expensive, but it was really worth it. For our short trip, we wanted to cover as much ground as possible, and at the same time not spend too much time inside museums. Without much advance planning though, we just decided to visit the major sites, while being spontaneous along the way (“oh look, there’s the Nobel Museum! let’s go in!” “hey, that’s the Spritmuseum, we can get in there for free”).
Let’s have a look at all the attractions we visited in three days and the figures:
Transportation costs & tours and entrance fees
- 72 hour public transportation card – SEK 230
- Historic Canal Tour – SEK 160
- City Hall Tour – SEK 100
- Drottningholm Palace – SEK 215 UNESCO World Heritage Site alert!
- Storkyrkan – SEK 40
- Nobel Museum – SEK 100
- Nordic Museum – SEK 100
- Vasa Museum – SEK 130
- Spritmuseum – SEK 100
- Skansen – SEK 150
TOTAL: SEK 1,325
Stockholm Card: SEK 795
Savings with the Stockholm Card: SEK 530
Verdict: WORTH IT!
Stockholm in details
Eats in Stockholm
Sweden is famous for some of my childhood favorites, like Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking, Roxette, ABBA, Ace of Base, and some of my current faves, like Robyn, H&M, COS, and Alexander Skarsgård.
Another one of my favorites, IKEA, introduced me to Swedish Meatballs way before I have ever been to Sweden. Simple, but delicious and filling, accompanied by a refillable drink, this meal made all my trips to IKEA to stock up on Tindra candles even more enticing. Of course, my trip to Stockholm wouldn’t have been complete without having Swedish Meatballs in Sweden.
A closer look.
Yum. It was perfect after hours of walking in Drottningholm. I ordered this at the restaurant just outside of the Drottningholm Palace. The tartness of the redcurrants mixed very well with the creamy sauce. I would have preferred mashed potatoes, but maybe that wouldn’t be too traditional.
On to the next lunch: grilled salmon with potatoes at the Nordic Museum restaurant. This was my favorite meal. The skin was just crispy enough and the fish meat was soft and juicy. So, so good.
On to the sweet stuff! Before entering the Nobel Museum, we saw this interesting sign.
If it’s claimed to be world famous, you’ve got to try, right? So after an inspiring, but also heartbreaking tour of the museum, we went to its Bistro Nobel to try the Nobel Ice Cream. The sweet treat is vanilla and blackcurrant ice cream topped with whipped cream, berries and an Alfred Nobel chocolate coin. The vanilla flavor tasted so real, and you could even see specs of vanilla bean in the ice cream. The blackcurrant ice cream was just the right combination of sweet and sour. It was a perfect afternoon pick-me-up! While at the Bistro Nobel, we noticed people turning over chairs a lot. Turns out that signatures of Nobel Laureates that have visited the museum were under the chairs!
In Skansen, we had cheesecake at the Tre Byttor Taverne. I liked it, but it wasn’t too special – light, not too sweet, a bit on the dry side.
I may never get a Nobel Prize, but now I know what the table setting at the Nobel Banquet looks like:
At Midsummer Eve, the dinner table would usually look like this:
Nobel Museum
Nobelmuseet Stortorget 2, Gamla Stan
Summer opening hours: June 3–August 31, every day 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Winter opening hours: Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mondays closed.
Stockholm Syndroam
How was your summer? It has been a really sizzling summer in Vienna, and by the time August hit, the intense heat wave was at its peak reaching 39 degrees, so my trip to Stockholm was the perfect way to chill out – literally and figuratively. After arriving in Stockholm on a 6 AM flight and no sleep, my friend Joahnna and I decided to explore the city first the lazy effortless, yet informative way – by boarding the Historical Canal Tour.
We went to the visitors center at the airport to claim our Stockholm Cards that we ordered online. With it, tourists get to use public transportation and go to major museums and attractions for free. It’s really worth it (but more on that in another post)! While the Arlanda Express is a really efficient and cheap way to get from the Arlanda airport to Stockholm Central Station, where our hotel is conveniently located, we wanted to make use of our Stockholm Cards and use free public transpo. So, we got on a bus to Malsta and switched to a train to Stockholm Central.
Jo and I checked in the hotel, marveled at all the awesome stuff in our room, and via internet, looked for a place nearby to have lunch at. Google Maps can be funny sometimes and show you a four-minute route, when you can just cross the street in less than one. Ha. After a filling lunch at Jensen’s Bofhus, we trekked to Stadshusbron, where the Historical Canal Tour departed.
When you see this flag and this tower, you know you’re in the right place.
The weather was alternating between light rain and cloudy, which made made for slightly dramatic shots. If it gets too chilly, there are flannel blankets to keep passengers warm.
I wish I could tell you amazing facts about these awesome buildings but as I said earlier, I had zero sleep, and though interesting, I forgot all the things the audio guide narrated. Weirdly, I only remember Swedish House Mafia, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and ABBA being mentioned.
Oh, and one of the buildings we passed by used to be a prison and has been turned into a hotel! Cool, huh.
Boats and buildings
Look at the amazing architecture.
The views were just amazing. I really enjoyed the 50-minute tour, it was as relaxing as it was informative. Bonus: you’ll even see a few kayaks!
Price: SEK 160 for adults, free with the Stockholm Card
Departs from Stadshusbron
No Stopovers 