After what bordered on a waste of time we visited Stockholm. This city was quite scenic and far more interesting. We visited the tiny Old Town which is right next to the palace. I wish we could have visited that too.

We then took a ride around town, which is quite beautiful. We ended up on an island where there are several attractions including a couple museums. The one we visited was the Vasa Museum, the largest old warship built by Sweden which capsized and sank on it's maiden voyage. It was discovered and brought up in the 1960s and was remarkably well preserved. I found it very interesting.

After that we were driven outside the city to the historic town of Sigtuna. Sigtuna dates back over 1000 years and is the first Christian town in Sweden. On the way there we stopped for a lunch which was ok, but not great.

One the way back we drove through some other parts of Stockholm with a quick stop at the top of a hill for a scenic overlook of the entire city before heading back to the ship.

The Vasa was built in Stockholm in 1628 to be the mightiest warship in the world, armed with 64 guns on two decks. The ship was launched Sunday August 10th 1628 with much fanfare. The king hoped the imposing ship would demonstrate Swedish military might. It didn't quite work out that way.

As the Vasa set said leaving the harbor it fired a salute. The ship began to heel over, then corrected, then heeled again and capsized with 150 people on board, most survived. Strangely enough the ship was built during a war with Poland. So much for Polish jokes!

The ship remained in the harbor until 1961 when it was salvaged. Amazingly enough the ship was found in excellent condition and moved to it's current location. The museum was built AROUND the ship.

This museum was fun to visit. I was surprised how well preserved the ship was after more than 300 years under water. The museum was very dark so it was VERY difficult to take decent pictures.

Once again, the town of Sigtuna was not really worth the bus ride. The town is the oldest in Sweden, dating back to 980, and contained a couple somewhat interesting sites. However the town itself wasn't that interesting. Near the original main street is the smallest town hall in Sweden, built in the 1740s.

The highlight of Sigtuna was visiting the St. Mary's Church, built in the 13th century, which is also known as the oldest brick structure in Sweden. Near this church were the ruins of St. Olofs Church which was the oldest stone structure in Sweden dating back to the 12th century. We were also shown a couple Runic stones which are a holdback from Viking times. Some of the stones date back to the 11th century.