#51 Tekniska Museet

Tekniska Museet (aka the Museum of Science and Technology) is another museum free on Wednesday evenings from 5pm (the other being the Nordic Museum).  If you are in Stockholm and like fun things, this place should be high on your list for things to do! 

It's a great place to bring children, and teenagers will enjoy it too. There are lots of interactive things, including a games room for younger children, and also another room aimed for teenagers and adults that includes testing your strength, rowing machines, lift your own weight, dance off, tight rope walking etc. There is also a realistic recreation of a mine which makes you feel a little like you're lining up for a roller-coaster in Disneyland. There are things here with buttons to make things light up or explode, there are places to smell things, there is a room of mirrors, there is a fake little TV studio, and there is a great game called "brainball" that puts two people against each other with a special headband one staring at a ball trying to make it come closer. Really interesting and great fun!! I'm not sure if we learned much about science or technology during our visit, but we all had a really fun time here.

 This lights up!

 The mine!

 TV studio

Brain ball!

The museum is conveniently located on the bus 69 route not far from the city centre in a little group of museums, the most notable being the Maritime Museum (Sjohistoriska) and the Sports Museum (RiksidrotsMuseet) which are always free, but only open until 5pm (so if you plan your Wednesday carefully, you could visit these two museums first and then at 5pm go to Tekniska)!

#50 Katarina Hissen (or a great view of Stockholm for free)

This was once upon a time a working elevator, but obviously Stockholm city council or whoever is in charge are lazy and it's been broken for a few years. HOWEVER, once you get up there, there's a fantastic view of Gamla Stan and the surrounding area that no visitor to Stockholm should miss.

Woop there it is!

I've been here a few times, just because it's nice and it's free. It's located beside the Slussen Metro station (close to Gamla Stan) and there are two ways up, one is to enter the building it's attached to and take the elevator to the 11th floor, labelled Gondolen (this is a really fancy restaurant, you should probably eat here if you're rich) and then you have to walk up some stairs and you're at the top! Or else, you can walk up lots of stairs built into the wall across the street. It's a tiresome journey but it's worth it!

Not the cleanest, but it's free!

Taken back in snowy January!

 City Hall on left, Gamla Stan on right

 Taken on a bright March evening

And I haven't even mentioned the best part, the entrance/exit at the top is about 5 minutes away from Lisbeth Salanders luxurious apartment at Fiskargatan 9. You exit almost directly beside Sodra Theatre, and then from there simply walk up the steps past the little red brick tower and you'll find it, it's the yellow apartment block with the partial green roof. Exciting for those Stieg Larsson fans out there!

Oh there it is!

So to conclude, Katarina Hissen is quite a popular place for tourists, but I think there are still many people who visit Stockholm and don't know about it, and opt to visit somewhere like the Kaknastornet TV tower instead, which costs 50kr.

Update: There are also other free viewing places, such as Skinnarviksberget, which is near Mariatorget.

#49 Djurgården Ferry (or Stockholm by boat)

If you have an SL travelcard (which is pretty much everyone, it's impossible to live without even if you're only in Stockholm  for a few days), then you can get the Djurgårds-Farjan (Djurgården ferry) for FREE!

If you don't have the time, interest or money to get a real boat tour around Stockholm, then this my friends is an excellent alternative. This commuter ferry leaves a few times an hour everyday from about 9am until about 7pm in winter, and up to midnight in summer. It offers some nice views of Stockholm from the water, and it won't cost you a crown!

It goes from Slussen (near Gamla stan/Old town and Katarina hissen viewing point) to Djurgården, right beside the Gröna Lund Tivoli amusement park. It usually also stops in the middle at Skeppsholmen, which is home to Moderna Museet (Museum of modern art).

It takes about 10 minutes in total, and despite the fresh sea air and the great views, it also helps in connecting some main tourist attractions - the Old Town near Slussen to the plethora of museums on Djurgården like Skansen, Vasa, Nordiska, Absolut Spirit and the soon to be opened Abba Museum.

So there you have it, another mildly exciting and fun thing to do in Stockholm!

Bon Voyage!

#48 Nordic Museum

The Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) is free every Wednesday evening from 5pm until closing at 8pm. So naturally I decided it was time for a visit. It seems living in Stockholm has its benefits!

The most surprising thing about Nordiska is perhaps that it's not as Nordic as you might expect. . .it was agreed by my international group of friends that we had expected much older exhibits and something more to do with Vikings and the such. However, it is pretty big and they have some interesting items on display.

The outside

The main hall

This large statue is the first thing you see as you enter

Part of the special Jewellery exhibit

Fashion exhibit

Christmas scene

Underwear made from HUMAN hair!!

Sami things made from reindeer (I think)

A woman being tortured...the only thing not signposted in English!

Unlike most places, you can rent audio guides for free here, which is nice. Almost everything is signposted in English, and I think there are guided tours in English too.

Some of the exhibits included jewellery, clothing, table settings, small items, toys and Sami items. There are also some strange exhibits, including one to do with hair which included a fake salon setting and clothes made from human hair, as well as information about different types of personal grooming through the ages.

Finally, there was a little ornament in the "small things" section that I would like to highlight:

A frog on a toilet. . .inspirational

#47 Maritime Museum Stockholm

The best thing about the Maritime Museum in Stockholm is that it is totally FREE for everyone, all the time. Most of the other museums in Stockholm will set you back at least 100kr, which really adds up if you're planning to go to more than one.

 Anyway, back to the Museum. Considering its totally free price, it was excellent. It is suitable for both adults and children and the exhibits were interesting, even if you have no knowledge or interest in anything nautical. The highlight for is the end part of a ship once owned by the King of Sweden years and years ago. (It's like a mini-Vasa for free!). From there, you enter a room full of model ships, as well as costumes, weapons, sailing equipment etc. For children, there is a great modern exhibit about shipping and where different goods come from. There is also an interesting tattoo exhibit about sailors tattoos that will be running for the next few months. The museum has good English information signposted on everything - except for the tattoo exhibit, which was a little disappointing.

 Part of the boat

The thing that goes on the front of a ship. . .it's pretty big

This was on a ship

Lots and lots of detailed model boats

Costumes

The shipping exhibit

This was the floor

The temporary tattoo exhibit

The Maritime Museum is located on the no.69 bus route a short distance from the city, near a TV tower with a viewing point of Stockholm. It is also located beside other unusual museums , such as the Ethnography museum and the Police Museum. These other ones aren't free, but they are cheaper than the usual 100kr. Finally, it's called 'Sjöhistoriska' in Swedish.

#46 Riga, Latvia

And now for the final edition of Sue's Nautical Adventures (or is it...?).

So I'm just back from a cruise to Riga, which is the capital city of Latvia. Once again we only had a few hours in Riga, and once again the highlight was the old town! Here are some pictures:

Lido food!

Close up of the cat house

The freedom monument

This is outside a souvenir shop

The food in Riga was really cheap, we got a big meal at a place called Lido in the old town for about €10! We also found a really nice pancake place in the old town too, it was super cheap and although I don't know the name, it has a chef statue with a pancake outside so it can't be that difficult to find!

The old town seemed a little run down in parts (paint peeling on boarded up houses) and I found it wasn't as charming as Tallinn in Estonia.

#45 Skansen

One of the top attractions in Stockholm, Skansen is an outdoor folk museum located in the city. It features real Swedish houses and buildings from different places in Sweden and different times in history that have been taken down and moved to the park in Stockholm. It also features a large children's play area (including pony rides!) and some Nordic animals like a bear and wolves (- but not so many as to call it a zoo).

One of the many buildings

There's a great view all around the park

You can sit on a giant Dala horse!

The reindeer (they were pretty far away)

Lynx

Fox

Feeding time for the grey seal

The interior of one of the houses

There are many buildings to see, they all have a little placard with information in both English and Swedish on them. Some of the buildings are open, and some of them have guides inside. These people are dressed in the clothes of the time and give you some background information, and answer your questions. They speak English too!

The park is popular around Christmas due to its Christmas markets and activities, but it really thrives in the summer when it is bright and sunny. Also in the summer more of the houses are open, as well as more of the restaurants and souvenir shops. It costs about 100kr for entrance which is about the same price for most museums etc in Stockholm.

There is an "aquarium" with some exotic animals like alligators, but beware that this costs an extra 100kr (the same price as entrance to the park!).