Gripsholm Castle
Set on the bank of Lake Malaren
Gripsholm Castle
A moose (rare site) - sorry about the poor image -- very far awayMonday, August 16th
Today I took a long day trip from Stockholm to a town called Mariefred, Sweden. My target - Gripsholm Castle. The physical distance to this location was only about 40 miles or so; however, it required a train, and 2 buses to reach the final destination (about 2 hours).
Gripsholm Castle was built in the 16th century. It stands right on the edge of Lake Malaren. The scenery was spectacular. (a few mosquitoes to deal with - but still good). The castle was occupied until 1864 and is still considered one of the five royal palaces of Sweden. This castle is principally known today as the national portrait gallery, with one of the finest collections in the world (1,200 of its 4,000 portraits on display).
I toured around the castle and took a number of pictures. I then decided to walk back into town - eliminating the need for my second bus on the return trip. Great call. The scenery here was northern Minnesota-like. I saw 3 moose! Awesome! I've only seen 1 moose in the wild my entire life (on a fishing trip in Canada several years ago). Moose are widespread in Sweden - with populations around 200,000-300,000. Incredible. I wouldn't have known this. Moose are so rare to see. I drove in northern Minnesota for 7 years and didn't see one (probably best - you don't want to hit one with a car). Seeing a moose in the states is like seeing a rhino or leopard in the Serengeti - it just doesn't happen all that often.
Before leaving Sweden, I wanted to mention that the 24,000 or so small islands and smooth outcroppings that dot a 150-mile streetch off its eastern coast are called the Swedish Archipelago. This is just a fancy name which describes this area. (similar to Hebrides in northern Scotland). Only 6,000 people live on 1,000 of these islands - the rest are inhabitated. Stockholm itself is built on 14 of these Archipelago islands.
After my trip to Mariefred, I got back into Stockholm and headed to my hotel. I hit the hotel gym and sauna for a little while, had some dinner, and am now preparing for my departure tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow I travel to Norway. This is probably the country I've heard the most about of the Nordic Big 5 before my trip. Let's make some miracles happen
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