The U.S. needs more trains, and a more convenient railway system. This whole automobile thing is for the birds. No, wait… even the birds have figured out that driving cars isn’t the way to get from A to B.

And while we’re on the subject… what’s up with the US education system? This whole thing of learning one language is pathetic. Every single Swede we’ve encountered can switch from Swedish to English and back to Swedish again with the slightest of ease. We feel like retards. I remember when I was in Holland years ago, the students there learn a minimum of FIVE languages in school. The only other languages I’m versed in are l33t 5p3@k, HTML, SQL, and other various dialects from the land of Nerdia. Ya, ya, I know, I COULD have learned more languages if I really wanted, but why isn’t it required? More so than the 1 semester minimum??

We think we’re so far ahead… but it’s clear we’re actually pretty far behind. But hey, at least we dun gots the biggest bombs! Ugh.

Since we couldn’t make out the titles of 99% of the books for sale we grabbed our weapons….

…and played viking for a bit…

…with our other viking friend…

Included in your 180 kr entrance fee is a free Absolut drink of your choice served in a hollowed out block of ice.

While sipping on your syrup, you can check out the ice graffiti being “painted” (read: etched) into the giant walls of ice blocks …

…or just hang out by the ice sculptures.

But if you get tired of standing, you can kick back on an ice thrown…

…and watch some ice TV.

So fresh and so clean.

Sorry to disappoint you, but no photos of me showering will accompany this post.

…which had an interesting exhibit called Design4Science which shows how designers cooperate with researchers to illustrate and create impressions of the invisible world of molecular biology.

Where else can you find wallpaper inspired by hemoglobin!?

Or insulin…

After being inspired by all the winners of the Nobel prizes, we needed some brain food, aka more ice cream!

Then it was off to Skansen which is a 75 acre open air museum…

…aquarium…

…and zoo…

After petting the moose…

…we figured there couldn’t possibly be anything to top that, so it was off to go meet up with Jay’s friend for a field trip to the Absolut Ice Bar.

• Free WiFi access
• Ability to use your laptop in your cell
• Wear your own clothes
• Flat screen TV’s in each cell
• Nearby pubs
• Heated towel racks
• and keys so you can come and go as you please!

OK, so it’s not exactly an ACTIVE prison anymore, but it WAS a women’s prison back in 1724. After the last prisoner was released in 1972, it was converted into a hotel and museum.

Each of the former prison cells now function as the hotel rooms.

Yeah the rooms are small (about 8′x12′), but you pay for the experience. Complete with prison style bunk beds, bars on all the windows, and faux newspaper clippings on the walls to simulate how a former prisoner might have decorated their cell. Checking into your room even requires slinking past the old guard tower.

In a way, it’s sorta like The Bates Motel in that you can check in, but you can’t check out. Instead, you have to escape!

Cultural side note: “Slut” in Swedish means “End”

I’m jealous.

We stumbled across the Royal Palace of Stockholm…

..and this guy showed us the way to find the Royal Apartments…

…where we snipped off a few photos of the royal crib.

Then we walked down to the edge of the water and hopped on a “Hop On – Hop Off” boat that took us to various other islands.

Past the National Museum

And the Nordic Museum.

Until we arrived at our first stop just outside the Vasa Museum.

The Vasa is a colossal nautical failure in Swedish history. Built in 1626, the Vasa war ship sank after traveling less than 1 nautical mile on her maiden voyage due to being built too top heavy with insufficient ballast! DOH!

In 1961 recovery efforts raised the ship from her murky grave after more than 1,300 dangerous dives. On the bright side, the waters of Sweden were so polluted at the time of her demise that most bacteria that normally eats away at sunken wood ships couldn’t survive! WOO HOO! So the Vasa was actually in fairly good condition despite being underwater for 333 years. If you ever make a trip to Stockholm, this is a MUST SEE sight. The enormity of the ship is mind boggling, and the various exhibits around the giant boat really give you a sense of what it must have been like back then — or for a Pirate in the Caribbean for that matter.

On the ground floor of the museum they have used modern technologies to reconstruct the lives of some of the deckhands…

and captain…

based on their remains…

OOPS! Sorry, that’s not the right photo. Here are some of their actual remains:

Those other “remains” were actually from our next stop on the H.O.H.O. boat, Tivoli Gröna Lund

which is Sweden’s largest amusement park. It was very reminiscent of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with roller coasters…

…haunted house rides…

…and yummy yummy ice cream!

Before we had a chance to ride any of the rides, it was time to go…

… before we got carried away.

I’ve got to catch up on some previous days of blogging, but that will have to wait for later. We are currently in Stockholm Sweden and about to check out Hotellet Bar one of the World’s Best Bars.