VASA MUSEUM Stockholm, Baltic Cruise highlife

When you come into the Vasa Museum there are two separate queues, one for groups and one if you've come under your own steam, and if you're dying for the loo go past the queue and on the right hand side there are ample toilets. The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea and is 98% original. In 1628 Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage and here it is in all its glory. And then it sank in Stockholm harbour. Modern ships and cruise ships have their weight right at the bottom like the engines, but galleons have to have their cannons and cannonballs at the top above the waterline. This is the capstan where up to 16 men would turn it to lift the sails, wood being the operative word because it only sailed for 25 minutes. The large number of above the waterline all made the ship top heavy. This really is a great museum, you've got to come and visit. When the Vasa was launched there was about 133 crew but also they were allowed to bring their families and their friends on board. Luckily when the Vasa sank most of the people were up on top. Can you imagine all the friends and families coming to one side to wave goodbye to their friends on the shore and the horror as the ship keeled over. So this is the model of the ship keeling over and the terror of the people on the shore. The problem was the ship was too narrow and too tall. The shipbuilders at the time didn't work from drawings or engineering, they worked from experience and bravado. Most of the people survived because as they were so close they could swim to the shore. The people that died, about 50 of them, were working below ship and they got trapped. They found the skeletons of the people that were on board and they are laid out for viewing and through osteology they can determine their gender, age and height and they've built up a likeness for them and have given them a name. From the building of the ship to raising it from the mud 333 years later it's all here. The work on the ship still continues and you can see it up close and personal. The rear of the ship is normally the most fascinating. There's an incredible amount of work that goes into the sculptures as illustrated here. They explain how the carvings have been restored to their former glory. During a 12-year period more than a thousand pigment samples have been taken. The effort the museum has gone to to explain everything draws you in. The pigments rise up to the top, king of stock. Two griffins, Charles IX's heraldic animals, are carved holding the royal crown above the young Gustavus Adolphus's head. Every carving represents something. In short she was too tall and too narrow and that made her top heavy. A sister ship was made which was a metre wider and she survived for 30 years. One of the best museums I have ever visited. A very enjoyable experience. Leave at least two hours. There are free tours in English and they take about 25 minutes. So how do you get here? And you should come because it's brilliant. This is the ferry to Djurgården. It's one stop on the way but two stops on the way back because it stops off at a little island so don't jump off there. Ask if you're worried. We're off the ferry past the funfair and it's clearly signposted. Follow the dock round to the Vasa Museum. You can always take the ship's tour but if you want a more detailed version of how to get there by yourself under your own steam then do watch our film Getting to the Abbot or Vasa Museum, Djurgården by ferry.