Day 4: Stockholm
Today did not dawn at all. So incredibly cold, wet and windy. Midsummer's Eve is a state holiday with everything closed. Our hotel checked out a couple more museums for us to visit in these savage conditions. Yes, both were open. So into our favourite bus again in the very front with such a wonderful chatty driver. There were very few people out and about so he stopped off to buy himself the traditional festive cake which looked awful to us but he obviously relished it. Sponge cake with custard, cream and strawberries.  There was minimal traffic as no cruise boats were in (6 are due in tomorrow) and most locals have gone to their summer houses for the long holiday weekend. He recommended we go to a new Viking Museet which opened less than a year ago so he dropped us off there. I was lamenting the paucity of Viking history, but here it all was. FASCINATING!!! The audio commentary is played through our mobiles and matches up with the dioramas and video screens throughout the complex. So many myths have been created about the Viking culture not the least of which is the horned helmet which is a fiction introduced for Wagnerian opera. Vikings were only so named when they went to war to rape and pillage. When they returned home with their loot they were just ordinary law-abiding men enjoying their orderly domesticity.  When we had absorbed all this we were led into a train taking us on a journey through superb dioramas. It was 1.00pm when we finally emerged from all that.
So as it had stopped raining we decided to walk to the Historiska museet which was the one we were planning on visiting before we were talked into the Viking one. We went through such picturesque pathways for half an hour before realizing we had turned right instead of left. So we re-traced our steps to the bus-route and hopped on. Once we finally reached this museet it was closed for the holiday. Hmmmmmm. So perhaps this was our opportunity to do the zoo for photos for Jacqueline. That was back where we were before. Too hard. That's what Uber is for. In the twinkling of an eye a car appeared and back we drove.
It turns out that Skansen is the oldest open-air museum in the world and showcases Sweden through its animals, buildings, farmstead and period gardens. The zoo focuses on Nordic animals as well as local domestic animals. There was such a festive atmosphere with maypole dancing and many locals in traditional dress and garlands of flowers and leaves in their hair. It was just the BEST day of the year to be there. And although the skies were ominous, not a drop of rain fell all afternoon.
We got back to our hotel late for the first meeting with our Globus tour group but in time for the wine and dinner.  We'll sleep well tonight.