Some Sightseeing in Sweden...Falun Mines, Vasa Museum, Strolling Old Town Stockholm

Since the kids had off last week, it was a perfect time to take some day trips.  We had planned on spending a couple days in Stockholm, but haven't quite found a place for Sox to board yet, so we decided on a few places we were interested in seeing and were on our way...

On Friday, we headed only 1 hour away to a town called Falun.  They have an old copper mine that is open for tourists and it was fascinating...For starters, when I say old, they began mining it in the 700s and continued mining it until December 1992.  It was a major export for Sweden in the 17th century and at times, this mine itself accounted for 2/3 of the copper needed in Europe and helped fund many of Sweden's wars.

The mine was open for visitors and we went 220 feet into the mine stopping at various places along the way with a guided tour.  It was a balmy 37 degrees inside and damp, it really gave you an inside look into the life of a miner.

 In 1687, the mine was open everyday of the year except for Christmas and Midsummer (a large celebration day in Sweden).  On that particular Midsummer Day, parts of the mine collapsed giving way to a 100 m deep pit...since no one was working that day, miraculously no one was hurt!

The typical red color you see on many Swedish houses today comes from this mine still.  The red paint gets its color from the waste heaps around the mine, copper-poor ores are allowed to oxidize in the air, forming "red dirt" ground into pigment for Falu Red Paint.

The next day we headed 2 hours away to Stockholm.  We had only been to an amusement park in Stockholm earlier this summer, but there are many things to do in Stockholm, including many museums.  The one we had heard was great was the Vasa museum so we headed there.  The entire family loved this museum and we got a lot out of the visit there and learned even more about some Swedish history.

On August 10, 1628, the Vasa ship took her maiden voyage and after sailing only 1400 ft, it sunk... 333 years later, they brought it up from the waters and today it is being housed in the Vasa Museum with 98% of it being original and intact.  

They estimated 30 people died aboard, but when they brought it up from the water, they found remains from 15 different skeletons and they were on display at the museum complete with reconstructed figures of what the people might have actually looked like then. 

We spent a good portion of our day there, then went strolling in the Old Town section of Stockholm which was charming with its shoppes...

We even stumbled past the Noble Museum which is still where they hand out the Noble Prizes each year...

It was a fun week and we enjoyed discovering many things about Swedish history.