2021 December: Museum of Medieval Stockholm

Our friends, Tamara and Marko, introduced us to the Museum of Medieval Stockholm.  I wish we could have spent more time there.  It's a free museum that most tourists miss because they are busy seeing the big name, expensive ones -- like Skansen (the outdoor museum) or the Vasa Museum, or the Royal Palace.  Next time we'll spend more time here.  Pictures below are of our last week in Sweden. 

A last stop at the nearby Taby Mall.  Sweden really knows how to do Christmas lights.

And a goodbye to our little crying boy statue.  People put scarves or toques on this little boy from time to time to keep him warm.

And a visit to the Stockholm Temple.  The missionaries recently planted these winter flowers.  I love the red, pink, and white heather that grows so well in cold weather.

We visited the temple with other senior missionaries and then went for dinner at the nearby stake center.

Syster Moleff is one of our dear senior sisters.  She and her husband are serving their 3rd mission; the first two were in Siberia and Thailand.  On the table are very cute decorations made by another senior sister, Syster Johnson.  So creative.  She made little tomte people and Christmas trees from magazine pages.

A Swedish lady cooked all the food for this Julbord (Christmas table).  She said that normally people have about 55 different dishes.  Not so many here but beautifully displayed and very tasty too.

The bridge candles are an essential part of the Christmas celebration.

Dessert was a Swedish rice pudding (on the far right), not very sweet, but with a strawberry topping.  An almond (or two or three) is put in the pudding and whoever gets the almond will get married in the next year.  I got an almond this year but I don't plan to be married anytime soon since I already am.  We are coming up to 47 years on March 6, 2022.

Above:  President & Syster Davis became Santa & Mrs. Claus and handed out gifts.  Ho ho ho!!  Not a good video, but a fun memory.  They did the same for each of the Christmas zone conferences.

Elder Torrie loved the cow bells.  Or are they reindeer bells?  President Davis picked them up at an antique store here in Sweden.  He and Syster Davis are really into antiques.

Everyone got a Sweden Stockholm Mission T-shirt.

We stopped in to the Taby Kyrka to say goodbye to our friend, Veronika.  She works full-time as a caretaker at the church.  Not that she cleans it, but that she is there every day to greet any who come.  She's a lovely young woman.

We're waiting to meet Tamara and Marko, who live and work close to this part of town.  They know it well, so they are going to give us a tour of the Christmas lights.

This outdoor market is not a tourist market.  Swedes shop here every day.

Here's where Marko works when he is not working from home.  He recruits IT people and is very good at what he does.

Now we're wandering the streets looking at the Christmas lights.  It's about 3 p.m.  Notice the "buss" lane.  It is illegal for cars to drive in a bus lane.  This one is well-marked but others are not.  You just have to always be on the lookout.

A whole street of hearts.

Businesses go all out at Christmas time.

City sidewalks . . . busy sidewalks . . . dressed in holiday style.  In the air there's a feeling of Christmas . . . La la la.

The hearts have red balls inside.  So cool.

LeRon and Colleen with Marko.

Silver bells . . . Silver bells . . . It's Christmas time in the city . . . 

The windows in this high-end store remind me of the Macy's store windows in Chicago that we saw with our daughter Heather a few years ago.  This window has fun scenes from Skansen, the open-air museum that is so popular with tourists.  We liked Skansen too.

Legoland display.

Children loved this window!

The skaters were skating.  So fun!  Kids loved it and so did we.

Just as in America, children talk with Santa Claus at Christmas time, Swedish children talk with Father Christmas.  He looks a little different in Sweden.

Heroic size reindeer.  Actual reindeer are very small.

The city makes or collects snow so that children can have fun sledding even when there is no snow.

Notice the lighted bridge candles in every window.  Bridge candles are a must at Christmas time.  We first saw bridge candles in Ireland but I think they are everywhere in Europe.  They are definitely here in Sweden!

Christmas lights light the way next to the Royal Palace.  And under the bridge is a treasure that Tamara and Marko showed us . . . Stockholms Medeltidsmuseet (or Museum of Medieval Stockholm).

The museum is wonderfully free so we took a few minutes to race through it because we only had a few minutes.  You can see part of the original 16th century city wall.

You can wander the streets of old Stockholm, enjoying the brick houses and buildings.

The museum is built around archaeological excavations that took place in the 1970's.  

Stockholm medieval history from the 1250's to the 1520's is depicted.

Interesting to see what life was like back then.

We have it very easy compared to the people in medieval times.

Click on this picture to enlarge and tell me what you think the woman in the window may be doing or saying.

And baking bread was an all-day occupation.  We really do have it easy.

Love the expressive mannikins!

Remains of a very old ship.  I wish I could remember the story.  I really do want to see this museum again if we are ever back in Stockholm.

Our neighbors, Meseret and her two children, stopped by so we could give them a small goodbye present.  They were so sad that we are leaving.  We pray every day for this little family.  Meseret's husband is stuck in Ethiopia, waiting and hoping to join them in Sweden.  Things are not so good in Ethiopia right now.  In fact, most, if not all, of our missionaries have been pulled out of Ethiopia.  So sad.

And the next day they dropped by to give us gifts -- me an Ethiopian dress and LeRon a scarf in the Ethiopian flag colors.  So sweet of them.  We will miss them.  My dress has all the complicated characters of the Ethiopian alphabet on them.

Elder & Syster Johnson live not far from us.  We often drop by to visit them when we go for our evening walks.

Now on to Gamla Stan for more goodbyes.  This is the Dala Horse Shop with its interesting and colorful tourist souvenirs.

A goodbye to our friend, Vahagn.  He is from Armenia originally.  He carves Dala horses in his shop to display to tourists.  We have enjoyed getting to know him and he says that he appreciates being treated well by us and other of our missionaries.  Not all tourists treat shopkeepers very well.  They are always looking for a bargain and are often very impolite.  But these shopkeepers are trying to earn a living, and it has been hard during the covid pandemic.

Couldn't resist buying two more small paintings from our favorite Swedish artist, Gabil.

A last goodbye to our friend, Per Rydberg, the gigantic snowy owl creator.  See my February 2021 posts for more about him.  We have loved getting to know Per and his wife Elsa and their children.  Goodbye!  We hope to see you again someday!