We arrived in Stockholm, where life is expensive, on Monday, August 15. For one meal, we found ourselves spending $24 for two bowls of tomato soup!

Stockholm had the most impressive museum we’ve seen to date: the Vasa Museum contains a fully intact viking warship from the 17th century, raised off the ocean floor in 1959. It’s absolutely incredible. Being Sweden, the museum cost over $15 per person, but it was completely worth it!

The intricacy on this warship is incredible!

Can you see the people in the background for the scale of this ship?

Unfortunately, they put form before function and it toppled from top-heaviness!

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Then on Sunday August 21 we headed east to Tampere, Finland (and took low cost carrier Norwegian Air, which gets a big thumbs up for value!). Tampere had two great highlights for us:

1. A theme park at the north end of the city (which was closed down and creepy when we tried to visit)
   

   poor us… theme park is all closed up for the day!

   

   Sarkanniemi food carts… we’re hungry! Why are you closed?

   

2. The Ron Mueck exhibit at the Sara Hilden art museum. Charley was a big fan even before we arrived (and I learned about him for the first time). His creations are so lifelike and immense; they’re really incredible.
   

   Mueck sculptures are SO LIFELIKE

   
   

PLEASE decide if you want to display a time or a number of minutes remaining!!