A Night at the Museum

A few days ago, by which I mean six weeks ago, I had the rather clever idea of going to the Royal Arms Museum. With this in mind, I gathered up the lovely Shawna, a fellow American, and headed off to Gamla Stan, Stockholm's old town.
On the way to the museum, we saw a remnant of an ancient war* -- a cannonball stuck in the side of the wall! How cool is that? Just to give you an idea of location… Gamla Stan is a small island surrounded by rivers and sea. It is frigid for much of the year, very slippery, and is a rather steep hill. So our enterprising invaders had to pack up their cannon, bring it on a boat, and push it up a largish hill before launching their attack on the castle. I forget exactly which invaders these were (Vikings perhaps?), but I give them marks for effort. Anyway, at some point during this attack a stray cannonball struck the corner of what is now a very nice and expensive looking apartment building and stuck there, where it can be seen and photographed to this day.

*On an unrelated note, Sweden's last war was with Norway in 1814. They lost. Shortly before this war was Sweden's war with Finland, which ended in 1809. Sweden lost this one as well, but in a rather unconvincing attempt to convince everyone that Finnish independence was really their plan all along, Sweden issued commemorative 1 kr coins in 2009 (the war's 200^th anniversary) with the quote "Den underbara sagan om ett land på andra sidan hafvet" (slightly archaic Swedish for "The wonderful story of a country on the other side of the sea"). I think the national PR department was working overtime on this one.
Undeterred by such grisly reminders of Sweden's bloody past (hey, we're Americans. We thrive on that stuff), Shawna and I forged on through the frigid evening to the museum.

Here we are at the Museum's entrance. The museum was once a castle, but now it's been retired as a tourist spot and the location for the odd official function. There are, however, still guards posted outside the castle 24/7. Although Nuclear Waste Cleanup Technician, Urologist, and The Guy Who Scrapes The Remains Off The Freeway After A Major Accident all offered some major competition, I'd still have to say that Castle Guard tops my list of Worst Jobs Ever. Standing still for long enough to take this picture was an exercise in self control. Standing outside for hours at a time, in the middle of the night, in the dead of the Swedish winter sounds like a patently Bad Idea to me.

Anyway, we finally entered the museum. Upon doing so, we were attacked by a rogue Swedish knight!

I jest, my dear reader. It was, in fact, a friendly knight, so you need not worry for the safety of Yours Truly.

Note: Swedish knights sadly are unable to devy gravity and stand on walls. I am just sick of this infernal software that makes it impossible for me to formal images easily.

Here is another friendly knight we encountered:





In conclusion, good fun was had by all, knights are not as scary as they look, and if anyone ever offers you a job guarding the royal castle, run the other way as quickly as you can. Also, never mess with Finns or Vikings.