Sweden Trip - Part 6 (Stockholm June 27th)

Third day in Stockholm. We walked a lot. We went to Old Town (Gamla stan). On our walk passed the nobility house (first picture). We then visited the Riddarholmen church, the final resting place of the Swedish kings. It was completed around 1300. We then went to royal palace. It was beautiful. We went through the treasury where they have some of the old crowns, scepters etc on display. The original castle was built around the middle of the 13th century and burned in 1697, and it was rebuilt. We had lunch at this cute little restaurant in Old Town and they had fresh orange juice hence the oranges decorating the windows. Then we walked some more and went to the Vasa Museum. It houses a 17th century warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. It recovered almost fully intact in 1961. It was very impressive!

Sweden Trip - Part 5 (Stockholm June 26th)

Today we went to church in Uppsala. Around 63 years ago my dad, Bruce Hanson served as a missionary in Uppsala and his companion was D. Thomas Borgquist. President Borgquist has been a great family friend ever since. My thoughts today were of my dad who passed away nearly 10 years ago and the friendship of the Borgquist family. I am grateful for the influence of these two amazing men in the lives of me and my family. While at church we met a couple of sister missionaries that are serving in the area. After church we visited the cathedral in Uppsala. It is called the Domkyrkan. It is the tallest church in the Nordic countries.

Sweden Trip - Part 4 (Stockholm June 25th)

We made it yesterday evening to Stockholm. Today we took it easy and this afternoon went on a cruise ride tour of the Stockholm archipelago. These pictures do not do it justice. It was beautiful!

Sweden Trip - Part 3 (Sweden June 23rd)

Second day in Sweden. We went to Askatorp. The birthplace of Anders Hakansson who is Brent’s 4th great grandfather and father of Hakan Anderson. We then went to Tirup and Tarstad where Bengta Andersdotter (Anders Hakansson’s wife) and Hakan Anderson (Brent’s 3rd great grandfather) were born. Bengta’s father and many of her ancestors were born there. We then went to Gumlosa where Brent’s 4th great grandmother, Magnel Mary Olafsdotter was born as well as many of her ancestors. We then went to Gryt where Lars Swenson, husband to Magnel (Brent’s 4th great grandparents) and their daughter Cecilia Swenson (Brent’s 3rd grandmother) were born as well as many of their ancestors. Then we headed on our drive north to the island of Oland where we spending the night. The east side of island is on the Baltic Sea.