Basses and Mountains: Vasamuseet, Upsala, and Karneval!

Saturday, May 23, I took the excellent commuter train into Stockholm. Smooth, fast, and comfortable, it puts public transportation in the U.S. to shame. I use King County Metro frequently and their intensely loud, bone-rattling bus rides are nothing to brag about. Why, oh why, are we so behind the times? Oh right, the Republican party.

In Stockholm I met my old college friend Jim H, who toured Europe with me in 1976 and currently teaches at UW. He is now on sabbatical at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology and has been here since January so he knows his way around Stockholm. I, on the other hand, do not.

We walked from the train station to the Vasamuseet, a museum dedicated to the Vasa, an enormous warship built in 1628 which capsized and sank on its maiden voyage while still in Stockholm's harbor. It was found and raised in the late 60's and, after years of restoration, is now on public display. To an engineer's eye (there were four of those between us) this 17th century technological disaster has obvious parallels to today's engineering world. It involved time pressure from management (in this case, King Gustav II Adolf needed the ship ASAP for war with three other countries), "success oriented" testing (i.e. ignore any problems, we need it now!), and failure to take the time at the beginning of the design process to ensure a successful product. The Challenger disaster, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and, less catastrophically, most Microsoft software releases are modern day analogues to the Vasa debacle.

This is a model of the Vasa. I couldn't get close enough for a picture of the real thing. There is very little light in the museum.

We had a quick lunch and then went to the oldest part of the city, Gamla Stan. Near the Royal Palace there was a car show going on with hundreds of loud and expensive sports cars both European and American. There was also a row of Hummers which, as loyal Americans, made our hearts swell with pride at this sterling example of militarism gone mainstream.

A picturesque alley in Gamla Stan

The Royal Palace

Hummer Collection for unknown reasons

On Sunday morning, we walked around Uppsala a bit and stopped in for coffee/hot chocolate at a local shop.

Sunday morning in Uppsala

Pedestrian Bridge

In the evening, there was a carnival going on in the botanical garden with live music, dancing, and food. Lots of families were there and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I got a few pictures of the nearby Uppsala Castle too.