Swedish Museum of Natural History - Grandma Anna's secret winter journey

Guest writer: Anna Nilsson Spets

When you are a grandmother living abroad, you want to do a little extra for your little angels when the opportunity arises.

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When Grandma Anna comes to Sweden, it will of course be a secret trip, Alice 7 years old and Elsa 5, look for clues and get two; dinosaur and egg.

We start our adventure with an overnight stay at Aunt Emma's, just that's exciting, to sleep away and have some tacomys in the evening.

Sunday we get up early and drive to Stockholm, we are going to the Natural History Museum! It feels like a hundred years since I was last there, but it's probably around 35.

We hang ourselves in lockers with locks, it's great to get rid of the winter jackets, start our day with a performance at Cosmonova; The Kingdom of the Animals. The grandchildren think it's super exciting, I hear woooooow, cooool and they sit and gape with rapture. 

The film lasts half an hour, is suitable for younger children and is just the right length.

Then we walk through the first floor, it is fresh and bright. In strategic places there are interactive activities, unfortunately several are out of order.

The girls find it strange that the animals are stuffed.

And just HOW do you stuff a little moose calf? That's a lot for Grandma and Auntie to explain.

We take a lunch break in the restaurant which is completely full, muddy and atmospheric and the queue is very long for the buffet. 

Emma and I take a wrapped sandwich that may not have been a ten-pointer, the kids take pancakes and waffles with lots of goodies. The restaurant itself would benefit from a refreshment, it resembles a canteen and the cosiness factor is 0.

If you don't want to eat in the restaurant, you can go to one of the canteen rooms.

I like the Natural History Museum, as an old field biologist dressed in a flannel shirt, Palestine scarf and beaked boots, visits in my youth were frequent. The building itself is historic, the museum has been in operation since 1819 and the current building was inaugurated about a hundred years later. It is the largest museum facility in Sweden.

There are endless collections from the marvellous worlds of biology and geology and I suspect that much is not even on display, would be exciting to see behind the screens.

I remember this museum with rather dusty showcases, dark and somewhat shabby animals. It's completely different now, fresh environments and informative signs.

The skeletons are breathtakingly large.

Feet big and small are tired after wandering between floors and halls of this beautiful museum.

We end the day with a coffee on a houseboat, not just any houseboat but Freedom! Thanks for the coffee Peter and Helena.

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Anna Nilsson Spets

60+ year old lady with a lifelong love for Africa. Emigrated to Flanders in Belgium and works with plants on a daily basis. Writes, takes photos and tries to inspire others to budget travel on their own. Blogs on "Anna's mix" about travelling, work, plants, writing and much more.

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