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Sadly, no matter how I wish, I can never turn back time but I can relive those moments. So finally, I will update my Scandinavian series. More than two years had passed already but I am thankful for this travel experience because I have something to look back. We were in Stockholm for 5 days and 4 nights so now let me share with you our Day 3 in Stockholm Sweden itinerary. 

Like I’ve said before, I don’t have a prepared itinerary for our trip so we just planned before we hit the sack. This is a sample itinerary on the Stockholm Pass flyer and we planned to do this for our third day. 

Hop on-Hop Offf Bus and Boat SEK520 

Skansen SEK195 

Vasa Museum SEK150 

Prince Eugen’s Waldermarsudde SEK150 

When we were in Europe, we always check the weather so during our trip the temperature was around -3 to 9 degrees Celsius so it was really cold. The start of the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus is 10AM so we left the hotel around 8:30AM so we have enough time to eat our breakfast at the Central train station.

For our breakfast we just ordered the 4 McMuffin Bacon & Egg combo, it includes sandwich and hot and cold drinks, the total is SEK180. 

After our light breakfast, we went straight to Bus Stop 21 which is just outside the Central Station. We made sure that we were there before 10AM. There are tour buses passing by like the Stockholm Red Bus Sightseeing Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour but we did not see any Hop-On-Hop-Off bus for the Stockholm Pass. The bus stop started to get crowded and after one hour of waiting, we started to get impatient. According to other tour bus drivers, they did not see any Worldwide Citysightseeing bus.

 

I don’t know what happened but we were so disappointed. We paid for it but we were not able to use it. We don’t want to wait any longer because time is running out so we just took a taxi to Vasa Museum. We know how expensive taxis are in Europe but we had no choice. 

Adults: SEK 170 

Young visitors: 0-18 years free of charge 

This is part of our card pass so we did not pay any entrance fee. If Denmark has Viking Ship Museum, then Sweden has Vasa Museum; the latter is also one of the most visited museums in Scandinavia. Vasa is the name of the ship that has the shortest voyage in history. On August 10, 1628, Vasa set sail and sank in Stockholm harbor after sailing for 1,300 meters. Thousands of people witness how the ship sank 32 meters below. 

The supposed to be a powerful warship in the Baltic that was built by hundreds of craftsmen became a grave. It was a tragic incident because only 30 crews and guests survived and most of the people were trapped in the ship. After 333 years, the shipwreck was salvaged, reconstructed, and preserved. What you can see in the Vasa Museum is 98 percent original. The museum has 5 levels so it took us more or less 2 hours to explore. You can join a guided tour for 25 minutes and watch the film for 17 minutes.

After our Vasa Museum tour, we went straight to Skansen Museum, it was a long walk but we made it even we are already h-angry. Again, this is part of our pass so we just show our card to enter. 

Child 4-15 yr: SEK70 

Adult: SEK220 

Student/Senior/Group: SEK200 

Skansen is founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius, it is the oldest open-air museum in the world which showcases the buildings, farmsteads, gardens, and animals of Sweden. Skansen covers an area of about 300,000sqm so it is much bigger compared to Glomdal Museum in Elverum Norway. If you have kids in tow, it is a must to add this to your itinerary. I think you need a whole day to maximize your stay because they have a lot of activities. Don’t forget to get a map and a schedule of activities. 

The museum is open from 10AM to 4PM and some establishments closed as early as 3PM so we had very limited time to explore the place. So we are happy that we were able to visit the Skansen Aquarium, Children’s Zoo, Baltic Sea Science Center, and 19th-century town. There is a close and open-air zoo where you can see Nordic animals and domestic animals. We were able to see European bison, brown bear, moose, reindeer, and other Scandinavian animals. 

We had our late lunch at Skansen Restaurant and we enjoyed the food here. We ordered pasta, waffle, ice cream, and of course Swedish meatballs. 

When we heard that the museum is about to close, we started walking to the exit where Bus stop 12 is located. We failed to visit Prince Eugen’s Waldermarsudde because it is already late and we were tired already. And because of what happened in the morning, we had no idea if there will be a bus in the afternoon but we were hoping na meron. We overheard other passengers, according to them, the bus will arrive so naniwala naman kami kaya nakihintay din kami. We are thankful na may dumating and we did not take taxi anymore.

3 Days Trip in Davao 

We’re supposed to book Kalibo but there are no more seat sales, so we tried Tagbilaran and again no more seat sale. We were losing hope already then the CS rep informed us that they still have promo fare for Davao so we booked. 

Honestly, we have no idea about Davao and I’ve never been to Mindanao so I just search and search for possible tourist destinations. At that time, I don’t have an itinerary; I just take note of the places that we can go to before going to Pearl Farm Resort.

Fast forward to our trip, it was raining in Laguna when we left and I was praying hard that there will be no cancellation of flight because it is not easy to schedule a vacation leave. Thank God that Davao’s weather was fine so we will be able to do our itinerary for that day.  We took a taxi to get to Casa Leticia, which will be our accommodation for that day. I already booked our room a month before our trip but unfortunately, it was not recorded at their end even though I showed them the confirmation that I got from their site. 

Good thing that there is still an extra room, we have no choice but to stay in one room. And because of that experience, I always inquire and reserve accommodation through email unless they informed me to book online.  

After fixing our things we went outside to eat our lunch, there is a grilled restaurant, 100 meters away from the hotel. Price is affordable, almost P100 for a complete meal.  

Philippine Eagle Center 

After our lunch, we asked the receptionist how we can go to Philippine Eagle Center. I did not expect that the travel time will be long; we only took a jeep and habal-habal to get there. Fare in habal-habal is P100 per person, roundtrip. 

 Aside from eagles, there are more animals that you can see there. We were lucky that there was monkey feeding at that time so we were able to witness it. Ang galing lang nila magbalat ng fruits. The travel may be long but it was all worth it because I was able to meet the Phillipine Eagle. 

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