Podcasts about Vasa Museum

Since being recovered from the Stockholm Harbour in 1961, Vasa has garnered over a million visitors annually. And recently, a four-year project to preserve the hull of the ship was announced. Emile is joined by Director of Research at the Vasa Museum, Doctor Fred Hocker.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Friendship & Resilience at the Vasa Museum Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-04-14-22-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Det var en solig vårdag när Sigrid, Björn och Elin steg in i det mäktiga Vasamuseet i Stockholm.En: It was a sunny spring day when Sigrid, Björn, and Elin stepped into the magnificent Vasamuseet in Stockholm.Sv: Museet var fullt av människor som var glada över att få fira påsk och se det imponerande skeppet Vasa, vars mastiga kontur dominerade rummet.En: The museum was full of people who were excited to celebrate Easter and see the impressive ship Vasa, whose mighty silhouette dominated the room.Sv: Sigrid, en konststudent, såg sig ivrigt omkring i hopp om att finna inspiration för sitt kommande konstprojekt.En: Sigrid, an art student, eagerly looked around in hopes of finding inspiration for her upcoming art project.Sv: Björn, fylld av entusiasm, började entusiastiskt berätta om skeppets historia för sina vänner.En: Björn, filled with enthusiasm, started excitedly explaining the ship's history to his friends.Sv: Han pekade på de olika delarna av fartyget och förklarade: "Ser ni, det här är kanonportarna!En: He pointed out different parts of the vessel and explained: "See, these are the cannon ports!Sv: Och där borta är kaptenens hytt!"En: And over there is the captain's cabin!"Sv: Hans röst ekade i museihallen.En: His voice echoed in the museum hall.Sv: Men Sigrid kände sig inte lika ivrig.En: But Sigrid didn't feel as eager.Sv: En känsla av yrsel sköljde över henne och magen kändes orolig.En: A feeling of dizziness washed over her, and her stomach felt uneasy.Sv: Hon försökte ignorera det, fast besluten att inte förstöra besöket.En: She tried to ignore it, determined not to ruin the visit.Sv: Elin, mer observant än Björn, märkte dock att Sigrid verkade blek och distraherad.En: Elin, more observant than Björn, noticed, however, that Sigrid seemed pale and distracted.Sv: Hon gick fram till sin vän och viskade oroligt: "Allt okej, Sigrid?"En: She went up to her friend and whispered worriedly: "Are you okay, Sigrid?"Sv: Sigrid log tappert och nickade, men i hennes ögon gnistrade osäkerhet.En: Sigrid smiled bravely and nodded, but uncertainty sparkled in her eyes.Sv: De rörde sig närmare det stora skeppet när Sigrids huvud började snurra.En: They moved closer to the large ship when Sigrid's head started spinning.Sv: Då allt plötsligt blev svart, föll hon ihop framför Vasa.En: Then suddenly everything went black, and she collapsed in front of Vasa.Sv: Allt stannade upp.En: Everything stopped.Sv: Besökare och personal skyndade till, medan Björn och Elin böjde sig ner vid sin väns sida.En: Visitors and staff rushed over, while Björn and Elin bent down by their friend's side.Sv: En sköterska från museets medicinska station anlände snabbt med en liten vagn och hjälpte till att få Sigrid på fötter igen.En: A nurse from the museum's medical station quickly arrived with a small cart and helped get Sigrid back on her feet.Sv: Hon började långsamt vakna till med ett förvirrat uttryck.En: She started to slowly come to with a confused expression.Sv: Med Elin och Björn vid sina sidor, togs Sigrid till stationen för kontroll.En: With Elin and Björn by her sides, Sigrid was taken to the station for a check-up.Sv: När hon väl satt bekvämt i en stol, brast hon i tårar.En: Once she was comfortably seated in a chair, she burst into tears.Sv: "Jag har varit så stressad över min hälsa senaste tiden," erkände hon.En: "I've been so stressed about my health recently," she admitted.Sv: Elin lade en hand på hennes axel och sa lugnt: "Du är inte ensam.En: Elin placed a hand on her shoulder and said calmly: "You're not alone.Sv: Vi finns här för dig."En: We're here for you."Sv: Björn medgav med ett leende och tillade: "Vi är vänner, Sigrid.En: Björn agreed with a smile and added: "We're friends, Sigrid.Sv: Vi hjälper varandra."En: We help each other."Sv: Sigrid kände en våg av lättnad och tacksamhet skölja över henne.En: Sigrid felt a wave of relief and gratitude wash over her.Sv: Hon förstod nu vikten av att dela sina bekymmer och söka stöd när det behövs.En: She now understood the importance of sharing her worries and seeking support when needed.Sv: När de gick ut från museet, kände sig Sigrid starkare än tidigare.En: As they walked out of the museum, Sigrid felt stronger than before.Sv: Inte bara inspirerad av konstverk och historia, utan av vänskapen och stödet omkring henne.En: Not just inspired by art and history, but by the friendship and support around her.Sv: Våren kändes nu ännu ljusare, där hon promenerade med sina vänner under Stockholms påsksol.En: Spring felt even brighter now, as she strolled with her friends under Stockholm's Easter sun. Vocabulary Words:magnificent: mäktigacelebrate: firaimpressive: imponerandesilhouette: kontureagerly: ivrigtenthusiasm: entusiasmcannon ports: kanonportarnacabin: hyttdizziness: yrseluneasy: oroligobservant: observantdistracted: distraheraduncertainty: osäkerhetcollapsed: föll ihopstopped: stannade upprushed: skyndadenurse: sköterskaconfused: förvirratcheck-up: kontrollstressed: stressadbravely: tappertexpression: uttryckcomfortably: bekvämtburst: brastshoulder: axelcalmly: lugntrelief: lättnadgratitude: tacksamhetimportance: viktenstroll: promenerade

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: The Great Vasa Museum Heist: How a Photo Saved the Day Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-03-23-22-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: På Vasa Museet i Stockholm var vårluften fylld med förväntan.En: At the Vasa Museet in Stockholm, the spring air was filled with anticipation.Sv: Det var påskhelg och museet kryllade av besökare.En: It was Easter weekend, and the museum was teeming with visitors.Sv: Erik, den noggranna museikuratorn, hade precis avslutat en pratstund om Vasa-skeppets historia.En: Erik, the meticulous museum curator, had just finished a talk about the history of the Vasa-ship.Sv: Han tittade nöjd ut över de intresserade ansiktena.En: He looked contentedly out over the attentive faces.Sv: Men plötsligt hördes ett tumult från en av utställningshallarna.En: But suddenly there was a commotion from one of the exhibition halls.Sv: "Lena," ropade Erik till sin kollega, "vi måste kolla vad som har hänt!"En: "Lena," called Erik to his colleague, "we need to check what's happened!"Sv: Tillsammans skyndade de sig till platsen och fick reda på den chockerande nyheten.En: Together they hurried to the location and discovered the shocking news.Sv: En värdefull artefakt hade försvunnit.En: A valuable artifact had disappeared.Sv: Den lilla skulpturen som daterades tillbaka till 1600-talet var plötsligt borta.En: The small sculpture, dating back to the 1600s, was suddenly gone.Sv: Erik kände hur svetten bröt fram.En: Erik felt sweat break out.Sv: Hans chefs stränga ord ekade i hans huvud.En: His boss's stern words echoed in his head.Sv: "Det här måste lösas snabbt," hade han sagt.En: "This must be resolved quickly," he had said.Sv: Erik visste vad som stod på spel, både för museet och hans karriär.En: Erik knew what was at stake, both for the museum and his career.Sv: Lena höll Erik uppdaterad.En: Lena kept Erik updated.Sv: "Vi borde prata med så många vittnen som möjligt."En: "We should speak with as many witnesses as possible."Sv: Bland de nyfikna besökarna fanns Sofia.En: Among the curious visitors was Sofia.Sv: Hon var en ivrig fotointresserad och hade tagit många bilder under sitt besök.En: She was an avid photography enthusiast and had taken many pictures during her visit.Sv: Erik tänkte att hon kanske hade fångat något viktigt.En: Erik thought she might have captured something important.Sv: "Kan vi prata med dig en stund, Sofia?"En: "Can we speak with you for a moment, Sofia?"Sv: frågade Lena försiktigt.En: Lena asked cautiously.Sv: Sofia nickade glatt och visade dem sin kamera.En: Sofia nodded happily and showed them her camera.Sv: Medan hon bläddrade genom bilderna, hajade Erik till.En: As she scrolled through the pictures, Erik caught his breath.Sv: I bakgrunden på en av bilderna syntes en skugga av en person som diskret närmade sig artefakten.En: In the background of one of the pictures, the shadow of a person discreetly approaching the artifact was visible.Sv: "Ser du det där?"En: "Do you see that?"Sv: viskade Lena.En: Lena whispered.Sv: "Det måste vara tjuven!"En: "That must be the thief!"Sv: Sofia stirrade storögt.En: Sofia stared wide-eyed.Sv: "Jag tänkte inte på det!"En: "I didn't think of that!"Sv: Med Sofias oväntade hjälp gick Erik och Lena genast till säkerhetsteamet.En: With Sofia's unexpected help, Erik and Lena immediately went to the security team.Sv: Kort därefter återfanns artefakten, gömd bakom en förlängning av utställningen.En: Shortly thereafter, the artifact was found, hidden behind an extension of the exhibition.Sv: När lugnet hade återvänt till museet, tackade Erik Sofia för hennes insats.En: When calm had returned to the museum, Erik thanked Sofia for her contribution.Sv: "Utan dina bilder hade vi kanske fortfarande letat," erkände han.En: "Without your pictures, we might still be searching," he admitted.Sv: Som tack blev Sofia erbjuden en volontärtjänst vid museet.En: As thanks, Sofia was offered a volunteer position at the museum.Sv: Erik, till sist, insåg två viktiga saker: hans team var starkare tillsammans, och att han faktiskt kunde hålla huvudet kallt under press.En: Erik, at last, realized two important things: his team was stronger together, and that he could indeed keep a cool head under pressure.Sv: Med museet tillbaka i ordning och artefakten säker, kände Erik en våg av lättnad.En: With the museum back in order and the artifact safe, Erik felt a wave of relief.Sv: Vårsolen bröt genom fönstret och fyllde rummet med nytt hopp och ljus.En: The spring sun broke through the window and filled the room with new hope and light.Sv: Vasa Museet var återigen en symbol för Sveriges stolta historia, komplett i sin prakt.En: Vasa Museet was once again a symbol of Sweden's proud history, complete in its splendor. Vocabulary Words:anticipation: förväntanmeticulous: noggrannacontentedly: nöjdcommotion: tumultcurator: museikuratornvaluable: värdefullartifact: artefaktstern: strängawitnesses: vittnenavid: ivrigenthusiast: fotointresseradcautiously: försiktigtdiscreetly: diskretthief: tjuvenunexpected: oväntadecontribution: insatsvolunteer: volontärtjänstresolved: lösascaptured: fångatstern: strängaembody: komplettsplendor: praktrelief: lättnadproud: stoltacurious: nyfiknasecurity: säkerhetsteametextension: förlängningreturn: återfannsapproaching: närmadeshocking: chockerande

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Intrigue and Survival: A Night at Vasa Museum Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-02-26-23-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Snön föll tungt över Stockholm, och Vasa Museet stod som en tyst väktare över staden.En: The snow fell heavily over Stockholm, and the Vasa Museet stood as a silent guardian over the city.Sv: Emil, Astrid och Lars befann sig inuti, omedvetna om att naturen snart skulle ställa dem inför en ovanlig utmaning.En: Emil, Astrid, and Lars were inside, unaware that nature would soon present them with an unusual challenge.Sv: Emil sprang genom museets stora korridorer med glänsande ögon.En: Emil ran through the museum's large corridors with gleaming eyes.Sv: "Astrid, det här är fantastiskt!En: "Astrid, this is fantastic!Sv: Jag behöver hitta något unikt om Vasa för min roman," sa han och såg på henne med brinnande iver.En: I need to find something unique about Vasa for my novel," he said, looking at her with burning eagerness.Sv: Astrid, däremot, höll sin yrkesmässiga fasad uppe.En: Astrid, however, kept her professional facade up.Sv: Hennes hjärta bultade dock snabbt; att få delta i Emil's sökande kunde kanske ge henne nytt syfte.En: Her heart, however, pounded quickly; participating in Emil's search might give her new purpose.Sv: Lars, som alltid såg sig själv i skuggan av andra, följde dem lugnt.En: Lars, who always saw himself in the shadow of others, followed them calmly.Sv: Hans händer var hårda av arbete, men skarpa i skills.En: His hands were hardened by work but sharp in skills.Sv: Han kände oro över sin plats bland de två, men bestämde sig för att följa med, redo att hjälpa.En: He felt concerned about his place among the two but decided to tag along, ready to help.Sv: Plötsligt började snön falla tätare och vinden ylade utanför.En: Suddenly, the snow began to fall more densely, and the wind howled outside.Sv: Museets huvudutgång blockerades av drivor.En: The museum's main exit was blocked by drifts.Sv: "Vi är fast här," sa Astrid med en dov ton.En: "We're trapped here," Astrid said in a low tone.Sv: De tre tittade på varandra i det dunkla ljuset.En: The three looked at each other in the dim light.Sv: Ingen av dem hade räknat med att tillbringa natten i museet.En: None of them had planned to spend the night in the museum.Sv: Värmen sjönk och de insåg snabbt att de hade begränsad mat.En: The warmth dropped, and they quickly realized they had limited food.Sv: Trots det växande obehaget, bestämde Emil att detta var en perfekt chans att utforska museets förbjudna hörn.En: Despite the growing discomfort, Emil decided this was a perfect chance to explore the museum's forbidden corners.Sv: Astrid tog beslutsamt täten och vägledde dem till områden ej öppna för allmänheten.En: Astrid decisively took the lead and guided them to areas not open to the public.Sv: Hon kände varje hörn av museet som sin bakficka.En: She knew every corner of the museum like the back of her hand.Sv: "Vi kan kanske hitta något i det gamla arkivskåpet," föreslog hon.En: "We might find something in the old archive cabinet," she suggested.Sv: Där, bland dammiga lådor och bleknade ritningar, hittade Emil en gammal dagbok.En: There, among dusty boxes and faded drawings, Emil found an old journal.Sv: Den var full med berättelser från den tidens sjömän.En: It was full of stories from the sailors of that time.Sv: Hans hjärta slog hårt.En: His heart pounded.Sv: "Det här är exakt vad jag letade efter!"En: "This is exactly what I was looking for!"Sv: Men just då slocknade ljuset – det blev strömavbrott och museets alarmsystem vaknade till liv.En: But just then, the lights went out—it was a power outage, and the museum's alarm system sprang to life.Sv: Ljudet var öronbedövande.En: The sound was deafening.Sv: Lars handlade snabbt.En: Lars acted quickly.Sv: Han sprang mot elskåpet och löste en provisorisk reparation, tillräckligt för att stoppa sirenerna.En: He ran to the electric cabinet and made a makeshift repair, enough to stop the sirens.Sv: När stormen till sist avtog tidigt nästa morgon, var utgången åter säker.En: When the storm finally subsided early the next morning, the exit was safe again.Sv: Astrid, Emil och Lars klev ut i den tysta, snöiga världen.En: Astrid, Emil, and Lars stepped out into the silent, snowy world.Sv: Alla hade förändrats.En: All of them had changed.Sv: Astrid kände styrka i sitt yrke, medan Emil bar på en ny historia.En: Astrid felt strength in her profession, while Emil carried a new story.Sv: Lars, fylld med en nyfunnen självkänsla, var stolt över att ha bevisat sitt ovärderliga värde i krisen.En: Lars, filled with newfound self-esteem, was proud of having proven his invaluable worth in the crisis.Sv: Stockholm var omgiven av vinterns magi, och Vasa Museet hade fått tre nya väktare av dess hemliga berättelser.En: Stockholm was surrounded by the magic of winter, and the Vasa Museet had gained three new guardians of its secret tales. Vocabulary Words:guardian: väktareeagerness: iverfacade: fasadpounded: bultadedenseness: tätaredrifts: drivordim: dunklaforbidden: förbjudnadecisively: beslutsamtarchive: arkivskåpdusty: dammigafaded: bleknadejournal: dagbokdeafening: öronbedövandemakeshift: provisorisksubsided: avtogesteem: självkänslaproved: bevisatinvaluable: ovärderligtwizards: magikerdepths: djupstrictly: striktconfide: anförtronavigate: navigeraunforeseen: oförutseddinsights: insikterscarce: knappferocity: våldsamhetelated: upprymdshimmered: glimmade

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: A Night at the Museum: Lars' Historical Adventure Unveiled Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-02-23-23-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Lars stod fascinerad framför den mäktiga Vasa-skeppet inne i Vasa Museet i Stockholm.En: Lars stood fascinated in front of the mighty Vasa-ship inside the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.Sv: Vintern bet utanför, men inne i museet var luften mild och fylld med historiens vingslag.En: Winter was biting outside, but inside the museum, the air was mild and filled with the wings of history.Sv: Lars älskade historia.En: Lars loved history.Sv: Han var alltid på jakt efter små detaljer som kunde avslöja något mer om vår förflutna.En: He was always on the hunt for small details that could reveal something more about our past.Sv: Lars hade blivit så djupt koncentrerad på en liten märkning på skeppets flank att han inte märkte hur tiden flög förbi.En: Lars had become so deeply focused on a small marking on the ship's flank that he didn't notice how time flew by.Sv: Ljudet av museets stängningsannonsering gick obemärkt förbi hans öron, dämpat som det var av hans egna tankar.En: The sound of the museum's closing announcement went unnoticed by his ears, muffled as it was by his own thoughts.Sv: Plötsligt insåg Lars att han var ensam.En: Suddenly, Lars realized that he was alone.Sv: Alla besökare hade försvunnit, och det var tyst, förutom det svaga bruset från ventilationssystemet.En: All the visitors had disappeared, and it was silent, except for the faint hum of the ventilation system.Sv: Hans hjärta började slå snabbare när han insåg vad han trodde: han hade blivit inlåst över natten!En: His heart began to beat faster as he realized what he thought: he had been locked in overnight!Sv: Lars, nervös men också smått uppspelt av situationen, beslöt sig för att utforska sitt tillfälliga "fängelse".En: Lars, nervous but also a bit excited by the situation, decided to explore his temporary "prison."Sv: Han gick genom dunkla korridorer, passerade tavlor av kungar och sjökartor från Vasa-tiden.En: He walked through dim corridors, passed paintings of kings and sea charts from the Vasa era.Sv: Men snart övergick nyfikenheten till oro.En: But soon, curiosity turned into worry.Sv: Vad om ingen kom tillbaka förrän morgonen?En: What if no one came back until morning?Sv: I sin panik började Lars fundera på flyktplaner.En: In his panic, Lars began to think about escape plans.Sv: Kanske kunde han använda en av replikorna av skeppets rep för att klättra ut genom ett fönster?En: Perhaps he could use one of the ship's rope replicas to climb out through a window?Sv: Men planen avbröts när han av misstag stötte på en dörr med skylten "Endast personal".En: But the plan was interrupted when he accidentally came across a door with the sign "Staff Only."Sv: I desperation öppnade han dörren, vilket utlöste ett gällt alarm.En: In desperation, he opened the door, which triggered a shrill alarm.Sv: Personalrus ut från sina kontor, och Lars stod där röd i ansiktet av blygsel.En: Staff rushed out from their offices, and Lars stood there red-faced with embarrassment.Sv: "Förlåt, jag trodde jag var fast här över natten", förklarade han snabbt.En: "Sorry, I thought I was stuck here overnight," he quickly explained.Sv: Museets personal, däribland Eva och Oskar, skrattade hjärtligt.En: The museum staff, including Eva and Oskar, laughed heartily.Sv: "Inte riktigt", sa Eva och log, "vi stänger inte ännu. Annonseringen betyder att det är dags att börja tänka på att gå mot utgången."En: "Not quite," said Eva, smiling, "the announcement means it's time to start thinking about heading toward the exit."Sv: Medan de eskorterade Lars mot utgången, kände han sig lättare och lovade sig själv att hålla bättre koll på sina omgivningar nästa gång.En: As they escorted Lars toward the exit, he felt lighter and promised himself to pay better attention to his surroundings next time.Sv: Trots sitt pinsamma misstag hade han njutit av ett litet äventyr—men framför allt hade han lärt sig att hålla öron och ögon öppna, inte bara för historiska ledtrådar, men också för praktiska meddelanden.En: Despite his embarrassing mistake, he had enjoyed a little adventure—but above all, he had learned to keep his ears and eyes open, not just for historical clues, but also for practical announcements.Sv: Lars lämnade museet med en ny respekt för historiens kraft och en påminnelse om att ibland, även den mest passionerade upptäcktsresande måste ta ett steg tillbaka och se hela bilden.En: Lars left the museum with a new respect for the power of history and a reminder that sometimes, even the most passionate explorer must take a step back and see the whole picture. Vocabulary Words:fascinated: fascineradmighty: mäktigabiting: betflank: flankmuffled: dämpatventilation: ventilationssystemetnervous: nervösexplore: utforskadim: dunklacorridors: korridorersea charts: sjökartorcuriosity: nyfikenhetenworry: ororeplicas: replikornaclimb: klättrawindow: fönsteraccidentally: misstagtriggered: utlösteshrill: gälltembarrassment: blygselamusement: hjärtligtescort: eskorteratemporary: tillfälligaannouncement: annonseringadventure: äventyrclues: ledtrådarescape: flyktplanerstep back: ta ett steg tillbakastaff: personalsign: skylten

This past May, Kat went all the way to Stockholm, Sweden with her 2 friends to explore, enjoy iconic museums (ABBA Museum anyone?), and also attend the Eras Tour (Stockholm Night 3 represent!). Now, Kat is sharing the best way to spend 3 days in Stockholm Sweden including the best museums like the ABBA Museum and Vasa Museum, where to eat, the importance of a good fika, and the best food tour (yes, this may include trying bear jerky). Discover the best things to do in Stockholm as well as where to stay and tips for Stockholm travel! For our full 3-day Stockholm itinerary, check out this post: https://worldwidehoneymoon.com/3-days-in-stockholm-sweden/ For our quick Stockholm guide on Substack, check out this post: https://substack.com/home/post/p-147634041   We started a Substack: Follow for updates, free and paid posts, and exclusive podcast episodes! Subscribe here to get this exclusive content now! Traveling to France? Check out our Facebook Group called France Travel Tips to ask/answer questions and learn more! Don't forget to follow along! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldwidehoneymoon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldwidehoneymoon TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@worldwidehoneymoon World Wide Honeymoon Blog: https://worldwidehoneymoon.com France Voyager Blog: https://francevoyager.com Subscribe to the World Wide Honeymoon blog here for monthly updates and tips + get our FREE trip planning guide: https://www.subscribepage.com/o4e5c2

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Unveiling the Compass: A Secret Tale from Vasa Museum Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2024-11-14-23-34-00-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Hösten svepte genom Stockholm med kalla vindar och gyllene löv som prasslade över trottoarerna.En: Autumn swept through Stockholm with cold winds and golden leaves rustling over the sidewalks.Sv: Elsa, en ivrig historiker, gick längs Vasamuseets korridorer.En: Elsa, an eager historian, walked along the corridors of the Vasa Museum.Sv: Lukten av gammalt trä och salt fyllde luften.En: The smell of old wood and salt filled the air.Sv: Hon stannade till vid den magnifika skeppet Vasa, dess historia var som en saga som världen aldrig glömmer.En: She stopped at the magnificent ship Vasa, its history was like a tale the world never forgets.Sv: Nils, museets tysta kurator, betraktade sina omgivningar med stolthet men också en hemlig längtan efter äventyr.En: Nils, the museum's silent curator, observed his surroundings with pride but also a secret longing for adventure.Sv: Myllret av besökare höll hans dag upptagen, men i dag såg han Elsa närma sig med ett speciellt ljus i ögonen.En: The bustle of visitors kept his day busy, but today he saw Elsa approaching with a special light in her eyes.Sv: "Nils, kom hit," viskade Elsa, och pekade på en dold springa i skeppets skrov.En: "Nils, come here," whispered Elsa, pointing to a hidden crack in the ship's hull.Sv: En nyfiken gnista tändes i Nils när han betraktade henne.En: A curious spark was ignited in Nils as he looked at her.Sv: "Det här är inte bara en gammal träbit," sa Elsa entusiastiskt.En: "This is not just an old piece of wood," said Elsa enthusiastically.Sv: De delade en hemlig blick och bestämde sig för att undersöka.En: They shared a secret glance and decided to investigate.Sv: Elsas händer fumlade med de gamla plankorna tills ett gömt fack avslöjades.En: Elsa's hands fumbled with the old planks until a hidden compartment was revealed.Sv: Därinne låg en märklig artefakt, en liten silverkompass med konstiga inskriptioner.En: Inside lay a strange artifact, a small silver compass with strange inscriptions.Sv: "Vi måste var försiktiga," sa Nils försiktigt.En: "We must be careful," said Nils cautiously.Sv: "Administration gillar inte hemlighetsmakeri."En: "The administration doesn't like secrecy."Sv: Men han kunde inte dölja sin nyfikenhet.En: But he couldn't hide his curiosity.Sv: Elsa log och sa bestämt, "Vi måste veta vad det här betyder.En: Elsa smiled and said firmly, "We must know what this means.Sv: Det kan vara en del av vår historia som vi har glömt."En: It could be a part of our history that we have forgotten."Sv: De spenderade dagar i ett triumferande mörker av museets arkiv, vars dammiga handlingar glimmade under lampornas svaga sken.En: They spent days in a triumphant darkness of the museum's archives, whose dusty documents glimmered under the faint light of the lamps.Sv: Elsa fann att kompassen ledde till ett bortglömt kapitel av svensk sjöfartshistoria, en resa av vågade äventyr långt före Vasas fatala färd.En: Elsa found that the compass led to a forgotten chapter of Swedish maritime history, a journey of daring adventures long before Vasa's fateful voyage.Sv: Nils, som först tvekat, blev nu djupt indragen i mysteriet tillsammans med Elsa.En: Nils, who initially hesitated, was now deeply drawn into the mystery together with Elsa.Sv: "Det här blir stort," sa han till slut, en glimt av äventyr i hans ögon.En: "This will be big," he finally said, a glimpse of adventure in his eyes.Sv: På Mårtensafton, fyllde ljudet av skratt och fest muséet, men Elsa och Nils hade en annorlunda plan.En: On Mårtensafton, the sound of laughter and festivity filled the museum, but Elsa and Nils had a different plan.Sv: De presenterade sina fynd för styrelsen.En: They presented their findings to the board.Sv: De var nervösa, men deras beslutsamhet var stark.En: They were nervous, but their determination was strong.Sv: Styrelsen lyssnade, först skeptisk men sedan fascinerad när Elsa och Nils berättade om artefaktens möjliga betydelse.En: The board listened, first skeptical but then fascinated as Elsa and Nils shared the possible significance of the artifact.Sv: Detta var en chans att skriva om historien!En: This was a chance to rewrite history!Sv: "Vi måste forska mer," avslutade Nils med en nyfunnen självsäkerhet.En: "We need to research more," concluded Nils with newfound confidence.Sv: Styrelsen gav sitt godkännande, och de två gick ut från rummet, lättade och inspirerade.En: The board gave their approval, and the two walked out of the room, relieved and inspired.Sv: Elsa lärde sig att balansera sin passion med noggrann planering, medan Nils upptäckte en känsla av äventyr och nytt syfte.En: Elsa learned to balance her passion with careful planning, while Nils discovered a sense of adventure and new purpose.Sv: Vasa museet pulserade fortfarande med historiens närvaro, men Elsa och Nils visste nu att varje viskning från det förflutna kunde förändra framtiden.En: The Vasa Museum still pulsed with the presence of history, but Elsa and Nils now knew that every whisper from the past could change the future.Sv: Deras resa tillsammans var bara början, och höstens löv föll som tysta löften om fler upptäckter framöver.En: Their journey together was just the beginning, and the autumn leaves fell like silent promises of more discoveries to come. Vocabulary Words:autumn: höstenswept: svepterustling: prassladeeager: ivrigcorridors: korridorermagnificent: magnifikacurator: kuratorsurroundings: omgivningarbustle: myllretlonging: längtanwhispered: viskadecrack: springahull: skrovcompartment: fackartifact: artefaktinscriptions: inskriptionercautiously: försiktigtsecrecy: hemlighetsmakeriglimmered: glimmadearchives: arkivdusty: dammigafateful: fatalahesitated: tvekatdetermination: beslutsamhetskeptical: skeptiskfascinated: fascineradsignificance: betydelseresearch: forskabalance: balanserapurpose: syfte

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: When Art Meets History: A Creative Adventure with Vasa Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.org/when-art-meets-history-a-creative-adventure-with-vasa Story Transcript:Sv: Det var en kylig höstdag i Stockholm.En: It was a chilly autumn day in Stockholm.Sv: Löven prasslade och vinden svepte över Djurgården.En: The leaves rustled and the wind swept over Djurgården.Sv: Inne på Vasamuseet, där allt var varmt och dämpat, ekade försiktiga steg mot trägolvet.En: Inside the Vasa Museum, where everything was warm and muted, cautious footsteps echoed against the wooden floor.Sv: Erik stod ensam vid det mäktiga skeppet Vasa, förlorad i tankar.En: Erik stood alone by the mighty Vasa ship, lost in thought.Sv: Han var maritim arkeolog och hade alltid fascinerats av Vasas historia.En: He was a maritime archaeologist and had always been fascinated by Vasa's history.Sv: Men idag kände han sig lite orolig.En: But today, he felt a bit uneasy.Sv: Han behövde avsluta sin forskning för en viktig publikation.En: He needed to finish his research for an important publication.Sv: Samtidigt satt Ingrid en bit bort, djupt försjunken i sina skisser.En: Meanwhile, Ingrid sat a little way off, deeply absorbed in her sketches.Sv: Hennes ögon glittrade när hon studerade de detaljerade sniderierna på skeppet.En: Her eyes sparkled as she studied the detailed carvings on the ship.Sv: Hon var en konststudent på jakt efter unik inspiration till sitt nästa projekt.En: She was an art student in search of unique inspiration for her next project.Sv: Erik märkte Ingrid.En: Erik noticed Ingrid.Sv: Hennes sätt att teckna fångade hans intresse.En: Her way of drawing captured his interest.Sv: Men han var blyg och tvekade.En: But he was shy and hesitated.Sv: Han ville tala med henne, men ord kändes som en mur.En: He wanted to talk to her, but words felt like a barrier.Sv: Plötsligt stod Johan, deras gemensamma vän och museets guide, bredvid dem.En: Suddenly, Johan, their mutual friend and the museum guide, stood beside them.Sv: "Erik, har du träffat Ingrid?En: "Erik, have you met Ingrid?"Sv: " frågade Johan glatt.En: Johan asked cheerfully.Sv: "Hon skissar Vasa för sitt konstprojekt.En: "She's sketching the Vasa for her art project."Sv: "Ett leende spred sig på Ingrids läppar.En: A smile spread across Ingrid's lips.Sv: "Hej!En: "Hi!Sv: Jag älskar Vasas historia, men jag förstår inte alla detaljer," sa hon med ett charmigt leende.En: I love Vasa's history, but I don't understand all the details," she said with a charming smile.Sv: Erik sökte djupt inom sig för mod.En: Erik searched deep within himself for courage.Sv: "Om du vill .En: "If you want...Sv: kan jag berätta några historier om skeppet," föreslog han försiktigt.En: I can tell you some stories about the ship," he suggested cautiously.Sv: "Det skulle vara underbart!En: "That would be wonderful!"Sv: " svarade Ingrid entusiastiskt.En: Ingrid replied enthusiastically.Sv: "Kan vi ta en kaffepaus?En: "Can we take a coffee break?Sv: Jag vill gärna höra allt.En: I'd love to hear everything."Sv: "De satte sig i museets lilla kafé hörna med varsin kopp kaffe.En: They sat in the museum's small café area with a cup of coffee each.Sv: Ingrid lyssnade uppmärksamt när Erik förklarade om Vasa, dess djärva resa och tragiska förlisning.En: Ingrid listened attentively as Erik explained about the Vasa, its daring journey, and tragic sinking.Sv: Hans engagemang fångade hennes intresse på ett sätt hon inte förväntat sig.En: His passion captured her interest in a way she hadn't expected.Sv: "Jag trodde jag bara skulle skissa," sa Ingrid, "men det finns så mycket historia att upptäcka.En: "I thought I would just sketch," Ingrid said, "but there's so much history to discover."Sv: ""Tack för att du lyssnade," svarade Erik mjukt.En: "Thank you for listening," Erik replied softly.Sv: "Dina teckningar är fantastiska.En: "Your drawings are amazing.Sv: De väcker liv i skeppets historia.En: They bring the ship's history to life."Sv: "De delade en stund av tystnad, men det var en bekväm tystnad.En: They shared a moment of silence, but it was a comfortable silence.Sv: Tiden passerade och de pratade vidare om andra delar av deras liv och intressen.En: Time passed, and they continued to talk about other parts of their lives and interests.Sv: Veckorna gick, och Erik och Ingrid bestämde sig för att kombinera sina talanger.En: Weeks went by, and Erik and Ingrid decided to combine their talents.Sv: Ett gemensamt projekt växte fram där konst och historia förenades.En: A joint project emerged where art and history united.Sv: De skapade en utställning med skisser och berättelser om Vasa som fångade både historia och konst.En: They created an exhibition with sketches and stories about the Vasa that captured both history and art.Sv: Tillsammans fann de att deras olika perspektiv skapade något helt nytt.En: Together, they found that their different perspectives created something entirely new.Sv: Erik blev mer utåtriktad, inspirerad av Ingrids kreativitet.En: Erik became more outgoing, inspired by Ingrid's creativity.Sv: Ingrid fann en djupare uppskattning för historian genom Erik.En: Ingrid found a deeper appreciation for history through Erik.Sv: Deras vänskap hade vuxit, och en gnista av något mer hade tänts.En: Their friendship had grown, and a spark of something more had ignited.Sv: När hösten övergick i vinter, bleknade löven och en ny berättelse hade börjat för dem båda.En: As autumn turned into winter, the leaves faded, and a new story had begun for both of them.Sv: Ett äventyr där både konst och historia fick plats, och där en osannolik vänskap blommade ut till något mer.En: An adventure where both art and history had a place, and where an unlikely friendship blossomed into something more. Vocabulary Words:chilly: kyligautumn: höstrustled: prassladecautious: försiktigamaritime: maritimarchaeologist: arkeologuneasy: oroligabsorbed: försjunkensketches: skissercarvings: sniderierfascinated: fascineratsinspiration: inspirationhesitated: tvekadecheerfully: glattcharming: charmigtcourage: modenthusiastically: entusiastisktattentively: uppmärksamtdaring: djärvasinking: förlisningpassion: engagemangdiscover: upptäckasilence: tystnadcomfortable: bekvämtalents: talangeremerged: växte framexhibition: utställningunited: förenadesperspectives: perspektivoutgoing: utåtriktad

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Winter's Embrace: Discovering the True Chill of Stockholm Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.org/winters-embrace-discovering-the-true-chill-of-stockholm Story Transcript:Sv: Isabella tittade ut genom sitt köksfönster. Snön föll i Stockholm och hon kunde knappt se Djurgårdsbron. Hon tog en klunk av sin kanelkaffe och började förbereda sig. En turist, Robert, skulle snart dyka upp. Han hade bara sett snö på film. Han trodde att han visste vad kyla var. Isabella log. Han skulle snart lära sig.En: Isabella looked out through her kitchen window. Snow was falling in Stockholm, and she could hardly see Djurgårdsbron. She took a sip of her cinnamon coffee and began to prepare herself. A tourist, Robert, would soon arrive. He had only seen snow in movies. He thought he knew what cold was. Isabella smiled. He would soon learn.Sv: När dörrklockan ringde öppnade Isabella dörren. Robert stod där. Han ryckte till när den kalla vinden bet i hans ansikte. "Hej och välkommen!" sa hon och skrattade till. Robert var klädd i en tunn jacka. "Det första du behöver veta," sa hon, "är att du måste klä på dig ordentligt. Annars kan det gå illa."En: When the doorbell rang, Isabella opened the door. Robert stood there. He flinched as the cold wind bit his face. "Hello and welcome!" she said, laughing. Robert was dressed in a thin jacket. "The first thing you need to know," she said, "is that you must dress properly. Otherwise, it can go badly."Sv: De satte sig i hennes varma kök. Isabella tog fram bullar och varm glögg. Hon påminde honom om att vägen kunde vara halkig. Hon talade om för honom om vikten av dagsljus under vintermånaderna, "Du kanske inte tror det, men vi har bara några timmar av dagsljus." När hon tittade på honom tycktes han förstå.En: They sat in her warm kitchen. Isabella brought out buns and hot glogg. She reminded him that the roads could be slippery. She told him about the importance of daylight during the winter months, "You might not believe it, but we only have a few hours of daylight." As she looked at him, he seemed to understand.Sv: Under de kommande veckorna tog Isabella med Robert på turer runt Stockholm. De besökte Vasa-museet, promenerade i Gamla stan och åkte skridskor i Kungsträdgården. Varje gång passade hon på att berätta mer om den svenska vintern. Robert lärde sig snabbt.En: Over the following weeks, Isabella took Robert on tours around Stockholm. They visited the Vasa Museum, strolled through Gamla Stan, and went ice skating in Kungsträdgården. Each time, she took the opportunity to tell him more about the Swedish winter. Robert learned quickly.Sv: En dag var de i Skansen. Robert skakade av kyla trots Isabellas varningar om att klä sig varmt. "Nu förstår du!" sa hon och log. "Detta är en riktig svensk vinter!" Och just då insåg han hur mycket mer till kyla det var här jämfört med hemma. Hans naiva föreställning om vad kyla verkligen var, hade fullständigt förändrats.En: One day they were at Skansen. Robert shivered from the cold despite Isabella's warnings to dress warmly. "Now you understand!" she said, smiling. "This is a real Swedish winter!" And at that moment, he realized how much colder it was here compared to home. His naive idea of what cold truly was had completely changed.Sv: I slutet av vistelsen tittade Robert på Isabella och sade: "Du hade rätt. Det här är inte alls som jag tänkte mig. Det är mycket kallare, men... det är också mycket vackrare." Isabella gav honom ett varmt leende, nöjd över att hon lyckats förmedla den svenska vinterns skönhet.En: At the end of his stay, Robert looked at Isabella and said, "You were right. This is nothing like I imagined. It's much colder, but... it's also much more beautiful." Isabella gave him a warm smile, pleased that she had successfully conveyed the beauty of the Swedish winter.Sv: Så slutade Roberts besök i Stockholm. Han åkte hem med en ny förståelse och respekt för den svenska vintern. Och Isabella stängde dörren bakom honom med en känsla av stolthet och tillfredsställelse. Hon hade framgångsrikt förklarat för honom, kanske första gången i sitt liv, hur det var att uppleva en riktig svensk vinter.En: And so ended Robert's visit to Stockholm. He went home with a new understanding and respect for the Swedish winter. And Isabella closed the door behind him with a sense of pride and satisfaction. She had effectively explained to him, perhaps for the first time in his life, what it was like to experience a true Swedish winter.Sv: Historien visar, vilken plats vi än kommer från, hur mycket vi kan lära oss när vi är villiga att lyssna. Och Isabellas historia visar oss att ingen förstår vintern lika bra som svenskarna. Robert skulle aldrig glömma detta. Och varje gång han tänkte på vinter, tänkte han på Stockholm. Och han tänkte på Isabella.En: The story demonstrates that no matter where we come from, there is much to learn when we are willing to listen. And Isabella's story shows us that no one understands winter as well as the Swedes. Robert would never forget this. And every time he thought of winter, he thought of Stockholm. And he thought of Isabella. Vocabulary Words:Isabella: IsabellaRobert: RobertSnow: SnönStockholm: StockholmDjurgårdsbron: DjurgårdsbronKitchen: KökWindow: FönsterCinnamon: KanelCoffee: KaffePrepare: FörberedaTourist: TuristArrive: Dyka uppCold: KylaLaugh: SkrattandeJacket: JackaRoads: VägarSlippery: HalkigDaylight: DagsljusWinter: VinterMuseum: MuseumSkating: SkridskorWarnings: VarningarDress warmly: Klä sig varmtBeautiful: VackertUnderstand: FörståRespect: RespektListen: LyssnaNaive: NaivExperience: Upplevelse

For ad-free listening, subscribe to the Into History Podcast Channel, at intohistory.com/shipwreckspod.The Vasa was a massive warship commissioned by King Gustav II Adolph of Sweden in the early 17th century. Designed to be the pride of the Swedish Navy, construction began in 1626 at the Royal Shipyard in Stockholm, under the supervision of master shipwright Henrik Hybertsson. The Vasa was intended to be a symbol of Sweden's military power and ambition in the Baltic region, with a total of 64 guns arranged on two decks. Its design incorporated the latest advancements in naval architecture, including a sleek hull and a high concentration of firepower.However, the Vasa's inaugural voyage was marked by tragedy. On August 10, 1628, the ship set sail from Stockholm's harbor amid great fanfare. But just minutes into the journey, a gust of wind caught the ship's sails, causing it to roll precariously. Water began to rush in through the open gun ports, and the ship quickly sank to the bottom of the harbor. It was a devastating loss for Sweden, with over 30 crew members perishing in the disaster. The Vasa lay submerged for over three centuries, until it was rediscovered in the 1950s and eventually salvaged in 1961. Today, the Vasa is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions, attracting millions of visitors each year to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.Follow Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs on social media @shipwreckspod or at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.Official merchandise is available at https://www.bonfire.com/store/shipwreckspod/.Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried, and you can follow him on YouTube @SeanSecret or at https://sean.sigfried.se.

This episode starts a new mini-series on the maritime history of Sweden, and we begin by exploring Sweden's fascinating naval history over the last 500 years, and how Sweden's modern defence thinking has been shaped by its past. Founded in 1522, the Swedish navy is one of the oldest continuous serving navies in the world and its complex history reflects the numerous geo-political changes that have affected the countries around the Baltic ever since. With a shifting map of allies, threats and foes, the Swedish navy has been a constant presence and a hotbed of maritime innovation; not least introducing the line of battle as a naval tactic in 1563 under Erik XIV, half a century before its widespread adoption by other European navies. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Fred Hocker, Director of Research at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An airhacks.fm conversation with Anton Arhipov (@antonarhipov) about: playing sports games on Pentium 233 MHz the 2014 JavaOne Rockstar awards about NetBeans, Eclipse, and IntelliJ., enjoying sports games and destroying joysticks, practicing competitive swimming, swim training, starting to program in Turbo Pascal at Maelardalen University, ship simulation with Java for Vasa Museum, joining a company which maintains RefactorIT, working with Java EE and WebLogic and JRockit, joining ZeroturnAround and working on JRebel, Rebel and LiveRebel, working on a profiler, JetBrain's MPS, DevRel for TeamCity, AppCode features are appearing in fleet, Fleet is built on common UI principles, the rendering engine Skia, Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, Circles by Anton Anton Arhipov on twitter: @antonarhipov

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: The Swedish Adventures: From IKEA Frustration to Triumph Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.org/the-swedish-adventures-from-ikea-frustration-to-triumph Story Transcript:Sv: Erik lutade sig tillbaka, allt var huller om buller.En: Erik leaned back, everything was a mess.Sv: Han stirrade på de kryptiska instruktionerna på blå papper framför sig, en ny soffa från IKEA att montera.En: He stared at the cryptic instructions on the blue paper in front of him, a new sofa from IKEA to assemble.Sv: Allt han ville var att sitta ner och slappna av.En: All he wanted was to sit down and relax.Sv: Långt borta i Stockholm, satte Ingrid precis sin kaffe på bordet.En: Far away in Stockholm, Ingrid just placed her coffee on the table.Sv: Hon log nöjt, kände lukten av urkärnade kardemummabullar.En: She smiled contentedly, smelling the freshly baked cardamom buns.Sv: Hon njöt av sin eftermiddagsfika, utan att bekymra sig om komplicerade möbelinstruktioner.En: She enjoyed her afternoon fika without worrying about complicated furniture instructions.Sv: Samtidigt dansade Lars runt majstången i ett midsommarglädje, klädd i sina finaste kläder och en färgstark blomkrans.En: Meanwhile, Lars danced around the maypole with midsummer joy, dressed in his finest clothes and a colorful flower crown.Sv: Han sjöng högt, utan bekymmer, full av spirit.En: He sang loudly, carefree and full of spirit.Sv: I ett annat hörn var Anna på en cykeltur i Göteborg.En: In another corner, Anna was on a bike ride in Gothenburg.Sv: Hon manövrerade skickligt mellan fotgängare, cyklarna och de rullande spårvagnarna.En: She skillfully maneuvered through pedestrians, bikes, and the rolling trams.Sv: Over i Kiruna, Sofia var uppslukad av skönheten i norrskenet, som ett trollbundet barn, tittade hon upp på himlen, förundrad över färgspel.En: Up in Kiruna, Sofia was captivated by the beauty of the northern lights, like a enchanted child, she looked up at the sky, marveling at the play of colors.Sv: Magnus, drabbad av ABBA-iver, twirled glatt bland de utställda dräkterna på ABBA-museet i Stockholm, lutade mikrofonen och sjöng 'Dancing Queen' för full hals.En: Magnus, overwhelmed by ABBA excitement, twirled happily among the displayed costumes at the ABBA Museum in Stockholm, leaning into the microphone and singing 'Dancing Queen' at the top of his lungs.Sv: I Malmö var Mia på ett bakningsmaraton, i samband med "Kanelbullens dag".En: In Malmö, Mia was on a baking marathon, in connection with "Cinnamon Bun Day."Sv: Hon knådade och rullade, gräddade och åt, klibbig kanel på läpparna och ren glädje i hjärtat.En: She kneaded and rolled, baked and ate, sticky cinnamon on her lips and pure joy in her heart.Sv: I Vasamuseet stod Henrik vid skeppet Vasa, förstummad av det vackra krigsskeppet från 1600-talet.En: At the Vasa Museum, Henrik stood by the ship Vasa, stunned by the beautiful warship from the 17th century.Sv: Sagan dansade med en färgsprakande folkdräkt i Skansen, till publikens jubel.En: The fairy tale danced with a colorful traditional folk costume at Skansen, to the applause of the audience.Sv: Gustav stod och tittade på vaktbytet vid det Kungliga Slottet, beundrande varje precisionsrörelse.En: Gustav stood watching the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace, admiring every precision movement.Sv: Klara avslappnade sig på en båttur genom Göta kanal, passerade pittoreska byar och fantastiska landskap.En: Klara relaxed on a boat trip through the Göta Canal, passing picturesque villages and fantastic landscapes.Sv: Erik satt fortfarande med instruktionerna, snart redo att ge upp.En: Erik was still sitting with the instructions, almost ready to give up.Sv: Men sen, liksom solen lyser genom molnen, klarnade allting upp - han hade lagt dem upp och ner!En: But then, like the sun shining through the clouds, everything cleared up - he had put them upside down!Sv: Mesan var korrekt, soffan stod nu framför honom.En: Finally, the measurements were correct, the sofa now stood in front of him.Sv: Han gav ut ett triumferande skratt, sträckte sig på soffan och tänkte på allt annat han hade kunnat göra den dagen.En: He let out a triumphant laugh, stretched out on the couch, and thought about all the other things he could have done that day.Sv: Men samtidigt visste han, att trots all frustration, så var känslan av prestation efter att ha övervunnit detta lilla hinder, ett minne han skulle skratta åt i många år framöver.En: But at the same time, he knew that despite all the frustration, the feeling of accomplishment after overcoming this small obstacle would be a memory he would laugh about for many years to come. Vocabulary Words:Erik: Erikmess: huller om bullerinstructions: instruktionernasofa: soffaassemble: monterasit: sittarelax: slappna avcoffee: kaffetable: bordetsmile: logcontentedly: nöjtsmell: kännabuns: kardemummabullarenjoy: njutaafternoon: eftermiddagsworrying: bekymracomplicated: komplicerademeanwhile: samtidigtdance: dansamaypole: majstångenjoy: glädjeclothes: klädercolorful: färgstarkflower crown: blomkranssing: sjöngcarefree: utan bekymmerspirit: spiritbike ride: cykelturmaneuvered: manövreradepedestrians: fotgängare

The Vasa Ship - a symbol for Swedish military power -------------------- (For English - scroll down) -------------------- Har du varit på Vasamuseet i Stockholm?  Vasaskeppet var en symbol för svensk militär makt. Att skeppet sjönk var ett hårt slag mot Sverige och landets ambitioner. I det här avsnittet pratar jag om den här intressanta biten av svensk historia! -------------------- För att stödja podden och få transkript till avsnitten - bli patron för bara 5€ per månad – klicka här! Tycker du redan att den här podden är ganska lätt, och vill nå en avancerad nivå i svenska? Då är kursen Strong Swedish för dig! Klicka här för att läsa mer! -------------------- English: -------------------- Have you been to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm?  The Vasa ship was a symbol of Swedish military power. The sinking of the ship was a major blow to Sweden and its ambitions. In this episode, I talk about this interesting piece of Swedish history! To support the podcast and get transcripts to the weekly episodes – become a patron for only 5€ per month - click here! Is this podcast already quite easy for you, and you would like to reach a more advanced level in Swedish? Then the Strong Swedish course is for you! Click here to read more! ------------------- Instagram: swedish.linguist YouTube: Swedish Linguist Facebook: Swedish Linguist Website: www.swedishlinguist.com ------------------- Ett smakprov (sample) på transkriptet: Hej där kära lyssnare! Välkommen ska du vara till Simple Swedish Podcast. Och idag har vi en liten historielektion. Så jag ska prata om en händelse i svensk historia, en ganska stor händelse. Och det är nämligen förlisningen av regalskeppet Vasa! Alltså skeppet Vasa som sjönk.   Ja, att sjunka, det betyder helt enkelt att nånting som är..att nånting åker ner i vattnet, och sjunker ner i vattnet – att sjunka. Så skeppet Vasa som sjönk.   Ja, och Vasaskeppet – Regalskeppet Vasa – det var ett svenskt krigsfartyg som byggdes på 1600-talet (sextonhundra-talet), alltså för ungefär 400 (fyra hundra) år sen.   Och ett skepp, ah, det är en båt, oftast en stor båt. Och ett fartyg, det är också en båt. Tekniskt sett så är det vad som helst..vilket fordon som helst som är på vattnet, men oftast så menar man en stor båt när man säger “ett fartyg”. Så ett skepp och ett fartyg är ungefär samma sak. I vardagsspråk i alla fall.   Så det var ett krigsfartyg, alltså ett militärt fartyg, ett fartyg som man använder för krig. Och det är väldigt känt för att det sjönk på sin jungfruresa. En jungfruresa, det är den första resan som ett skepp gör. Och det var 1628 (sexton-hundra-tjugo-åtta).   ....för att läsa hela transkriptet till detta och alla andra avsnitt, klicka här!

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Stockholm, Sweden, in this episode of 'The Pocket Explorer'. Journey with us through the cobblestoned streets of Gamla Stan, the city's historic heart, and marvel at the grandeur of the Royal Palace and Stockholm Cathedral. Discover the rich tapestry of Stockholm's museums, from the maritime Vasa Museum to the modern photography hub of Fotografiska. Taste the diverse culinary landscape, from traditional Swedish meatballs to innovative Michelin-starred creations. Experience the beloved Swedish tradition of 'fika', and explore the bustling food halls, Östermalms Saluhall and Söderhallarna. Get a taste of Stockholm's vibrant nightlife and entertainment scene, from world-class theatre at Dramaten to energetic summer music festivals. Find yourself enchanted by Stockholm's breathtaking archipelago and active outdoor lifestyle. Dive into the city's shopping culture, where Swedish design meets local craftsmanship. From high-street fashion labels to vintage flea markets, Stockholm's shopping scene has something for everyone. Join us as we conclude our journey, reflecting on the unique blend of history, culture, cuisine, and creativity that makes Stockholm a must-visit destination. Whether you're planning a future trip or exploring from the comfort of your home, let 'The Pocket Explorer' bring a piece of the world to your pocket.

Where we discuss the second, and final, part of our first trip to Sweden, including our last two and half days in Stockholm. We cover highlights, such as the Vasa Museum, and medium lights, such as the ABBA Museum, as well as food, costs, hotels, and public transit. We wrap up with things we'd like to do when we hopefully return in the future. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reinitin/message

In episode 57 of the Podcast for Social Research, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, Rebecca Ariel Porte, Danielle Drori, Mark DeLucas, Lauren K. Wolfe, and Michael Stevenson look back at their 2022 in cultural experiences, from high-brow to middle- to low-: visiting NYC landmarks (for the first time), the New York Philharmonic (and David Geffen Hall's questionable acoustics), the Upanishads, diary-keeping (and destroying), Sybille Bedford (vs. Henry James), Lucy Ives's Life is Everywhere, the Xenoblade Chronicles (an allegory for communism?), Pink Floyd, "low-powered" cultural objects, Station 11, Bernadette Mayer, Stockholm's Vasa Museum (a museum dedicated to failure), Chester the dog,  Annie Ernaux, and autofiction—again, and again, and again. 

Wir springen in dieser Folge ins Schweden des 17. Jahrhunderts. König Gustav II. Adolf hat so seine Probleme mit Kriegen, innerpolitischen Scherereien und stets bedrohten Handelsrouten. Er lässt daher die schwedische Marine reformieren, und als Prunkstück dieser Marine wird ein Schiff gebaut, das alle anderen in den Schatten stellen soll. Wir sprechen in dieser Folge darüber, weshalb dieses Schiff nur für den kürzesten Moment das mächtigste Kriegsschiff der Welt war, es uns heute aber genau deshalb viel über das Schweden des 17. Jahrhunderts erzählen kann. //Literatur - Fred Hocker - "VASA: A Swedish Warship", 2011 - Björn Landström - "The Royal Warship VASA". 1980 - Kelby James Rose - "THE NAVAL ARCHITECTURE OF VASA, A 17TH-CENTURY SWEDISH WARSHIP" - 2014 Das Episodenbild zeigt eine Interpretation der möglichen Bemalung des Heckkastells der VASA (aufgenommen im VASA-Museum zu Stockholm). Und hier die angesprochenen Löffel, dankenswerterweise geschnitzt und geschenkt von Dominik: https://www.geschichte.fm/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/vasaloeffel-scaled.jpg //Aus unserer Werbung Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte: https://linktr.ee/GeschichtenausderGeschichte NEU: Wer unsere Folgen lieber ohne Werbung anhören will, kann das über eine kleine Unterstützung auf Steady oder ein Abo des GeschichteFM-Plus Kanals auf Apple Podcasts tun. Wir freuen uns, wenn ihr den Podcast bei Apple Podcasts rezensiert oder bewertet. Für alle jene, die kein iTunes verwenden, gibt's die Podcastplattform Panoptikum, auch dort könnt ihr uns empfehlen, bewerten aber auch euer ganz eigenes Podcasthörer:innenprofil erstellen. Wir freuen uns auch immer, wenn ihr euren Freundinnen und Freunden, Kolleginnen und Kollegen oder sogar Nachbarinnen und Nachbarn von uns erzählt!

Join us as we travel around the world in 37 minutes with Emelie Cheng Pollard and her daughter Ania. It's an interview of firsts! Our first international interview and our first mother / daughter interview. Emelie is a Canadian who now makes Stockholm, Sweden her home with her family. She is a graphic designer and is currently an art director with the kids department at H&M. We learn what a graphic designer is and what they do!Emelie is interested in all things design-related but also enjoys cooking, photography, travel writing, and being out in nature – but her biggest passion is definitely travelling! We had fun talking with Emelie and Ania in the same interview. Listen to Ania's perspectives on what her Mom's job is, the differences between living in Canada and Sweden and her many travel recommendations! Together, Emelie and Ania share their travel stories which take us all over the world from Canada to Europe, Asia, India, Pakistan, Scandinavia, the Faroe Islands and so much more. We also talk about our favourite museums, amusement parks, travel bucket lists and more. As school starts, join us for a world wide field trip which we hope will inspire your future travel adventures!Connect with Emelie through her website or either of her Instagram accounts. www.emeliechengpollard.com@smallnomads@emeliechengpollardHere are some of the things that came up in our conversation with Emelie and Ania and where you can find them in this episode!3:05 - Havergal College10:43 - Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden20:06 - Cirque du Soleil 20:37 - Faroe Islands, where there are more sheep than people!24:08 - Museum Chat, where we talk about the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology, Denmark's Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and the The Metropolitan Museum of Art27:36 - Greta Thunberg & Brandon Stanton32:40 - Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark Connect with us!kidsconversations@gmail.comTwitter: @Curious_ConvosInstagram: @curious__convos

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcastIf you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends August  27th 2021. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.Show references:www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehengewww.linkedin.com/in/james-rodliff-89224055 James RodliffJames is currently the Operations Manager at Stonehenge, Europe’s most famous prehistoric monument and one of the UK's busiest visitor attractions. He is responsible for overseeing the day to day running of the large site, leading the operations, admissions, volunteering and education teams in delivering a world class visitor experience. He is also involved with English Heritage's brand and training groups. At the end of 2020 James was one of eight individuals chosen as the UK’s ‘unsung heritage champions’, a Heritage Lottery Fund initiative honouring remarkable individuals who have worked tirelessly to keep the UK’s heritage accessible during the pandemic and beyond.Growing up in Cornwall James held a number of roles in tourism and heritage before going to Cardiff where he completed his post-graduate studies in Archaeology. He then spent two years at Lloyds Banking Group where he thrived in training and improving customer service. In 2012 James landed a dream role working for the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth; here he commenced a seven year journey through the installation, launch, relaunch, and rebranding of the multi-award winning Mary Rose Museum.  James loves the great outdoors and, when not at work, can often be found hiking, biking, or jogging the length and breadth of the country (Covid travel rules allowing), often visiting attractions and heritage sites en-route. Transcription:Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue. A podcast for people working in, or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. These chats are fun, informative, and hopefully always interesting. In today's episode I speak with James Rodliff, Operations Manager at Stonehenge, part of English Heritage. We discuss the challenges and positives to come from a changing audience this year. From international to domestic, and how Stonehenge will maintain a blend of physical and virtual events for the future.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Right James, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast today. I'm super-excited to have you on. I feel like we've spoken a lot on social media, but we've never properly had a chat, so this is going to be fun.James Rodliff: I'm really excited. Thanks for inviting me on. I'm a big fan, so I've made it. I've made it onto Skip the Queue, this is amazing.Kelly Molson: I love this. This is like the highlight of my day that people are excited about coming on here. Thank you. Right, well as you know, if you are a big fan, we always start with our icebreaker question. So let's get going. I would like to know what is the greatest, either TV show or film from your childhood?James Rodliff: Ah, lots of options. I'm going to have to go to Goonies, straight up. The Goonies. It just ticks every box, it's amazing. For me, I was really interested in the history and the maps, I'm a nerd, but them finding this treasure. I was also really worried that the treasure got destroyed at the end, you know? I'm the same when I watch Indiana Jones, I love Indiana Jones, but at the same time I'm panicking when they're destroying the temples or this precious or archaeology's being lost. But yeah, no The Goonies is just fantastic.Kelly Molson: Great, great choice. I am a child of the '80s, and those films are a comfort to me. Whenever I'm a bit under the weather, and I have a little diva day, it's always an '80s film that goes on. Something that you've watched a billion times that's just really comforting. That is definitely one for me. Next question, would you rather give up social media, or eat the same dinner for the rest of your life?James Rodliff: That is mean. I love social media. A lot of my friends live all around the world, and it's part of the way how we all work nowadays, and stay in touch with each other. I don't know if you can tell from my physique, I love my food. I could not eat the same ... There are some things I could eat a lot, but I couldn't eat the same meal over and over again. I would ditch the social media, and probably be a healthier person, probably, for it, in the long run. But yes, I would have to go for that.Kelly Molson: What's your favourite meal? If you had to eat the same meal every night, what would it be?James Rodliff: That's so hard, maybe a glorious green Thai curry would probably be the absolute top for me. Yeah, absolutely adore Thai food. I was lucky enough to go out there a few years ago, and the place was amazing, the people were amazing, but the food, oh my god, the food.Kelly Molson: Yeah, lovely. That is a really good choice. It would get a bit boring if it was the same every day though, wouldn't it?James Rodliff: Mm-hmm (affirmative).Kelly Molson: You just, repetitive.James Rodliff: Lose the magic.Kelly Molson: Okay, I might have had a little bit of help with the next question.James Rodliff: Uh-oh.Kelly Molson: You'll probably know who when I ask you. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you at an airport?James Rodliff: Oh no. Yeah, I might know who would be behind this one. So calamity seems to follow me, Kelly, around my life. On one particular time ... So this was the young Paul Griffiths, no doubt, that's helped you here. Where were we going? We were coming back from Norway, I think. We got some funding to go out, we were putting together some work when we worked at the Mary Rose together. We were flying up to Norway, and for some reason when I went through the scanny machine thingy that scans ... They do like the heat temperature and the metal detector, for some reason, can't tell you why, but my lower regions glowed a glorious, radiant orange.James Rodliff: They pulled me in to get proper strip searched by these big Norwegian chaps. Yeah, it was quite the experience. Then, after it was all done and I put my clothes back on and was walking away, realized I'd left my iPad. I had to go back and speak to them again, and say, "I'm so sorry."Kelly Molson: Oh, the horror.James Rodliff: I know, I think they thought I was coming back to get their number, or something. Yeah, that was a moment.Kelly Molson: Wow, that is unexpected, isn't it? You're really not expecting that to happen.James Rodliff: Yeah, thanks Paul for that. Yeah.Kelly Molson: Thank you, Paul. I'm so glad that I asked you. Okay, thank you for answering all those. What's your unpopular opinion?James Rodliff: So this is going to lose me a lot of fans straight off the bat. I think people are going to turn off straight away, but I don't really like Abba. Like I really don't like Abba. I know. I know, right? So everyone's got a band or an artist that they just don't get on with, that's kind of just ... Yeah. For me, it's Abba, and this has landed me in all sorts of bother throughout my life. One time when we were, again, in Scandinavia, in Sweden, and we worked with the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Beautiful museum with a ship. A little bit newer, but more intact than the Mary Rose, an absolutely gorgeous museum. We were being hosted out there whilst we worked, again, on some projects.James Rodliff: They said, "Ah, the Abba Museum's just opened down the road, we should take you." I had to explain that I didn't really like Abba. Honestly, explain to Swedish people you don't like Abba. Their faces. They just couldn't comprehend it. They just could not understand it. But we went anyway. It must have been ... Yes, it was the trip that we took some of our volunteers from the Mary Rose with us. We all went into the Abba Museum, and it's a fabulous museum, they've done an amazing job, but the subject matter was ... I just really, really don't like it. So that was interesting. But fabulous attraction if you're ever in Stockholm you should go and see it, whether you're an Abba fan or not.Kelly Molson: I feel like you're trying to dig yourself out of a big hole there, James. I would just like to state that the views of our guests do not reflect the views of our podcast. [inaudible 00:06:35] tune in. Thank you. I feel like we're going to get some tweets about that.James Rodliff: I'm going to get some hate mail about that.Kelly Molson: Maybe.James Rodliff: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Right, let's get into having a chat about you and Stonehenge because this is exciting. I just want to say that we are recording this, so it's the 5th of March today, which is a day that parents all around the country will be rejoicing, because it is the end of homeschooling, hopefully, for now. Let's keep our fingers crossed.James Rodliff: Hopefully.Kelly Molson: But it is also St Piran's Day.James Rodliff: It is St Piran's Day, yeah.Kelly Molson: It's the national day of Cornwall. We just had a lovely chat about this off air, but I think this is really special for you, isn't it, because this is where you're from?James Rodliff: Absolutely. Yeah, so I was born and raised in Cornwall, and kind of strong Cornish identity. Well, everyone, I think, who was born and grows up there, has it? It's a very special place, and it has very much its own character and history and legends and stories. Actually growing up there had a massive impact on me because it's a very, very touristy economic environment down there anyway. So that was always a big part of living down there, but also surrounded by these amazing standing stones, and ruins and hill forts on windswept moors. There's just this kind of sense of magic and mystery down there.James Rodliff: There's lots of these kinds of special high days and holidays, usually involving food, a fair few drinks, and a bit of dancing, and all sorts of good times. But yeah, that had a really big impact on me growing up. This huge sense of storytelling in Cornwall as well. My friend's laughing because I don't seem to be able to answer a question in a short way, there's always a story, a rambling story to my answers. But I think that's partly growing up in Cornwall, and just the way we explain things and weave things. I think that's had a really big impact on my later career as well.Kelly Molson: Yeah, well this segue ways really nicely into what your background is, and how you got to where you are now. Because you mentioned growing up in Cornwall you were really kind of part of that tourist economy, and experiences that were happening there. Was that the start of it? You always knew that you would kind of work within that industry?James Rodliff: I think so. I mean it's just what I did. It was a few jobs a few decades back now working in busy pub kitchens, or working in summer retail environments. That's what all of us, all my friends did the same. Working on the beaches in shops, or whatever. Or I was working in the caravan park during one summer. That's just what the economy was. Alongside this, like I said, being surrounded by kind of the history and the legends and the stories as well. They kind of fueled a bit of a dual passion in me, I suppose. Which was the facilitation of these stories, and the history and the heritage to people, to explain what these things are, and what they mean.James Rodliff: So that, yeah, I think did have a really big impact on me. Yeah, Cornwall is absolutely chocka with attractions. Lots of people go down there because the place is beautiful, and they want to get a sense of the food, the culture, the history. And lots and lots of different attractions have popped up, as well, to facilitate them, and help them part with their cash as well. Some of these attractions, amazing. A couple, slightly more questionable, but all, in their own ways, amazing, well worth a visit.Kelly Molson: You're now at Stonehenge, but I know that you worked at the Mary Rose previously, with Paul, who was very kind to help me out with some of those questions. Paul has been a previous guest on the podcast as well. But I think you started, was it banking that you actually started your career in?James Rodliff: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That's quite a big change.James Rodliff: It is a bit, yeah. So I decided to study archaeology through to the postgraduate level. I loved finding out more and more and more of these stories beneath our feet, and I just couldn't get enough of it. Graduated with my masters, I worked actually as an archaeologist in the field for a while on a few different digs, as well as balancing various other jobs, whatever came up. Then graduated with my masters, and kind of hoped to swan into a brilliant job in heritage or archaeology, and obviously, that's not necessarily the way the world worked. But an amazing opportunity came up and I went to work for Lloyds Bank. Which was right after the credit crunch, and right coming up to the PPI scandal. It was quite a time to work for banks.James Rodliff: I got involved with kind of customer complaint handling and how you should treat your customers, and how to retain business, and how to help put things right when things do go wrong. That was really, really useful for me. So having that kind of history heritage side, and then being thrown into quite a corporate environment, but one that was in a bit of a crisis, really, and having to find a way out of that was actually really useful. So I did that for a few years. Worked hard, got all the experience I possibly could, but I really ... My heart had to get back into heritage. I knew I had to make a step back.James Rodliff: So started looking around, and a job popped up down in Portsmouth on the south coast, at the Mary Rose, where they were just getting ready to set up the new museum, and it was to join the conservation team to help install the objects. So they were looking for people with experience who had handled objects, and could work on projects. So I applied, it was a pay cut. It was a short contract. It was a massive gamble. My dad was very unsure about it. I was like, "What do you think?" He was like, "I don't know." But we decided to go for it. Moved down to Portsmouth, and yeah, the project was amazing.James Rodliff: I spent a year being able to help install this incredible collection. There's 19,000 objects in the Mary Rose collection, and the museum itself, if anyone hasn't yet gone, must go. It is absolutely phenomenal. They've done such a good job there. 30 years in the planning and it really shows, it is beautiful. So that was amazing.James Rodliff: Then joined the operations team once the installation had done. Worked in different roles. Front of house manager, visitor operations manager. Then I worked as part of the marketing team for a little while. Kind of did everything. Was there for seven years. Which I think in your late 20s early 30s is a long time to be anywhere. Yeah, so I started thinking there are people that do work at the Mary Rose for their entire career, and you can understand why. It is a stunning project. But I knew it was probably getting time for me to move onto a new challenge.James Rodliff: I did really want a challenge as well, something to really sink my teeth into. So I was kind of keeping an eye out, and this job popped up at Stonehenge, where they were looking for an operations manager. You know, you hear of my history there, that just kind of ticked a lot of boxes for me. So again, up sticks, moved up to Salisbury, and joined Stonehenge June 1st, 2019. So straight into the summer, straight into my first Summer Solstice. The Solstice is also my birthday, so that was a nice treat to have 10,000 people celebrating on my birthday.Kelly Molson: How wonderful they all just turned up just for you.James Rodliff: I know, it's fabulous, but that was really lovely. The first summer was a whirlwind. You know, we had dealt with some really busy times at the Mary Rose, but Stonehenge and sites like that, they're a different scale. Everything is just scaled up massively. The visitors come from all around the world, it's just the most incredible place. It was a steep learning curve, but we had our busiest ever summer day during that first summer. The winter was fabulous and we had our busiest winter day as well that year. We were just starting to put in some quite ambitious plans around looking at the admissions process and kind of moving it from what it is, which is a stunning product into making sure that it's a world-class visitor attraction as well. Then of course COVID hit, didn't it?Kelly Molson: Gosh, I mean you had a really big start to your career there, didn't you?James Rodliff: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Straight in into a Summer Solstice-James Rodliff: Straight in.Kelly Molson: ... and then hey, smashed in the face with a pandemic.James Rodliff: Absolutely. I've spent now more time at Stonehenge under the kind of pandemic situation than I did beforehand, which is really strange. So yeah, I feel like a bit of a kind of wartime operations manager, in a way, you know? But it is fabulous, and it means that I've been able to part of this quite dynamic time, which is really interesting.Kelly Molson: In at the deep end with both feet.James Rodliff: Absolutely. Absolutely.Kelly Molson: Couldn't have planned that more perfectly, right? If you can get through last year, you can get through anything, James.James Rodliff: I hope so, yeah.Kelly Molson: So what worked well last year for Stonehenge? Because a huge change, I guess you were closed for a certain amount of time, but then outdoor attractions were allowed to then start to reopen and stuff. What went well, what didn't go well?James Rodliff: Yeah, so I mean it was ... What a year it was, right? I mean for everyone in the sector it was incredibly tough. What worked well? So we actually received some of the best feedback we have received in recent times during last year. Which is, I think, outstanding. That kind of came about because we really took, well not a step back, we took a lot of steps back to look at the entire visitor journey. It's cliché, visitor journey, but really, really did kind of think about every single touchpoint with our visitors, with our members, with our supporting staff, volunteers, how we could make it work. When were coming to reopen the site and not just our site, but there's ... Well, English Heritage looks after 400 sites, 130 sites with staff. How are we going to reopen the portfolio and make it work?James Rodliff: So we looked at what people expectations would be around COVID, and what their priorities would be once we could reopen, and what they would actually want to get from the site. So we took that, we took, like I said, every single step of the journey, every touchpoint, and we just worked our way through it. Everyone kind of honed in on this single mission to make this the best that it could be in the circumstances. Also to kind of mitigate against any times, if we did have to step back and say there's a bit of the experience there that you're not going to be able to access in the same way, what could we do otherwise then?James Rodliff: So that worked really, really well, and that process all the way through, pre-booking, booking, admissions, arrival, the whole day. We looked at what we had. We've got, as you said, we're an outdoor attraction, we've got outdoor space. What did people want after being locked in for so long? They wanted to get outdoors, and spread out, and breathe, and a bit of normality. So we started looking at what could we do a bit different. So let's tell people to come and bring a picnic, have a picnic in the monument field. What a lovely thing to do and Stonehenge right there.James Rodliff: Come and walk the landscape, instead of ... We have our shuttle buses. Now if people are in a bit more of a hurry, or they don't fancy the walk, or whatever, we have the buses, and we kept them going as well, especially for those who couldn't or didn't want to walk. But if you can walk, walk. Spread-out, enjoy yourselves. People came, they spent the day, and they really, really had a great time. Alongside that, we had lots of projects working on how we could better engage with people at home, different formats that we could use, tying in with education platforms, and all the other needs that people had as well.James Rodliff: It worked. It really worked. What was amazing is that all this planning, all this kind of forethought into the operations, people noticed. You look on TripAdvisor and people were noticing the operations and they're commenting on the ... People don't normally do that, you know? "They really thought about where to put the barriers, and how people stand." People just don't normally say that. So that was outstanding, and it really felt good.James Rodliff: The other thing that worked really well was our staff. They have just been outstanding. Absolutely outstanding, and I just can't thank them enough. All the way through this process they've been practical and intuitive and supportive, and they've just wanted to make it work. They love the place. They really, really love the place, and you can see that in how they approach everything. The feedback from visitors, alongside the operational stuff, has been about the staff. "I arrived, I was warmly greeted. I was made to feel safe and secure. Like they've really thought about everything." That was really, really magic as well.James Rodliff: Another thing is our VIP experience. We have stone circle experiences where we can host a smaller number of people outside of the normal opening times, where you can actually go inside, up close to the stones. Normally this is often quite heavily in demand from international audiences, and larger tour companies. But we were able to offer this out to a domestic market. So if you can't go on holiday, why not come inside the Stonehenge stone circle? That was amazing. The feedback from that from domestic audience was fantastic. Really, really impressive.James Rodliff: I also am a big fan of our hand sanitiser. I think it smells delightful, but it smells a bit like tequila. Was it you or Carly when-Kelly Molson: Oh.James Rodliff: Is it you? Okay.Kelly Molson: Carly loves tequila, but me, I can't even think about it.James Rodliff: Carly would have a lovely old time, but you'd have to bring your own. But no, slight tequila whiff at night, that I think is lovely as well. But not the entire ... That coming together, we were just chuffed to bits to see, in the face of all this adversity, that actually we delivered something that we were really proud of.Kelly Molson: Yeah, it's so interesting, isn't it? The more people that I speak to in the sector, the more this comes through, is that the things that were really important to visitors that were coming is that they were welcomed. It still felt like a really lovely, warm experience for them, aside from the fact that there were extra security processes in place, and barriers and things. It still felt like a great time for them to come. It's the team that makes that. It's the front-of-house team, it's the people that care about the place, that care about the people's experience that makes that happen.Kelly Molson: Did you find that, because you mentioned about people kind of like walking to the stones and people bringing picnics and things. Did you find that people stayed longer, and had a kind of a longer experience there then they normally would?James Rodliff: Definitely, yeah.Kelly Molson: So in a way, less people actually better experience for the people that did come.James Rodliff: Yeah, absolutely. We encouraged it really, because although we had our caps and we were trying to get that balance right of safety limits in terms of ... Because obviously we have got space, but there are ... Our facilities, they are big, but they still need to be very mindful in terms of the number of people coming through in the hour slots. So we were very, very cautious about that. But yeah, we encouraged it. Come, spend the day, bring a picnic. Really have a wonderful day. I think the domestic audiences if they're going out they're not necessarily doing like you do on holiday, you're quite happy to do two or three things in a day, quick, go, take your photos, off you go again.James Rodliff: If you're going somewhere domestically and you're going to be parting with your hard-earned cash, then you want to get the most out of it. So that was fabulous. Actually, some of the things we tweaked helped facilitate that. So as we said, the picnics in the monument field. The landscape walks. We have these beautiful replica neolithic houses on the site, which have been made by our volunteers, absolutely gorgeous. They're basically experimental archaeology, based on houses that were excavated nearby on the landscape. They're phenomenally interesting, and some of them actually have all kind of neolithic replica artefacts in, and a volunteer will sit in there, and they can light a fire, and you can come in and hear about it, and it's just incredible.James Rodliff: Couldn't do that in COVID. So what we did we brought that outside into the middle of the village. Actually made it kind of more approachable and accessible in some ways. That was a huge success, and people were sitting there, and really engaging. So that really helped. Actually some of these things we put in, we thought this is, in some ways, arguably better. So I think there's some real lessons there for us to take away as well.Kelly Molson: So that's interesting because this brings me to what this year looks like. So obviously you've got ... You mentioned you'd have quite a predominantly international audience, and 2021, let's face it, we have no idea when people are going to be flying in from anywhere. So your audience goes back to predominantly domestic. What challenges does that throw up for you? Do you carry on doing the things that you did last year? Or are there more things that you've got to adapt and change for this year?James Rodliff: Well you know, it's undeniably going to be a massive challenge. The last year has been a huge challenge for our sector, us as a charity we rely on ticket income, as so many other organisations do. Not having that international audience is undeniably going to have a big impact on that. We've had to delay things like some of our conservation projects and maintenance projects because we just don't have the ticket income coming in. That will be a further symptom of not having necessarily as many international guests coming in.James Rodliff: Yeah, the majority of our visitors each year are international. So what are we going to do about that? So we know what worked last year, and we took a lot of lessons from that. I think we are well prepared to do a comparable, if not better offer, from the things that we learnt last year for our domestic audiences, which is exciting. We have got infrastructure onsite that is dedicated to coach groups and international audiences that isn't going to be used by them, so how can we better use that to help spread people out, and make it a more comfortable and better experience for them as well.James Rodliff: But you're right, we have to think about car parks, and what happens if the car park starts to fill up because people aren't coming on coaches. The changes in dwell time, and what that will do. The other parts of our offer, our catering and retail, is that as relevant when you're looking after this big domestic audience, as it was in this international one?James Rodliff: But it does give us some real positives as well. The stay-cation market should be strong. In fact, some of the English Heritage sites had one of their best-ever years last year, because especially in the west, people were looking around, thinking okay, we can't go to Magaluf, we can't go to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, we've got this amazing castle three miles away, we've never been there. Let's go and have a day. What a lovely thing.James Rodliff: You know, some of our sites had an amazing year last year, and I think they will again, have a strong year as well. But other sites will have more challenges. Ones that are more indoors will struggle. Those who rely heavily on international tourism, like us, will have those issues. But it's going to push us to be more inventive in problem-solving. Come up with new ways of making sure the offer really is good. It's things like our special, our stone circle experience tours, things like that, again, I think we've got a great season with that lined up, and a whole new audience to really speak to there as well.Kelly Molson: It's amazing, isn't it? You're talking through about how there's so many things to think about when you're in an operation. You mentioned about the car park in there, if lots of people aren't coming on one coach, and then loads of people are coming in all individual cars, then that changes that completely. It blows my mind to think about how you even start to plan all of this out. You mentioned the catering, so does your catering offer then have to change to if people are going to come for the day, and they're going to stay for longer, is your catering offering hampers, so they can have the picnic?Kelly Molson: Then that shifts in that sense. Whereas, if they're coming on a tour bus, that might have been they're just going to grab a quick sandwich or a scone or something to eat while they're looking at stuff, and then they're off again. There's so much to think about. How do you even start to plan this? It's such an epic task.James Rodliff: It is, and you know, talking about catering, are people coming for two meals now? And what does that look like? Think about all those different things. Certain retail products, are they going to be right for the different audiences? Yeah, I mean luckily we've got just an amazing team. I've got some amazing, amazing colleagues, and so we've been putting a lot of thought into this. You know, finally, it's what a week it's been. We got our dates last week, which obviously kind of paves forward a bit of a roadmap for the coming weeks, months and hoping to get open asap in a safe way.James Rodliff: But it also means that right now there are some deadlines, we really need to get planning. But also we didn't necessarily know what we were opening into. So when we do open, I won't be able to open our exhibition at first, you know, indoor interpretation spaces. So that's going to be a challenge. So how do we offset that and make sure that is as good as it can be? What is quite exciting is that it has actually fast forwarded some other measures. So our new audio offer is going to be ready for when we reopen, which is brilliant. We've been able to crack on, our new café is going to be open for when we reopen. So there are lots of new and exciting things already in the bag, which is really good.Kelly Molson: That's great as well because I guess that kind of engages with people that have already been before, that live locally too. So there's something new for them to come and see. There's something new for them to experience. Which means you're kind of engaging with them and drawing them back. So it's not just kind of a one-time visit. I want to ask about the venue, and if you need to adapt it in any way for different audiences? Not just kind of international to domestic, but potentially less attentive audiences.Kelly Molson: So this was a question that Mark Ellis sent in from the National Memorial Arboretum. He's kind of asking around if your audience changes to maybe kind of like gen Zed, I don't really like these acronyms, they drive me mad. But a younger generation have maybe a slightly ... They're slightly less attentive. Are there new things that you're thinking about that you're going to need to implement to engage with them?James Rodliff: That's a very interesting question. Do you know what's funny? Thinking back 10 years or so, and this same question was to replace gen Zed with the word millennial and it was the same question then. As an older millennial, I was there thinking I love museums, I don't know why they're worried that I'm going to go, and I know lots of people like me that really like going to these places. You're right, segmentation is super useful, and super un-useful at the same time. So I think doing it by age groups is a slightly dangerous route to go down because lots of different age groups act in different ways.James Rodliff: I see it on site. We see people from one to 100, and some of them will be really attentive and interested, and some won't be. That doesn't necessarily depend on the age group. I think perhaps looking at are these people experience seekers? If that's what they want, if they want to come and make memories, then how do we best facilitate that? We have the benefit of having ... We've got Stonehenge. It's one of a kind, it's very authentic, it's very amazing. When you're there, you've stood in that field looking at it, you cannot help be mesmerised. That is brilliant. No amount of AR, VR, crazy different ways of technologically adding to that will be able to match the magnificence of the actual monument itself.James Rodliff: That being said, I think there are lots of different ways that we can tell stories, and that we should always be pushing ourselves to ... Just because we've done something a certain way for a long time, doesn't mean we should keep doing it that way. I think we should always be keeping an eye on whatever tools we can use in our arsenal to make that best possible experience it can be for our guests. Some of that I think is giving space to people to explore it in their own way, and not being overly prescriptive, and this is the way you should experience it. This is the only way you'll get the story is by listening to this guide, or standing at that point, or following that exact route.James Rodliff: Give people the space to do it. Now some people want to be led. They want to know, "I'm scared of missing something if I don't follow the exact route." Other people they want to just go and do it in their own way. They might want to stand in the field and catch Pokemon or something. I don't know. There are different ways that people want to enjoy that environment. I think the other thing is talking about younger generations is certainly that the young generation now, they are more into the outdoors and nature and fitness-Kelly Molson: Absolutely.James Rodliff: ... and healthy and wellbeing. I was sat on the couch in the Chelsea eating pork pies and cans of Coke as a young person. These young people they're out there, they run for fun. This is something I've discovered much later, but different things are important to them. So again, us, we have a lot of outdoor space, this is brilliant for us. But I think other places should think about that, what is important to these audiences. Not just kind of changing the offer to match them, but looking at what you already have, and matching that to the need. There are some stuff, talking about making memories, we are looking at is there some cool places we can suggest that are the ultimate selfie spots, you know?Kelly Molson: Yeah.James Rodliff: Silly things like the shot that everyone wants, that great bit that people want to share on social media with their friends. Yeah, so bits like that.Kelly Molson: But that's great. So that engages with them in something that they love to do, but also it's beneficial for the experience. They share that content, it's user-generated content, it gets shared across their social media channels, it all helps to promote. I am a big fan of museums introducing kind of Instagram-able areas because I think it's just an incredible way to be able to promote and engage with that different audience. That's what they want to do. They want to capture that perfect moment as well.Kelly Molson: I want to talk about kind of virtual stuff as well. So I know that obviously Summer Solstice you did some virtual elements around that last year. What have you got planned for this year? So what events have you got planned that might be virtual? And what might always stay virtual, or go back to physical? Is there plans to kind of keep some of those things hand-in-hand with the real-life experience?James Rodliff: It's a good point. We've been dabbling with how do we share the Solstice with not just the people that can make it to the site, but how can we do that. Like you said, the Solstice last year where we weren't able to ... Sadly weren't able to host our managed open access to the stones, we had an empty field, which is a very unusual thing on a Solstice, it's probably been a very long time since that happened. But we were able then to share that experience with the world. People from all around the world tuned in to see it. Huge audience of people. Both the Summer and the Winter Solstice.James Rodliff: People found it really quite something. Actually, the winter one I was working in the evening, so we still have a few people onsite just checking and making sure everything's okay. I worked the evening slot, but not the morning. So I woke up quite early at home thinking I hope everything's okay, and I kind of tuned into the livestream, and I was actually just lying in bed, watching the sunrise over the stones. It was so beautiful, so lovely. That has been a real success. Definitely we'd love to do some more of that to share that for people that can't get here. Especially this year, even if domestic audiences might be able to travel, international audiences might not, and so you know, we know it's a really important thing to people. So more of that, yes. More of that, absolutely.James Rodliff: We've got our skyscape camera as well. I don't know if you've seen that. Which is there's a camera up at the stones basically. Which, whenever you want to, at any time of day, you can go onto the site, and you can see what the sky is doing at Stonehenge. You can click on different filters, so you can see where the stars are moving, where the sun's moving, everything. Which is really lovely. That's here to stay, that's really lovely.James Rodliff: We've got some new projects that are kind of launching this year, which may well fuel future adventures as well. But we've got Songs of England, which is just coming out, which is an English Heritage wide project, working with amazing folk singers to bring English folk songs to the sites. The amazing sites that we have that tell England's history, which is just fabulous. That's really, really lovely. We do have other stuff, but I'm not allowed to talk about them, to come. So keep an eye on the website and our social media channels. But there are other things that we blended, right?James Rodliff: So when we talked earlier, Kelly, about if there's things on site that you are unable to experience firsthand, is there any other way of getting some of that experience? So we had our agile interpretation. I love this phrase, agile interpretation, which is kind of the brainchild of some of our very brilliant visceral experience and learning and interpretation colleagues who start producing things. Okay, so for us, our houses, I said you couldn't go inside the houses and have that experience. Okay, the volunteers are outside, and they're showing you things and engaging in that way, but how can you just close that gap between what we did have, pre-COVID, and what we've got now?James Rodliff: So we've got QR codes. It's pretty much a simple post that says, "Want to see what it's like? Scan this QR code." Then it pops up on your phone and you're in the house, and you can see the fire's going, and you're inside. Just closing that gap. That agile interpretation, it's quick, it's relatively cheap, and it just works. It doesn't have to be perfect. I think there are lots of places that could look at that and say, "It's such a shame we can't do this part of our experience." What can you do then to close that gap in? That blend of kind of digital and physical I think is going to be really important as we go forward.Kelly Molson: Yeah, I love that. I love the way that you've described it as a blend, because I think that's exactly what it should be. It's exactly what people are expecting things to be now. It's really weird that even me that works in a kind of digital world, it's never been my first ... You know, I'll go and look at a website of an attraction that I want to go and visit. But I wouldn't engage with the website as much, because I knew that I was going to go to the physical place. But now, I'll go to the website and I'll look at everything that I possibly can, just to try and get that kind of sense of experience of what it's going to be like.Kelly Molson: I can remember a month or so ago you've got like a ... You can click on the stones, and it tells you what each of the stones are called, and where they came from, and information about them. I spent a good hour kind of clicking through and looking at it. You could kind of change things around. It felt quite immersive. It was quite a simple thing, but it kind of gave me a sense of yeah, I really need to be there now. It sort of built that excitement. I think that's what's important about having these virtual experiences is it builds the excitement about going. Actually that kind of anticipation, that's what you want in people. You want them to be super excited when they come.Kelly Molson: I think that the only way to really do that is to continue doing these things that are digital, that you can share with anyone and everyone around the world.James Rodliff: Yeah, you're absolutely right. We were talking earlier on about that kind of sense of welcome when you arrive. People should be excited about coming to our site still, even reopening into social distancing, or opening in social distancing, we still need to make sure that people are excited. These are magic days that we work in these environments where we're bringing people to have amazing experiences, and they should be excited to have those.Kelly Molson: I guess this question is probably something that you've probably done already, because you were able to open last year, to a certain extent. But what more can you put in place so that your front of line staff feel really safe and secure about what's happening? Because they're the first people that interact with the guests that are coming, so essentially they're kind of frontline, there's an element of risk there for them, right? How do you make them feel comfortable? Is there any more that you're going to have to think about this year, potentially, with a new kind of COVID strands?James Rodliff: Yeah, it's a great point. Yeah, you said staff are that first point of contact, so if staff do feel nervous, they do feel unsafe, or they do feel worried, that's going to come across. So that's got to be the top priority. For us, that was always at the top of our priority list was making sure the staff are safe, that they feel safe, and that they understand everything that's happening so that they are an active part of the whole process. That has been a thread that we've pulled all the way through. So what we did, for example, when we opened after the first lockdown, we've been opened and closed a few times now.James Rodliff: After the first lockdown what we did was we put all our plans into place. The few of us that weren't furloughed we'd spent a long, long time coming up with these very clever plans, we thought. When we got all the team back about a week before we opened up, and we talked them through it. I led the team around, socially distanced, led the team around the site and said, "This is what I'm planning, or this is what we're planning, and these are the elements of the site we want to tweak. This is what we're thinking. You guys are the experts, you're on the ground, you deal with this every day. You tell me, what have I forgotten? What could we do better?" There was brilliant feedback.James Rodliff: They came and they shared, and they were very happy to come up with solutions to other problems, or just highlight things that, "I don't know what the solution is here, but this is something we're going to have to watch." Then what we did, when we did go round, we tweaked and we made things better for them. Made them an active part of that process. When we did open then the first thing, as soon as we closed on that first day we all gathered around, socially distanced, and said what went really well today? What worked? What parts of these very clever plans that have taken us ages to draw up actually worked? And what didn't work? What could we do better? What could we tweak?James Rodliff: We did that every day for the first week or so. We tweaked and changed, and they really felt part of that process. They felt listened to, and they felt a lot better. It doesn't take away all the nerves. All of us working in a pandemic, just living through a pandemic, it's exhausting and it's terrifying. So you can't take away everything. But what we have done is work very hard to make sure it's the absolute best it can be.James Rodliff: We're lucky we've got some amazing people that work for English Heritage. I have to shout out to Alex Page who's our Head of Safety. The man deserves a knighthood after this year. He has been an absolute national treasure. We had to interpret a lot very quickly, and turn it into plans on the ground. Alex and his team have just been phenomenal in supporting all the site staff in being able to make that happen. Then being infinitely calm and patient with us while we asked lots and lots of questions as well. So we've been lucky there. But you know, everything from making sure that the staff rooms are safe. So we weren't able to do in-classroom learning, so we had that resource. So we took that classroom, the classroom's now a welfare room. Everyone's spread out.James Rodliff: But the priority there was the staff need, above the education, if the staff aren't safe, aren't happy, aren't okay then we can't open. But it also throws up other challenges. Your face-to-face briefings that we would like to do a lot of and get that feedback, the more you have, the more you incrementally slowly creep up that risk factor. What about all the lovely appreciations and the hand clapping, and the hugging, and the well done? Leaving parties, Kelly. We've had people that have retired during this year that have been at Stonehenge for years, and we'd normally party, we'd at least gather around and celebrate, and share. Not having that has been really tough.James Rodliff: So there's some things you can offset. So our briefings we've moved them onto the radios where we can, and try and get, again, that balance, that blend of the physical and the digital, or other means. But yeah, it has been difficult. A lot of communication, in terms of explaining why we're doing stuff as we're doing it, all the way through every week, more internal information comes out explaining, not just what's happening, but why it's happening. If you need anything, if you need any support, where to find it. If you have any questions, where to ask those as well.James Rodliff: There's been a lot of other, because everyone in our sector's been in this same position. So there's been a lot of good sector collaboration around this. I have to give Rachel a shout-out. Rachel Mackay with the Recovery Room website. She's been a good friend throughout this, and she's produced a lot of resources if people haven't found it yet, go onto the Recovery Room because there's a lot of information about supporting front of house teams there as well.Kelly Molson: Rachel has been absolutely fabulous. So Rachel was a previous guest on the podcast actually. What we will do is we'll pop the link to her website in the show notes for this show as well, because it is something, if you are planning your reopening processes now, the resource that is on that blog is pretty phenomenal, isn't it? I know she's been doing some consulting with other organisations as well. So yeah, that's really lovely to see.Kelly Molson: I think, again, that's a huge positive that's come out of this, is that sector collaboration. But also how adaptable everybody's been. The flexibility that people have had to have shown in the roles that they have. And how quickly things have changed, in terms of what you can and can't do, but also being given a week's notice that you can reopen again, and how that impacts people. It's been phenomenal. What's been really lovely to hear is how you've engaged with your team, and you've made them part of that process. It hasn't been we've made the decision, and this is how we're doing things. It's how is this going to work? This is what we think, but like you said, you're the experts, help us.Kelly Molson: I guess that is part of your culture now already, but if it isn't, how do you embed that for the rest of the year, and for future?James Rodliff: Yeah, it's really important that all of us make sure we don't lose some of this. Some of the positive legacy of COVID, if I can phrase it like that. Some of the things that have changed maybe for the better. Or ways of working that have improved, that we don't lose that, if and when they do start sliding back into the normality of some description, we don't lose some of that really positive stuff. That we make sure we do keep collaborating with our colleagues, and use our teams who are the experts on the ground, in how to look after guests, and where pinch points are, and what's the same question that they get asked 732 times a week. How we use that feedback and make things better, and quickly. Not just collate it and put it into a chart, and then sometime in a year's time we might get around to it. But be agile, and like you said, get on with things and make it happen.James Rodliff: So there are some things, like Zoom, love it or hate it, what a way it's transformed the way we work. You can now gather all your experts together at short notice onto a Zoom, be sharing slides. Everyone's kind of tech-savvy, not that people necessarily weren't tech, and to be comfortable and confident to be able to do it, and just make it happen. That's become part of the way we work now. So that will speed things up, and hopefully lower travel costs, and have all sorts of positive environmental things as well.James Rodliff: I do get a bit Zoomed out sometimes, I don't know about you, but especially if you're using it for professional, and then for socialising as well, it can get a bit much. But yeah, it's hugely facilitated this quick-acting, these quick discussions. You can go away, do work, come back, discuss it. That flexibility has been really useful. You said about the creativity from the teams in solving these problems, that's a positive thing that we need to keep moving, and keep that discussion alive as we go forward. And the agility. You said that a week's notice, well sometimes you think back, we'd have Boris on the telly on a Sunday night with things that need to be actioned Monday morning.Kelly Molson: Yes, crazy.James Rodliff: Yeah, I mean it is crazy.Kelly Molson: It's crazy.James Rodliff: Absolutely crazy. So we at Stonehenge, Stonehenge being very outdoors and very open to everything, we have really good kind of cascades and emergency comms protocols anyway. Perhaps not everyone had that, and this has highlighted actually sometimes you do need that. You know, make sure that you can be as agile, and don't lose that again. Just don't get into a position where you think, "Oh, it's okay, the pandemic's over, nothing worse could happen now, could it?" There's some lessons I've taken away as well, Kelly, around the planning elements for it, that even with our best business continuity plans, I don't think we included things as ... We didn't appreciate things such as the emotional impact of a pandemic.James Rodliff: So we had a plan for a pandemic. We had one. What would happen if we had a ... Well, we'd keep going, when people feel off sick then the managers would come ... You know, it's like picking up the rifles at the Battle of Stalingrad, someone else would pick up the mantle and you keep charging forward, and you make it the best it can be. But actually what's the emotional impact there? How would people feel about coming to work? That wasn't in our business continuity planning. So things like that are important.James Rodliff: Things around contracts that you sign based on the assumption or presumption that you'll always have X many thousand visitors coming. Why would you close for six months, or a year, or whatever? So thinking about supply chains and contracts, and that flexibility as well, I think is really important.Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. It's been utterly phenomenal, hasn't it? I think what you were saying about that emotional aspect, I don't think any of us realized quite how significant this would be on our own mental health. I think that when the pandemic started I can remember sitting back and thinking, "Whoa, okay, so I need to work out ... Okay, so what projects have I got on that I think might not be happening now?" You know, what have I got that was coming up next month that is now not going to happen? So how do I work out that? What projects are still going to continue? How do the team feel? How do I get them set up working from home? How does this all happen?Kelly Molson: It was more of kind of the logistical operation side of the physical stuff that I thought about. Then you started to sit back and go, actually people are really scared, and I'm a bit scared. I don't want to leave my house. I don't want to do these things. All right, we weren't allowed to leave our house, but you know, the emotional side was a secondary thought, and a secondary response. I guess that's something that I want to take forward, and not be that. I want to think about the emotional side before the logistics next time. I think that's really, really important. It's definitely still happening now.Kelly Molson: I really sympathise with the people that you said, you know, we had leaving parties for people, and then we never got to hug them, and we never got to say goodbye. We've had team members leave and their last kind of thing that they do is click the Zoom button to leave the meeting. It's like-James Rodliff: Yeah, it's just not the same.Kelly Molson: ... that's not how it's supposed to end.James Rodliff: No.Kelly Molson: It's sad.James Rodliff: We are planning, when we can, to have a gathering. So everyone who's not had that benefit of a proper thank you and a send-off, to get everyone back together. Which it'll be a glorious sunny day, and it's going to be marvellous, and I will have a cider or two.Kelly Molson: Definitely, and maybe a pasty as well.James Rodliff: Maybe.Kelly Molson: I need to talk to you, we're coming to the end of the podcast, and I've got two more quick questions for you. I really need to ask you about the fact that your face was superimposed onto the stones at some point last year. Tell us about that.James Rodliff: It was, yeah.Kelly Molson: What an experience.James Rodliff: It was an experience, yeah. So going back a couple of years, it's not the first time my face has been projected large onto something, and it happened at the Mary Rose because I accidentally became the face of the advertising campaign for the reopening of the museum, dressed as Henry VIII. This time I wasn't dressed in Tudor outfit, and I didn't have to wear a codpiece, so that was a relief, first of all.Kelly Molson: Can I just say that I can remember seeing those posters on the tubes before I even knew you. Then when I saw them on your Twitter I was like, "Oh yeah, those were everywhere."James Rodliff: Yeah, that was a strange time. Yeah, this was different, like I said, less costume. But this was really touching actually. It was all about saying thank you to some of the people who had managed to continue the amazing work of different charities supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. That actually people still playing the lottery, still having a massive effect because the support that they are giving to the Lottery Fund was able to keep these places going. Like our heritage sites, like our amazing charities, and like lots of cultural institutions that were looking after people who were quite marginalised, and during the pandemic, even more so.James Rodliff: It was lovely, I was in mighty company, projected onto those stones. They've never been dedicated like that before to individuals. Really I was kind of representing all the good work that the team had done, that everyone was doing on our side. Really, I feel probably I was the face of our operational teams around the whole country that were working to keep the sites going. Who have been turning up every day through the pandemic, and still traveling, still working, to look after our important places that needed looking after. So yeah, no it was unbelievable to see it. Really did bring a tear to the eye to see, it looked amazing. It was very special.Kelly Molson: Yeah, incredible thing to be part of for last year. Really incredible. One quick question, and then the final question, so Mark Ellis wants to know have you visited the National Memorial Arboretum? It's brilliant.James Rodliff: You know, it's on my list. It's on my very long list that has grown throughout the pandemic, all these wonderful places I want to go to. You know, when you scroll through places, and you're like, I must go there, I must go there. So the list is long now. So as soon as we're out of this, I'm up there Mark, I promise.Kelly Molson: Mark, it's on my list as well. We'll be there. Maybe we'll do a group outing. We could organise a Skip the Queue outing.James Rodliff: It's been lovely. That would be nice.Kelly Molson: Oh gosh, you've just given me so many ideas for ... All right, Mark, thank you for your questions, they've sparked good ideas today. We're at the end of the podcast, I always ask our guests to recommend a book. So either a book that you just really love, or a book that's kind of helped shape your career in some way. What have you got to share with us?James Rodliff: So I really had to think about this. So I don't do a lot of reading of technical books that I probably should do. One of the few that I've read that really amazing history experience was, as Paul mentioned in his actually, was about the Disney Making Magic book, which is absolutely fantastic. Heartily recommend that. My favourite book is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which of course-Kelly Molson: Great book, yes.James Rodliff: Superb, and has the words "don't panic" of course blazoned, which for this year is brilliant. But in thinking about what I'd go for this time, I've gone for something a little bit different. We did talk about how tricky this year has been, and we talked about mental health, and I myself have found periods of this year incredibly difficult. Very, very, very tough, and I have had to really slow down and think about how my ... You've put so much effort into being the superhero and trying to do the best you can in whatever ... You know, you throw your energy into something. You don't have the ability to recharge your batteries in the same way. Pandemic's taken away so much. Everything that makes us human. You're scared to go near people in the street, how awful is that?James Rodliff: So thinking about other ways you can try and recharge those batteries. So for me, I've been reading, I've been walking the dog, I've been drinking too much beer. I've been running, I've been learning to play guitar. I've been doing all sorts, and some of that's around mindfulness and meditation, and thinking about the things that I'm grateful for, and the things that do make me happy. So long answer told you, I can't give a short answer, Kelly, ever.Kelly Molson: I love this, it makes for a great guest.James Rodliff: I told you. So I'm going for Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness, as my book. Which has been-Kelly Molson: Fabulous.James Rodliff: ... an amazing read. So he wrote it in the early part of the pandemic, actually, when he was at home, locked in. He was kind of recounting stories, in his amazing way that he tells stories, about times and places and things that he ... You know, reflecting on happiness, what makes him happy. A lot of it is actually amazing stuff that we should be thinking about in terms of our attractions as we reopen and run our attractions. What people love. Nature, art, laughing, a sense of belonging, the unexpected and surprises. These lovely things that should be part of our attractions because they are places that are meant to make people happy. All of our places.James Rodliff: So yeah, Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness is my pick.Kelly Molson: That is such a perfect book. I haven't read this book, but it sounds like one for me. So as ever, if you'd like to win a copy of this book, if you head over to our Twitter account, Skip the Queue, and if you retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want James's book." Then you will be in with a chance of winning your own copy of it. James, it's been such a pleasure to have you on today. Thank you so much.James Rodliff: Thank you, Kelly, I'm off for a pasty. I'll see you again.Kelly Molson: Enjoy.James Rodliff: Take care.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five-star review. It really helps others find us. Remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.

The Vasa Museum has one million visitors a year and it's not surprising. It's magnificent.  If you've not heard of it before, the Vasa Museum is home to the very well preserved remains of a Swedish warship that sank almost 400 years ago. You can find more info on the official website here: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en Today's guest was Maria Dalhed Persson who has worked at the museum for 28 years across many different roles. You can see loads more pictures and videos from my visit on The Earful Sweden's Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/theearfulsweden If you enjoy this show, tell your friends and maybe leave a review ;)

Austin Senseman is a former P3 team member who went on to start his own business, Conserv, an internet of things startup company in the conservation space. Conserv does important work to help preserve historical artifacts in museums and private collections by using sensors and analytics. We talk about historical artifacts and the data that is used in preserving them, the infamous P3 Interview Of Death, dealing with Investors, business ethics and so much more. Episode Timeline: 1:45 - Meeting Austin, a Talking Heads reference, and Austin nearly reveals his secret password! 5:15 - Sports-team allegiance is important, especially in the South 7:20 - Austin's company, Conserv, won a huge pitch competition this week and Austin explains what Conserve does 9:00 - Sensors and IoT devices that Conserv uses, and how to handle the challenge of networking and collecting the massive amount data from these things 14:00 - To buy something or to build something, what's a better path? The Black Market, and the hilarious story of The Backstroke Of The West 18:15 - Dealing with Investors in the startup space 20:40 - The analytics of Conserv, and how the physical world enters the equation 27:00 - Artifact care standards, how precise conditions must be to preserve these historical treasures, and the data that's behind it 33:00 - Rob mentions the Vasa Museum and a running joke is born! 37:10 - The importance of preserving historical artifacts 46:00 - Rob asks Austin his least favorite question. What other applications can this tech be used for? 51:00 - The grossness of the predatory extraction business model 59:10 - The infamous P3 Interview Of Death, and how it factors into how P3 perfected remote hiring 1:12:35 - It's not personal, it's just business...is just garbage and the amusing applicant story 1:16:30 - How Conserv used Power BI embedded, and the challenges he had to overcome with using it 1:29:00 - Celebrating as a business owner, and Custom Emojis in our Slack channel

In 1628, at the height of Sweden’s military expansion, the Swedish navy built a new flagship, the Vasa. At the time it was the most heavily armed ship in the world. But two hours into its maiden voyage, it sank in Stockholm's harbour. It remained there for more than three hundred years, until its discovery in 1961. Tim Mansel hears from the former Swedish naval officer, Bertil Daggfeldt, about the day that the warship was recovered in near-perfect condition. Image: The Vasa after its recovery (The Vasa Museum)

In 1628, at the height of Sweden’s military expansion, the Swedish Navy built a new flagship, the Vasa. At the time it was the most heavily armed ship in the world. But 2 hours into its maiden voyage, it sank in Stockholm's harbour. It remained there for more than three hundred years, until its discovery in 1961. Tim Mansel hears from the former Swedish naval officer, Bertil Daggfeldt, about the day that the warship was recovered in near-perfect condition. Image: The Vasa after its recovery (The Vasa Museum)

The Learning Geeks sit around the campfire to tell the classic tale of the Scandinavian warship – the Vasa – and why an almost 400-year-old ship has a valuable lesson to be learned. Later, Bob brings the funeral music back and lays to rest a classic learning activity that too often results with head scratching. Check us out at https://www.learninggeekspod.com/. Check out the Vasa Museum - https://www.vasamuseet.se/en Thoughts and views are our own. Audio Credit: "Seagulls Stop it Now" by Bad Lip Reading. Check them out at https://www.youtube.com/user/BadLipReading

This is a bonus edition of Software Defined Talk. Make sure to subscribe to Software Defined Interviews (http://www.softwaredefinedinterviews.com/) for more conversations like this one. Dustin Kirkland joins us to discuss Linux, Cloud Computing and making wine. We talk about Dustin’s career journey from entry-level developer to Google Product Manager. He shares his experience working at IBM, Canonical and now Google. Plus, he tells the story of how working on his own open source project helped him land a job at startup. Links: * Dustin’s Blog (http://blog.dustinkirkland.com) * Dustin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DustinKirkland) * Dustin’s presentation at Google Next (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rkYV4Chfw&feature=youtu.be) * Run-one (http://launchpad.net/run-one) * Vasa Museum (https://www.vasamuseet.se/en) Special Guest: Dustin Kirkland.

Dustin Kirkland joins us to discuss Linux, Cloud Computing and making wine. We talk about Dustin's career journey from entry-level developer to Google Product Manager. He shares his experience working at IBM, Canonical and now Google. Plus, he tells the story of how working on his own open source project helped him land a job at startup. Links: * Dustin's Blog (http://blog.dustinkirkland.com) * Dustin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DustinKirkland) * Dustin's presentation at Google Next (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rkYV4Chfw&feature=youtu.be) * Run-one (http://launchpad.net/run-one) * Vasa Museum (https://www.vasamuseet.se/en) Special Guest: Dustin Kirkland.

Dustin Kirkland joins us to discuss Linux, Cloud Computing and making wine. We talk about Dustin’s career journey from entry-level developer to Google Product Manager. He shares his experience working at IBM, Canonical and now Google. Plus, he tells the story of how working on his own open source project helped him land a job at startup. Links: * Dustin’s Blog (http://blog.dustinkirkland.com) * Dustin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DustinKirkland) * Dustin’s presentation at Google Next (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rkYV4Chfw&feature=youtu.be) * Run-one (http://launchpad.net/run-one) * Vasa Museum (https://www.vasamuseet.se/en) Special Guest: Dustin Kirkland.

Dustin Kirkland joins us to discuss Linux, Cloud Computing and making wine. We talk about Dustin’s career journey from entry-level developer to Google Product Manager. He shares his experience working at IBM, Canonical and now Google. Plus, he tells the story of how working on his own open source project helped him land a job at startup. Links: * Dustin’s Blog (http://blog.dustinkirkland.com) * Dustin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DustinKirkland) * Dustin’s presentation at Google Next (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rkYV4Chfw&feature=youtu.be) * Run-one (http://launchpad.net/run-one) * Vasa Museum (https://www.vasamuseet.se/en) Special Guest: Dustin Kirkland.

This week Jules (@blackacrylic), Nomsa (@nomiefk) and Tobi (@jollofandmalt) are back after the Easter break! Nomsa returns from Nairobi and shares her experience staying in Kenya’s oldest colonial hotel (3:50), Tobi spots Daniel Kaluuya at a London restaurant (11:00), and Jules visits the Vasa Museum in Stockholm (12:45). The team also discuss Naomi Campbell in Lagos living her best life at Lagos Fashion Week (20:40), the need to invest in the arts and give young creatives on the continent a platform. As well as Tyrone Hankerson Jr. and scammers portraying fake luxury lifestyles on social media (44:07) and Joanne the Scammer’s past life (56:04). They end this episode with shout out to African fashion brand “Friday Born Designs” for their work supporting disadvantaged youth in Ghana (1:02:30) http://www.fridayborndesigns.com/ Books: Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by @AfuaHirsch Song of the week: Tonight by @Nonso_A Tweet us! @kipepeopod Email us! @kipepeopod@gmail.com

Rosanna leads Nikki through the 6 degrees of separation of Wikipedia articles from Columbia University to Irrationality. Pick up some great knowledge and trivia about Ivy League schools and why being irrational isn't always a bad thing in this episode! Patreon | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Store   *SPOILERS BELOW*     Articles covered Columbia University Nobel Prize Stockholm, Sweden Vasa Museum (Vasa Museum audioguide) Maiden Voyage Superstition Irrationality

Wir waren in Stockholm! Das war super und auch überraschend wegweisend. Am ersten Dezemberwochenende 2017 waren wir - rein zum Vergnügen - in der schönen schwedischen Hauptstadt. Wer Stockholm nicht kennt - auch "das Venedig des Nordens" genannt - sollte sie unbedingt mal besuchen. Stockholm liegt über verschiedene Inseln verteilt, das Vasa-Museum ist genauso einen Besuch wert, wie das ABBA-Museum und vieles andere. Dabei ist Stockholm nicht - wie viele andere europäische Hauptstädte wie London, Paris oder Rom - riesengroß, sondern eher übersichtlich und familiär. Um so überraschender hat uns die Erkenntnis getroffen, daß Schweden schon sehr viel weiter in Sachen digitaler Fortschritt ist, zumindest in Teilen. Wer zum Beispiel versucht, Bargeld abzuholen, wird sich wundern, wie wenig Geld er dann bekommt und daß Plastikmoney lieber gesehen ist. Viel Vergnügen mit unserem erstaunlichen Reisebericht und schwedischen FortschrittsPodcast.

Lola Akinmade of Slow Travel Stockholm takes us through one of the most idealic cities in all of Europe.  Lola helps us explore the hidden neighborhoods that make up this city.  We explore traditional Swedish fare like Swedish meatballs and reindeer.  We also go to the Vasa Museum where a formerly sunken warship makes up the large part of the building.  Traveling to Lapland to explore the great Northern Lights and we delve into some of the traditional festivals that we need to know about.  

Djurgården is Stockholm's lush island fun center and has several of the city's top museums, including the Vasa Museum. This is where the Vasa is housed, a 1628 war ship that sank to the bottom of the harbor just minutes into its maiden voyage. Rescued after 300 years under the sea, it's now the best-preserved ship of its kind. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating stations, travel information on destinations and more — visit www.ricksteves.com.

Djurgården is Stockholm's lush island fun center and has several of the city's top museums, including the Vasa Museum. This is where the Vasa is housed, a 1628 war ship that sank to the bottom of the harbor just minutes into its maiden voyage. Rescued after 300 years under the sea, it's now the best-preserved ship of its kind. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating stations, travel information on destinations and more — visit www.ricksteves.com.