Today we visit the Stockholm Stadshuset (City Hall). I can hear you wondering, "What's the big deal with the Stockholm City Hall?" Well, for one thing, it's a beautiful building, even though it's fairly new by Stockholm standards. It was built between 1911 and 1923. For another, this is the location of the Nobel Prize banquet held December 10 of every year.
Hour long tours of the City Hall are available in Swedish,
English, French, and German. We pick the English tour (big
surprise). The tour starts here in the Blå
Hallen (Blue Hall).
The Nobel
Prize Banquet is held in the Blue Hall.
These photos were taken in Prinsens
Galleri (The Gallery of the Prince).
This is a view looking out from The Gallery of the Prince across
Riddarfjärden toward Gamla Stan (Old Town).
There are other interesting rooms but we couldn't get good photos of them. These include:
Here's Diana in the open courtyard within the City Hall.
Next, Diana and David decide to climb to the top of the City Hall tower (106 meters/348 feet). There's an elevator to take us halfway up. Unfortunately, it isn't working. So, we walk the whole way. The passages are narrow but it's not too bad. The interior of the tower would make a good Doom level.
These gold figures line the roof of the Stockholm City Hall. You
can see these figures from below in this photo taken yesterday.
This is Gamla Stan (Old Town) as viewed from the Stockholm City
Hall tower. You can see the Royal Palace in the left side of this
photo.
Here's Diana with Old Town in the background.
You can look down from the tower to see the Stockholm train
station. Notice the articulated city bus at the bottom of the
photo. If you look carefully, you can see that it has three
axles.
Here you're looking west from the tower toward Lake Mälaren.
After pizza near the Cuban Embassy, we visit Kaknästornet (The Kaknäs Tower). This tower is 155 meters (508 feet) high but there is an elevator. This tower is one of the tallest buildings in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. The tower is used by the Swedish Radio & Television network. There's an observation platform with an excellent view but the photos didn't turn out well because the platform is surrounded by reflective glass.
David & Diana's Excellent Vacation In Sweden