We passed through a fairly narrow, island-filled, and heavily traveled channel on our approach to Stockholm.It was beautiful! Many of the tiny islands had one or two houses on them.
We met our guide, Ira, and joined our busload of 26 to begin our Panorama Tour of Stockholm. We were a little nervous about having 26 in our tour group, but she did a great job of keeping our group together and we never felt like we needed headsets to hear her. She moved to Stockholm about 8 years ago and said she loves the city and that enthusiasm came through in her commentary.
Stockholm, founded in the 13th century, is built on 14 small, rocky islands among open bays and narrow channels and has 47 bridges that connect those islands.
Our first stop was the City Hall Building which was completed in 1923 after 12 years of construction. There are 1 million red bricks and the tower is 106 meters high. While the outside of the building is impressive in its arts & crafts style, the inside of the building was amazing.
The original designs for the Blue Hall included painting the bricks blue, but the plan was later changed. I’m glad – I think it is beautiful just the way it is! Since the 1930s, the Blue Hall hosts the 1300 guests at the Nobel Peace dinner every year on December 10 . It was interesting to learn how and why Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, donated 80% of his fortune to establish the foundation that gives the award each year. The City Hall has one of the largest organs in Europe with 10,000 pipes.
We climbed the marble stairway to see the Golden Hall which is used as a ballroom. The pictures on the walls are mosaics which include 10 kilograms of 24.5 carat gold leaf. The materials came from Germany, but the artist was Swedish, and the hall took 2 years to complete. Ira told us there is some discrepancy about the headless mosaic that depicts St. Eric, the patron saint of Sweden. Some say the artist said it was to show him as he died in battle by being decapitated, but others say they were rushed to finish and miscalculated when installing the design! Either way, it was awesome.
The mosaic at the opposite end of the hall was the Queen of Lake Malaren who represents the city. The thought was Sweden (specifically Stockholm) was the center of the universe and the design was the desire of Sweden to unite the world. Her hair represents the waves and her large eyes were to be able to see the world.
After City Hall, we went to the Vasa Museum where the 17th century ship is housed. What an incredible story! The 17th century was considered “the golden age” of Sweden. The king had the Vasa built in 1628. On August 10, 1628, Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage and sank in Stockholm Harbor!
Apparently, strong winds blew the ship over. The designer of the ship died one year before the ship was completed and the king took over the design and it is speculated that in his haste to complete the ship, he cut corners. Thoughts are the hull was too narrow so when the wind blew, the ship tipped, and the 56 cannon windows were open so she took on water and sank.
There were more than 600 people onboard and documents show that only about 20 people died. They Swedish people constructed a diving bell that was used in the 1700s to recover the cannons because they were so expensive! The wooden ship lay under the water for 333 years until 1961 Anders Franzen was able to locate the Vasa and arrange for it to be raised. The ship was about 95% intact. We could have spent more time there, but our itinerary only allowed about an hour.
While we waited for our group to gather before leaving the museum, I spotted this beautiful bird. I have no idea what it is!
We headed back into the Old Town to see the outside of the Royal Palace where the royal family took up residence in 1754. The cathedral next to the palace was built for the royal family. The royal guard still protects the palace to this day.We also saw the royal guard leaving the Royal Palace on horseback and riding down one of the busy streets of Stockholm.
Moving on, we stopped in another square where the Nobel Museum is located. Ira told us the story of the blood bath in 1471 of Stockholm. Denmark and Sweden had been at war for two years when the Danish king, Christian, said he would grant amnesty to the Swedes if they would give up and appoint him king. Believing him, Christian invited all of the royal Swedish royal family to his coronation and 3 days of celebrations. Over 90 Swedish noblemen in attendance were then taken out into the square where they were beheaded! One nobleman’s nephew thought something was amiss and did not come to Stockholm for the event. When he heard word of what had taken place, he gathered an army and after 2 more years of fighting, defeated Christian and Gustaf became the king of Sweden.
We saw on slab from a Rune stone from the early Viking days. Ira wanted me to be sure to tell you that “Vikings did not steal from people – at least people who were alive. It was against their code of honor.”
So, of course, they killed you first, then took your property!
This stone was moved over 500 years ago to the corner of a merchant’s store. It was a memorial stone. About 300 years ago the cannon was placed next to the stone to protect it from wagons as they turned the corner.
We also walked down “Marten Trotzig Grand”, the narrowest street in Stockholm. It looked like a sidewalk, steps and all, but it is a street.
Other sights in Stockholm included the theater with the golden façade, the place where Ingrid Bergman was discovered. Other famous Swedes who got their start there included Greta Garbo and Ingmar Bergen, the film maker.
It is near the end of the school year, so the high school students charter large trucks to drive them around the city while they drink and celebrate. We saw a couple of those showing off their pomp and circumstance, as well.
Ira was certainly right that we would love her adopted city. She was wrong about one thing, however. She said Stockholm had the best cinnamon buns anywhere. Ira needs to come to Fort Collins and have a cinnamon roll at Vern’s or the Silver Grill … then she will have had one of the best cinnamon buns in the world!
There was so much to see and so little time. Tobey and I both said we would like to come back to Stockholm to see more! We have one more day on the cruise – at sea returning to Copenhagen where we will once again have internet. Until then, goodbye from Sweden!
Moving on, we stopped in another square where the Nobel Museum is located. Ira told us the story of the blood bath in 1471 of Stockholm. Denmark and Sweden had been at war for two years when the Danish king, Christian, said he would grant amnesty to the Swedes if they would give up and appoint him king. Believing him, Christian invited all of the royal Swedish royal family to his coronation and 3 days of celebrations. Over 90 Swedish noblemen in attendance were then taken out into the square where they were beheaded! One nobleman’s nephew thought something was amiss and did not come to Stockholm for the event. When he heard word of what had taken place, he gathered an army and after 2 more years of fighting, defeated Christian and Gustaf became the king of Sweden.
We saw on slab from a Rune stone from the early Viking days. Ira wanted me to be sure to tell you that “Vikings did not steal from people – at least people who were alive. It was against their code of honor.”
So, of course, they killed you first, then took your property!
This stone was moved over 500 years ago to the corner of a merchant’s store. It was a memorial stone. About 300 years ago the cannon was placed next to the stone to protect it from wagons as they turned the corner.
We also walked down “Marten Trotzig Grand”, the narrowest street in Stockholm. It looked like a sidewalk, steps and all, but it is a street.
Other sights in Stockholm included the theater with the golden façade, the place where Ingrid Bergman was discovered. Other famous Swedes who got their start there included Greta Garbo and Ingmar Bergen, the film maker.
It is near the end of the school year, so the high school students charter large trucks to drive them around the city while they drink and celebrate. We saw a couple of those showing off their pomp and circumstance, as well. 
Ira was certainly right that we would love her adopted city. She was wrong about one thing, however. She said Stockholm had the best cinnamon buns anywhere. Ira needs to come to Fort Collins and have a cinnamon roll at Vern’s or the Silver Grill … then she will have had one of the best cinnamon buns in the world!
There was so much to see and so little time. Tobey and I both said we would like to come back to Stockholm to see more! We have one more day on the cruise – at sea returning to Copenhagen where we will once again have internet. Until then, goodbye from Sweden!
1 comment:
Shari and I spent 4 days in Stockholm (Gamla Stan) in April and enjoyed filling every day seeing things. We stayed right in the square outside the Nobel Museum that you have pictured.
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