A Day Trip in Stockholm
A Side Note
On this Nordic trip, one thing that wasn’t planned well was squeezing in Stockholm. Instead of heading straight from Norway to Denmark, we spent a day in Stockholm, which made the whole itinerary feel rushed. We always switched cities during the prime daytime hours, and by the time we checked in at the hotel it was usually around 2 p.m. Daylight in the Nordics is extremely short, with darkness falling before 5 p.m., so there was very little time left to actually explore.
We did visit a few nice spots in Stockholm. The city also has many other interesting attractions, so I’d recommend coming with a longer vacation and taking your time.
City Hall
We arrived just in time for the 4 p.m. guided tour at City Hall, and the guide walked us through many of the building’s stories and exhibits.
A bit of background:
Built starting in 1911 and taking 12 years to complete, Stockholm City Hall is one of the most important works of Swedish architecture. Flanked by water on both sides, a towering campanile stands in striking contrast to the low wings that stretch along the waterfront. Combined with the highly decorative vertical strip windows, the whole building looks like a great ship under sail—grand and magnificent.
The exterior walls, made of 8 million red bricks, preserve the poetic spirit of traditional Nordic classical architecture through their interplay of heights and depths, solids and voids. To the right of City Hall stands a 106-meter spire topped with three gilded crowns, symbolizing the close cooperation among the peoples of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. It’s said that from the top of the tower you can take in the entire cityscape.
Let’s start with the exterior:
The most spectacular part of the entire City Hall is the Golden Hall. Built for hosting balls, the hall is dazzlingly opulent, decorated with real gold leaf applied over glass, and its imagery is steeped in Swedish history, culture, and faith.
The Lake Queen, a goddess in Swedish mythology, symbolizes peace and happiness:
The Swedish god and goddess:
The leftover head:
The Princess Hall: the murals on the walls were painted by hand by the princess over five years, stroke by stroke. Each one had to be completed in a single uninterrupted sitting, which made it extremely demanding. There’s a little anecdote here: after more than a year, the princess had finished one version, but among the several paintings she wasn’t very satisfied with two of them. She decided to start over from scratch, and it took her several more years to finish all the murals (about four in total).
There are a few other halls I won’t go into, such as the Blue Hall, the Council Room, and so on.
Street Shots
By the time we got there, the Royal Palace of Sweden had already closed—a real shame.
The Nobel Museum was closed too.
A lovely church.
Street shots.
