Stockholm is a wonderful city and like some of the others on this trip we were last here in 2010. At that time we were mostly interested in seeing the Vasa, a warship that sunk within sight of the dockyard where it was built in 1628.
It was found at the bottom of the harbor in 1956 and in the early ‘60’s it was raised. It took years to dry out and eventually in 1990 they built a museum around it. It’s a fantastic ship and a must see for anyone going to Stockholm.
Cruising into Stockholm is as beautiful as the city. The route takes you past hundreds of little islands, most with houses or summer camps on them. This was the view from our balcony today looking towards Stockholm. That’s an amusement park to the right, we could hear the screams from the roller coasters during the day.
On this trip, having seen the number one tourist site last time, we concentrated on other areas of Stockholm, like the Old Town and the City Hall. City Hall you say, how exciting can that be?
Let’s just say it’s pretty nice. The city went all out starting in 1913 to build the most beautiful city hall they could. It took 10 years because funding dried up during WWI, but they got it done.
This hall is called the Blue Room, but not because it’s blue, it isn’t. It was meant to be blue but when the architect saw the exposed brick he decided he couldn’t paint over it. You may have seen pictures of this room before, it’s where the Nobel Prize banquet is held the night before the award ceremony. We saw the Opera House where the prizes are actually awarded a little later in the tour, but couldn’t get inside.
We visited the City Council Chamber, it's ceiling was left exposed and painted to look like there were skylights.
The last place we saw was the Gold Room. The walls are covered entirely in gold mosaics. At the end of the hall is a picture of a women symbolizing Stockholm. The west is pictured to her right (maybe you can see the statue of liberty and the American flag) and the east to her left. A model of the City Hall in her lap. It’s something to see in person.
After the city hall we drove to the Old Town area. Even the drive around the city was interesting. We went through residential areas of all economic types, pedestrian malls and saw the very high-end department stores (also the flagship Ikea store of course). I wish we could have spent more time here.
Old Town is very popular and this is a Sunday so it was really crowded. At this point we were only a mile or two from the ship so Fred and I decided to ditch the tour and walk back to the ship. Our tour guide was great, very enthusiastic and we of course we took the time to thank her before heading off.
The walk back to the ship was very nice, right along the waterfront. Sail away was at 4:30PM. There’s never enough time on these cruises. At best you get to see the prime sites and get a flavor of the city.
Tomorrow we are on the island of Gotland (still Sweden) and the town of Visby. Can’t wait.
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