City Hall

On Monday we had more heavy cloud and rain, so we decided to see City Hall.




Although it looks older, the building is only about 100 years old. It is in use as a town hall and so one joins a tour to see it.

The entrance hall, known as the Blue Hall is an enormous space and is best known as the place in which the annual Nobel prize dinner takes place. It is called blue as the architect intended to pain the walls blue but he changed his mind and left the brick unpainted.




A table setting for the Nobel dinner with Nobel medals.



Our guide then took us to the council chamber. Like Cambridge the hot debates are all about the traffic and cycle lanes!





The chamber has an unusual ceiling: the blue represents the sky and the structure was kept as it was during the construction process symbolising an upturned Viking boat!




This is in an anteroom




The 14th tapestries in this small circular room were a gift from France and the room was designed around them.




The room is used for marriage ceremonies. Apparently there are two versions of the ceremony, the long (3 minutes) and the short (30 seconds).

The Prince's hall was used for meetings with the Prince





This wall was painted by a prince and represents a reflection of the view through the windows so that people on both sides of the table had a view to see.





Finally, we saw the Gold Hall which is used for the ball following the Nobel prize dinner. It records Swedish history and was not universally acclaimed when it was unveiled.











After the tour, we bought our tickets to climb the 365 steps of the tower. While we were waiting, we took photos outside in the gardens and were blessed with the occasional ray of sunshine.













The climb up the tower was worth the effort. The second half of the climb was easier as it was mostly slopes rather than steps. Here are some views from the top







This shows the transport system





After our customary rest, we set out for another island, Södermalm, which was once a working area, but now much more upmarket.
















We ate in a local restaurant where there were no menus in English and we had to be helped out by our neighbours.

After dinner, we walked around the area before heading back to our hotel.




Pat and John on tour