09/17/2015

Day 2 Stockholm

Stockholm is the most beautiful urban city I have ever seen.

I would really want to live here. With the strong US dollars, stuff is not really that expensive. Everyone is so friendly and everyone knows how to speak English. Unfortunately, these two days are rainy days.

I realized Europeans are so sensitive with cold temperature. I can totally wear a t shirt and am wearing a t shirt while everyone else has their big winter clothing on. I can’t believe what they are wearing when the actual winter comes lol.

This is called the Blue Hall. Why is it called the Blue Hall? 

The designer originally didn’t include the ceiling into the design and wanted to fill all four of the walls with blue paint so that the walls would blend into the sky. His aim was to provide people an indoor (sort of) place for people the clear sky despite the cold weather outside. As the construction came to an end, people realized that the natural color of the bricks actually looked quite nice and decided to keep the hall as is. Later on, the ceiling was also built to host important events, like the Nobel Prize ceremony, and it became the hall we see today.

Part of the Nobel Prize committee actually works here on this level (they get summer holidays, too!).

Many of the important ceremonies were held here, including weddings. The painting on the wall has some interesting history. Once upon a time, a Swedish prince (forgot the name) was appointed to paint the walls of the hall. He felt like many of the painters didn’t approve his appointment as they thought he earned the job only because of his elite status. To prove that he deserves for such task, he put a lot of effort into this painting

Guess what? This golden hall is actually made of 100% real gold, not just golden paint. The architect placed millions of small and thin layer of golden tiles on all the walls of the hall. The lady goddess in the center of the golden hall is the symbol of peace. It compromises all sorts of symbols and landmarks from all over the world, including the United States of America.

The center is Stockholm (the center of the universe). There were rumors that the peace goddess here was the wife of the architect.

City Hall Clocktower

Self-tour is not allowed in the clocktower. Stockholm card also has free entry to the tower, but seats are limited every half an hour.

The only museum in the world where it preserved the most complete and biggest wooden ship made in the Viking period. How was it possible? Thanks to the bad design of the ship, the ship sank into the deep water before it actually left the harbor. Because it was well preserved under the water and was very hard to retrieve from the bottom of the ocean, the ship was only retrieved recently thanks to modern technology.

However, as the ship was made of wooden, temperature control was very important. Special sprays were also applied to body to keep it from decaying at a rapid rate.

Diving equipment back in the days

Modern technology tried to re-image the seaman who drown with the ship by the skull

Swedish Lunch

Swedish Meatballs

Nordic Museum

I always think of the flag as an IKEA flag lol.

Really high quality of headphone for the audio guide.

Nordic household in the 90s.

Boat ride to the city center!

Sightseeing elevator was built outside of the building, closed down years ago due to security reason. The restaurant still opens, but it’s very expensive. Top of the bridge has free entry to the general public (take the elevator inside the building).

This is the narrowest street in Stockholm – and also the most picturesque one, probably. Walk through if you’re not claustrophobic.

Secret place to get a nice panoramic view of the city =]

Best burger in Sweden!