Friday, June 9, 2017

A Tour of Stockholm's City Hall and Some GREAT Fika


Friday, 9 June, 2017:

A day in the city seemed like a good idea, but where to go?

 The Convention Center looked
interesting but no thanks

 Of course, Stockholm's City Hall
would be a great place to visit!

Although I had visited the outside of the City Hall a few times last year, I had never entered.  Besides being the City Hall, it is also the site of the annual Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet.

Our friend Lotta Douhan had visited the inside of the City Hall a few days ago and raved about how beautiful she found it to be.

So, Laurie and I got to experience what promised to be a wonderful new sight together for the first time in a while.

Laurie was ready!

 What the . . .

I can't take her anywhere

Birger Jarl is credited with the
founding of Stockholm
in 1250 A.D.

The City Hall's Inner Courtyard

The City Hall opened on Midsummer's Eve, 23 June, 1923.

Nice wrought iron grapes

I like his beard

Is that Wäsby Warriors helmet
lying on its side on the left?

Protests outside of the City Hall

Not sure what their issue with the city actually might be.

The Blue Hall
is actually red

The architect who designed the City Hall, Ragnar Ostberg, originally wanted this room to be as open to the sky as possible and to have the bricks painted blue.

Once he saw how good the bricks looked, he changed his mind about painting them over but the Blue Hall moniker remains to this day.

The Annual Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony is held in this room.

 I just liked his shield

 The City Council's
Meeting Room has a . . .

. . . GREAT ceiling!

 Fresco by Prince Eugen

Frolicking Maiden

Ja I lift!

 Another Prince Eugen fresco

 Our first glimpse of the
aptly named Golden Hall

 Lots of real gold mosaic pieces
make this room sparkle

 From right to left,
Birth to Death

 What is it?

The Patron Mother of Stockholm

She guards over the West and East and beckons them to come to Stockholm to find peaceful solutions to their problems.

Sounds so easy . . .

Symbols of the East

Symbols of the West

Those eyes

Gold Angel guarding the
Blue Hall

The Blue Hall view from
the second story

 The Three Crowns
of Sweden

Place serving at the
Nobel Prize Banquet

Just as Lotta told us, it was spectacular!

Under the bridges near Gamla Stan

Man on the move

Fish lunch in Slussen at
Nystekt Strömming

How long has he
been working here?

We were walking on the island of Södermalm when we realized . . .

Swedish Communists are
happy people

Just love this hammer wielding
fellow in this fountain

A new season of 
Los Angeles Rams football
is just around the corner

 Fifa Time in Gamla Stan's
Stortorget

It was incredibly good!

 LO as in "Grandma Lo"?

Mammarby IF
doing something positive?

How will their Ultras deal with this public humiliation?

In the evening, it was time for another Wäsby Warriors U15 practice.

 Head Coach Jimmy Alonso
talking to the ten players
who attended the workout

As usual, agility drills were
a big part of tonight's
limited action

On Saturday morning we will be up bright and early to board the 6:28 a.m. bus to whisk us away to the Upplands-Väsby train station where we  will take a commuter train to Stockholm's Central train station.

Then, at 8:21 a.m., a long distance train will take us south to the jewel city of the Skåne area of Sweden, always interesting Hässleholm for the weekend.

We coached the American football team there, the Hurricanes, back in 2010 and are looking to see many of our old friends and comrades while also attending the team's last home game of the 2017 regular season against the Ekeby Greys.

The Greys (3-2) are tied for third place in the seven team Division I Södra while the Hurricanes (2-2) are in fifth place.

Go 'Canes GO!

It should be a lot of fun!

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