Stockholm by local transport

I was in Stockholm for around a week, except for the weekend. Those 2 days I spent on a cruise to Helsinki, capital of Finland. About that, later. 

By the 3rd day I had become so conversant with Stockholm's topography that for the rest of my stay, I traveled, taking public transport like locals.

Though the young black thwarted my attempt of adventure at midnight, I consoled myself by taking this picture of illuminated Bell Tower of City hall from my hotel room!

In the broad daylight too, it looked enchanting. It was located practically next door to my hotel so I ventured out walking. After crossing under the bridge, perfumed with an ammonia-cal smell of stale urine, I reached the northern shore of Riddarfjarden bay, from where you can see the bell tower of city hall standing magnificently on the edifice.

 

The tower at the south-east corner of City Hall is misconstrued as the bell tower, in fact, it is the monumental tower and holds 'Three Crowns' [ an emblem of Sweden in olden days] at the top. It has the empty tomb of Birger Jarl plated in gold on the eastern side.

The City Hall houses the office of city council along with ceremonial halls for holding conferences and wedding banquets. It houses an upper crest restaurant too! Nobel Prize banquets too are held here, mostly! I hear this year the venue was different! There are mainly 2 halls in the building named after the color of the walls. Blue hall and Golden hall. Presently color Blue was being removed from the walls to renovate, but the name remains. Blue hall is on the ground floor while Golden is on the 1st floor.

 

Blue hall, the venue for Nobel Prize banquet  adorns the seal of Nobel Academy in Gold on one of its walls.It has a spiraling staircase, la Bollywood social, at the center, where the dignitaries, [the academy members and Royal couple mostly ] sit, using landing it as the dais while conferring the Nobel prizes.

                                                                  

The murals on the walls of the Golden hall are made using millions of small tiles. Every wall depicts a different picture either relating to Royal family or Mythology or the progress of Sweden as a nation from medieval times. 

The wall exactly opposite the entrance to the hall has a mammoth mural of Nordic God in full regalia using all the tiles practically in gold!

To go through all the murals meticulously,it may take years together, they are that intricate!

Not only the interiors but the courtyard outside and the garden adjacent to the bay too leaves you mostly happy! The Corridors of the courtyard reminded me of University of Pune building.

To climb the tower adjacent to the city hall, you definitely require extra energy. On inquiry, it turned out to be 'Three Crown' Tower, once the national emblem of Sweden, and not the bell tower as I had presumed. The efforts are worth taking as the view from the top is breathtaking as always.

 That's how Gamla Stan looks in its entirety from above, Riddarholmen in the foreground and Stradsholmen in the back.

On left, flyovers filled with Urine stench! On, right Stromsborg, Stream palace in North spring.

From City hall to Skansen was like traversing entire Stockholm from one end to other. Skansen is an open-air zoo, museum and has exhibits to show the Swedish culture and lifestyle in general. In Greece, they call it 'Island Hopping'. In Stockholm, you do that with ease of a maverick! All the islands are so well connected that what you do is, just to catch a correct bus or tram that does it for you and takes you to the destination. I got down a stop earlier because I saw the museum of 'ABBA' on the right.  I don't have to tell the people from my generation who  'ABBA' was! It was a famous pop quartet in our college days who sang songs like' Daddy Cool' 'On the river of Babylon ' and the most famous one, probably, 'Mama Mia'! Based on the songs of ABBA  a movie of the same name had hit the screens a few years ago. Meryl Strip excelled in it as the protagonist. Alas, my museum pass did not include the entry to ABBA museum and otherwise, the entry fee was absolutely exorbitant! Gandhis in my pocket though had the garb of  Swedish Kronor, prevented me from buying the tickets, so dropping the idea I headed for Skansen which was included in my ticket!

Founded in the late 19th century it's still going strong. Children of all ages holding the fingers of their parents or being carried in the prams, very common here, had thronged the park in such large numbers that it was difficult to believe that at one point of time Sweden was having negative birth rate and Government was doling out an incentive for having more children!

It has old Swedish houses, artisans giving demonstrations of Pot making, Glassmaking, Iron smiths making tools, artists performing on open stage telling about Nordic Sweden, in general, it was education with enjoyment packed together for children in formative years. The sailors' house built in the last century teaches about Swedish architecture in the bygone era. The zoo has Indian Peacocks who roam in the open, freely.

       The Rosendal Palace is located in the deep woods, on the same island and one has to catch a tram to reach it. The tram ends here and the way it takes a 'U' turn at the last stop, is watchable too. Demurely peeping from behind the trees Rosendal palace was simplicity personified and looked like, as if ' Livable'! Not like its other gaudy, opulent siblings and cousins! It was walk, walk and walk through the meticulously designed, adjoining gardens, but every nook and corner of the garden was so soothingly green that the efforts were worth it.


In the land of IKEA and Nokia, it's not only palaces and Royal houses. There was this huge Mall Ahlens City, which was at a walking distance from my hotel Terminus. At the square where it is situated, Sergels Torg seemed to be the happening place in Stockholm. Ahlens Mall is humongous but upmarket , so was on the expensive side. The line of inner wares by Bjorn Borg was in demand but cost in thousands! It has got its own underground Metro station! Maybe our mall in Mumbai, 'R City'  too may get its own Metro station soon, on the line that's supposed to run between Wadala and Thane.

I skipped the Vasa museum because, by that time, it was an overdose of museums. It's supposed to be a must-visit, in Stockholm, but as such, I don't stand any chance of visiting the South Pole either ! So.... does not matter!

Instead, I decided to visit 'Sky View' in the other corner of Stockholm!

It's a glass ball that climbs a dome in such a fashion that, the visitors remain in standing position all the time and do not feel the tilt even when it reaches the top! That's the technology for you. [ I did not understand it, though the guide explained it, in probably simpler words.] It ascends very slowly opening Stockholm vistas in front of you as if opening newer, more interesting chapters in a book already well-read !

I always love the Ariel views of city, any city. After seeing Stockholm from close quarters it was interesting to look for the familiar landmarks.Unfortunately 'Sky View' could not open the curtain as it is located in the far southern part of Stockholm, and the happening things are higher up in the North ! Okay, nothing lost, whatever it presented was equally good!

With the visit to 'Sky View' my liaison with Stockholm was to get over. But it left such a vivid imprint, it may take aeons to erase it from the memory. Till then 'Good Bye Stockholm' !