i woke up and left the hostel to deposit my backpack in a locker at the train station. a combination of being confused by the change machine at the station, all the lockers being full and the fact that i had left something at the hostel led me right back to the hostel, where i chose to leave the bag for the few hours i still had left in Stockholm.
after redepositing my bag, i headed for the Stadshuset (or City Hall) which i erroneously reported yesterday as being the place where they award the Nobel Prizes (or "Prices" if you're writing in Swedish-English). in fact, it is where the banquet is held after the award ceremony - a ceremony which actually takes place in Konserthall (yup, "Concert Hall").
anyway, the tour is great, but very brief. it starts in the Blue Hall, which is where the banquet is actually held. the Blue Hall takes it's name from the color it is not. originally, the architect wanted to paint it royal blue, after the swedish flag, but he liked the looks and texture of the bricks so much that he left it as is. the design of the building itself is patterned after two things: one, it is designed to look, on the exterior, similar to the old (now gone) royal palace of Stockholm; two, it was designed on the interior to be based around two courtyards, similar to classical italian villas. the blue hall represents one of two courtyards, but has a roof, unlike the larger exterior courtyard.
the blue hall also contains the Elsa stairs, named after the architects wife who trod up and down many different model staircases in high heels and a ball gown over the period of one day to determine the ideal height from step to step. the guide jokingly said that this must've worn her out considerably, because by the time the project was finished, the architect had a different wife.
the tour then proceeded into the interiors of the castle, starting by going up the staircase and into a long corridor. the corridor featured a bust and a painting of one man. the construction crew got to vote on the most important member of their crew who would be immortalized in the bust and painting. their vote? the local brewmaster.
following that was the Medallion room which contains many old Nobel medals and in its early incarnations served as the office of the few female members of the city council. now the council is a majority women and might someday relegate the men to the Medallion room, or so joked the guide.
the room after the Medallion room is the actual council chamber, where in the head councilman sits on an enlarged, throne-like chair on a dias - a subject of much controversy on its initial completion.
up next was the room in the middle of the tower. it was a plain room with a circling sculpture of saint george and the dragon - the dragon in this instance represents the Danes, the classic rivals of the Swedes.
the next room was adorned with many old French tapestry and up to 25 weddings take place in it every weekend. apparently there are two versions of the civil ceremony, the longer one taking 5 minutes.
after that came a long banquet hall with a fresco, painted by a prince when the building was first built, that mirrored the views from the windows facing the opposite direction.
the following room contained an old cabinet with many famous Swedes sculpted onto the doors. the room serves as the resting room for the royal family during the Nobel banquet. a side room to this room is where journalists interview the winners during the banquet.
the last room is a long gold hall where the post-banquet dance. the hall is adorned with many mosaics of Swedish history and culture. there are some noticeable errors which i will point out when i post the photos.
and then it was back into the blue hall. and that was the end of the tour.
after the tour, i wandered around the city, grabbed some seafood stew for lunch, tried to see the Konserthall but missed the guided tour (the only way to see it) and regained my bag and finally caught the train.
i got into Copenhagen about an hour and a half ago and now i'm staying in a hostel that has tri-level bunks.
whew.
Posted by iain at August 26, 2005 09:57 PM