Norway and Sweden (11) - Stockholm and Drottningholm

Had a full day today. First we went to Stockholm City Hall where Nobel Prize banquet is held on December 10 every year, then to Drottningholm which is the private residence of the Swedish royal family, then to Skansen, an open air museum and zoo, and last to Gröna Lund, an old amusement park founded in 1883.

Stockholm City Hall is open to public by guided tour only.

1. Blue Hall in Stockholm City Hall.


2. Golden Hall in Stockholm City Hall.


3. Golden Hall in Stockholm City Hall.


4. Golden Hall in Stockholm City Hall.


5. Dishes used in Nobel Prize banquet.


You can also climb the City Hall Tower. They allow a group in every 40 minutes. It took us about 10 minutes to climb the stairs. Once up there, they allowed us to stay 15 minutes, then the worker started to request everyone to start walking down.

6. Looking from the City Hall Tower.


7. Looking from the City Hall Tower.


8. Looking from the City Hall Tower.


9. Looking from the City Hall Tower.


From Stockholm City Hall, we took a boat to Drottningholm. The boat ride was not included in Stockholm card, but they offered a discounted price of 135 SEK pp. (round trip) for Stockholm card holder, so we took it. I had to say, later I regret about going to Drottningholm. Because the palace is just a copy of Versailles, and not a very good copy, and you couldn't even take pictures inside.

10. Stockholm City Hall.


11. Going to Drottningholm.


12. Beautiful Stockholm.


13. Beautiful Stockholm.


14. Drottningholm.


15. Drottningholm Palace Theater. It was still used for performances in the summer season.


16. Gate to Drottningholm Palace Park.


17. Drottningholm looking from the Palace Park.


18. The Guard's Tent in Drottningholm Palace Park. It was built of timber, clad with iron sheeting and then painted to resemble a tent in Turkish army camp.


19. The Chinese Pavilion in Drottningholm Palace Park. The Chinese art collection inside was pretty pathetic.


After spending 4.5 hours on Drottningholm (include round trip boat ride), we went to Skansen next. We got there just before 6pm. The kid working at the door was very nice, he reminded us that we could only go in Skansen once with our Stockholm card, and many buildings had closed at 5 or 6pm. He marked the few buildings that would close at 7pm, so we could go see them first. The park stopped letting people in at 10pm, and stayed open till 12am.

We walked around for an hour and 45 minutes. It was kind of interesting. The still opened buildings had people in it in period clothing, ready to answer your questions. In the zoo section, we saw bears (mother with 3 cubs), wolfs ... We happened to see the feeding of the pigs. Buckets of apples, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots were thrown into the pen. The pigs were into fruit first, before they had to eat vegetables. And the manners ...

20. Hällestad belfry (bell tower), Skansen.


21. Seglora Church, Skansen.


22. A building on stilts, Skansen.


23. Sami Camp, Skansen.


After Skansen, we walked to Gröna Lund next door. It was almost 8pm. They opened till 10pm, so we went in to look for an hour and 15 minutes. It was really fun. Lots of old style ride, light, sound, scream and laugh. Since there was no wait for almost every ride, there were kids getting off one ride and went back to do it again. Everything was so packed together, on top of each other, it felt like a state fair kind of ride layout but much more fun. We were glad that we made it here.

24. Tea cup ride in Gröna Lund.


25. Gröna Lund.


26. Gröna Lund.


27. Gröna Lund.


28. Gröna Lund.


(To be continued)