Its Blue Hall is famous as the dining hall used for the banquet held after the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony. Its Golden Hall is named after the decorative mosaics made of more than 18 million tiles. But to my experience, the best is its 106 meter tall tower, where you can have a bird view on the Stockholm city. It is just a fantastic view.

More photos below…

I am sorry for mixed English and Chinese captions for the photos. But I just want to use the same set of photos and captions for both my English blog and Chinese blog.

2008-04-26-City-Hall-Stockholm

City Hall. 远远的看到市政厅.

City Hall, a closer look

City Hal, even closer

 

The front gate of City Hall. 大门.

After entering into the gate, inside the courtyard of City Hall. 进了大门，在市政厅的大院里面。

 

Inside the courtyard of City Hall, bostonivy on one wall. 市政厅的大院里面，有一面墙上很多爬山虎.

 

Inside the courtyard of City Hall. 市政厅的大院里面.

 

Corridor. 走廊.

Ceiling of the Corridor, "Apollo"? 走廊的木质天花板，居然有阿波罗的字样。

Ceiling of the Corridor. 走廊的木质天花板.

Corridor and the tower.

A little horse made of woods, seems a popular symbol in Sweden. 貌似小木马是瑞典的一种标志，在瑞典很多地方都能见到小木马。

something on the wall, I do not know what it is. 墙上，不知道是什么内容。

A door. 一个侧门.

 

The architect who designed this City Hall. 设计市政厅的建筑设计师。

From the other corner of the corridor. 从走廊的另一头回头看。

A magnificent coffin, I guess it should be one King of Sweden. 一个金光闪闪的棺材，似乎是瑞典历史上某位国王的，我没时间做过功课，所以不知道是什么国王的。

Other side of City Hall.

Looking from corridor. 从走廊向外看，另一边就是水边。

Many boats in the river. It is a Saturday in Stockholm. Let us go outdoors! 好多游船游艇在河道里，周末的斯德哥尔摩，人们纷纷出来户外活动。

 

The famous Blue Hall, the dining hall used for the banquet held after the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony. 著名的蓝厅，这里是每年诺贝尔颁奖仪式之后举行晚宴和舞会的地方。

The Blue Hall is actually really small, so I am told it was very crowd when the banquet was here. 蓝厅其实真的不大，所以难怪据说每年诺贝尔颁奖晚宴和舞会在这里举行的时候，这里其实很挤。

The Blue Hall

Where the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm holds meetings. 这里是斯德哥尔摩市政议会开会讨论斯市大小事的地方，相当于咱中国的市人大会议室，说实话，地方真的很小。

The meeting room. It is interesting that there is another room nearby for the babies, because all the politicians are "part-time", they come to have meeting after they are off from their full-time job, so they often bring their babies here. 会议室。很有趣的是旁边一个小房间是专门给议员的小孩子的，因为议员都是兼职的，他们有自己的全职工作，他们往往是下班之后带着孩子来开市政会议。

Voting machine. 投票机。

The ceiling of the meeting room, quite sophisticated woods architecture. 会议室的天花板，木质结构很复杂的样子。

Another room.

 

 

The famous Golden Hall. 著名的金厅.

Golden Hall is named after the decorative mosaics made of more than 18 million tiles. The mosaics make use of motifs from Swedish history. 金厅的名字来自于它有据说超过180多万片金色的马赛克装饰，很多马赛克装饰画描绘了瑞典的历史事件。

 

 

 

Standing on top of the City Hall Tower. Rising 106 meters into the air the above City Hall, the Great Tower offers a breathtaking view of Stockholm. 站在顶层钟楼俯瞰斯德哥尔摩，确实非常漂亮。我的运气很好，那天是大晴天。上钟楼票价20克朗，绝对比参观蓝厅金厅的60克朗要更值。

 

The tower.

 

 

The handrail. 扶手栏杆上也有很多有趣的图案。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two guys playing canoes, very frequently seen in Stockholm. 站在钟楼上看到下面有两个人在玩皮划艇，在斯德哥尔摩经常能见到有人玩皮划艇。

 

steps through the narrow passage to the tower. 通往顶层钟楼的通道很狭窄，往往只容下一个人通过。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People love cycling. 在斯德哥尔摩还经常见到骑自行车健身的人们，很多时候还见到大人小孩一家子每人戴着头盔骑车，老外是喜欢户外运动啊。

According to the museum official website:

The Vasa is the world’s only surviving 17th-century ship.

According to Vasa ship’s Wikipedia entry:

Vasa (or Wasa) is a warship that was built for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden from 1626 to 1628. The ship foundered and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile (2 km) into her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628. The ship is one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions and, as of 2007, has attracted more than 25 million visitors.

More photos below…

2008-04-20-Vasa-Museum-Stockholm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

• The Vasa Museum official website
• Vasa report english (many photos)
• Building A Model Of The Swedish Royal Warship Wasa From Scratch By Clayton Johnson (many photos)
• Vasa ship’s Wikipedia entry

Over.

Experience Stockholm’s coolest bar – the ABSOLUT ICEBAR STOCKHOLM at the Nordic Sea Hotel! Here in the world’s first permanent ice bar, the temperature is -5°C all year round, and the entire interior – including the glasses – is made from 100% pure, clear ice from the Torne River in Swedish Lapland.

More photos below….

Note: please note that the name is Absolut, not Absolute.

The entry area:

It is really the real ice:

The bar.

The wine behind the bar:

All the cups are made from real ice:

All wine are vodka. The green wine was what I ordered.

The ice sofa:

Sculptures made from ice:

TV! It is a real TV embedded in the ice. It keeps displaying a video about the new opened Icebar all around the world, including an icebar opened last year in Shanghai.

An bar counter:

Each session is 45 minutes long. Actually just after around 10 minutes, I began to stamp my feet. Quite cold!

When the session ended, I was asked “how do you feel like?”, I answered:”My body enjoyed, but my legs and knees suffered!”

Links for general Iceabar and Icehotel:

• Absolut Icebar in Stockholm at the Nordic Sea Hotel, price is 180 SEK for pre-booked sessions.
• The icebar page in the Icehotel
• Ice hotel in Wikipedia

BTW, I learned that actually an Icebar was opened in Shanghai last year (2007) but now the Shanghai Icebar was closed temporarily for unknown reason.

A comment from Sophia on June 27th, 2007 from this page said:

ABSOLUT ICEBAR SHANGHAI is the seventh ABSOLUT ICEBAR in the world after the one in London, Tokyo, Milan, Stockholm , Copenhagen and one in ICEHOTEL. It is the biggest in Asia and the other one that you can find expect Tokyo in Asia are fake Icebars. It’s important to know that absolut icebar is a franchisee and it’s a concept developed by ICEHOTEL and Absolut vodka. All the ice come from Torne River in the artic pole of Sweden and took 30000 km to get to Shanghai. The ice is clear, pure and cleaner that water, the freezing process makes it crystallize and the ice have a natural blue lighting. It’s a permanent ICEBAR but the design of the bar will be change every six months. Everything inside is made of Ice even your cup for your special absolut cocktail. 100 RMB, ONE DRINK, 45 MINS B1 Infiniti Plaza, 138 HuaiHai Zhong Road 12pm-12am

Links for the Icebar in Shanghai:

• Shanghai Ice Bar Details (in English) on May 27th, 2007
• Photos of Absolut Icebar Shanghai (the page text is in Chinese, but with lots of photos) at dianping.com
• The comments for the Icebar Shanghai (in Chinese) from dianping.com
• A review (in English) for the Icebar Shanghai
• A review (in Chinese) for the Icebar Shanghai

Over.

I took some photos of Stockholm Metro stations (just along the blue line T11) today after I get off from the office.

More photos below….

Stockholm Metro line system is very sophiscated.

T-Centralen (Swedish for “The T-Centre”, T means “subway”) station:

Nackrosen Station:

Solna Centrum Station:

Sorry, I forgot the name of this station:

Vastra Skogen Station:

Stadshagen Station:

I also forgot the name of the station for the following photos. I guess they are some art.

This is Kista station. It is an above ground station. I took off from the metro line at Kista station every morning and then walk to office in Kista.

Over.

I visited the Royal Palace (Official webpage in English and Chinese) in Stockholm, Sweden this Saturday. According to the Wikipedia entry:

The Stockholm Palace (Swedish: Stockholms slott) is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch.

Actually I did not get into the Royal Apartments, because it is closed now and will continue to be closed until April 26. Fortunately the ticket is valid until May 11, so if I am still in Stockhom on April 26, I can go to visit the Royal Apartments at that time. I visited the Tre Kronor Museum, a museum dedicated to the original Tre Kronor Palace in Stockholm, which was destroyed in a violent fire in 1697. I also visited Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities, one of Europe’s oldest museums, which first opened its doors in 1794. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the Tre Kronor Museum and Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities, so I have not taken any photo in these two places.

But there are some more photos below… and you can see how the Royal Palace looks like…

Walk on the cobble-stoned roads in the old town (Gamla stan) of Stockholm.

The Royal Palace:

I visited the Royal Armoury, where you can see lots of suits of armour and weapons made for the royal family. I particularly like this armour and its glove:

There are many royal guards around the palace, and you can take photos with them:

Over.

Today my friend in Karlskrona told me there is ferry between Trossö island and Aspö island. I took the ferry to go to Aspö on 17:30, and return Trossö on 19:00. The ferry is free of charge.

More photos below…

17:30 is the time when most people get off from the work, so quite many cars get on the ferry ship, but only very few people, without car, get into the cabin:

The ferry ship started.

Standing on the ferry, looking back toward the Stumholmen island (Check my another post with photos about Stumholmen island).

Looking the way forward:

A fortified tower in the middle of the sea:

The sea:

20 minutes later, the ferry ship arrived at Aspö island.

The houses, roads and woods on the Aspö island.

After walking for 15 minutes, finally I see the Drottningskar Citadel. It was built in 17th century.

Around the Drottningskar Citadel:

When I went back to Trossö island, it was 19:00, and there was only a few cars on the ferry ship, and the cabin was almost empty:

Over.

More photos below…

From http://www.navalcity.org/htmlsidor/valkommen_eng.htm

In 1998 Karlskrona became item no. 560 on UNESCO’s list of irreplaceable World Heritage Sites. In an international context, the city is of major importance, representing as it does an unrivalled illustration of how a fortified naval town and base from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was planned and established.

In the eighteenth century developments in Karlskrona in the fields of shipbuilding, architecture, town planning, military construction and engineering, attracted widespread notice and recognition from the continent.

For more than a century the distinctive architecture and specialised installations at the Navy yard served as a hub of military technology and industry in the Baltic region. Both the naval base and the dockyard have been in continuous operation from the time they were first established until the present day.

The Fredrik Church. It is a Baroque church consecrated in 1744. The architect Nicodemus Tessin (the younger) was inspired by Italian architecture.

The Fredrik Church and the Great Square. There is a marketplace in the Great Square every Saturday.

The Town Hall.

From www.karlskrona.se:

Trefaldighetskyrkan.

The Church of the Holy Trinity is by some considered to be the grandest work of architecture in the town. It is also known as the German Church since it was the parish church for members of the German community in the town until 1846.

The church, modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, was designed by Nicodemus Tessin the younger and was consecrated in 1709 and by 1750 the copper-roofed church had been more or less completed.

The fire that ravaged the town in 1790, also left the church in ruins and all that remained were the blackened walls. It took 12 years to rebuild. After the reconstruction, the church had a somewhat different appearance. The new dome, designed by Professor Olof Tempelman, was of a simpler, purer form, and more in keeping with the style of the Pantheon. The portico at the north end of the building was not completed until 1862, and followed Tessin´s original plans.

Karl XI, the founder of Karlskrona.

The Water Castle:

Continue to walk in the Trosso island. A fortress named Aurora Bastion:

The Admiralty Church, dates from 1685 and is the largest wooden church in Sweden.

The “Out of the book”:

The Admiralty Clock Tower:

The Blekinge county Museum:

The Naval yard and some naval places:

The Stumholmen island:

The very peaceful sea. Very quiet. Almost without people around. Peace. Serenity.

Serenity also exist in the land:

The Naval Museum:

The Bjorkholmen island:

Over.

Recommendated websites and links:

• www.karlskrona.se: The Naval City of Karlskrona
• www.navalcity.org
• Brochure in PDF: http://www.navalcity.org/pdf/foldereng.pdf

More photos below…

My Swedish colleagues told me this is “Swedish Dumplings”, a very typical Swedish food. Actually it is made from potato with stuffing.

The pizza with shrimp and mushroom. It cost me 50 SEK (Swedish Krona). I think it is cheap.

The salad with the pizza:

Another pizza:

The pizza shop:

Two places where you can cut your hair:

The garage.

Local people like to run every afternoon after 5:00pm when they are off duty.

This is the most frequently seen scene: A family with kids in the handcart:

Another very frequently seen scene: People with their dogs:

Three kids are playing balls:

Two women are renovating their house:

It seems that this is an ongoing building house.

Flowers. The spring is coming.

The only one Mcdonald in the Trosso town. There is no KFC here.

Deloitte office in Karlskrona, Sweden:

The harbor with lots of private boats:

I guess this sign means fishing is prohibited.

A plate in English and Swedish:

Crossroads:

The post box:

Usually the name of a street is on the corner wall like this:

The bus stops:

Inside the bus:

You press this to turn on the green light when you want to cross the road:

A service station:

Sand box? Yes, many sand boxes in Karlskrona. Guess its usage? I am told the sand is used to put on the roads in winter when there is heavy snow.

The Karlskrona Central Raiway Station:

The automatic ticket vendor machine:

Over.

More photos below…

This is the Google Map. It is draggable.

It is a peaceful small town, without many people, actually it is even hard to see a few people on the roads. Just cars and houses.

Many roads are like this:

The Hoglands Park:

A pond near to the Great Square.

Karlskrona is an archipelago. Lots of small islands here.

Over.

More photos below…

The following photos were taken when I was on the airplane, and it was going to down to Copenhagen airport.

This is the route that I took by train. This diagram is draggable.

Copenhagen train station:

The train started. Go!….

Finally I reached Karlskrona, Sweden.