Thursday September 28 was Allan's birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 19C. Our first destination was the Free Walking Tour. Our meeting spot was the Metro station in Gamla Stan, the Old Town, which is on a small island with narrow streets and very old buildings, a number of which are unchanged from medieval times. It is one of the best-preserved old towns in Europe. The Old Town dates from the 13th century, but most buildings are from the 1600s and 1700s.
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Sculpture outside the Metro Station- Familjegrupp
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| View across the water |
Our guide was Linda, an American married to a Swede, who has lived in Stockholm for 14 years. She is a teacher as well as doing the guide gig. She sang Happy Birthday in Swedish to Allan and a young guy on the tour who was turning 15. I haven't figured out putting videos in the blog, so no singing.
We walked down to the water and Linda pointed out one of the few industrial buildings still standing. Münchenbryggeriet is a monument of Stockholm's industrial past. Beer was produced there for thirty years. Today, there is a small microbrewery on the premises, but it mainly functions as an office space with 23 historic event/conference venues. It's goal is to be at the forefront of sustainable conference facilities in Sweden.
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Münchenbryggeriet
We also had a good view of the City Hall (Stadshuset), which is on the nearby Kunsholmen Island. The building was commissioned in 1907, but didn't open until 1923. The City Hall hosts the annual Nobel Prize banquet. It is on our list of must sees.
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One of Stockholm's most iconic buildings- City Hall
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Also in the distance- the 2011 conference centre and Hotel, clad in 3500 reflective stainless steel strips.
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| The conference centre |
We started to make our way through the Old Town and the small island called Riddarholmen attached to Gamla Stan. Riddarholmen Church is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, parts of it dating to the late 13th century when it was built at a greyfriars monastery. After the Protestant Reformation, the monastery was closed and the building became a Lutheran church. The original spire was added in the mid 1550s, but was destroyed by a lightening strike in 1835, after which it was replaced with the present cast-iron spire. The congregation was dissolved in 1807 and it served as the final resting place of most Swedish monarchs until 1950.
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| Riddarholmen Church |
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| View of the cast iron spire (lots of iron in Sweden) |
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Part of the Royal residences
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| The House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) was built in 1641-1672. Since 2003, it has been a private institution, which maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility. |
We walked down some of the older streets in Gamla Stan. Linda pointed out a number of protrusions on the top of the buildings, where goods were often placed. Some of the buildings had original shutters.
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| Original shutters and protrusions on the top |
Linda pointed out a runestone built into the wall of a shop. The stone dates from the Iron Age. Runestones were usually made to memorialize the dead, and this one says "Torsten and Frogunn had this stone erected after their son." The stone was probably brought to Stockholm to be used as building material. It is believed to be from around 1000 A.D., thus 200 years older that the city.
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| Iron rail against the runestone protects it from being damaged |
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| 1630 building |
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| Junotäppan-- Boy Climbing on a Horse |
We then stopped at Marten Trotzigs Gränd, the narrowest street in Stockholm. It is 90 cm (36 inches) wide at its narrowest point. We all walked down the street.
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| There is a belief that the Iron Boy bestows good luck upon those who rub his head. (Good thing for Allan to do on his birthday) |
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| Gustav III's Obelisk next to Storkyrkan Church |
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| Charles XIV John's statue in front of Royal Palace |
Our last stop on the tour was Stortorget (Large Square), the scene of the Famous Stockholm Bloodbath. Sweden has a long and turbulent history with Denmark. In 1520, Sweden was conquered by Christian II of Denmark, who would then be crowned the king of Sweden. Soon after this, he felt that he needed to deal with the Swedish nobles in order to secure his rule. He invited them to a banquet to talk peace. He then commenced to behead each of them publicly. One nobleman was left alive, because he was not able to attend the "peace talks". His name was Gustav Vas, and he was the son of one of the murdered nobles. He managed to rally the Swedish people during a two-year trek around the country, amassing a large army that he used to win back the country and defeat Christian the Tyrant.
The buildings around the square were rebuilt and No. 20 (the red coloured house) became a monument to the fallen. Ribbinska huset was first built around 1479, but the white stones on the facade were added in 1628. Some say they symbolise the decapitated heads of the 82 people who were killed during the Stockholm Bloodbath.
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| The red house in the middle has the memorial white stones |
One side of the square has the Nobel Prize Museum, opened in 2001, for the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize located in the former Stock Exchange Building. The Swedish Academy and the Nobel Library are also in the same building.
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| The Nobel Prize Museum |
As we finished our tour, pancakes were being distributed to schoolchildren in front of the Nobel Prize Museum.
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| Dishing out pancakes to the schoolchildren |
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| Enjoying pancakes in the sun |
Allan and I went in to check out the restaurant there, and were able to see a few of the exhibits in the Museum.
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| Outside the Nobel Prize Museum |
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| Nobel Prizes for Economics 2001-2010 |
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Alice Munro- Nobel Prize in Literature 2013
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| Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize in Literature 2022 (just read her books recently) |
Except for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm at the annual Prize Ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The Nobel banquet is held at City Hall, and is attended by the Swedish Royal Family and around 1300 guests. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, on December 10 and the banquet is held at the Oslo Grand Hotel with about 250 guests in attendance.
Across from the Nobel Prize Museum is the Grillske Huset, which takes its name from the Grill family who purchased the building from Queen Christina in 1681. The building dates back to 1649. The right side of the building is a bakery and the left side (grey) is a restaurant. Everything is prepared by scratch.
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| Outside of the bakery and restaurant |
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| Inside of the restaurant- cafeteria style |
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| Bakery-- the delicious cinnamon and cardamon buns on display |
We decided to have lunch in the restaurant. They had a beautiful garden patio on the second floor in the back of the building. We shared a plate of delicious smoked salmon with potato salad. Very good quality salmon. The coffee was good as well.
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| Allan with our lunch |
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After lunch we wandered and Allan found a Happy Socks store
(one of his favourite- they started in Sweden in 2008). |
We then started our walk to the next Island called Sodermalm. Our destination was the Stadsmuseet (Stockholm City Museum). We crossed over on a bridge and noted the three towers of Gröna Lund , an amusement park, located on the seaward side of Djurgården Island.
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| Gröna Lund |
The Stockholm City Museum is housed in a building that was completed in 1685. The Museum moved into this building in the 1930s and opened to the public in 1942. It is the largest municipal museum in Sweden and houses collections which include 300,000 items of historical interest; 20,000 works of art and three million photographs. It closed for renovation in January 2015 and reopened in April 2019.
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| View of the museum as we entered |
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| View from inside the museum to the street |
We first visited a small temporary exhibit, entitled Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the City. It had pictures taken during the period when City Hall was being constructed; ie. from 1911-1923, a period of transition for Stockholm from a dirty, industrial city to a modern metropolis. The exhibit compared pictures of identical locations from the earlier period with photos taken in 2022. Some places haven't changed very much, others are almost unrecognizable.
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| Bergspränger Alley, as seen from Borgmästergatan (the street is now called Mäster Pers Gränd). Photographers Bror Ericson 1915, Johan Stigholt 2022. |
The City Museum was free and his three floors of permanent exhibits. The first floor covered The King's Town (1527-1630) and had displays on The Reformation and Fire!; it also had a section called Capital City (1630-1720) including rooms on the plague, and the cellar tavern.
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| This cupboard is known as the Last Drink Cupboard. It once stood in a tavern first mentioned in the 1670s. Execution processions, would stop at the tavern and the condemned prisoner was escorted to have one last drink. The prisoner's name was inscribed on the drinking glass, which was then displayed in the cupboard. When the tavern closed in 1908, the City rescued the cupboard, however, the drinking glasses were lost. |
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| A cross was illuminated on different doors to show what happened when a household had the plaque. In 1710, the plague arrived in Sweden and by 1711, over 22,000 people died- a third of the population of Stockholm. |
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| Stockholm executioner's sword, early 17th century |
The second floor had a section on City of Trade (1720-1860), with displays on the Theatre and The Street; City of Industry (1860-1921), focusing on Migration and Factories with a small Photographic studio; and The Modern City (1921-1950), with a Nightlife and Department Stores section.
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The Theatre room featured two of the biggest stars of the 19th century- Emilie Högqvist and Jenny Lind. Both became rich and famous, although their paths to success were quite different. Not many women actors were this successful, and often lived in difficult conditions.
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| Jenny Lind (1820-1887) was born in Stockholm. She had a beautiful voice and was taught to sing and act. In 1838, she was successful in her first leading role. In 1849, she shifted to singing in concerts. She married pianist Otto Goldschmidt and the couple settled in England. She withdrew from public life in the 1850s. |
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| Emilie Högqvist was born in Stockholm in 1812. She became a pupil at the opera ballet when she was very young and by 16, was a drama student at the Royal Theatre. She was employed there in 1831, becoming a star, most famous for her comedy roles. From 1836, she held a literary salon. She had a well-known, 10-year relationship with Crown Prince Oscar with whom she had two sons. She spend time at spa resorts in southern Italy to deal with her tuberculosis. In 1846, she died in Turin, at just 34 years old. |
In the factory section there was a model of the Münchenbryggeriet made in 1915-25. We had seen this building from afar on our Free Tour. It is now a small microbrewery and event space.
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| Model of the old brewery |
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| Trade Union banner- replica of an original used by the No. 15 women's section of the Confederation of Brewery Workers. |
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| Stylin' in the photographic studio |
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Moi aussi
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The third floor was entitled: The City in the World, from 1950 on. It had a section on
The Café, The Metro, Housing and a temporary exhibit entitled:
We Who Built The City Hall, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of City Hall.
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| Logo for the Metro Stations |
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| History of the building of City Hall |
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| Inauguration of City Hall 1923 |
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| A model of Gondolen which is a restaurant suspended high above the entrance of Stockholm's port |
with an incredible view. It was inaugurated on October 15, 1935 by King Gustav V and operated by the Swedish Consumer Cooperative Society.
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| The real thing- near the Museum--- closed for renovation |
We really enjoyed our visit to the Stockholm City Museum. It has a great collection of artefacts, photos and interactive displays in well laid out sections. There were not many people at the Museum while we explored the three floors of exhibits. Toronto should definitely have a City Museum!!
We wandered a bit more, and finally headed to Woodstockholm, our 8:00 p.m. Birthday dinner destination. We had read about this restaurant in our Wallpaper Guide and Eater Stockholm. It is a furniture store, food bar and bistro (only 38 seats). The lamps and chairs are made by local designers. It offers a themed menu that changes regularly, focusing on organically produced food and wine.
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| Very small restaurant with a few tables and a bar. We sat at one of the tables under the mural |
There was a small TV in the window with clips from movies, mainly with pancake scenes.
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| Julia Child making crepes |
We decided to share a four course menu and add an appetizer and a dessert. Perfect amount of food. They were very accommodating of my lactose intolerance and in fact use some lactose free products in their cooking. The theme for the menu was "Vilse I Pannkakan" which I later discovered translates into "Lost in the Pancake", the name of a 70s Swedish TV show. It was about a child that was forced by his parents to eat a giant pancake, but pleaded he could not. Its surrealistic style apparently scared children rather than entertained.
There was also a Swedish progressive rock band that took their name from the Swedish TV show. The term "vilse I pannkakan" is still used to "describe human smallness in a world that can be perceived as both flat and crazy."
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| The Menu--- there were additional ingredients in each list item, which our server told us about |
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| The Little Tramp with Charlie Chaplin - pancake scene |
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| Allan relaxin' before the food came |
Our appetizer was blood pancakes with reindeer, lingonberry, and juniper. They weren't really pancakes as we know them--- they were like a small bite-sized tart with reindeer and lingonberries-- delicious. We inhaled them so fast, I forgot to take a photo.
We then had a dish called Bacalaítos, featuring cod, bell peppers, coriander seeds and some greens. It had a Portuguese pancake reference, that was a bit obscure. It was delicious though.
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| Like a cod ceviche |
We then had Frittaten Suppe, with shiitake mushrooms, noodles, cabbage and bonita flakes in an amazing mushroom soup which they poured over the rest of the ingredients. The inspiration was a soup that Portuguese make with chopped up pancakes.
We had an ongoing chat with a Swedish couple in their late 50s/ early 60s. They were celebrating a wedding anniversary and hadn't been to the restaurant before but had read excellent reviews. Their daughter was considering an exchange with University of Toronto among other European universities. They were well travelled and had some recommendations of places to visit in Stockholm.
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| Incredible mushroom flavours |
The next course was called Duck Pancakes. It was modelled after crispy peking duck skins. A lovely duck terrine, some greens and plums with a chill, ginger flavour.
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| Duck terrine, plums, ginger-- hard to see what was under the crispy wafers (the pancake element, modelled after duck skins) |
The main dish was superb. It had a socca pancake (like those we had in Nice), and pork belly, in an amazing pea broth with some chickpeas and greens and mustard. It had amazing flavours.
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| Called ärtscocca (the socca was the pancake feature) |
We shared an wonderful dessert, with a sorbet, pannacotta (they use lactose free cream), berries and an amazing sauce.
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| Gotlandspannkaka- pannacotta, saffron, salmberry |
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| Leaving the restaurant |
We were only a few minutes away from a Metro stop on a line that would take us near the apartment.
Allan got our senior tickets on-line (an app similar to the one we used in Oslo). The subway art in this station was entitled A Love Supreme by Eric Magassa (b. 1972) and encompassed images from his own collection and the photo albums of his friends which were processed and filtered and then woven together.
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| Wonderful subway art |
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| Part of the entire wall |
We walked from the Metro down a main street en route to our apartment. Full moon over Stockholm.
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| Full moon a few blocks away from our apartment |
It was a very full day and a great birthday celebration! We are beginning to get the hang of Stockholm and the varying islands and neighbourhoods. Definitely more spread out than Oslo but with an equally excellent transit system. So much to do and see in the city.
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