Glögger: Stockholm City Hall -- surprisingly beautiful

Today we went on a guided tour of Stockholm's City Hall and were quite surprised by all of its history and background. The outside of the building, I have to say, is not that striking. It looks fairly plain and like a functional building that sits on the waterfront. I thought it dated back to the 18th century -- ahh no. It was actually built in the 1920's when the NYC skyline was growing with skyscrapers. The design of the building was in opposition to the modern design that was becoming popular in other major cities.

City Hall is home to the Nobel Laureate Banquet each year. You can see pictures of what it looks like when filled with Nobel Laureates. Here are a few fun facts:

The grand staircase where guests of honor enter into the main hall was one of 5 options. The architect had his wife wear high heels and a long flowing dress and walk up and down the 5 staircase options for a week. She divorced him before City Hall was finished. Not sure if it was related to the stairmaster workout she did in high heels or not but I have my suspicions.

the staircase was very comfortable to walk up and down -- it was designed that way intentionally

The heat comes in through massive holes in the walls. Some rooms have their heating vents disguised -- this one was fairly obvious and apparently didn't work well. It was still cold!

The views from almost every room are gorgeous. I can only imagine what it looks like in the summer.

Weddings are very popular at City Hall and there is a 6 month wait list. Wedding ceremonies are held every Saturday 2pm-6pm. Couples have the option of a "short" ceremony or a "long" ceremony. The long ceremony is 3 minutes and the short ceremony is 40 seconds. About 50 couples are married each Saturday -- that's one about every 5-6 minutes!
The Gold Room is a mosaic room that is overwhelmingly bright with real 24K gold mosaic tiles. The local Swedes did not approve of the artist's rendition of famous Swedish figures and did not appreciate the many errors made during the building of the room. Give the artist a break -- he asked for 7 years and was given 2. It is still an impressive room -- gaudy or not.

The Lady of Lake -- local Swedes thought she was ugly though the artists used his wife as inspiration. They did not divorce -- unlike the City Hall's architect and his wife...

the artist decapitated St. George at the top of the wall as they failed to take into account the marble benches. The entire scene gets squished at the top -- the horse is missing his body

I walked up and down the staircase enjoying the "comfortable" tread and imagining a room filled with great energy, positivity and honor. What a great place to hold concerts, banquets and important events.