Rick Steves Tour of Scandinavia - Part 4: Stockholm to Kalmar

June 6: Stockholm City Hall and and Evening in Kalmar

Stockholm's City Hall

We set out first thing in the morning today, our suitcases all packed for our first travel day from Stockholm to the Swedish city of Kalmar on the Baltic coast. But we had one more stop in Stockholm at the red brick City Hall. It was National Day in Sweden, so unfortunately, we could not go inside to see the gorgeous Golden Hall where the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, and literature are awarded. (The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Olso, Norway.)

I used this photo of the Golden Hall from Wikipedia Commons.
The figure on the far wall is the Queen of Lake Malaren, holding Stockholm in her lap.
Credit for the photo to the International Press Telecommunications Council

Our guide Åsa, dressed in her Swedish national costume for the special day, met us outside of the building and told us about its history, then we were joined by her friend Louise, who was a master on a traditional instrument, the nyckelharpa, a kind of cross between an accordian and a fiddle. Louise played several tunes for us, and the two of them sang the Swedish National Anthem.

Our guide Åsa in her national costume.

Figures from the zodiac were embedded in the walkways.  Here is my sign of Scorpio.

View across Lake Malaren from the Stockholm City Hall

Stockholm's City Hall

The Moon Tower

The Banquet Entrance to City Hall

Our group in the courtyard

Artwork on the ceiling of the portico

Decorations on the exterior walls

Saint Clara holding a crown.  She represents the Queen of Lake Malaren.

Louise arrives with her nyckelharpa.

Louise playing Swedish tunes on the nyckelharpa

Asa and Louise explain the instrument to us.

Our group listening to our guides.

Traveling to Kalmar

We spent much of the day on the bus to Kalmar, stopping along the way for lunch in the little town of Söderköping along the Göta Canal, which is part of the waterways constructed in the 19th century to link the west coast of Sweden with the Baltic Sea. After lunch, I took a few minutes to wander around the town, getting myself quite lost trying to find my way back to the bus!

Views of the Göta Canal...

...in both directions.

And a little tributary running through the town.

Tower near St. Laurentii Kirke

St. Laurentii Kirke was rebuilt from a medieval church that stood here in the 1400s.

In the late afternoon, we reached the pretty yellow Frimurare Hotel in Kalmar where the Kalmar Union, a joining of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, was formed in the 1300s. This union lasted for almost 200 years.

Frimurare Hotellet in Kalmar

Laurel gave us a walking tour of the small city, ending on the shores of the Baltic Sea, then we all headed to various restaurants for dinner and to prepare for our morning departure.