Stockholm II

On the one but last day of our Swedish trip, the group continued visiting Stockholm. We started in the morning with a guided tour of the city. 

We visited the grounds of the famous Stadshuset (town hall), from where we had a view of the Gamla Stan (Old City).

August Strindberg statue in the Stadshuset Park.

On our way to the Kungliga slotted (Royal Palace), a reminder of this year's jubilee.

    

The Royal Opera, the Riksdag (parliament), and the Palace (©Apple Maps)

Beautifully restored houses on Stortorget (Large Square)

Svenska Akademien and Nobel Museum on Stortorget

Cheekily, as always, I "trumpeted" that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen had received the first Nobel Prize. Our guide Tina, on the other hand, said that Henry Dunant was the person. It turned out that both received a Nobel Prize in 1901, Röntgen for his discovery of a new type of rays and Dunant for founding the International Red Cross.

Flag of the Svenska kyrkan, a Lutheran denomination, the former state church of Sweden.

On the Palace grounds, the Storkyrkan (Big Church). On the right side, a monument for Olaus Petri.

Olavus Petri, originally Olof Pettersson, studied theology at Wittenberg and was an eyewitness of Luther's posting of his theses in 1517. He is regarded as Sweden's reformer. Petri was city secretary and preacher at St. Nicolai Church (Storkyrkan) in Stockholm.

Inside the Palace: the throne room.

In 1810, French Marshall Bernadotte was elected Swedish Crown Prince to the childless Wasa King Charles XIII. Charles XIV, John of Sweden, was handsome, but his wife, Désirée Clary, was even more beautiful.

In Sweden Désirée is known as Drottning Desideria

A polished marble backside was the desire of all photographers.

The Palace Cabinet Room is only used on special occasions.
According to British practice: the king "goes" to the Riksdag (parliament).

A special event: On October 18, 2022, following general elections, Sweden got a
new Government led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (sitting left to the king)
of the Moderate Party

Little Versailles. Hall of Mirrors in Stockholms slott.

In those many rooms we visited, Red Baron noticed all types of mechanical clocks, all precise within seconds.

Meet the charming Royal Clockmaker. She makes her rounds and "watches" that all the clocks are always on time. Still, she had the time for a little chat, or didn't we interview her?

        

Another reminder. From Wasa to Bernadotte 1523•1973•2023 Culture and service for the realm.

While others stretched their necks to watch the changing of the guards, Red Baron stood at the right corner at the right time and saw them marching by. The men still carry those Prussian spiked helmets; officers show theirs in polished brass. 

We had lunch at Sten Sture on Stortorget and, as a dessert, a little rain shower.

An Evening at the Royal Opera

Benjamin Britten's

LED technic makes those scenes possible (©Royal Opera Stockholm)

During the break, a view from the balcony of the opera house:
Riksdag building and the Stadshuset

Thank you. The applause is well deserved.

Red Baron loves the theater but is not an opera aficionado. Strangely enough, he not only listened to A Midsummer Night's Dream but lately to Wozzeck and the Threepenny Opera.

 
Suddenly I feel like the Hauptmann von Köpenick alias Wilhelm Voigt. After he was arrested and interrogated, the head of the commissioner's office slapped his thighs in glee at the shoemaker's audacity. He offered him a glass of red Bordeaux and asked, "How do you like it, Voigt?" Wilhelm answered in his Berlin dialect, "Daran könnt’ ick mir jewöhnen (I could get used to that).

On our way out of Sweden, Red Baron noted the following panel:      

Down to earth: AI on everybody‘s mind.

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