Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

[scubacruiserx2]

The English tours of the city hall were scheduled for every half hour and they accepted Euros . Our tour began in the cavernous Blue Hall .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blue Hall (Swedish: Blå hallen) is the main hall of the Stockholm City Hall best known as the banquet hall for the annual Nobel Banquet, and also used for state visits, student balls, jubilees and other large events .

 

from wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Hall

 

 

Here are some beautiful photos , and a story from last years Nobel Prize Banquet .

 

 

Princess Sofia

 

 

 

 

Princess Madeleine

 

 

 

 

And lastly , Queen Silvia of Sweden

 

 

 

 

 

The full article can be found here :

 

http://royalnewssite.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-nobel-prize-banquet-2015-at.html

 

 

As an interesting story from rock history , ABBA debuted the song Dancing Queen , on the night before Silvia Sommerlath married King Gustav XVI of Sweden . It was performed for them , and seen here , by ABBA in the Royal Swedish Opera House in 1976 :

 

 

 

 

Strangely enough , it was the same summer in which I had met my dancing queen , Pat .

[scubacruiserx2]

Before we went upstairs I noticed this small plaque on a wall of Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite .

 

 

8 million bricks were used in the construction of the city hall .

 

 

 

 

Our first stop on the second floor was the Council Chamber

 

 

The following is translated from the Swedish Wikipedia article :

 

Council Hall located on the east side of the Courtyard, opposite the Golden Hall . The City Council meets every three weeks in the council chamber. The hall also has a public gallery to the public with seating for about 200 people.

 

Architecture and decoration

 

Orientation Plan.

Council Hall's interior is kept in red, warm colors. The 19-meter-high ceilings can be discerned between the exposed rafters , which are designed with inspiration from the Viking era . At the top is light blue clouds and sky motif that reinforces the impression of headroom.

 

City Hall was designed by architect Ragnar Östberg . The furniture in the Council Hall and the Council Hall (the anteroom to the council chamber) are designed by Carl Malmsten and textiles are designed by Maja Sjöström , for takmåleriet was Filip Mansson . The clock in the stands is played by Ostberg and manufactured by Linderoths urfabrik . It was a gift of Stockholm urmakarmästare.

 

 

 

 

The ceiling and back wall

 

 

 

 

Ceiling detail

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After leaving the Council Chamber we walked through the linear Prince's Galley toward our next major stop - The Golden Hall .

 

 

There was a beautiful tapestry there which I photographed - but I wasn't supposed to . I thought that the icon meant NO flash , but in looking at the photo , I think that it it meant NO photography . So I don't feel comfortable using the photo .

 

 

On the one side of the gallery is a fresco

 

 

 

 

While on the other side , a number of windows facing the lake and the city .

 

 

 

 

 

 

The skyline distortion through this window reminds me of a Dali painting

 

 

 

 

And the end of the fresco means the beginning of the Golden Hall

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Pay no attention to the room behind the curtain !

 

 

 

The golden Hall

 

 

 

 

18 Million mosaic tiles and pieces of glass

 

 

 

 

 

The focal point of the room is the Queen of Lake Malaren , which occupies the end wall .

 

 

 

This hall is my number one reason for coning to the Stockholm City Hall .

 

 

 

[jenseib]

Wow..that is just gorgeous!

[Gracie115]

Once again your pictures make me want to do take a Baltic cruise!!! They are beautiful....perhaps Celebrity or Princess will offer itineraries and dates that will work for us when they bring out the new ones in November or December!!:)

[jjh9]

It may have been asked but I did not see it what type camera did you use.

Cruising the Baltic family style on the Celebrity Eclipse

 

 

 

 

This was our sixth visit to Europe , but this one would be different . We would be taking our oldest grandson , Tyler age 13 . We have always maintained a close relationship to him and his brother .

 

 

 

 

He was just 3 when we first visited Europe , also on a Baltic cruise , on the NCL Dream . When we returned we told him stories of a far away place including the land where Thomas the Train , his favorite , lived . We promised to take him there one day , and so the time had arrived .

 

 

 

We would be taking the local train to our non stop flight from Miami to London

 

 

 

 

We left in the late afternoon on Friday , June 3rd , the day after Tyler had finished school for Summer . Last stop MIA for our overnight flight to LHR .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Wow..that is just gorgeous!

 

Thanks Jen , it's pretty amazing ! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Once again your pictures make me want to do take a Baltic cruise!!! They are beautiful....perhaps Celebrity or Princess will offer itineraries and dates that will work for us when they bring out the new ones in November or December!!:)

 

We hope so Gracie . A TA /Baltic , B2B is hard to beat ! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

It may have been asked but I did not see it what type camera did you use.

 

Hello and thanks for the question . The last 3 photos of the post which you linked , and the food photos are from my little , pocket sized Sony RX-100 III . The on site photos like in Stockholm , or on the ship are from a Canon DSLR model D 6 . They both have large sensors and price tags . :eek:

[scubacruiserx2]

Do you think that the artist liked cats ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Queen of Lake Malaren , the Queen occupies symbolically , the center of the world and has the city of Stockholm on her lap . To the West is the Statute of Liberty and an American flag on top of a skyscraper and , further East , the Eiffel Tower .

 

 

On the opposite side is a tiger and elephant and in the far East a Mosque and a flag from Turkey .

 

 

 

The mosaics were installed in this room in 1921 - 1923 .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hall_(Stockholm_City_Hall)

 

 

 

We paused in the courtyard before going to the old town .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After our tour of the city hall we walked back toward our meeting point at the opera house .

 

 

 

 

 

And this is where we entered Gamla Stan , the old town

 

 

 

 

With it's window dressing

 

 

 

And it's narrow streets

 

 

 

And this strange thing . "What's a phone booth" ?

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We ate at this cafe on our last visit here

 

 

But that was a long time ago !

 

 

 

 

We then heard a band coming

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there was a guard there , but his bayonet was't fixed

 

 

 

 

But it was a different story outside of the palace .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

If there's a down side to the Rick Steves it's thateverybody is doing his suggested walks and so they have become very crowded . We wish that we would have walked old town first and then went to the city hall . Here's 2 points mentioned in his book , the obelisk and a sand pit used for boules .

 

 

 

Also mentioned is the statue of King Gustav III .

 

 

 

There are plenty of other photo ops to be found

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near the statute is where we boarded the HoHo boat

 

 

 

 

And point H is where boarded .

 

 

[CruiserRob]

Was looking for and Eclipse photo review a week or so ago and came across your Total Eclipse review. I binge read that one, then went on to the Regal Princess and now this one. That's a lot of cruising in one week :D

Really enjoying the review and photography.

 

Robert

[scubacruiserx2]

Was looking for and Eclipse photo review a week or so ago and came across your Total Eclipse review. I binge read that one, then went on to the Regal Princess and now this one. That's a lot of cruising in one week :D

Really enjoying the review and photography.

 

Robert

 

 

Hi Robert , we hope that you enjoyed your cruises ! :) :D

 

We're glad that you are enjoying the review and I hope that I can finish Stockholm today . It's been another busy week of doctors , a surgery and 14 hour days with the grandsons , oh my ! :eek:

 

And if you would like a scenic cruise on a HAL ship , check out our South American cruise and visit !

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1958814

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

On the HoHo boat we saw some nice buildings between point A and B .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hopped off at point B near the Nordic Museum .

 

 

 

 

And the Vasa Museum

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had seen a museum overload look in the city hall which told us that we should bypass the museums and enjoy a walk toward point D , Grona Lund , an amusement park .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before we went there I had hoped to take some photos from the outside of the ABBA museum but we must have walked past it .

 

Surprisingly , Tyler showed no enthusiasm for the park . And so while they waited at the pier I took a short walk . I do wish that we would have gone for a bike ride !

 

 

 

 

And one of my favorite bands from the late 60's and early 70's was playing there . Unfortunately , only one of the original members ( the drummer ) is still in the group .

 

 

The free fall tilt !

 

 

And so we hopped on for our next boat ride .

 

 

 

 

[Baatman]

Enjoyed the photos.

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

The ride in the foreground is the Insane , and behind it is the Eclipse . Collectively they are the Insane Eclipse .

 

 

 

Another view . You can see a car on the Insane which looks like a circular saw blade .

 

 

 

 

Wife and Wifi on the HoHo . And I see an iphone and a ipad and i don't know where Tyler gets it .

 

 

 

 

NCL Star

 

 

 

 

I like this hotel photo near the Star

 

 

 

 

And this Giraffe crane . But I've seen much better photos of it online !

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We returned to our starting point at H

 

 

 

 

Where I saw a souvenir that I would like to take home

 

 

 

 

This is why I like my DSLR camera . I took this photo of the Parliament Building from a bridge .

 

 

 

 

And I was able to enlarge it just by cropping the same photo .

 

 

 

 

And after our bus ride back to the port , I did the same with this photo of the ship .

 

 

 

 

And the same photo cropped .

 

 

 

 

Next time : The sail out .

[perfect match]

I'm loving Stockholm! Thank you for giving me the motivation to get DH to consider going there some day - the ABBA museum, and the amusement park complete with roller coasters. :eek: I think he would like the HoHo boat as well. :D Now I just have to be sure he doesn't see the pictures of you guys wearing heavy coats because if he sees that it might be cold there I will never get him to go. :rolleyes:

[scubacruiserx2]

I'm loving Stockholm! Thank you for giving me the motivation to get DH to consider going there some day - the ABBA museum, and the amusement park complete with roller coasters. :eek: I think he would like the HoHo boat as well. :D Now I just have to be sure he doesn't see the pictures of you guys wearing heavy coats because if he sees that it might be cold there I will never get him to go. :rolleyes:

 

 

Pat and I really enjoyed Stockholm , London and the Baltic cruise . We think that Tyler was surprised in Stockholm first , and throughout the trip , to find out how much walking was involved . Secondly , he was surprised how quickly the weather could change in that area , at that time ( Early June ) . July , and August would be warmer , but more crowded .

 

Tyler only has 1 jacket ( a warm one ) . But Pat and I just layered - no winter coats needed . A shirt or blouse , sweater or fleece and scarf if cool , and a outer nylon shell which folds in a pouch when not being worn . And of course , a small travel umbrella - all in basic black .

 

 

 

 

The kangaroo style jacket has a lot of pouches ( zippered pockets ) in which to secure passports , wallets , water bottles and cameras - very handy !! ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

We loved the numerous houses on the islands , some which were quite small !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now where did that jet ski go ? He was here just a moment ago !

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

There he is !

 

 

 

And when the sun popped out - it was quite beautiful - even our view of the bridge !

 

 

 

 

 

Fredriksborg Castle