Sweden : Part 8 - Day 4 Afternoon : City Hall

21092015 - After an hour plus of looking for the mysterious City Hall, I finally found it. It was quite a distance from Riddarholmen. Thankfully, the weather is cold and I don't feel tired except maybe for my legs which are beginning to ache a bit. The City Hall was very close to the Running Man statue.

On September 5th, 2014, a new statue was installed in Stockholm, Sweden. It is called “Vem är Mr Walker?” (“Who is Mr Walker?”) and is created by Swedish artist Jan Håfström. Håfström has for several years created acclaimed artwork inspired by The Phantom comic strip and specifically The Phantom’s alter ego Mr Walker. The newly installed statue is made from aluminium, is 7 metres tall and weighs almost 2000 kilograms. It is in different colors depending on from which direction you look at it, red on one side and blue on the other. It depicts Mr Walker running, in the style of Wilson McCoy, who was the Phantom artist when Håfström, now aged 77, became a Phantom fan. (Source from Chronicle Chambers).

Stockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as ceremonial halls, and the luxury restaurant Stadshuskällaren. It is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet and is one of Stockholm's major tourist attractions. (Source from Wikipedia).

 

It was a gloomy weather. Look at the black clouds. Such a beautiful panaromic picture.

 

 

It is free to wander in the compound of the City Hall. However, there is a fee to pay to go up the Tower. I wanted to go up the Tower to see the view of Stockholm. The fee is SEK50. My schedule time is 2.35pm. One is only allowed to spend 35 minutes inside the Tower. Here, you can either walk the never-ending steps to the top or take the lift. I walked up just to see what was inside the Tower, and took the lift back down.

 

 

 

Don't worry if you have a heart problem while walking up the steps. There is help at the top.

I have finally reached the top. It took me about 15 minutes. The top was barred, similar to Cathedral of Notre Dame Tower. Thankfully, the space between the bars is wider as compared to Cathedral of Notre Dame Tower. I can put out my camera and take a view of Stockholm without the bars in the photo. The view, as always, is magnificent.

 

 

Did you realise how long the trains in Stockholm are?

That is Gamla Stan (Old Town) in the middle, jutting out from everyone.

This is the lift that I took to go back down. The lift is small enough for 2 persons.

Did you know that Stockholm has a lot of statues, and a majority being nude ones? Coming from a conservative environment, this is a different view for me, and it is a reminder to oneself to embrace how you look. I wonder if it means be brave to expose and be who you are. I am neither an artist nor remotely close to being one but I try to guess sometimes.

Shortly, the heavy rain came. I waited in the shelter for about half an hour before I forced myself to walk out in the rain because I had a plan to visit Ikea next! Lucky, my fleece jacket was sort of water-proof but my pants did absorb some of the water. Yay to my drybag that kept everything dry and functioning! It is not a pretty bag, not fashionable at all but very practical. You have seen me carrying the dry bag in some of my photos. I hurried quickly, ignoring my shivers to the bus stop for the free shuttle bus to Ikea.