Next up was the Stockholm City Hall. It has a tall tower which dominates the city scape which you can also go up from May 1. When I arrived at 10.30 there were hourly tours and the next one was at 11am so I had to wait.

First they take us into a large interior hall called the blue room even though its red. The original plan was to paint it blue so it was always referred to the blue room during the design stage. When it was built and the saw the sunlight streaming on the red bricks they decided to leave it as is.

The staircase leading up has the steps at perfect depth and height for a lady in a gown to use. The architects wife and assistant would both dress up and practice until they had it designed perfectly.

The annoying part of the tour is they would rush us thru so many rooms that were not part of the tour and wanted to keep us together so you couldnt stay to take pics.

The council chambers were interesting in their open concept roof design.

There was an oval room with tapestries that can be booked for wedding ceremonies.

They were spending too much time on explanations keeping us in certain rooms before moving us to the next.

There was a sunlight outer hallway before they took us into a gold mosiac hall.

Despite this being the most interesting room we were kept on the schedule with the group and not allowed to stay longer to keep us seperated from the other groups.

I dont understand why the tour was so rigid. Oslo City Hall which was just as elaborate lets you wander on your own. Even the Stockholm Royal Palace lets you go around without a tour and has countless number of priceless artefacts. Its not like the crown jewels or anything valuable was on open display.

In frustration I walked out by the end while the guide was still talking. They make you wait to the top of the hour for the next tour and dont even let you see all the rooms and the things you want to properly.

See also Oslo City Hall http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/29/1413836425/tpod.html