Alfred Nobel – peace-loving poet and inventor of dynamite
The Nobel Prizes are – except for the Peace Prize – announced in Stockholm in October, and awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December. Later the same day, the Nobel Laureates, Swedish royalty and guests, in all some 1300, enjoy a sumptuous banquet in the Stockholm City Hall’s resplendent Blue Hall, where it has been held since 1934.
The building was completed in 1923 and the 106 metre tall tower is topped by three golden crowns, the symbol of Sweden. The fairly arduous ascent is worth it alone for the vistas across Stockholm.
Other highlights include a guided tour of the various rooms, halls and salons, especially the Golden Hall whose walls are covered with 18 million tiles, in mosaics illustrating motifs from Swedish history.
Stockholm’s immediate vicinity also offers a great number of interesting destinations. These include three sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List: the beautiful Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery), Drottningholm Palace, and the remains of the Viking settlement, Birka on Björkö island in Lake Mälaren.
For a lot of people Swedish food means little more than IKEA meatballs and jars of pickled fish. However, the gastronomic front has changed and Swedish gastronomic art has won world recognition with its imaginative use of raw materials and innovative combinations.