Daydreaming at Stockholm City Hall

 Stockholm City Hall

photo by Yanlin Li

 I can't think of anything in the world more prestigious than a Nobel Prize, can you? One of the great pleasures of being in Stockholm was to see the sites associated with the yearly Nobel Prize event.  One of  the places used to celebrate humanity's most illustrious achievements is Stockholm's City Hall.

The Blue Hall

at Stockholm City Hall

Photo by Yanlin Li

I don't know why I find everything associated with the Nobel Prize deeply romantic, but I do.  Probably because while the Prize goes to one person, you know that someone doesn't achieve something like that without incredible help and support. I found myself reacting to all of Stockholm's Nobel glory with schoolgirl wonder.

One night in Stockholm, I watched new members who were going to be inducted into the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences arrive at City Hall in their white tie and evening gowns. It was such a beautiful moment to see, knowing that this had to be one of the happiest moments of their lives.  Bravo! Brava!

Now that I think about it, it wasn't just seeing Swedish scientists arrive for dinner and dancing that made it all seem so fanciful.  I do know why I find it all so dreamily romantic.

I've always had a serious crush on CalTech scientist Richard Feynman who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965. Feynman would now be over 90 but he died in 1988. I think back to his wonderful essay "The Value of Science" which is so breathtakingly beautiful, it has the ability to make every humanities major question their choices.

I went through a period where I read every single book Richard Feynman wrote for a general audience.  While I had never taken physics in school, his enthusiasm for the subject always made me realize "I am missing out somehow!" He had such a flair for showmanship when explaining physics.  Most people remember him not for his Nobel Prize, but for explaining very simply, using only a glass of water on the table, how the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up.

 The Swedish Flag

Hanging in the Blue Hall

More Swedish Pride

The Blue Hall is the largest room in Stockholm City Hall and it is most famous for being used every year for the Nobel banquet every December 10th. Every year 1,300 people squeeze themselves into this beautiful space with just 40 inches of space between them.  So what if you have to eat with your elbows close to your sides, this is one of the most exclusive invitations on Earth, no?

Table service for the Nobel Dinner

Two beautiful bas relief sculptures

in the Prince's Hall

within Stockholm City Hall

where receptions are held year round.

These window sculptures

overlook the harbor and a

terrace about as European and romantic

as terraces can get.

The Golden Hall

at Stockholm City Hall

where laureates go to dance.

Isn't it fabulous?

Photo by Yanlin Li

 The Golden Hall at Stockholm City Hall is done with a beautiful golden mosaic that could best be described as Picasso's Byzantine Period. Picasso didn't have a Byzantine period, you say?  I know.  But if he did, this is what it would look like.

 What? You say your City Hall

back home isn't quite this cool?

Yeah, same here.

The architect gave the artist a mere two years to finish the entire job, something the mosaic master felt would take at least 6 or 7 to do properly.  One of the very fun stories the tour guide relates is pointing out a headless Swedish patriot at the top of one mosaic, surrounded by equally headless friends.

"Why Mr. Artist, did your patriot get put up there on the wall minus his head?"

The artist said, "well, that's due to him having lost his head to the enemy in battle.  I didn't portray him with his entire body and head, but left the head off as he lost it in service to his country."

"Yes, but Mr. Artist, why then are there a couple other characters without their heads at exactly the point where the wall meets the ceiling?  Could it be you forgot that there would be 4 to 5 feet of benches at the base of the wall and the entire mosaic was raised 5 feet?" Ouch.

One would never pick these mistakes out on one's own - or even want to, actually.  It's the Swedish strength and ability to laugh at themselves, that makes these very human tours possible.

Oh, and look what I found.  Richard Feynman dancing in white tie during his Nobel weekend.  That is one lucky girl.

Richard Feynman and his wife Gweneth Howarth

1965

Photo from the CalTech Archives