At 10:00 in City Lodge Hostel Stockholm. I’ve finished a shower and tidy up the backpack, while another new occupant hostel up. I used to wake up in the morning, immediately shower, and breakfast. I left the room, carrying a large backpack, ready to check out. Today is my last day in Stockholm and tonight I will continue the journey to Goteborg. Upon check out, I dropped off my backpack at the hostel because I could not bear the heavy backpack all day. It was still quite early, but I did have to leave early to be able to see the changing of the guard in the court action.
Royal Palace or Kungliga Slottet is the official residence of the royal family. So in fact the royal family does not live in this palace. Royal private family residence located in Drottningholm Palace. Stockholm Royal Palace more functioned as the King and Queen of Sweden stints state.
Royal Palace has 608 rooms divided into seven floors and is claimed as one of the kingdoms of the world which is still used by a head of state, King Carl XVI Gustav. The palace is open to the public and visitors are welcome to enter, entrance fee of about 100 SEK. In addition to seeing some important room in the palace, visitors can also enter The Kronor Museum depicting the history of the medieval castle, Gustav III Museum of Antiquities shows a collection of statues of King Gustav III and The Treasury are displaying crowns, gems, and jewelry palace. To visit all museum in the palace, you should use a combination ticket that you have to pay about 140 SEK or use the Stockholm Card which frees visitors to come free of charge other.
At 11:00 I arrived at the Royal Palace. Actual changing of the guard procession begins at noon in the hall right behind the Royal Palace, but I purposely left early to get the first row. Given the attraction is so famous among tourists, do not be surprised if the Royal Palace area is packed with tourists during the daytime. Several officers with army uniforms busy latch and rope spread around the grounds Royal Palace, followed by a crowd of tourists who lined up directly behind the rope. There I stood 30 minutes of summer sun for changing of the guard saw action from the front row.
Exactly at 12.00 the sound of the marching band and all the places in the Royal Palace was packed with tourists. Tourists began boisterous crowd and turn heads while aiming the camera towards sound source. The first to enter the Royal Palace complex is the group marching band and followed by a retinue of palace guards glance look older and not as contingent marching band. Group of palace guards marching in the middle of the field, while the palace entourage marching band marching in the right side of the field.
A few moments later the group leader palace guards started giving instructions. Row was split into three parts, one to the right wing of the palace, one to the left wing of the palace, and the rest remain in place. They then split into their respective headings before to replace guards. Not long after the group marching band in action palace. They move to the middle of the field while playing a song.
After the song finished, majorette who stood in the front row with members stick movement instruction, then a member of the marching band played another song with a diverse line formation. Looks like it is a magnet and the highlight of the whole procession changing guard. Foreign song in my ear choreography performed with various marching formations. After the last song they played, I still want to hear and see their action.
Whole procession of changing guard, the changing of the guard just is not very interesting, even tend to be boring. Marching band that makes all the palace to be different and memorable, making this procession for 40 minutes this feels so impression in the hearts and obliged to watch directly while in Stockholm.