Five Cool Things About Stockholm

There are far more than five cool things about Stockholm, of course, but here are some I especially liked on a recent visit to the Swedish capital:

1. Ostermalmshallen Market. This spacious indoor market occupies a heritage building, and it is a beauty. Stocked with bakeries, fishmongers, cheese sellers, coffee makers, sweet shops, produce vendors and more, it's a great place to snack, shop or have lunch, and a great place to people-watch. On my first visit, a sharp-eyed local called my attention to Benny Andersson, the former member of ABBA, walking the aisles with an environmentally sensitive string bag. Shoppers and workers pretended not to notice him. Benny bought some cheese. Which is only appropriate when you consider how much cheese ABBA sold. Located on Ostermalmstorg. http://saluhallen.info.

2. The Royal Dramatic Theatre. In Swedish, the Dramaten. This ornate structure is the showcase for high-art, theatrical division. The great filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, also an accomplished man of the theatre, was artistic director there after he retired from filmmaking. Public tours, including the extensive costume department, are available to the public, and the classic, horseshoe-shaped main auditorium and marbled halls are impressive. Nybroplan. www.dramaten.se.

3. Kvarnen. In English, "The Mill.'' A well-appointed, spacious tavern with a full, bustling bar and busy kitchen, this is the fictional hangout for Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson's insanely popular trilogy of crime novels - you know, the one that begins with "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo'' and concludes with "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.'' I didn't see the tiny, punked-out Salander there or anyone who looked like her, but the fish is fresh and tasty, the schnaps and beers are cold and this is a lively spot to hoist a few and eat casually and well. It has a stylish edginess to it; when the manager gave me his business card, I saw that it is made of metal. Tjarhousgatan 4, www.kvarnen.com.

4. Gamla Stan. In English "Old Town.'' This is the narrow-laned part of town where Stockholm began in the 13th century. The heart of the district is perhaps unavoidably touristy but locals visit, too. The Royal Palace, the enormous and grand official residence of Sweden's kings, is in Gamla Stan, just off the water. In warm months, people sit outside drinking coffee - Swedes consume copious amount of coffee - or licking ice cream cones. Swedes supposedly eat the most ice cream of any people in Europe. Yet, Sweden is chilly. Go figure.

5. The Red Room at Berns Salonger. The Red Room is, incongruously for a stately European hotel and performing arts venue, a pan-Asian restaurant, albeit an Asian restaurant that also serves Swedish staples like the rich moose meat I sampled at lunch. Story goes: Some Chinese were stranded in neutral Sweden when China was invaded at the start of World War II, and couldn't get home. If you have a lemon, make ... dim sum. The Red Room was transformed into the first Chinese restaurant in Sweden. Before that, it was a haunt of artists and writers, including August Strindberg, a regular, who set a short story in the restaurant - then more like a private club, and pre-Asian - and entitled it "The Red Room,'' natch. Berzelii Park, www.berns.se/en.

Ingmar Bergman's Projection Room

Near downtown, on a stately street near the university, through a handsome arched doorway, across the theatre lobby, nearly to the framed and mounted poster advertising "Fanny and Alexander,'' then up a few steps, is the modest projection room where Ingmar Bergman learned to love cinema.

The theater, a lovingly restored 1914 structure in the Swedish university town of Uppsala, is called the Slotts Biograph (in Swedish: Slottsbiografen). Bergman served as an upaid assistant to the projectionist while growing up in Uppsala, his hometown, in the 1920s and 1930s. The room, small but neat, is much like it was then.

The cinema,with its traditional single screen and non-traditionally comfortable seats, is a pleasure to visit. It still shows movies, including silents, though Slotts is no longer a commercial cinema. Rather, it is an arts center with a special emphasis on film. Theatrical performances, music, readings, meetings, even weddings for the heritage-minded, also take place there. The theatre operated as a commercial moviehouse until 1991. It was declared a monument in 1994. Extensively restored, it was reopened in 1996. With just 130 seats, about half as many as during Bergman's boyhood, it is more comfortable now than back in the day.

Visiting the Biograph was one of the highlights of my recent visit to Sweden and Finland. It provides a physical link to Sweden's rich cultural past and to Bergman, an Old Master who is to the movies what Rodin is to sculpture and Rembrandt is to painting. It's easy to imagine the boy Ingmar lifting a new reel of film and offering it to the projectionist, peeking out of the projection room at flickering black and white images on the screen of this marvelous, three-dimensional magic lantern and trundling home after the show to his grandmother's apartment.

She occupied an entire floor in a handsome building that still stands. This was the home fictionalized in Bergman's late masterwork "Fanny and Alexander,'' released in the early 1980s. Before that, making pilgrimmages to see Bergman pictures such as "Wild Strawberries,'' "Smiles of a Summer Night'' and "The Seventh Seal'' were artistic rites of passage for many filmgoers, including myself. His works survive as touchstones of 20th century European art cinema.

After retiring from filmmaking, Bergman (1918-2007) served in Stockholm as artistic director of the magnificent Royal Dramatic Theatre. Tours are offered in that cultural mainstay of central Stockholm and they are well worth taking.

Still, there is something innocent and beguiling about Slotts Biograph. It is easily reached from the central train station in Uppsala, which is only 40 minutes from the capital by train. If you get the chance, go.

Slotts Biograph is located at Lower Linnankatu 6B, 753 09, Uppsala, Sweden. Tel. 018.101101, e-mail info@slottsbio.com.