Ginger Bread House Competition at Architecture Museum

While visiting Moderna Museet yesterday (see blog entry below), I stopped by the Architecture Museum (Arkitekturmuseet) to see their exhibition on ginger bread houses. You see, both museums have the same entrance and you can either pay a 60 SEK entrance fee for the architecture museum, or you can pay 160 SEK for a combination ticket for both museums (reduced price for senior citizens and free for children under 19 years of age).

This exhibition is actually a display of contest entries for the annual ginger bread house competition. There are four categories of competitors... architects, professional bakers, amateur bakers and children up to 12. There are over a hundred entries this year and I couldn't decide whether I liked the professional and creative houses or the whimsical houses created by children. The theme this year is "I can join! Bake your smart idea for a better life" (direct translation from Swedish). Quite a vague theme... but it was fun to walk through the exhibit and see the different houses and breathe in the peppery ginger scent (but don't eat the works of art!). Visitors can vote for their favorite designs at the museum. Prizes will be awarded at 3pm on December 16th for designs in the different categories; winners are decided by both a jury and the public. If you are coming later in the month, don't worry, the exhibition will run until January 6th!

The museum is located on the island of Skeppsholmen and is easy get there from the Rival Hotel. There are regular ferries between Slussen (10 minute walk from hotel) to the islands of Skeppsholmen and Djurgården. The trip takes only 10 minutes, but make sure you tell the ticket agent that you wish to disembark at Skeppsholmen... sometimes they don't stop at that island if there aren't any passengers to drop off or pick up.