Stockholmslyktan

Three photos of sunbathers and lunch eaters at Kungsträdgården. But you also see Stockholmslyktan in all three photos, and believe it or not, that was my idea when I took these photos. To show that street light. It was called Stockholmslyktan. The Stockholm Street light, plain and simple. The design dates back to 1890. Back then they were all used with gas.

Arch

The Arch. By Ai Wei Wei. Last seen in New York. Now in Stockholm, in front of the entrance to Nationalmuseum. The artist himself was there for the unveiling last week. Part of the Brilliant Minds meeting in Stockholm.Two united human silhouettes, although it can be hard to see from certain angles. Also, tricky to photograph as it is so high and stands close to the water. Also I had the wrong lens with me, the Viltrox 85mm, so both photos are several images stitched together. The woman sitting inside the cage in the second photo also had a hard time photographing it, she didn't want any people in her photo, but they just kept coming, me included.

An unexpected sight

From my bike ride through Stockholm, on what we call Midsommarafton, I came upon these shopping carts down by the water at Skeepsbrokajen. In the background on the other side of the water you can see the Nationalmuseum. Behind me is the Royal castle.

Street scenes from the old town

I sometimes park the bike outside a palace in Gamla stan, before going on a photo promenade in the old town, camera ready. I usually walk Västerlånggatan, the big tourist street. A few smaller alleys and then up to the castle before making my way back to the bike. And here are eight such photos. The guy in the top photo had made it to the castle, but couldn't be bothered to watch the changing of the guards. The woman in the striped suit probably works for the government. I spotted the Fashionista girl at Stortorget, the jury is still out about the furry slippers. Someone has to do it. Palace guard. Texas Longhorn, popular Swedish/American chain, started by a guy from Texas, I think. The last two shots are from Västerlånggatan where everything is a bit more expensive.

Vanadislunden times seven

I decided to eat my lunch at a park, which is always a good choice in the Summer. So here are seven photos taken from Vanadislunden, a park in an area of Stockholm that has a fun nickname. It is known as Siberia. It was considered so far away from the central parts of Stockholm that it was like being deported to live there back in the day when they started building houses here. In the top photo, you can see the Gustav Vasa church tower at Odenplan. The girl has a great view over the city, from the top of the hill. She is known as, flicka i aftonsol. Made by the sculptor Anders Jönsson some seventy years ago. In the third photo, we can see Vanadislundsreservoaren. That is a longish word for the old water reservoir. Designed by Gustaf Améen a century ago. Many people mistake it for something else, and I guess it does look a bit like an old fortress. The Northern Towers can be seen from all over the city. Next the church with the beautiful name, for obvious reasons. Sankt Stefans kyrka. Built just over a century ago. Oh, and behind the fence there are a lot of nearly naked people having an excellent time. In the sixth photo, we see Nyponet. A twenty-one-story apartment building at Körsbärsvägen. Very close to both the university and to KTH. The first student apartment in the country. Built on a hillside in the mid 1950s. The architect was Dag Ribbing. And lastly, walking down the hill towards Sveavägen we pass buildings belonging to Cederdals Malmgård. The only buildings of this type still in existence. All one-room apartments. Built a century ago. Two of the original four buildings are still here today. They were modernized back in the early 1970s.

Do you know anyone that has been to prison?

A new art project. The text asks if you know anyone who has been to prison. Sadly, that would be a long list. I know at least three people just in my class at school that ended up behind bars. And one that should have, but who got away with it. The ones that were locked up did it for different crimes. One for bank robbery, everyone recognized him as he lived nearby. He later died after being stabbed to death. One guy stole petrol from a filling station. And one guy who was my best friend for several years went away for blowing safes, a trick he learned at juvenile school. He was also a heroin addict, and actually shared a prison cell with the bank robber. But there is a happy ending here because he is today a happily married man with kids and grandkids.

Midsommarafton

It is Midsummer today. Nearly everyone has left Stockholm to celebrate in their summer house or at a friend's place, or maybe somewhere out in the archipelago. But not everyone. I decided to go for a bike ride in the nearly empty capitol. Nice with almost car free streets. And the weather is amazing. 27C from a clear blue sky. I did see and photograph a lot of tourists, of course, on my ride around the city. And then I heard some music from the ship Sentosa at Norr Mälarstrand at Kungsholmen, just a few hundred meters from City Hall. So I stuck around for a couple of songs. Quite the small crowd aboard the ship, maybe five people, that the three musicians that call themselves Trubadurerna were playing for. Not counting the ten or so people sitting on benches nearby, and then me, of course. The band consists of Håkan Bäfve, Josef Ekrelius and Sonny Forsberg. I googled the ship, and it looks like the owner Vidar who I believe lives on the boat is one of the people enjoying the music.

Maria Sandel

Back at the Woodland Cemetery, or Skogskyrkogården as we like to call it. The World Heritage Site at Enskede in Stockholm. There are more than 100 000 graves here. I picked one at random, believe it or not, and got a very interesting story. This is Maria Sandel's grave. Born by hardworking, but poor parents, Maria Sandel started working aged twelve. She emigrated to the US, where she worked as a maid for four years. By then, she was fluid in four languages Swedish, English, German and French. When she was twenty-five, she lost her hearing, and just a few years later most of her eye-sight. Despite all her problems, she became an author. She started writing novels about working class women. One author that inspired her was Charles Dickens. She became a member of the Social Democratic Party. Maria never married, she was poor for most of her life. She died aged 56. There is a street at Kungsholmen named after her, Maria Sandels gränd.

Stockholm eBikes

Fail of the year! The municipality signed a contract with Citybike Global. The company would provide the city with 1000 eBikes back in April. Since then there has been problem after problem. Bikes not working. Bikes missing, (and a lot of them). App not working. The list of problems is too long to list here. Last I heard, the city ordered Citybike Global to pay a fine of 4.2 million kronor for the delays. Something I am hoping that these two tourists outside the Royal Castle know anything about.

Seven moments in time from the King's Park

If you enjoy people watching and who doesn't, the King's Park, or Kungsträdgården as we like to call it, is a good spot. That is where I watched the St. Patrick's Day Parade earlier this year, and also the park where I snapped all those photos from the medieval market. The best time of the day would be during the lunch break, when locals and tourist mix. And here are seven photos from a recent sunny Summer day.

Street Opera

Two Summer street portraits of the opera singer and soprano Himani Grundström performing together with the tenor Björn Barje at Götgatsbacken on Södermalm. I don't know what they were singing as opera is not my cup of tea, but they are both professionals, so they know what they are doing. There is always a crowd gathering here when they sing, and anyone who feels like it can swish some money their way.

Collective Strings

The Danish performance artist Karoline H Larsen invites people living in Stockholm and visitors to take part in the collective making of an art piece called Collective Strings. At the Stockholm City Museum courtyard at Slusssen on Södermalm. This performance installation has travelled the world for quite a few years now.

Around the Castle

After my pasture walk, I jumped back on the bike and pedaled over to the Haninge side of the nature reserve for a quick visit at the Häringe castle. I have shown you some views of the castle, and it's surrounding areas before, but there is always more to see. Here are a few sculptures. The East Wing. My faorite bench. Blooming bushes at the pond, a secured window, castle style. I shot the last photo from the tree lined alley leading up to the castle after seeing a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder.

Macromania

The weather forecast warned about a lightning storm, so my visit to the Hammarsta-Häringe nature reserve was a bit shorter than planned. It's a 20-minute bike ride to get there. My first stop was a pasture where you would normally walk around with the cattle, but they were elsewhere on this day. I shot these macro photos with my Canon 77D, using a 60mm lens.