Tree in Mist

My last two visits to the old tree looks like this, so to spice things up a bit I took a photo from a different angle. Makes it look even spookier, I think. The meteorologists at SMHI informed us that according to their ways of looking at things, Spring arrived to Stockholm earlier in the week. As I am typing this it is maybe 3C from a gray sky, so I will most likely dress up in full Winter uniform when I jump on the bike in a bit.

Window shopping

I have a new photo project. Sort of. I often enter Stockholm via a street called Götgatan on Södermalm. Very busy. The northern end of it is hilly. It is known as Götgatsbacken. Filled with small shops. Boutiques. Restaurants. Pubs. Book stores. Underground station. A mall. And a lot of people. Everyone visiting Stockholm seems to end up here at least one time. This is where I have photographed the busking opera singers a few times. Anywho, a couple of days ago I decided to start documenting it more closely. This is a lamp store called MässingMäster. They also have a repair service and a few very photogenic windows.

Year of the Dragon

The Year of the Dragon. Obviously they look better at night, but it was midday when I was there, so. Chinese new year celebrations at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm.

A February visit to the beach

Every time I bike to and from Stockholm I pass nearby the little beach, Hökarängsbadet at Lake Drevviken. And every now and then I will do a detour to see what is happening. The beach is a green lawn during the Summer and often very crowded. On this visit, the entire lawn was ice. How the guy standing next to his bike made it there, I do not know. I was wearing my icebugs, but still had to be careful where I stepped. The young girl in the second photo were preparing to go skating on the still frozen lake, but they took their time, so I decided to leave without getting a snap of her out on the ice.

Munkbroleden

Two people out running at Munkbroleden in the Old Town in Stockholm. The boardwalk from where I shot this opened up after a lengthy re-construction last year. Part of the never ending building site mess that is Slussen.There are a number of benches here from where you have a good view over the water and parts of Söder Mälarstrand. In the background buildings at Gamla stan, including the Pub/Nightclub Engelen. It opened in the late 1960s. I was a frequent guest there back in my early 20s. A great place for live music.

Classic Stockholm Views

Views from the top of Skinnarviksberget at Södermalm in Stockholm. In the top photo you can see the old ship Mälardrottningen, moored at Riddarholmen with the church in the background. Quite a few kings buried in there, btw. The second church tower in that photo is the newly renovated Storkyrkan in the old town, next to the Royal Palace. Two other churches in the next photo. Maria church, and Katarina, named after the Burroughs. In the middle, the Mosebacke water tower. Stockholm City Hall in the third photo, where once a year the Nobel Prize is awarded to scientists. In the fourth photo, classic buildings along Norr Mälarstrand on Kungsholmen. And in the fifth and final photo of the day. Rådhuset also on Kungsholmen, and in the background Norra tornen at Torsgatan in Vasastan.

Amaryllis

A window at Yttersta tvärgränd on Södermalm in Stockholm. The shortest street in the city. Photographed a couple of days ago after my visit to the hill where I snapped the graffiti portraits. This building dates back to 1765.

The Path of Seven Wells

The 888-meter-long path at the Woodland Cemetery, yesterday. Sju brunnars stig in Swedish. I took this photo at the Chapel of Resurrection. The long path ends, or starts, if you like at Almhöjden, The Meditation Hill. This was only my second visit to Skogskyrkogården since mid-November. I took a 66 kilometer bike ride in the rain and fog. 2C. Refreshing is one word to describe it I guess.

Street art

I parked and locked the eBike at the top of the shortest street in Stockholm. Yttersta tvärgränd on Södermalm. From there I continued on foot up to the top of a hill known as Skinnarviksberget. You are never alone up there, as it is a popular spot for both locals and tourists year round. We all come there for the view over Riddarfjärden, but I will not show you that today. Instead, I give some great street art from the absolute highest point of said hill. To me, it looks like paintings of August Strindberg, who definitely spent some time up here. Next, we see young Fredrika Bremer, the famous feminist from Haninge. I can't place the third face though, but I like her blue eyes looking straight at the observer.

Santo da Roma

A popular trattoria at Hornsgatan on Södermalm in Stockholm. Photographed over the weekend.

Swan Lake

Swans being swans on an ice shelf at Blasieholmen in Stockholm. Photographer photographing the swans being photographed by another swan photographer.

Lake Drevviken

The first weekend forecast that I read promised sunny weather and around 5C for Saturday. In the end, the sun stayed away for most of the time that I was out and about. And it was no more than 2C. But I still managed 75 kilometers on the eBike. Roughly 22 kilometers in, I stopped at the circular pier at Lake Drevviken. It rained all day Friday, so much of the snow is gone. But the ice was still thick enough for a few ice skaters out on the lake. You can check the quality of the ice online, it is updated daily, so I hope everyone was okay. The building on the top photo is famous. It was the first ever terrace house built in Sweden. It dates back to the 1950s. The architect was Axel Kandell.

Winter fog

A group of teenagers from a nearby school, walking and ice skating on the foggy and still frozen Upper Lake at the Rudan nature reserve. I can't remember ever having to do that while a student in Handen a few eons ago, but it is probably memorable on a day like this. I have shown you this spot before, in the Summer time this is a popular beach, often filled with sunbathers.

Polar bear

What we call an isbjörn. A direct translation to English would be Ice bear. But Polar bear probably sounds better. Spotted at the Rudan nature reserve yesterday on a very foggy day.

Goin' for a Ride

A girl out horseback riding during a snowstorm, (sort of), in Tungelsta. In the background houses at Stavshöjden, a community where pretty much every family are in to horses.

That Old Tree

I met Jane on my way to the tree yesterday. She was out walking with her three dogs. They can run free here, and I remember first seeing her here back in 2007 when she was here with her friend Annika. Jane told me about a possible wolf sighting in the area. Than can be quite scary if you are a dog owner. Someone had found three roe deer carcasses here in just a week's time. One of them down the path here at Klems kulle, and there was also a wolf sighting at Dalarö. So I guess I will have to go out on a wolf stakeout now!

Weekend Update

I took this photo two days ago. It was a horrible day. Weather vice. -3C. Not the best weather for a bike ride, but I needed to get out of the house. This is a bus stop at Håga, between Tungelsta and Västerhaninge. There is an industrial park here, a pizzeria and a few houses. And the odd vandals, by the looks of it.

Clearing the walkway

Two guys in tractors hard at work at a walkway next to the Nynäsbanan railway line in Tungelsta. The first one removing the snow and I had to step out on the road so that he could pass me. He was followed a few minutes later by the guy that I usually refer to the sandman.

Waiting for the train

I usually carry an umbrella with me. Sort of, I have a folding umbrella in my bicycle bag. But on this day I was walking, just like this woman with the Ving umbrella, waiting for the commuter train at the Krigslida platform. She probably wishes she could fly South for the remainder of this long and cold Winter.

A Winter promenade

Walking over open fields this time of the year can be a chilly affair. Especially if it is snowing. This person out walking a dog was a few minutes ahead of me yesterday on the path between the old tree and Klems kulle.

Still Winter

A few photos from a morning promenade earlier in the week. I decided to take the boring way as I sometimes call it. Following the railroad south for a kilometer or so past a few houses, a big stable and a few old barns. This path is unofficial and there were no tracks in the snow so I was the first one to walk there that day. The house in the top photo is new. Just a couple of years ago I photographed an abandoned building on that same property so I guess that is progress.

Kvarteret sjögläntan

Building site in Handen. Close to the Rudan nature reserve. Some of the apartment buildings here are already finished and a lot of people have already moved in. But there are still three or four buildings under construction. The two builders here are Mjöbäcks and Järngrinden.

Our Home

One of several paintings done by local kids in Jordbro, a suburb with mostly immigrants and quite a lot of gang issues. I went to school here a few eons ago. My school was demolished a few years ago after also serving as a cultural center for many years. A new school had of course already been built, and on the property where my old school used to be you will today find new apartment buildings.

Winter Picnic

I have visited the lakes at Rudan three days in a row now. Normally that only happens during the Summer. When I photographed the skiers on Saturday, it was 7C and quite nice. On Sunday it was a little colder, maybe 3C. And yesterday when I snapped this photo of the Viking couple out on a picnic near the Lower Lake it was -3C, but they claimed it was warm enough. Looks like the woman was clever enough to bring some warm coffee with her. Hubby had to do with a Fanta.