Sixteen Recent Stockholm Snaps

Burger joint in the old town. Slussen, always under construction. Two girls trying to hide their faces as they notice the nosy photographer. Christmas tree at Medborgarplatsen.Tourists in Gamla stan, they just spotted me and are trying not to look at the camera. Restaurant at Medborgarplatsen. My reflection. Food delivery in the old town. The Meditation Hill at the Woodland Cemetery. Tourist trying to close his travel case at Kornhamstorg. Candle at the big cross at the cemetery. Candy store window, Gamla stan. A sad looking Christmas tree at Järntorget in the old town. Zooming in on that big heart I showed you a few days ago. Danish sausage anyone? Two office buildings seen from the entrance to the cemetery.

A rant...

A bit of a rant here. The Swedish Air Force will do a fly-by over the country during the festive season. They fly in a Christmas tree formation, which is always a spectacular thing to see. They use either the JAS 39 Gripen, or the SK 60. Everything is of course weather permitting this time of the year, and they had to cancel the first couple of flybys over Stockholm, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, because of the gray sky. But it cleared up on Thursday and I stood ready with the trusted Canon at my new favorite place, the woodland cemetery just outside Stockholm. After waiting for ten minutes, I gave up and went indoors to warm up my hands. Another ten minutes later I could hear the Gripen fighter jets, but from my position on the bike out on the road I couldn't see them. Then a couple of hours later, on my way home, I could hear the SK 60s approaching. So I jumped off the bike, managed somehow to get the right camera, (with the 70-300 mm lens), out of the bag and aimed it at the sky and shot in burst mode until the planes disappeared. Unfortunately I photographed them from behind, so you can't really see the Christmas tree here unless you try standing on your head I guess. End of rant.

The Woodland Cemetery

I have said it before here on the blog, there was a time when I just biked through this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Woodland Cemetery, or Skogskyrkogården as we like to call it, at Enskede in Stockholm. Not so anymore. It was only in September of this year that I decided to start to photograph here, and these days I find it hard not to stick around for a while. This is the frozen pond at the Monument Hall. In the background the Meditation Hill, Almhöjden. This was a very gray day, so a monochrome version of this view really sums up the day perfectly. Many more photos in the flickr album.

Details

I like to think that I have an eye for details. Nice goodbye hug here. Spotted earlier in the week along Götgatan in Stockholm.

A Big Heart

The big heart at the Folksamhuset highrise at Södermalm in Stockholm. A Christmas tradition that dates back four or five years. The building itself dates back to 1959. Folksam is a century old insurance company and this is their main office. I have never been inside but my aunt Kerstin worked there for many years.

A Christmas tree in the forest

Cycling home yesterday, I decided to take the walkway/bike path that goes through the forest near the nature park Slätmossen, a place that I have shown you many times here on the blog. I still consider the walkway new, although it has been there for quite a few years now. It was constructed on top of a new fresh water pipeline, maybe a decade ago. It connects Handen with Jordbro, and it is a good shortcut. Not only that, it is also a good place to watch the local wildlife, I have met and photographed moose, roe deer, squirrels, and countless birds here over the years. But this was a bit unexpected. Someone decided to decorate a tree by the side of the walkway which gave me a few Christmas photos, so thanks for that!

The Cultural Center

Poseidon's square in Handen earlier today. A few Christmas stars in the big window informing us about the upcoming season. This is the cultural center, or kulturhuset, as we like to call it. The library is popular with students, who will spend hours there reading and researching. There is live music every now and then. And theatre. And other events. I have seen quite a few bands here over the years. Pop, northern soul, rock, reggae, both inside and outside on the big square. This is also the place where they showed my photos of the old tree on one of the thursday evening gatherings called Soppa&Surr a few years ago now.

A Golden Sky

Ice here and there on the roads and bike paths as I took out the e-bike for a wintry spin today. Not too cold, around freezing. The sky was very gray for most of the ride, but heading home I noticed this golden sky, so I stopped for a quick photo.

Snow Cannons

Hidden here are the two snow cannons at the Rudan nature reserve, used to produce most of the snow that you could see in yesterday's post. I took this photo 48 hours ago, and now, just two days later, pretty much all the snow we got with the cold weather last week is already gone. There might be some artificially made snow left here at the reserve, though. Today was a very gray day. With a temperature hovering around 2C. There was a Christmas market here in Tungelsta but I couldn't be bothered to go out.

A Winter Scene

A Winter photo.I shot this yesterday, during my visit to Rudan. Sure has Winter feel to it.

Do you need a workout?

A tough workout here could make you exhausted. Or tired, even. Pun intended. The outdoor gym at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen earlier today. The -20C temperature from a few days ago has been replaced with thaw.

Ice skating at Kungsträdgården

Two redheads out ice skating at the King's Garden in Stockholm. The same place that i showed you a while back with the LED-moose.

Gröna Huset

This was the local pizza place in Tungelsta for many years, until earlier this year when Vasko retired and two young entrepreneurs took over. They first changed the name to Gröna Huset. The Green House. Next to go was the pizza. The menu today looks very different with a lot of husmanskost, (you will have to google that word me thinks), and more modern fusion cuisine. The next step was to start the exteriour renovations, which the owner of the building will take care of. That would be the company I mentioned in yesterday's post, Turbinen. So far they have removed the old sign and fixed the windows on the second floor.

A successful project

The local construction company Turbinen have been very busy building homes, schools and what have you during the last decade or so. Many of them in and around Haninge. Based here in Tungelsta they have bought a lot of land over the years. Some of their planned projects never happened, including the two ideas to build first a golf course, and then a horse racing track over at my old tree! This project at Lillgården in Tungelsta is one of the more successful projects. They even won an architectual award for it. I have been photographing it since the first bulldozers showed up, back in October of 2014. Photos can be seen in a flickr set called Stav 1:38. Now they have started the third and final phase of construction here with the last bunch of terraced houses.

The Sauna

Winter sauna anyone? Maybe finish with a roll in the snow, before going indoors again, warming up with a glass of wine?

Mood of the Day

Indoor weather, sort of.

The old stationhouse

The century old, (and then some), station house at the commuter station in Tungelsta has been under wraps for a few months during the exterior renovation work. The last of the scaffolding came down two days ago, so I decided to have a closer look at the building yesterday. I took the window photos from the side of the building that faces the railroad. Fun note. The former station master, always referred to as Kalle Klipp, who retired from the job two or maybe even three eons ago still live in the apartment on the second floor. On the first floor you will find a boutique called Handlaget.

That Old Tree

A sudden change in the weather.

The Future

This is a photo of the near future. The King's Garden Hotel in Stockholm. I took this photo a few days ago. We don't have any snow here, yet. I'm guessing this is leftover snow from the ice skating rink that opened for the season here two weeks ago. But, and here is the future for you, we are expecting snow as early as later today. It has been snowing like mad all over Sweden this week, so someone decided that Stockholm should also get some of that white stuff. Theme Day at CDP. The Future.

LED Moose

The illuminated moose are back at the King's garden. In the background you can just make out the statue of Karl XIII and two lions. The old King has been standing there since 1821, and the big square is named after him. All in all I think there are seven illuminated moose here and at nearby Nybroplan. They are very popular among locals, tourists, and pretty much everyone with a camera. Been here every Christmas/Winter period since 2014.