Monteliusvägen

A few times every year I park my bike at Mariatorget, a square on Södermalm and from there I walk up the cobblestone street to the lookout point that is Monteliusvägen at Mariaberget. I never get bored with the views over the Riddarholmen bay, the knight's islet and the old town. An extra bonus in May is of course all the greenery. And it is always fun to get some visiting tourists and locals in the photos. The bust shows Olle Adolphson in the park with his name.

Bondens marknad

A while back now I visited Bondens marknad at Katarina bangata on Södermalm in Stockkholm. The first one this season. It starts at Götgatan as a farmer's market and the further in you go, under the green canopy, it turns into a flea market. Always very crowded. Fine weather on this day. The smiling guy in the red t-shirt is a bit of a local legend. Usually he will arrive on his bicycle and play very loud music during street parties and what have you, but on this day he was just selling his left-leaning political t-shirts.

The trobadour

Evert Taube down by the water at Riddarholmen, looking out over the bay. My parents and grandparents loved him. There is another sculpture of him at Järntorget in the old town. He lived nearby and is buried not far from here.

Tulips

Tulips in Handen. A few years ago we had a tulip festival, which was fun for me as a photographer. Then a year later the municipality got the date of the annual festival wrong with about one week so on the festival weekend the tulips had already bloomed. No festival since. But there are a few flower beds still, like this one.

The Path of Seven Wells

Most Swedish people's favorite time of the year is the month of May. We call it Sköna Maj. May the beautiful. Because after the long, cold and very dark Winter everything turns green again. Like here at the Woodland Cemetery, along the path of seven wells. I often walk up to the top of the Meditation Hill, Almhöjden in Swedish. A good place to recharge the batteries with a smoothie before cycling on.

May Evening Walk

A very gloomy day. Took an early evening walk with my buddy Hasse at the Häringe-Hammersta nature reserve, around Bobäcken. Because of the weather, a light drizzle that ended and maybe 8C we decided on a short walk, just over 5K. Started at a place were we had a BBQ a few years ago. A nice promenade through an area with many old oaks (the oldest one a natural monument), close to a little lake and the Baltic Sea, and past a horse pasture, stables and farm buildings.

Årstaviken

Cycling around Södermalm a few days ago I stopped at Tantolunden for a rest and a few photos. The highrises at Sjövikskajen are new of course. Designed by four different architects. The little beach Tantos strandbad is very popular during the Summer. The diving board is also a big hit with the sunbathers. In the background the Årsta railway bridge, which is also a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. The panorama shows an area undergoing a lot of change at the moment. Maybe hard to see, but there's a huge deck down by the water. It opened last Summer, and it can also get very crowded when the weather is nice. The water here is called Årstaviken. It features what I think is the most popular walk in Stockholm. Between 7 km and 10 km, depending on where you walk.

Another flea market visit

Another fun visit to the weekly flea market at Hötorget. I noticed a couple of familiar people. Trenchcoat guy being one of them. But also a lot of locals and visiting tourists.

Je M'appelle Agneta

Walking through the King's Park two weeks or so after the end of the Cherry Blossom mania. Spotted Agneta standing in the big pond.

They call him Happy

I took a long promenade on Södermalm, tourists everywhere. So the camera was working non-stop. And then, walking back to Slussen where I had parked my bike, I spotted this guy standing just off the busy Götgatsbacken with his dog, so I stopped for a quick shot. I gave him a little nod after the fact and he gave me one back.

Mösspåtagning

Thousands of grad students filled up many of the outdoor restaurants in Stockholm a while back. You can recognize them because of the white "studentmössor". A very Swedish thing, this. The teenagers party hard for nearly two months leading up to this moment. All paid for by their poor parents no doubt. It can cost 20 000 SEK to graduate from secondary school these days.

Finally!

I ride my bike over the Skanstull bridge every time I enter Stockholm. And I will often stop for a photo of the concrete pier below, at Hammarby sjöstad, because it will tell me all I need to know about the current weather. And as you can see this was a fine early Summer-like day.