10 Views From Djurgården

I always enjoy cycling around Royal Djurgården and Gärdet in Stockholm. Lots of beautiful sceneries here. The canal. Cleaned-up sculptures! Mansions. Gärdet. The odd Oceanbus. And palaces. Restaurants. Boats. Walkways. And more.

Game Day

There was a football derby in Stockholm yesterday. Between Djurgården and AIK. This was the scene at Medborgarplatsen on Södermalm a couple of hours before kick-off. AIK supporters marching towards the Tele2 Arena at Johanneshov. Some of the fans here are members of Ultras Nord. They lit flares and firecrackers during their march, and traffic came to a standstill. The game was goalless until late, when DIF scored the winner. Players from both team started a fight, AIK fans lit flares and firecrackers inside the stadium. Never a good idea. The referee stopped the game for an hour. AIK supporters stormed the pitch and started fighting with the police. Then this morning, the AIK club director resigned. The match and the aftermath have been headline news since yesterday afternoon. Police are investigating and will try to identify the troublemakers. Short YouTube clip here from the match here.

Mellan hägg och syren

A bit of a tradition. I usually take the bike down to Årsta castle this time of the year. It is close to the coast and my favorite beach, Årsta Havsbad. There is a newish promenade here that you can take to learn more about local history. Also, this not very comfy bench that I often use. On this occasion, shared with a bunch of flies. The title of the post is from a cordwainer that back in the day closed his shop this time of the year to enjoy the time when everything bloomed. The story says that he put up a sign on his door with the words, Stängt mellan hägg och syren. Closed between Hackberry, and Common lilac.

The Gamer

Pretty sure that this is an unofficial sculpture. He sits on the wall at Fjällgatan, a classic lookout point on Södermalm. I photographed the yacht race Gotland Runt from here last Summer. The little figure wasn't there on my last visit. Whoever made it did a good job creating a bit of a mystery.

Sköna maj

Sköna maj means May, the beautiful. The time of year, in Sweden, when everything blooms again, after the long, cold and snowy Winter. So it is most peoples favorite time of the year. You will find these Cherry Blossom trees at Gärdet, a massive green field in Stockholm. There were a few other people there as I snapped my photos. And they were doing the same while waiting for a bus or just walking by.

15 000 kilometers

I checked the odometer on the eBike. My Gazelle Ultimate C8. It now stands at 15 000 kilometers. Not too bad. I took my first ride on it in early June 2021. Only a couple of incidents to report. On the warmest day of the year last Summer, the chain fell off, so I had to grab a taxi home. Thieves walked away with my bicycle bag once when I had parked the bike at Stockholm City Hall. So I bought a new identical bag, seen here. Another group of thieves emptied that bag while I was using a restroom here at the cemetery, also last Summer. So I have had to buy a new wind jacket and some other stuff as well because of the thefts. I have used two new companies to repair the bike. Both came over and picked up the bike and returned it fixed within 24 hours. And then of course I lost my bike key a while back and had to get another taxi ride home. But I got two spare keys in the mail earlier in the week, and one of them is now in my wallet. Oh, and I hurt my back a few days ago when I had to stop and jump off the bike. And no flat tires. Anyway, this is a photo from the cemetery that I visit a few times every week. Skogskyrkogården. I actually started my photo project here after buying the eBike.

Penny-farthing

Ordinary High Standard. I took my usual shortcut through the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Skogskyrkogården when I saw him cycling towards me. So I stopped and jumped off my eBike. Grabbed the camera bag, got the camera out, ready to shoot, but he was already past me, shouting, I have no brakes you know! So I ran after him on the sidewalk and managed to get this photo.

Lakeside Living

After my stop at Hellasgården I continued my bike ride and a few minutes later I arrived at Järla. Also in the Nacka municipality. The lake is called Järlasjön. I like the mix of architecture here. The brick building is known as Läderfabriken. The Leather Factory. It dates back to 1888. Later it was also used for other things, but the name stayed on. In more modern times, Oscar Properties together with Fabege have turned the old factory into a very modern apartment building. There are 59 apartments here. From a 19 square meter one-room apartment to one at 149 square meters. And there is even a dog spa, because why not!

Nackareservatet

I decided to take a different route to Stockholm a while back. Cycling first through Tyresö, and then in to the Nacka municipality. There is a big nature reserve there called Nackareservatet. It is located just a few kilometers from Stockholm, and it is very popular for the outdoor people. People like me. This time I only made a quick stop, but here are a couple of photos. Top photo shows streetart By Elina Metso. A street artist, illustrator and game developer based in Skåne. This piece was part of Wallstreet Nacka a few years ago now. Fun to see that it is still there. The first thing to check out when you arrive at Hellasgården is the big info board. It lists most of the activities here. There is also an app with all the MTB areas. Very useful. You can rent a cottage here. There are a few lakes. This is Källtorpssjön, great for kayaking and swimming. There's also, a big restaurant here, Storstugan, as well as a big sauna.

Long rant of the day

So I decided to walk up to Fåfängan a while back. It is a lookout point on Södermalm in Stockholm. I took a lot of photos during my half hour-long visit. From maybe ten different spots. Walked up and down, right to left. Then sat down for a bite to eat and drink before continuing photographing. And then, back down below the stairs, I was ready to continue my bike ride as it was a beautiful day for that sort of thing. Only to realize that somewhere along the walk I had lost my key to the eBike. So I spent another half hour walking in my own footsteps, but the key was nowhere to be found. The eBike weighs 22 kilos, so you can't just lift it up and carry it to wherever. So I called a woman who owns a truck, she usually drives to Stockholm on a daily basis, but obviously not on this day. So I had to call a taxi. That costed me, 1000SEK. I then emailed Cykloteket, where I bought the bike, and told them my sad story and asked if they could give me two spare keys. No, that is impossible, you have to bring us the bike so that we can remove your old lock and replace it with a new, very expensive new one. Thanks, but no, thanks. So I opened the Gazelle website and five minutes later, thanks to the ID-number on the spare key that I had in a box at home, I ordered two new keys. Oh, and the photo here shows a building site where hundreds of new apartments are under construction at Tegelviksgatan. A ferry that will take you to Fjäderholmarna. The Marina Hotel at Danviken in Nacka. Expensive villas at Royal Djurgården and two women wearing white t-shirts sitting on a bench at another lookout point at Åsöberget. And, in the second photo, the stairs where I probably lost my key.

The Concrete Pier

To get into the city, I often cycle over a high bridge at Skanstull. Last year, the Stockholm municipality decided in their wisdom to make the bike path a little wider here. Which makes it very easy for me to stop midway over the bridge to take some photos. I can park the bike and take a look at the view without being in the way of anyone else. There are quite a few things you can photograph from up there, but today I will show you two photos of "betongbryggan", or in English the concrete pier. This neighborhood is called Hammarby sjöstad. The city by the water. The pier is very popular, weather permitting. I took the top photo in late April, (the graffiti was from the day before), and the second one in early May. I have taken a few more photos since as I find it a fun way to present the current weather!

That Old Tree

We are more than halfway through the beautiful month, as it is called in Swedish, sköna maj. It is green everywhere. I have been out photographing all over these last few weeks. But there is one place where I know that things are normally a bit slower. The old tree. So I waited a bit longer, but on my way home yesterday I figured it was time for a pre Summer visit to the Swedish Whitebeam. But as you can see, the tree is still bare.

The Carnival II

As promised, more photos from the student carnival. Quarnevalen, from the weekend. Sure was great fun to see. Summer weather. Lots of people out watching. Biking home later, I had some problem finding my way out of the city as so many streets were closed off for the big parade. Fun note, I lost one of my bike gloves during the carnival. Then the following day when I started looking through my photos I noticed my glove on a photo I had taken off a couple hugging! If you want to check out the rest of the carnival photos, press here.

Quarnevalen

Ten photos from the carnival in Stockholm over the weekend. Called Quarnevalen in Swedish. 1500 students from The Royal Institute of Technology took part this year. They spend around a week building the 100 floats. 400 000 people flock the streets to look at the spectacle. I found my place at the corner of Valhallavägen/Odengatan and as it was a good spot I called it, and stayed there for the time it took for everyone to walk by. I should have bought a copy of the BRUXanvisningen. A leaflet that will tell the story about all the floats, but I kinda forgot about that. Every builder gets 60 copies to sell. But usually it is all about current affairs, politics, student life and more. I will show a few more photos tomorrow.