Ministry of Culture

You will find the Ministry of Culture in this listed building at Brunkebergstorg. So Parisa Liljestrand, the Minister for Culture, might be hiding in here. She is responsible for the new Swedish Cultural Canon, and that have been in the news for all the wrong reasons as the cultural elite dislikes her very much, but you can't please everyone I guess. The building was designed by the architect Erik Josepson back in the 1890s, for an insurance company, back then it also had apartments, but they are long gone. The style is Palladian architecture. This is a panorama from twelve photos, photographed with the Canon 77D, using the 60mm lens. I will try to get a photo of the whole facade next time.

A mix of photos from a few recent walks

A mix of recent street photos from a few walks around Stockholm. We start with one of the restaurants at the shopping mall Gallerian at Regeringsgatan. And after snapping that, I turned around and took the second photo of the glassed-in yard. Back at the new square, Vattentorget. Under the golden bridge, where I parked the bike, I took two photos of this couple walking by, and I also photographed the book sculpture photo there. It is called, Under tiden. In the meantime. Made by Ebba Matz. Sort of a temporary exhibition with new artworks mixed with archeological finds from the works at the new sluice, might have to show you more of that later. Next, mounted police at Helgeandsholmen. Whenever I go for a walk in the old town I park my bike here as it is always a lot of police and security guards here because of the many Government buildings. And since I visited the old town here is a photo of one of the old alleyways, with bicycles of course, as is the rule. We see a well-dressed cyclist next. At a stoplight at Nybroplan. I spotted the woman with the jeans outfit near the Royal Palace. The orange peels are next. Outside a very popular café in the old town, I have shown you the window with the oranges before. Next, two military guards at the Royal Palace, where the changing of the guards always attracts a lot of attention and someone have to keep the visiting tourists from walking the wrong way.

Midsommarstockholm

It can be a spooky feeling arriving to Stockholm during the Midsummer weekend. Most locals leave the city Thursday afternoon to celebrate Midsummer in the archipelago or wherever their summer house is located. I kinda like cycling and walking around Stockholm during that period, and here are a few snaps from last Saturday. The first photo shows the underside of a passage connecting two buildings at Klara Norra Kyrkogata at Norrmalm. Designed by Erik Lallerstedt back in the 1930s. Normally heavy traffic here, but not on this day, so I could stand in the middle of the street photographing. Butterick's change their display window quite often. This is their Summer window, and if you look more closely at it to the left... Eastern European man playing the accordion outside Buttericks in the third photo. He played a very modern pop tune. Two seconds after I snapped my photo, a guy walked up with a few bills. Next, what I was actually looking for. Empty seats! A café at the very trendy Gamla Brogatan, but closed for Midsummer. Sko Uno opened for business when I was a teenager. Hip then, hip now. They sell shoes. But also jeans at another store, and the bird in the fifth photo is their jeans' logo. I tried photographing the Blue Fox store window earlier in the week, but it was too many people walking by. Easier now. Next, a look at the pedestrian street itself. Normally packed with people, but now it was just people at the one open restaurant, a few wandering tourists, and me. The Swans have been there for a few years. Around the corner back on Klara Norra Kyrkogata I stopped for a few overhead photos of the ironworks at this door. Next, a clock that is one of a pair, also designed by Erik Lallerstedt 90 years ago. We finish where we started. I parked my bike here and, looking past the old post building, we can see the church tower at Klara, that one is three photos stitched together.

Vattentorget, take two

I have been a frequent visitor to the new square Vattentorget at the new sluice, Victoriaslussen, situated between the old town and Södermalm since it opened earlier this month. I usually park the bike under the gold bridge (where I photographed the orange bike), before going for a walk. In the first photo, you can see that the bike path now have been marked, which will prevent unnecessary accidents, cyclists were quick to inform the city about that mistake. The cool girl with her cool bike was hard not to photograph. The seats are called gradänger and they are already a big hit. Still a lot of work before this area is finished. The gold bridge arrived from China a few years ago, and I think I showed you photos of that back then. The view in the third and the last photo are towards Munkbroleden in the old town, with the Riddarholmen church at Riddarholmen.

Viking tour guide

"And not far from here, just around the corner in fact, we had the famous Stockholm Blootdath". Viking tour guide in front of the Tessin Palace that looks a bit different this Summer. Sort of. It is undergoing a renovation since a few years and earlier this Summer the facade was hidden behind a "fasadvepa". A huge print of the actual facade.

Six Watercrafts

Time for a few water crafts. Queen Silvia celebrated her 80th birthday a while back. So the Norwegian Royal Family paid her a visit. They arrived in style on the HNoMY Norge. The Royal Yacht of the King of Norway. Which is the ship in the first two photos. Next, the commuter boat M/S Hamnskär moored at Riddarholmskajen. It will take you to Solna strand with stops at Lilla essingen, Stora Essingen, Alviks strand and Hornsbergs strand. Solna is a neighboring municipality to Stockholm, btw. Fourth, a typical archipelago ferry. The M/S Västan at Strömkajen, near the Nationalmuseum and the Grand Hotel. It started its life as a steamship some 120 years ago. Today it runs on a diesel engine. Next, a visitor from the US, spotted at Skeppsbrokajen across the street from the Royal Palace in the old town. A boat owned by John W. Henry, who also owns a couple of football clubs and what have you. Oh, and if you would like to buy it from him, you need to cough up around $90 million. In the fifth photo a ship at Riddarholmskajen with an interesting history. Today, with the name Mälardrottningen. And lastly, photographed from the City Hall bridge, two people out in a motorboat at Riddarfjärden.

The Kiss

Funny how things work. Two weeks ago, I read a long thread online somewhere about artworks that inspired other artists. And I just happened to rewatch Shutter Island that same week. There is a scene in that movie that references this painting. Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. And then last Sunday I visited the weekly flea market at Hötorget and the first thing I noticed was a print of that painting! So I guess I should have bought it. But cycling 35 km with it sounded a little too hard.

Arvfurstens palats

Arvfurstens palats at Gustav Adolfs torg. The building was constructed in the 1790s for Princess Sophia-Albertina, designed by Erik Palmstedt. A haunted house according to Bengt, one of my long time Flickr contacts. Today you will find the Ministry for Foreign Affairs here. This building sits next to the Prime Minister's residence that I showed you a few days ago.

Another day, another walk, you know it!

A phrase used by Daniel, a Dutch YouTuber living in Stockholm. I found his YouTube channel three years ago. That day, I had been out walking with a friend. We made our way around Lake Magelungen and when I got back home I Googled the lake looking for a few facts and by doing so I stumbled upon Lets Walk Around Stockholm. A walking channel where Daniel walks and talks as he makes his way around Stockholm and the suburbs. He had just uploaded his walk from the same lake, which I thought was a fun coincidence, so I left a comment about that and started watching his channel. Always fun to see what other people see and focus on while walking the streets of Stockholm. I took these sixteen photos two days ago, they are from Drottningatan. Gamla brogatan. Östermalm, Blasieholmen, Kungsgatan and Slussen.

The Contortionist

Well, this young woman blew me away. I noticed what looked like a whale skeleton in the middle of the Sveavägen street during the street food festival, so I walked over for a closer look. And then I saw her. Standing there. Silent. Looking right at me. After what felt like a long time, weird music started playing, and that's when I realized that she was a contortionist. Her fifteen-minute-long performance was world-class. It was the best balancing act I have ever seen. And as you can probably guess, I took way too many photos of her. I googled a bit and found out that the sculpture is called VAL. Made by Tom Brand. And the contortionist is most likely Marina Cherry from the US, but based here in Stockholm. More photos of Marina in my flickr album.