From a building site to a vibrant inner urban area

Hagastaden is still growing. A very busy new neighborhood in both Stockholm an Solna. I borrowed the title from the web site I linked to. My original title was counting cranes.

The relay runners

One of several sculptures outside The Olympic Stadion in Stockholm. Made by Carl Fagerberg back in the 1930s. He was an athlete and a sculptor.

Tourist season

Tourist season in full swing in the old town. Quite a few people at Stortorget in Stockholm on this sunny Spring day.

Citizen's Square

It was a fine spring day. All the restaurants were filled to capacity at the square. As where the park benches. I nodded to the guy playing the guitar, and he nodded back before I took the photo. His friend looked more surprised. The dogs looked cool enough also.

The anchor ring

This photo that I had hoped to take during my previous visit to Riddarholmen was a bit tricky. It is three photos stitched together as I wanted a blurry City Hall as a backdrop. Shot with the 85mm lens. The stitching in PS was tricky. I had to manually place the bottom photo, with the anchor ring where I wanted it to be as it was impossible for the software to do it automatically. But it turned out precisely as I had hoped. It is sometimes called a Brenizer Method photo. More photos using this technique in my Bokeh Panorama album.

A very unique spire

The unique cast iron spire at the Riddarholmen church. Only one other in all of Europe in this style. In Rouen. It is 24 meter high. It weighs 125 tonnes. It consists of 2000 cast iron pieces. And it is coming down for a three-year-long renovation. It was designed by Erik Gustaf Göthe in 1838 after the original tower was destroyed in a fire a few years earlier. Most parts are newer as there were another renovation in the 1960s. But back then they used PCB and asbestos so that needs to be replaced now.

Apatébron

The pedestrian and bicycle bridge crossing Sickla canal at Hammarby sjöstad. This was the winning contribution to an international architectural contest some twenty years ago. It also won a couple of awards. Designed by Erik Andersson, Jelena Mijanovic and Magnus Ståhl. In the background the Sofia church at Vita Bergen on Södermalm.

Don't look at the camera

On a sunny Spring day at Nybrogatan in Stockholm.

At a square

Four photos from a little square at Hammarby sjöstad. Fredriksdalstorget. Close to the water of course as is everything in Stockholm. I did not use the stairs here as I arrived on my bike, surprise, surprise but when I saw the guy walk up I decided to take a few snaps of him. You might have seen the whale sculpture, called UrVAL by Tom Nepomuk Brand on the blog before, but at two other locations. So it gets around. There are two swings at the square that was designed by Nivå Landskapsarkitektur. They look better at night photographed from the other side as you can see in a local paper. The glass building is on the North side at Norra Hammarbyhamnen on the other side of the busy canal. It is known as Katsan. It was designed by the architects at White. If you have a very good memory you might remember photos of the Concrete Pier. It is also part of this square.

That Old Tree

Warm and sunny, or so I thought when I jumped on the bike earlier yesterday. But just a few kilometres later I realized I should have dressed differently, so I turned around, heading for home after a quick visit to the old tree. Had the wrong camera and lens, so this is a nine photo panorama of the Swedish Whitebeam.

Uphill climb

I walked up the Hammarbybacken ski hill, again. Because of the views over Stockholm and the surrounding areas. Most of the artificial and natural snow gone now. The man-made hill is very popular with super-fit runners. I spotted this guy three times during my visit.

Nature is strong

That is what it says on this headstone that I photographed at Skogskyrkogården a couple of days ago.

The Irishman

Brian is a Flickr contact since a few years. Originally from Ireland. Later he moved to Australia where he lived for many years. Then he met a Swedish woman, married her and moved to Sweden. He is often out snapping around Stockholm, just like me. I knew that he would be at The King's Park yesterday as he had left a comment about that the day before. So when I spotted him snapping away I walked up for a chat. It was the first time we met IRL. We talked for something like twenty minutes about photography, different camera models and lenses, as one does when one meets a fellow photographer. Brian also told me an interesting story about how he and his wife swapped apartments with another couple. Long story short, don't ever do that as there will be a lot of problems and issues, but as of today the move was finally done. We were at the park to check up on the Cherry Blossom, but we were probably one week too early so it was fun to talk to Brian instead of photographing the flowers.

That time of the year again

Top photo taken at a pedestrian crossing at Sveavägen. I heard the motorcycle coming, noticed it was a pink one, so I walked out onto the street, took a photo, she smiled, and then I walked back. Back home I did a quick search and found her TikTok. The fast looking BMW was parked near Fjällgatan, the spot I showed you yesterday. I spotted the vintage Triumph a while back while on my way to Norrmalmstorg.

Looking at the view

Out on a recent promenade on Södermalm I found myself at Fjällgatan, so I stopped for some of the views you can see from up there. The tourist couple had the same idea. They were looking left, towards Slussen, Gamla stan and Skeppsbrokajen. In the second photo I aimed the Canon at Kastellholmen where the flying flag at Kastellet means that Sweden as a country is at peace. In the third snap we can see Gröna Lund, the old amusement park at Djurgården. And lastly a panoramic view where we can spot a Djurgården ferry on its way to Skeppsbron where it will pick up tourists and locals.

A close-up street portrait

On a recent promenade snapping away right and left I noticed this redhead standing out from the crowd, well not really, it was just the two of us there near Norra Latin, so I raised the camera as if to ask if I could take a quick portrait, she nodded, I took the photo and then we walked on.

What big eyes you have

Bank palace at Kungsträdgårdsgatan with a classy entrance. Sculpture made by the classicist Ivar Johansson, a member of De tolv. The Twelve.

Street observations

I parked my bike at the Royal Dramatic Theatre at Nybroplan and went for a walk along Strandvägen. It was a sunny afternoon. Lots of people out and about. Top photo shows people enjoying something to drink at a pier at Strandvägskajen. In the background the world-famous Wasa Museum and the amusement park Gröna Lund. Next, three tired tourists at the ferry docks. The woman on the bench with the pug tried her best to make me just photograph the dog, but I was a little too quick for her. In the end we both smiled. The dog looked more serious though. Next two guys chatting up two gals at one of the posh restaurants. They reminded me of two ice hockey players. Then a dad and his daughter at the ferry port Nybrokajen. She had a nice star. Always fun to see people out walking their bikes. I'm guessing the runner was his girlfriend. Tourist season is around the corner and I saw several people working on this archipelago ferry. It looked to me that one of the guys were holding a champagne glass in his hand. You can never have too many selfies, right? I spotted the flying tiger as I waited at a stop light at Nybroplan. A woman dressed for Winter out walking with her daughter, maybe. We finish with a snap of a white bicycle outside the very expensive Diplomat hotel, famous for its Afternoon tea.

Classic comics

It's a good thing I am not a collector of comics. I'm sure I read most of these growing up. And back then I had a big collection of them. I guess my parents threw them out at some point. Alvglans, at Östgötagatan on Södermalm.

Mäster Mikaels gata

All the old houses that once stood here was destroyed in the big Katarina fire in 1723. In total, around 500 houses were lost to the flames. After that huge fire it became illegal to construct wooden houses here, but just six years later these houses were finished at what is today Mäster Mikaels gata. All the buildings are today owned by the City. The young woman came out from number 8 as I took the photo. Must be an interesting place to live.

Kapsylen

Two of my friends, both of them music idiots, (at least if you ask them about it), have spent many evenings and nights in here working at Kafé 44. When one of them retired, his friends, (everyone in the music industry) arranged two concerts in his honour. All the bands played for free and Tompa got all the money. It was a secret for him up until a few hours before it happened. I learned about it a few months before it happen while out driving with the other music idiot. The bands playing were: REFUSED WEEPING WILLOWS TEDDYBEARS (Hardcore set) MONEYBROTHER NOMADS SATOR ASTA KASK STRINDBERGS NO FUN AT ALL THE BABOON SHOW DE LYCKLIGA KOMPISARNA TROUBLEMAKER PSYKBRYT KSM3 (Gäster: Stefan Sundström, Kajsa Grytt, Hasse Edström mfl) ADAM NILSSON COCA CAROLA MONSTER. I was reminded of that as I walked by there the other day.