Merry Christmas

God Jul as we say over here. Today is Julafton in Sweden. And out on a pre-Christmas walk a couple of days ago on Södermalm, I spotted this Tomte as she tried her best to lure passersby in to a place along Östgötagatan.

A glowing blue heart for Christmas

At the Folksam building at Skanstull. The blue heart will be seen there until mid-January, I think. Last year it was a glowing pink heart here.

A Pippi Longstocking Christmas

A closer look at the annual Christmas display at Nordiska Kompaniet in Stockholm. The theme this year is Pippi Långstrump. Also known as Pippi Longstocking. A favourite among all kids since the first book by Astrid Lindgren was published all those years ago. Every window shows a famous scene from the books, and or movies about Pippi. And they all came with a quote. The first one is from the author herself. I write for the child within me. In the second scene, Pippi says: Please may I have thirty-six pounds of sweets. Next, Pippi is quoted saying: I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that. And in the fourth and last window, Pippi informs us that if you are very strong, you must also be very kind.

Pippi Longstocking

I decided to check out the annual Christmas window display at Nordiska Kompaniet at Hamngatan. I knew that it would be hard to get any clean shots, so I took a few snaps from across the street, and they all looked like this one. People everywhere. I think there are six display windows. The theme this year seems to be Pippi Longstocking. This photo is from last Sunday, but I was there again today, and it was even more people and chances are that it will be the same for the next month.

The Grinch

I spotted The Grinch in the Buttericks Christmas display window yesterday. At the busiest pedestrian street in the country. Drottninggatan. Packed with people on a Sunday, well any day really, so I was lucky to get a clean shot without waiting too long.

Julafton

December 24. Julafton. God Jul everyone.

Eye Chart Santa

Walking past this Synsam optician at Hornsgatan on Södermalm, I was reminded of M.A. Numminen.

Motorcycle Santa

Whenever I am at Mariaberget on Södermalm I will go up to Monteliusvägen. A famous walk along the hillside, above Söder Mälarstrand, with one of the best views over the city. Anyway, on my way up the hill I spotted Motorcycle Santa and as Christmas is over I figured I better post the photo before it is too late.

Spot the Christmas Tree

Nice day yesterday, 3C. No wind, but the sky was as grey as it can get, and then some. Perfect for a longish bike ride, I hear you all say, so that is what I did. No ice on the bike paths, but there were patches here and there that looked a bit suspicious, so I had to ride a bit slower than usual. No real goal other than to warm up the old muscles. I stopped at a few places, and to give you an idea of the weather, here are two photos taken from the Skanstull bridge with my old Canon 77D with the zoom lens. This is the 108-meter-high smokestack at the Hammarbyverket heating plant that today sits smack in the middle of Hammarby Sjöstad, on the south side. Nice touch with the Christmas Tree lights, I think.

Brutalism Christmas

Riding home from Stockholm I stopped at Gullmarsplan for a photo of this office building. Looks kinda nice I think.

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!

Ho Ho Ho, Santa's Gotta Go

That time of the year again. The display windows along the always busy pedestrian street Drottninggatan in Stockholm are filling up with very classy Christmas thingies. Like here at Buttericks where we can see Santa doing his business, and that toilet paper really looks quite expensive does it not?

Ho ho ho?

Not a very magical Christmas perhaps, without the snow, but my sources say that we will get some snow later today. If that happens I will go back to Tette's place along Stavsvägen in Tungelsta for a Winter Wonderland photo with my crystal ball.

Julafton

Julafton. It will of course be a very different Jul this year. I don't really celebrate it but I did just have a Christmas lunch with my brother. As I'm typing this the sun is shining for the first time this month, although it is a bit colder, around freezing. We will eat a traditional dinner tonight and probably have something to drink. The meteorologist predicts snow here some time tomorrow afternoon, if it happens you will most likely see some snow photos here in a day or two. I took these two Christmas photos at the square in yesterdays post. God Jul!

Julstjärna

A Christmas star in a window at Najaden in Handen.

It's a bad bad Christmas...

You have to love Flickr. They have a new group for Your Worst Shot of 2020. I decided to join the fun, and without any difficulty, at all, I managed to take this photo while visiting the Handen industrial park earlier in the week.

Christmas Reflections

Grey skies and maybe 4C yesterday. I took a bike ride to the beach. This is the big Christmas tree on the square at Årsta Havsbad, between the taverna and the grocery store, both closed for the season. It was a very calm day so I think I got a few good photos of the bay, might show you one tomorrow. A few people had a BBQ down by the water. I also spotted one guy out flying a wooden model airplane. I told him that it looked like a good Christmas gift. Over at the driving range at Fors Golf one guy was busy practicing his golf swing. So no real White Christmas in my neck of the woods this year. Day 55 in my project 100 Days Of Darkness.

Julafton

When skies are grey. Day 54 in my project 100 Days Of Darkness.