Stockholm Marathon

Normally held in June, but because of the pandemic cancelled last year, the Stockholm Marathon took place yesterday. The first time ever in Autumn. This can be a quiet event when held in early Summer. That was not the case this time around. Spectators lining the streets everywhere, cheering on the thousands of runners. It was a great show. I was on my eBike so I stopped at maybe ten different places around town photographing as much as I could. Here are a first bunch of photos. More to come as I am yet to look through all the shots I took yesterday.

The music pavilion

A century ago Stockholm had a few music pavilions like this one at Vita Bergen, a park at Södermalm. Orchestras performed here, and rumors have it that they often stored their instruments in a hole in the floor between gigs. Back then there was also a popular café here. Today this is the only pavilion left. And there's no café. Sadly the old pavilion is often vandalized, and I don't know if anyone uses it anymore.

Just in time

The moose hunting season gets under way here today. So I was safe on the day earlier in the week when I took these Autumn photos at Husby, Ormsta, Fors, Berga, Stav and Nedersta. From today, it is not safe to just wander around on the forests as I often do. Oh and if you look closely, you can see a hunting blind in the top photo.

Kashink

Murals at Sickla in Nacka, made by the French artist Kashink. It was part of a project called Wall Street Nacka.

Play Me, I’m Yours

Parkoperan. Street piano at Årstaviken. I think it must have been replaced recently. This girl knew how to play it so good to see that people are using it.

That Old Tree

An Autumn visit to the old tree. Six hundred and thirty-three photos, and counting.

Årstaviken Memories

Queuing Etiquette. Ice cream or Chorizo. Picknick at Tantolunden. Sunseekers. A family outing. Live and learn. How much for that. Årstaviken. Those are the titles of the above photos, taken along the Årstaviken-Tantolunden promenade on what probably was the last Brittsommar day of the year. Street photography and great weather combined, you can't beat that, at least not if you are a dedicated photographer.

The Magnet Kings

You wouldn't believe how much crap the "Magnet Kings", or Magnetkungarna will fish out of the waters around Stockholm. Peter Johansson and Jörgen Hallberg started the clean-up project at Örnsberg where they both live. They have been doing this for a long time now. At thirty different places around Stockholm. They have found bicycles, e-scooters, the odd revolver and many more items. I remember reading an interview where they said that they hoped to one day find the revolver that killed Olof Palme. Here they are at Tantolunden a few days ago. Not sure what they found here, but they can lift very heavy objects with the help of their powerful magnets. I waited around for a while, but they couldn't get whatever it was out of the water.

Brittsommar II

A few scenes from last weekend at Södermalm in Stockholm. From Årstaviken and Tantolunden. Glorius weather, what we call Brittsommar. The first photo shows a new café at Rackarbacken. You have a great view over the bay from the new terrace. Second snap shows people out for a "Höstpromenad" along Årstaviken. Boating is always popular around here. A food truck with a funny name. Håll struten, a bit of a word pun here. Håll truten, means shut up. Strut means ice cream cone. So shut up and enjoy an ice cream. The fifth scene shows you that the sailing season has come to an end.

Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen

Whenever I visit Royal Djurgården the camera will be working non-stop. The canal is only a small part of the island, but it sure is photogenic. Here are a few of the photos I took on a visit last week. Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen, as we like to call it, is around one kilometer long. You pass a couple of bridges, museums, sculptures and also the home of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia during that kilometer. The canal dates back 185 years or so. It took ten years to build. Hundreds of boats and ferries pass by here almost every day. This is a very popular area for running, walking, and everything else really.

A Rose for Greta Garbo

Born, Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, in Stockholm 1905. Dead in 1990 at a hospital in New York. Buried at Skogskykogåden in 1999. Garbo's only relative, a niece, Gray Reisfield couldn't decide where the actress should be buried. She was afraid that someone might steal the urn. It was kept at a funeral home in New York until it was decided that Garbo's ashes should be buried at Skogskyrkogården. Greta Garbo

Moment of Zen

A moment of zen at Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm. A woman enjoying the fine weather at Södra Hammarbyhamnen. Just behind her yachts and speedboats were going through the lock either to Hammarby Sjö and Sickla, or to Årstaviken.

Keeping a safe distance

Two people enjoying the Brittsommar weather at a concrete pier at Södra Hammarbyhamnen, Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm. The last remaining Covid-19 restrictions will be removed in Sweden tomorrow. Facts here if anyone is interested.

e-scooter girl

I have never tried riding on an e-scooter. And chances are I never will. In Stockholm, you see them everywhere. Mostly after someone just dumped them on the walkway, or in the middle of the bike path. This girl probably enjoyed her ride around town as it was a glorious Autumn day. Last time I checked, there were around 14 000 e-scooters in the Capital. The different companies that owns the ones you can rent will have to pay a fine for every e-scooter they don't properly park, which would be most of them.

The Woodland Cemetery

The monument hall at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Skogskyrkogården at Enskede in Stockholm. The second and third photos shows Almhöjden, also known as the meditation hill. The cemetery was designed 100 years ago by two 30-year old architects, Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz. They won an international competition with their entry, called Tallum. The fourth photo shows the crematorium and the big cross. Funny story here, there are two people in that photo. I figured that they were shooting mobile phone photos to post to Instagram, so when I got home that day I did an Instagram search and found the photo they had just taken. I am that good! On the fifth photo you can see the path leading up to the cross. If you walk down from the meditation hill you can follow a path called Sju brunnars stig. In English, The Seven Springs Way. The 888-meter long path ends at a chapel called Uppståndelsekapellet. The path was there even before the cemetery was built, and that is how the architects worked, using the natural landscape. There are much more to see here and I will probably show you more soon.

The Final Destination

I have made three or four recent visits to a cemetery at Enskede in Stockholm. It is called Skogskyrkogården. One hundred thousand souls rest here. It is a very special place. World-famous, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I bike past it every time I go to and from Stockholm. As you can see, it has its own bus service. I will show you more photos from here tomorrow.

Climbing to the top

Reaching for the top of the world's largest spherical building, Avicii Arena at Johanneshov. I spotted these guys earlier in the week. They are from a company called Klätterservice. They have been busy cleaning the Globe Arena. You might remember a photo from early August titled SkyView. So it is up to you now, climb up with the help of these guys, or go with the Gondola.