Out walking

Out walking in the wonderful Summer weather. I chatted with a meteorologist yesterday, Linnea, and she informed me that Summer arrived to Stockholm back in late April, so we are already seven weeks into Summer. Top photo shows people at a stop light outside The Central Post Office Building. It was the woman with the multicolored polka dot dress that caught my eye. Further down Vasagatan, it was the young woman that made me take that photo. Waynes is a popular place for a "fika" here. And if you would rather go for a salad, that is next door. Walking back to my bike parked at the Central station, I noticed the man with the headphones. We finish with an iconic hot dog place at Karlbergsvägen. Started by Günter Schwarz forty years ago. Sausages served with his special sauce, the hojhojsås. Günter is no longer with us. A character in the novel The Dying Detective suffers from a blood cloth after eating a sausage here. The new owner of the kiosk plays himself in the TV series.

That Old Tree

A long-time Flickr friend, who used to run Utata, (sort of), wrote a post on Facebook yesterday. About an organized bike ride called Beer 30. With two pub stops and with hundreds of riders. Sounded like a lot of fun. I read it while resting on a bench at Skogskyrkogården in the late afternoon sunshine. Greg, as he is called, is a big fan of the old tree, so after leaving a comment on his Beer 30 post, I decided to ride over to the Swedish Whitebeam. Took me 65 minutes or so. I arrived just after 1800 hours. The first thing I noticed was the moon. I then heard the tractor. It was the farmer, Jan, from the 700-year-old Nödesta farm, working hard out on the fields near Klems kulle. It was nice to see that the tree is turning green again. As I am typing this, I am getting ready to go through a few hundred photos taken over the last week. That will take me a few sittings. I am roughly a week behind on editing. I blame the warm and sunny weather for that. And looking at the forecast for next week, it just says more of the same. Poor me!

Scenes from a flea market

Another week, another visit to the flea market at Hötorget. One of my photo addictions. It was very warm. So warm that I had to go back to the bike and take out the baseball cap to protect my head. Very busy here year round, as you probably know by now. More so now with all the tourists. And I spotted a few Swifties. Taylor Swift is in town for three concerts, as are 180 000 of her fans. They have flown in from all over the world.

The May colors

Halfway through sköna maj, May the beautiful. We are now in a period known as "between hägg and syren". And the scent from those plants have been very strong this week, and that is always amazing. In this post, you will see a mix of colorful scenes. We start with the Greta Garbo headstone. A woman approached me, she wanted my help in finding a specific grave, so I pointed her in the direction of staff, as there are more than 100 000 graves at Skogskyrkogården. Next a walkway at Skeppsholmen. I was followed over the bridge by eight (8) police motorcycles. I checked the news and five heads of states were visiting, including the German chancellor, and they all posed at a bench that I had just photographed. I also spotted Benny Andersson's car outside his studio. Next I am standing high up at Humlegården taking in all the greenery. You can see the Stockholm Public Library in the fourth photo, still waiting to fill up the fountain there. Next, the walkway down from the park Vanadislunden, the red building is a former tobacco barn. In the sixth photo, we can spot tulips on the lawn at Sophiahemmet, a privately operated hospital named after a former Queen. Then the birch forest at The Woodland Cemetery, I usually sit on a bench there for a bite to eat a few times every week, weather permitting. Then comes a view over the tiny islet Kastellholmen. Next a macro photo of a flower from Sandsborgskykogården, another cemetery I often visit. Then a special place at Royal Djurgården close to the canal, with a statue of a troubled poet who lived nearby. His name was Gustaf Fröding. We finish with a green tree at Gärdet with a famous building in the background.

Five street scenes

Time for a few recent street scenes. Always interesting. And the most popular photography style since the camera was invented. First, we see a few people from a larger group celebrating World Falun Dafa Day at The King's Garden. Next two photos from Strandvägen on Östermalm. Sure was a fine day for running, cycling and motorcycling. With a fika stop of course down by the water. We continue to Götgatan on Södermalm where the running couple nearly collided with the taxi, but luckily the boyfriend got his arm out and stopped the pretty girl from an accident. We finish with a snap from Gustaf Adolfs torg where people are enjoying lunch at Grodan. The Frog, a popular place at The Royal Opera.

Warmest day of the year

Cycling home on Monday afternoon, I stopped at Munkbroleden for a bite to eat and some photos of fellow cyclists. It was the warmest day of the year, so far, with 25C. I might wave to them the next time. Most of the cyclists seemed okay with the photographer. One woman hid her face and one guy looked away, so I deleted those photos. I just like the different bikes and how people dress. I was in a t-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap. Oh, and as I made the collage I noticed that most of the cyclist were wearing helmets.

Flowermania

I am not going to compete with the tulip guy in Ottawa. Just saying. But I will show you these three macro photos I took at The King's Garden, Kungsträdgården a few days ago. It was me and a bunch of tourists and the odd local. Some of us were equipped with real cameras,(me), and quite a few, (the rest of the bunch) were smartphone people. So I won that match.

Kaknäs Tower

Two photos showing Kaknästornet at Gärdet in Stockholm. And also a sculpture called Life Rings. Whenever I see the tower, I think about my childhood friend Mikael. We would often take the elevator up to the top of the tower. They had a restaurant there, and we would buy something to drink. Often with a straw, and we would then shoot chewing gum on the people below, using the straw! I haven't seen Mikael for a few eons, but I know that he worked as a photographer for many years. Oh, and the tower is closed for visitors since a few years, which is a shame, because the view from up there is pretty good. Tha canal is Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen. Very popular year round.

22 Celsius

We had one early Summer day a while back. The temperature got up to 22C. Which is my favorite temperature for bike riding, btw. Riding over the Skanstull bridge, I stopped for yet another photo of the concrete pier. We could get the same weather today, so I just might shoot this scene again, later today.

The Newlyweds

A May wedding. Stockholm City Hall, Stockholms stadshus is a very popular place to get married. If you visit on a Saturday, chances are that you will spot quite a few wedding couples tying the knot. This was the first couple I noticed when I walked into the garden. They looked very happy, to say the least. And they picked the perfect day as it was the warmest day of the year so far. 22C from a beautiful blue sky.

Medieval Market

A few photos from the annual Medieval market at The King's Garden. Superb weather. The park was packed with people. All the restaurants were filled to capacity. The Cherry Blossom peaked so everywhere I went it was people, people, people. And a few warriors in body armor. One of them attacked me the second I lifted the camera! Also, a bunch of Vikings cooking food and selling everything you would find at a Medieval market.Mr. Pink was also there as per usual. He is a well known street entertainer who has worked all over Europe. I first met him 12 years ago. I also heard the Viking band Medvind perform. Their first song was a snapsvisa!