Brandstationen

Out walking at Hornsgatan on Södermalm. This is Brandstationen. The Fire station. Curated antiques, art, plants & quirky & vintage homewares. Pretty sure this was never a fire station, so I think the store kept the name after moving to this new location at Hornsgatan.

Midas

Mälartorget, Gamla stan. A building from 1740. Photographed with my trusted old Canon 77D, from Monteliusvägen on Södermalm, above Söder Mälarstrand so quite a long way away. Nice with a 480 mm zoom sometimes. Today an apartment building with 49 homes. Back in the day, there were three sugar refineries here. In the 1970s, plans were in motion to demolish this building. Luckily, that never happened.

Winter at the cemetery

Five photos from my latest visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Skogskyrkogården. The Woodland Cemetery at Enskede in Stockholm. It was a very different feeling here this time. The heavy snow had broken hundreds of tree branches, and the entrance that I always use was closed for cars and there were warning signs everywhere. No problem though for me on the bike to get through and here are the proof of that.

Adventsljusstake

Swedish word of the day. Adventsljusstake. Spotted along Nynäsvägen in Handen on Friday afternoon.

Winter Fun

I had to walk the bike a few times yesterday on my ride to Stockholm. Still a lot of snow on the roads and walkways, nearly a week after the snowfall. The big surprise was the number of fallen trees and broken tree branches at the Woodland cemetery. Must have been hundreds. Anyway, here are a few snaps from my ride that took a little longer than usual.

Winter at Välsta

Nedre Välsta. An old farm in Tungelsta. Photograph taken from the path I use when I walk over to the old tree. Looks like the owner is out walking a dog here. I must have walked past this place a thousand times by now. A few Summers ago they opened a café at the farm, and I was a frequent guest together with a few friends. I remember one visit when it was so hot that it was tricky just to sit at the table without breaking a sweat. No such problems during this promenade, a few days ago now.

A weather update

So that did not work. And no, I don't mean the abandoned bicycle at the Krigslida station. Although it is a cool photo. Since we got the snow it has thawed a bit, and this morning it was 3C. And a very gray sky. Perfect for a bike ride, I hear you all say. So I prepared and as soon as I jumped on the bike it started to rain. A cold November rain. I gave it a go, but soon realized that I would be totally soaked within minutes, so I turned around and headed for home. Here is an observation. The neighbors old greenhouse, (used to belong to my family for a century), collapsed because of the heavy snow. So they are busy in the rain filling up three huge waste containers with what used to be a very big greenhouse. Press here to see a colorized photo from the construction of the greenhouse from around the mid 1950s.

Lillgården

The last phase of the new construction of this area at Lillgården, in Tungelsta is nearly finished. I have been following it since the start, back in 2014. The newest of the row houses are the ones to the very left. Before they started the construction there was a forest here, (not to worry, it is still there, just a tad smaller), and also an allotment. So they moved the allotment over to the other side of the street next to the new pond from where I snapped this photo.

Välstaboden

Eight years ago I decided on a whim one day to photograph an old storehouse that I would walk by on my way to and from the old tree. That photo became the start of a monthly photo project that I kept up for a year. I decided to call it Välstaboden. Since finishing that project I have added a photo every now and then. A while back, while cycling past it, I realised that the building had been renovated.So last Saturday I took this photo. I did not have the same lens with me as I used for the project photos, but it was still good enough to be added to the album.

That Old Tree

The Swedish Whitebeam, or Oxel, in Winter. We have a poetic word for it. Vinterskrud. Not sure if there is an English equivalent. Skrud means attire. Anyway, this was the scene at the old tree two days ago. Much more snow since then. And this morning, most buses and commuter trains have been cancelled. Winter, who knew!

Winter!

It snowed yesterday. Predictable, because it happens a few times every year. If you drive a car, you need to have your Winter tires on. So obviously there was chaos everywhere, with long queues outside the places where you could have your tires changed. Police swung by a filling station near me where people were disagreeing on how queues really work. More problems in Stockholm where they decided that the streets were unsafe and stopped all the public transport buses! No such problems for me, though, so I went for a Winter promenade. And as I walked over a bridge I could hear the snow plow tractor behind me, and I first thought that he was driving on the street, but obviously he was clearing the walkway, so I had to jump out of the way for him a couple of times. More snow now as I am typing this, so chances are that it will stay for a few days.

The history of a building

A classic Mariaberget building at Hornsgatspuckeln (the Hornsgatan hump), with an interesting history. Built in 1737 as a two-story house by a rope maker. The next owner, a baker, installed an oven and opened a bakery. Next, around 1780 a cigarette maker bought the building and opened a factory. The next owners kept the tobacco factory, and by 1844 it was the biggest in the country. In 1880, with another new owner, the factory produced ten million cigars and cigarillos annually. By now, this was a four-story building, thanks to the architect Johan Fredrik Åbom. In 1897 there was also a furniture store here, operated by C.E. Jonsson. And when the tobacco factory moved out a few years later, Jonsson bought the whole building. The current owner since the 1960s is the city. Today there are 39 modern apartments here.

This will not end well

That is the name of the Nan Goldin exhibition that just opened at Moderna museet, located at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. I was in the area taking photos a few days ago, and this woman, on her way to the exhibition with her friend caught my eye.

Views from a hill

Eight photos taken during my recent visit to Vanadislunden, a park with a view, or in fact, several views. On the first photo, the old water reservoir. The church in the second photo is called Engelbrektskyrkan, it sits high up on another hill at Lärkstaden on Östermalm. Next, a young man resting on a bench, close to a sculpture, I sometimes sit there for a bite to eat. Walking around the big water reservoir, I decided to photograph it in more detail. On the fifth photo, the classic TV-tower Kaknästornet at Gärdet seen over the rooftops. Then, a look at the path I took up the hill, you are never alone up here. I took the pine tree photo because I wanted you to see it with the northern towers. We finish the series with the dome on the big Gustav Vasa church in Vasastaden.

Norra Tornen

You have seen them before on the blog, but not from this angle. The Northern Towers at Vasastan in Stockholm. Designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA. Photographed from Vanadislunden, a hill at Sibirien from where you have a good view over the rooftops in every possible direction.

Kinky?

If so, U.S. Video at Regeringsgatan might be the place for you. Me? Nope. Never been, never will, I am just out taking photos!

Concrete Architecture

The sexiest parking garage in Stockholm? This concrete building called Parkaden dates back to the colorful 1960s. Designed by Hans Asplund, son of Gunnar Asplund, who was one of the two architects that designed the cemetery I visit every week.

The Swedish Way

IKEA-style Christmas tree at Skeppsbrokajen in Gamla stan. Biking past there yesterday, I noticed that they had started assembling the tree. Paid for by Kinnevik, a tradition started 26 years ago by the late Jan Stenbeck, and continued today thanks to his daughter Christina. It was a very warm November with 14C. I took this photo from Skeppsholmen.

Walking along the water

Continuing with the reflection photos from my walk along Kungsholms strand. We start with a palace. It is called Karlbergs slott. Technically not in Stockholm as it is located in Solna. Next, a photo with architecture typical for Vasastan in Stockholm. And in the background, you can just see the top of the Northern Towers. There are a lot of marinas in and around Stockholm, and on the third photo you can see one along Kungsholms strand. We finish with a modern building along Klarastrandsleden at Torsgatan. The Swedish Agency for Public Management, or Statskontoret as we like to call it.

Taller than wide

I parked the eBike near City Hall and went for a walk along the water. Top photo shows The Bonnier Building at Torsgatan. Next we see typical apartment buildings in the Atlas area in Vasastan. The name Atlas comes after a factory that you could find here some 90 years ago. In the third photo, we see the stairs at Grubbensparken. This part of the city, at Kungsholmen, is known as Sankt Eriksområdet. It was rebuilt after a hospital closed down in the mid 1980s. A decade later, 770 new apartments had been built here. In the fourth and last photo we see a pedestrian bridge at Klara sjö called Blekholmsbron.

Münchenbryggeriet

A former brewery at Söder Mälarstrand on Södermalm in Stockholm. This building really stands out if you see it from across the water at Norr Mälarstrand. The building was totally destroyed in a fire in 1883. It was rebuilt within one year, although they worked on it for around a decade. The architect was Hjalmar Kumlien. The brewery closed in the early 1970s. Today there are a lot of other activities in here. And you can read more about it on their web site.

A day at the market

You can always shop at the market at Hötorget, (Haymarket), in Stockholm. My great-grandparents sold their produce there a century ago. Six days of the week it is a good place for flowers, mushrooms and that sort of thing. But on Sundays it looks a bit different. That is when the flea market people take over. I am always impressed by the huge interest for buying second hand CDs, crappy oil paintings and more. But it was fun to walk around, listening to people haggle on everything from old kitchen utensils to weird looking hats and stuff that I could not figure out what they were. And no, I did not buy anything, I was there for the photos. Oh and about the second photo. Hötorgskonst is a word that means mass-produced art without any real value. Back in the day, you could always find and buy that sort of art at the Haymarket (Hötorget), in Stockholm, hence the term.

Still Autumn

Out walking at Södermalm. This building dates back to 1755. You can find it at the shortest street, (140 m), in Stockholm, at Yttersta Tvärgränd. From here you can take the stairs up to the highest point in Stockholm. A hill known as Skinnarviksberget. When the buildings were new, this was a very poor part of the city, and the houses were funded with money from something called Fattigbyggnadsfonden. Interest free loans.

Duo

Sculpture by Thomas Qvarsebo at Pustegränd. Been there for 30 years. Often decorated according to the season by unknowns. More often by football fans. This one screams Free Ukraine to me.

Observatorielunden

Observatorielunden is a hill with an observatory. It sits smack in the middle of Stockholm. To get to the hill from Sveavägen you use the stairs at the hillside, before walking the last way on the path through the park. Top photo shows the old observatory. Sadly, closed to the public since 2014. Today owned by the city and used by Astronomisk Ungdom. Second photo focuses on the Stockholm School of Economics Library, the big cupola. Then we see the two towers at Kungsgatan. In the fourth photo, a typical stone house with the impressive looking Engelbrektskyrkan that sits on another hill at an area known as Lärkstaden. Then we have a photo of a dog. It was quick to notice me. Lastly, we zoom in on an architectural detail at the Stockholm Public Library, a very photogenic building, designed by Gunnar Asplund. It is currently undergoing some renovation work and there are scaffolding everywhere, hence this shot.