Swedenborgsgatan
Was thinking of doing another kind of post today. But... well... lets just say I´m not ready to do any sentimental things quite just yet.
Same motive as the past two days. The tree at Swedenborgsgatan. In this photo you can see that this street is filled with different kinds of trees which creates quite a nice walk through.
Citygreen
I thought I would show you the location of that delightful autumntree shown yesterday. Here! Swedenborgsgatan. A street which has trees covering its sidewalk making it a quite pleasant place to walk = )
Autumn
September has been unusually hot in Stockholm. But you can´t stop autumns face from showing itself. This photo was taken from a alley close to Mariatorget (The Maria square) which is filled with trees.
This time of the year, when leaves are falling and so many colors appear, is one of my favourites, but at the same time it´s kind of depressing. In a few weeks this tree will be naked and cold, and it will be another half year or so before it flourishes again.
More housefacades
I thought I would continue the trend of house facades in todays post. This is a photo taken at Gävlegatan but it could be from any street in central Stockholm. It´s quite rare to see two buildings of similar colors. Atleast if the buildings are built prior to the forties.
It´s quite refreshing and makes streets constantly different to each other and most important, houses different from each other as you can see in this picture.
Nothing bores me more than to see similar houses standing next to each other, same color, same architecture. Sometimes, as said yesterday, it was better before =)
Differences
Housefacades in Stockholm are often a mix between the old and the new. On this little sidestreet I found a obvious example of that!
A late 19th century building has survived progress and refurbished it´s squized in between two ugly buildings built in the sixties and seventies.
I really dont like the phrase "it was better before" but when it comes to architecture it´s a phrase that´s true!
A kind of art
I like graffiti. Artistic graffiti that is. Tagging on the other hand is something I really hate since it´s pointless, lacks an art to it and is quite simply just stupid.
I was walking home today and passed a tunnel which was filled with tags (Stockholm is mostly a pretty graffitifree place since the city spends millions in keeping it clean, but they always miss this place) when I saw this. And I thought it was really cool.
Things that leave a thought is art for me. Never mind how simple it is.
The Linnéstatue
This piedestal was empty for quite a while until recently when the refurnished statue of Carl Von Linné was put back in place. Carl Von Linné was a biologist, author and scientist who was the first to really document Swedens nature.
He lived from 1707 to 1778 and was in his time a real celebrety in Sweden. This statue is located in Humlegården, the central park, and as you can see it´s quite large!
More information in english about Linné can be read
HERE
More artistic stuff from Football = )
I thought I would show my team AIK:s opponents "Tifo". Djurgårdens IF hardcore fans were just as AIK:s located behind one of the goals. And as you can see from the above shot, yesterdays post and my post from the derby back
in APRIL these games bring out a hell of a lot of creativity.
Djurgården make a pretty good parody of the movie the usual suspects depicting the head people in their own club. Not so wild and crazy as our "Tifo" but still a good eyecatcher!
Unfortunatly this was the best shot I could get of it. The smoke from us had´nt cleared yet and just a moment after I took this photo about 6-7000 people took it down to watch the game =)
Best shot so far
I´ve done well over a 100 shots on this blog since the beginning. Some photos have been mediocre, some I´ve been really proud over. But the best shot I think I´ve taken is the one you see now.
For you that follow this blog you´ve probably understood that I´m a big footballfan and in that one of AIK, one of Stockholms biggest clubs, if not the biggest.
In the highly passionate derby against the overclassclub Djurgårdens IF, a derby highly ranked by neutral observers, 32 000 spectators saw a great "Tifo" in the beginning of the game.
For you new to the area it basically is a choreographed salute to the team. This game AIK were allowed to use Pyrotechnical devices, and as you can see the effects were quite stunning!
More pics of this will be put up
HERE for your viewing! The game? We won 1-0 through a unbelivable goal by veteran Daniel Tjernström and we are top of the league! Work will be unbelivably easy tomorrow =D
Swedens new face
Missed a post on monday due to laying in bed = )
Feel a bit better and will be going to work again on wednesday and get some new pics (my stash is nearly empty!).
Todays shot I thought I would use to give you the face of Swedens new primeminister; Fredrik Reinfeldt.
He might be bald but he does´nt look like a monkey or behave as one. Atleast not yet...
Voting time
Today was the third sunday of september. And every fourth year on this day we do one thing in Sweden. We vote. As you could see from my pre-vote post a week ago Sweden has been very active lately in the run up.
The usual scandals, arguments, fights and once again scandals that you are accustomed to in politics have of course been there = )
Anyway, this is how it looked at my votingoffice and in thousands of others around Sweden. You have your votepapers. You get envelopes for each vote. And then you vote!
The votes are still being counted but everything shows that Sweden will have a shift in power for the next four years from the social democrats, left wing party and enviromental party that we´ve had for nearly 12 years.
I´m happy because I think it´s good =)
Back to bed, got to get rid of that cold that´s still harrassing me...
Ze old town
A simple shot over the old town. From this view you can see circa half of the old town with one of it´s characteristic churches in the middle.
What you also see is a big chunk of Stockholm city and well worth noting is the total absense of skyscrapers. You have just got to love it!
Unpredictable weather
Been hit with the fever and cold all week so I missed an update on thursday, sorry about that. One main reason for the fever and cold is the great shift of weather that you get in Sweden this time of year. One week you can have close to 30 degrees plus in august. The week after you can have constant rain and tempratures down to 15.
So basically every day I´ve gone with the subway into town I´ve heard coughs, sneezes and your basic moaning...
It´s not easy being sick =)
This photo taken from Drottninggatan of the cityhouse shows a bit of an uneasy sky, not really deciding whether it should give sun or rain and that pretty much resembles what we have now.
One thought crossed my mind when I posted it. No movement and no people in it. Strange.
Stockholms Stadion
I rarely show black and white photos on this page but I decided to do it on this motive. You´ve seen the background to the lower picture once before when I showed you a shot from a Depeche Mode concert here. But I thought that the Stockholm stadium deserved a few more shots.
Built for the olympic games in 1912 this stadium has been listed as a culturemarked building and therefore can not be demolished or rebuilt. And thank god for that. The stadium is quite striking with it´s brickfacade which was typical for it´s time. The above shot is from the royal box where the swedish royal family sat during the olympic games and other events.
The stadium today is used for concerts and different sporting events and is also the home for the Premier league team djurgårdens if, one of three big Stockholmteams. Below you can see one of the two towers that are a major part of the Stadiums character.
You can see how the stadium slightly over the years by looking at this picture from the opening ceremony:
OLYMPIC GAMES 1912
Worth mentioning is that it is the smallest stadium ever to hold the olympic games with a capacity slightly over 20 000 at the time.
Sunset
Just a casual shot walking down the Klarabergsviaduct with the sunset.
I always love watching the sun going down in a new place. Wherever you are it has a different look to it. Stockholm ones can sometimes be a bit "ordinary". But I thought this one caught quite a bit of the spectacular in it.
You can see it in yesterdays tributepicture to 9/11.
9/11
Growing up, I always wondered. Would I ever experience something extremly drastic? Something that would probably change the way the world we know works? Something that would alter our views and perception of other people?
Five years ago on this day I did. The attack on the World trade center in New York was´nt the worst thing that had happened in the past decade. Millions of people had died before in wars, of starvation or genocide in the ninties alone. But it was the worst thing you could see with your own eyes, horrendous and unrealistic.
Our world has changed since that day. To the worse I do belive in many aspects. We should always remember 9/11. But we should never forget the people who´s lifes are lost far away from tv-cameras and prime time coverage.
This photo was taken outside Stockholms world trade center as the sun was going down.
To everyone that lost their lifes in 9/11; R.I.P.
A new home
This photo is not from Stockholm but from Borås on the west coast. I went there yesterday with a few friends to watch the big game in Swedens premier league, called the Allsvenskan, between Elfsborg and my team from Stockholm, AIK.
What made the game special except it being a top of the table clash was that it was the first time I got to see Elfsborgs ultramodern new stadium. There has been a footballboom when it comes to attendances the past ten years in Sweden and several new arenas are being built with Elfsborg leading the pack.
And whether or not you like football you can´t say that the background in this picture is anything but beautiful.
Autumns coming, run!!!
After quite a hot summer the later half of august has consisted of loads of rain in Stockholm. Enter early september and the first signs of autumn can be seen as these fallen leafes are a evidence of.
All of a sudden you can wear jeans without sweating your ass off, the weather is much cooler and peoples way of dressing drastically changes.
Many people find it hard to belive that Stockholm can be hot as hell during summer but it is, when autumn strikes though the weather shifts quite fast.
It´s a bit depressing, even though I love changes and the different seasons always move us on it´s sad to know that all the green trees and light days soon will be over. Atleast for another six months.
What to chose?
Electiontimes in Sweden! In eight days the election for a new goverment in Sweden will take place. For the past few weeks it does´nt matter what you do, you cant avoid everything going on. Posters, billboards, tv-commercials, tv-programs and just regular politicians is everywhere to be seen. This is what has met me lately when I exit the subway.
Several different political parties have put up their own little electioncabin to try to get out to people.
This election (which is held every fourth year btw) is a pretty hot potatoe with one of the main subjects benefits. Swedens population is according to statistics one of the most sickprone people in the world, many claim this to frauds and bad governing. The ruling goverment disagrees.
The election will basically be between the left wing (that currently have held power the past four years) and the right wing.
The left wing consists of:
Socialdemokraterna (the social democrates) who currently have 34,2 percent
Vänsterpartiet (Left wing party, ex communist) 7,7 percent
Miljöpartiet (The Enviromental Party) 5,2 percent
The right wing consists of:
Moderaterna (Basically democrate I would think) 25,4 percent
Folkpartiet (Liberals) 9,3 percent
Centern (basically a farmers party from the beginning) 6,8 percent
Kristdemokraterna (the christian democrats) 6,7 percent
In total it´s 48,2 against 47,1 percent with favor to the right wing. The remaining percentage either don´t know what to chose or chose a other kind of political party.
Basically all political partys above have been in the game for ages, The enviromental party and Kristdemokraterna are the latest newcomers, arriving on the political piethrowing scene in the eighties.
Time to hit the sack, I feel tired after typing so much about politics =D
Tracks
This is a view that I am quite accustomed to and will be even more this year. In my job I have to travel quite a bit, and after a few slow months I´m on the road again going here there and actually more or less everywhere in Sweden.
These plattforms and tracks are at Stockholms centralstation. Unlike many other cities the architecture around the tracks is... well... not so inspiring. The main reason being that the tracks were diverted back in 1925 from this
arrival hall, which now is the heart of the central station, to the current position.
Not pretty, I know, but each time I come back I´m always happy to see it =)
Scandinavias Venice
Central Stockholm means plenty of boats. Called the Venice of Scandinavia it´s bound to have!
This picture is on Söder mälarstrand where a lot of boatplaces can be found here and there. Even though our climate makes usage of a boat restricted to basically 6-7 months (at the very very most) it´s extremly popular and extremly wanted to have a boatplace centrally.
Me and a friend have discussed having a boat ourselves but we concluded that it´s way to much cash for something you use far to little.
Unfortunatly there will be no post until wednesday evening. I´m going to the north of sweden with work and I´m due back late wednesday. Catch you then people!
The Högalid church
When it comes to beauty I´m quite a firm beliver that the Högalid church on the south side of the town is top candidate in the church category.
Built between 1916 and 1923 it has the typical architecture of the churches built in the early 20th century which means a brick house with a quite simple roof and a decorated tower.
The interior in this church is very decorative and as it´s placed on top of one of the highest points in the Högalidspark the church and it´s twin towers can be seen far across the city.
Which is demonstrated quite well in this bottom picture!
Old town revisited
Todays post is saved curtosy of my friend Chris, thanks mate =)
As I wrote yesterday I have had some problems with my internetconnection and I am out of town over the weekend. Chris let me post this very nice shot though. Taken in the old town (which you could see photos from back in may) I wanted to do some shots myself of the alleys when it´s darker.
Here´s a excellent one. I am planning to have a "night-life" photo evening in the nearby future and that will mean a few shots from the old town guaranteed. Will be back in Stockholm tomorrow, see you then!
Damn
Encountered a small problem updating the blog. My internet went down yesterday and I cant mail my pics or transfer new ones from my camera to my computer at work. Going away for the weekend aswell but I´ll try to work something out!
I thought I would show you the location of that delightful autumntree shown yesterday. Here! Swedenborgsgatan. A street which has trees covering its sidewalk making it a quite pleasant place to walk = )
This piedestal was empty for quite a while until recently when the refurnished statue of Carl Von Linné was put back in place. Carl Von Linné was a biologist, author and scientist who was the first to really document Swedens nature.
Missed a post on monday due to laying in bed = )
A simple shot over the old town. From this view you can see circa half of the old town with one of it´s characteristic churches in the middle.
Been hit with the fever and cold all week so I missed an update on thursday, sorry about that. One main reason for the fever and cold is the great shift of weather that you get in Sweden this time of year. One week you can have close to 30 degrees plus in august. The week after you can have constant rain and tempratures down to 15.
