Month: April 2015

Cherry blossom in Stockholm

Time for cherry blossom in Stockholm!

On Saturday my two daughters and I took the train into Stockholm to look at the cherry blossom, or Sakura blossom in Kungsträdgården. The weather was nice and the sun was shining so I expected that were not going to be alone in, and I was right…

First we went to the southern part of Stockholm to walk around and have some lunch before the event in kungsträdgården arranged by the Japanese society here in Stockholm.

The girls’ just can´t walk straight without making up some small game to play. This time it was “you can only walk on the lines-game”. I thought it would be harder to play the “don´t walk on the line-game” but I didn´t have anything to say about that.

On the way to Kungsträdgården we went be the castle to look at the guards. There was a small argument about the guards and what the purpose really was to have them standing outside the castle. Guarding the castle was not top of mind for the girls, helping tourist who fell down the steep slope was. The man running in this image was a good candidate for falling down… (He didn´t)

This guard stood completely still outside this small yellow hut. I tried to get the girls to stand beside him for a quick picture, but this was the closest they were willing to go…

This is the bird feeding point at Stockholm Ström. It is always someone that throws bred to the ducks. The girls stood here for quite some time to look at the fight that occurred among the ducks every time someone throws bread into the water.

Just look at it! There is something special about the cherry trees with its small pink flowers. Might have something to do with the short time the flowers are in bloom. One maybe two weeks is the maximum time for the blossom and there are only for a couple of days when all the trees are in full bloom.

Between all the trees there is a large pond where the students always run before graduate. There are no fishes in the pond, only children and their unfortunate fathers who have to step in and pick them up again. Today I only saw one child step out into the water and a not so happy father stepping after.

We were not alone…

This lady was showing of some origami skills a notch or two over my level. To be able to fold a paper into a horse that actually looks like a horse takes some skill.

This day Stockholm was really showing one of its best sides. I it hard to beat a good combination of good weather, spare time and something funny to do with it together with the kids.

Until next time, Love!

/Thomas

April 20, 2015
Clouds from Disney

Sometimes I need to sand still, lift my head up and just look at things that are right there but I often miss or not notice that much.

In this post I have included a couple of pictures showing how the sun transforms the white clouds into something taken from a Disney movie. Just walking around under the fireworks of colors in the sky can make me feel really small or sometimes, that I´m part of something bigger.

This image reminds me of flying. Before take off, just sitting in the airplane when the rain falls down outside and everything is grey. Then just a couple of minutes after take off, as the plane pierces through the clouds and gets above the rain the sun almost explodes. Above the clouds the sky is always clear and the sun is always shining. I have seen it on so many flights but I still get amazed and surprised when I see it. The feeling I get when I look at this image is somewhat similar. That above the sometimes dark and shady streets there is a blue sky with a sun shining. They are just not always visible through the clouds.

I like this house. I have never been inside but I like the way the balcony wraps around the corner of the building. I could easily imagine myself sitting on the balcony drinking my morning coffee in the sun.

This must be one of the coolest places when the weather decides to put on a show. The name is Gondolen and it is a restaurant. Just imagine sitting at the bar, having a drink and just look at the city as it transform as the sun sets in the east.

This post wouldn´t have been complete without a picture of Stockholm in sunset. Words are unnecessary…

I will try harder not to miss the small thing always visible. They are always there so I guess I just have to decide to notice them.

Love to all.

/Thomas

April 17, 2015
Black and whites from Stockholm

Some black and whites from a cold and windy Stockholm.

I thought it was about time to post something new to the site. Hera are some black and white images that I took a couple of days ago. They are all from the central part of Stockholm, or at least within walking distance from it.

Under every tent there is a boat waiting to be put back in the water by its owner. Carefully wrapped in like giant Christmas presents but without the colour full paper they just wait until it is time to be unwrapped. Stockholm is a city surrounded by water and during the summer there are hundreds of small boats trying not to bump into each other while hunting for the best spot to “park” the boat.

This day the weather here in Stockholm wasn’t made for long quiet strolls along the waterfront. The wind was terrible and it was sometimes quite hard just to walk in a straight line. Still, there are always a lot of tourists in Stockholm that just cant stay at the hotel. They of course just have to head out to see what the city has to offer, stormy weather or not. This little group tried really hard to pose in front of Stockholm´s city hall, making it look like the wind didn´t want to blow them into the water. I wonder how their pictures turned out…

They exist in Stockholm as well, love locks. This is on the highest point of the bridge Västerbron and the wind was pushing me towards the fence really hard. After taking this image I almost flew down from the bridge. I hope the people placing the locks didn´t do that during a storm. Might be that their relationships after the lock has been placed here went trough a storm, but hopefully everything in the end turned out just fine.

Sometimes the people managing the city come up with brilliant ideas. This I think is one of them. Under Västerbron they have built a giant skate park, fantastic. The space under the bridge wasn´t used for anything special since it was quite dark and noisy from the cars rushing on top. The skate park however fits just right in and for it, the environment is perfect. The skate pools are made of really hard and unforgiving concrete so this is not a sport for me. I would probably smash into the ground on the first attempt…

More images will soon follow and next time they will be in color.

/Thomas

April 14, 2015