Saturday, July 21, 2007

Stockholm Sweden, Friday July 20th....

It was a great Friday...during the day I met a frient to see a couple of bands that I like. They played downtown for a free show... It was on a bridge over one of the main walking streets close to Hotorget...





check out the bands...

The Paper Faces http://www.myspace.com/thepaperfacespop
Kamera http://www.myspace.com/kamerastyle



While we were there this crazy panhandler that normally plays awful harmonica while listening to music on his radio showed up.. He danced all around under the bridge and played as if he were part of the band.. but he has pretty much no musical talent whatsoever..... He's one of the panhandlers that I see every time I come to Sweden... There a few that are always there..and usually sitting in the same places..



After the concerts, I walked from downtown throught the old town to Sodermalm... Here is a view on the bridge from downtown walking towards the parliament. Here you can see Riddarholmen in the background. Its another island next to the old town..



This is taken from the same spot on the bridge but facing south over the bridge.. The main walking street Drottninggatan goes from downtown.. across a bridge, through parliament and right into the old town... This is the parliament building.. I took a tour of it when I studied here in Stockholm....its pretty amazing inside.. of course I am a political science nerd..so I like that kind of thing....



After you walk through the parliament building, then you cross another bridge into the old town.. you get a great view of the palace...This is one of the many palaces here in sweden.. The royal family actually lives in a different one that is about an half an hour from downtown.. next to Lake Malaren...



On my way up to the palace I passed a group protesting for peace.. This is about the third one I have seen this week in different parts of the city..






Just a few shots of the royal guards at the palace... They do a changing of the guard ceremony as well..but I didn't really have the time to hang around to grab a picture.. plus I have already seen it a few times... pretty cool though...



From the palace I walked south into the narrow maze of streets of the old town.. here you can see the Tyska Kyrkan (german church) in the background.. I am walking in towards the old square...



Just a narrow street in the old city.. there are some that you can touch both sides with your hands....



In a small courtyard under a tree there is a small statue...its probably the smallest in all of Stockholm (about 6 inches tall or so).. its a statue of a little boy sitting on a table... The tradition is to leave some money there which will mean that one day you will return....I guess it works since I left some money there about two years ago.... Today it was covered with coins from Russia.... In the winter someone comes and puts a little knit hat and and a scarf on the little boy...



In the main square in the old town... the old fountain to get water... the building on the left in the background is the Nobel Museum...



Still in the same square you can see all the outdoor eateries. Everyone really takes advantage of a sunny day here.... You can see the main cathedral behind the Nobel Museum here...



Not far from the square there is an old viking Runsten (rune stone) built into the corner of a foundation of one of the buildings... These were left all over Sweden.. you will see them sitting randomly in a field or in a square somewhere....They usually tell tales of sagas or deeds done by warriors etc... check out the old cannon they have there on the corner of the building to protect it....


Here I have left the old town..and crossed the bridge over the locks into Sodermalm.. I am looking back north towards the old town. you can see the Tyska Kyrkan and the main Cathedral towers...



I met some good freinds Marta and Linus in the square at Medborgarplatsen for a late lunch...Marta is from Poland and Linus is from Sweden.. They were both students at Sodertorns University with me when I studied here. Marta was an exchange student as well but then met Linus and now lives here in Sweden....It was great to see them again....



After I left them I had to hurry to the subway to get back to an area north of downtown... Here is what the subway looks like.....


I got out at the Radmansgatan stop on the subway and came up on Sveavagen..Here are just a couple of cool buildings along that street.... I headed south to the institute for an activity... We ended up doing a scavenger hunt all over town.. and our team ended up winning... of course!



Cherina and Viktoria hanging out at the Institute....



Emma and Cherina....



Cherina, Jens and Ann Marie at McDonald's after the activity... its one of the few places open late or 24 hours over here..... So I hate to say that I have eaten there a few times so far...



After eating we all headed over to Max's place to watch a movie and hang out for a bit... The the girls left and a bunch of us guys went to a place called Rocks to go dancing... It was pretty good.. not a lot of people there that night though...

All in all a pretty busy Friday....

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home