Sweding (Monday)

So, recently I've spent a few days in Stockholm, as part of my vacation.

I arrived on Monday.


I've checked into my hotel, and was mildly surprised by an elevator door looking like it can withstand an atomic blast.


However, the inside is a pretty normal elevator.


After that I went for a walk. Apparently, the nearest street was pedestrian-only, guarded by kittens. Big kittens.


The street was fairly crowded.


I walked further, and stumbled into a street beggar, who, as I learned later, is some kind of a celebrity here.


I didn't know much about Stockholm. In particular, I had no idea there is so much water in and around it.


I've surprised myself by bying a new jacket there. Wasn't planning on it, but it somehow attracted my attention.


Despite not being very flat, the city swarms with cyclists.


Local wildlife was fairly indifferent.


I'm still not sure if that bus goes all the way to the capital of Bulgaria.


One rabbit is very surprised that the other went to sleep already.


Swedes are very law-abiding people.


A piece of modern art.


Nice taxi.


To be continued...

Sweding (Tuesday)

The next day started with, of course, breakfast. Breakfast was accompanied by some night birds.


I've decided to visit Drottningholm (yes, I looked up the correct spelling). There is a boat going back and forth; two boats, to be correct. So, I went to board the first one. On the way I've noticed a burglar running.


I think somebody was a bit annoyed our boat was moving past.


We've met the second boat, which was going back. I would later board it as well to return to Stockholm.


This is the Drottningholm palace.


The weather wasn't quite good, but I still went to the park first, saving the palace for later.


I was right. The park proved to be charming.


There is a so-called "Chinese pavillion" in the park.


It's not very exciting on the inside. Well, neither is it on the outside.


Although one particularly dark corner of it is somewhat amusing.


Strangely, the park was almost completely empty.


I'm sure that if I lived nearby, I would be visiting every day.


Probably won't make selfies every day though.


Then I went to the palace.


It was also guarded by some kittens.


The palace was the opposite to the park — crowded, but boring.


Well, there were some kittens inside too.


I've decided to visit the theater near the palace last. As I had some time, I walked a bit more around the buildings.


And found some more wildlife, that seems to think it's their home. They are probably correct.


The scenery is just gorgeous.


I don't think it can every stop being new and exciting.


Despite being close to civilized areas.


The theater is also guarded by kittens.


People are only allowed inside the theater in groups, following a guide.


Inside the theater there is a lot of painted wood. According to the guide, the royal family didn't have enough money to buy some real marble.


And after the theater I went back to Stockholm. On the way we, of course, met the first boat, making another trip to Drottningholm.


I didn't notice it at first, but there is some weird thing under the bridge here. It's not connected to the shore.


Almost back.


I didn't go to the hotel immediately, but walked around a little more. Yes, there is an owl.


Another body of water. They are really everywhere in Stockholm.


Just an interesting entrance.


Children's playground.


Another part of the playground; instead of pushing the ground, the kids can pretend they are riding a bicycle.


No idea what's that supposed to be.


Just to give some idea about how non-flat is the city.


To be continued...

Sweding (Wednesday)

On Wednesday I only had a plan for the evening, so, I wanted to walk around some more. Looks like pigeons are doing pretty good.


Soldiers, walking around the king's castle.


Followed by some more realistically-looking soldiers... except what's with their boots?


Walking around, I found myself at the zoo entrance. I did not expect that.


Holy family.


Somebody making a splash.


Oh, it's those guys.


Probably the nicest statue of a bear I've seen.


Live bears weren't so easy to photograph. Their place is gigantic.


Piglet and his family.


The wolf didn't mind being photographed.


Some wild goats, I guess.


I'm pretty sure that's a sloth, but I've never saw his face.


I've also bought a ticket to aquarium, and was again right to do so: apparently, they also keep monkeys there.


Sleeping lemurs.


Same lemurs, from above.


Meerkat, standing guard. Or rather sitting.


There are some more traditional animals in the aquarium too.


They don't move too much.


This guy seems mildly annoyed by all the attention.


I don't remember who those are.


A house rat has a miniature house build for her.


Looks like real love.


A tiny frog.


Some of the inhabitants love being photographed.


That meerkat guard was not alone. He was keeping others safe.


I went back to the lemurs, even though though there were some "STOP" signs on the way.


And noticed a lemur mom with a kid.


That's my best picture of the Colobus. I have no idea who those people were and how they've got inside.


That was pretty much it. The zoo is not big, and most of its territory is taken by some old Swedish houses, not animals. Naturally, I went back to bears.


That was taken from the distance, so, the quality is not great; but the bear balancing on the side of the hammock had to be photographed.


On my way back I spotted this guy.


And this one just ran past me, so, I couldn't make a decent photo. There was no barrier between us whatsoever.


I walked in the city a little more, and noticed that signs at the crossing are sometimes different: one is of a man, another of a woman.


Maybe I've spent too much time watching lemurs, but this looks to me like a winged monkey, not an eagle it's supposed to be.


Another street sign — apparently, for a horse.


It's a nice place.


So, my plan for the evening was to visit the science museum. Apparently, there is a police museum nearby.


But the science museum was kinda disappointing. The best part was the hands-on experience, where visitors can see the applications of various scientific principles. We have something like this here, and our version is better.


The other part just displays various inventions.


On my way back I walked through the area with lots of embassies of various countries. This, of course, is the nicest:


I'm not sure if it's a gargoyle or a bulldog, but it looks very serious.


And then I found what is, apparently, a pedestrian tunnel.


It's fairly long, and some parts of it look a bit strange.


To be continued...

Sweding (Thursday)

In the morning I went shopping for some souvenirs. Found this in one of the shops.


Some more local wildlife.


Again, Stockholm is pretty much built on water.


So good an idea for the storefront, that I don't really mind giving those guys some free advertizing.


The narrower the street, the denser the crowd.


Taking a selfie with the smallest statue in the world proved rather difficult. I guess I understand the merits of selfie sticks now.


I've never seen a bicycle combined with a wheelchair.


Just some Swedes having fun.


The weather was nice.


The jacket wasn't needed.


Just two locals resting.


Ducks. Although I'm not sure the closest one, black with white forehead, is a duck.


I don't know what those batons over the road are supposed to be.


Some hotel. Clever use of space: part of the fancy angular building is removed to make room for a trash can.


And after some rest I went on a cruise near Stockholm.


We are leaving.


This is Kastellet citadel. Swedish flag over it signals that there is no war currently. If Sweden goes to war, the flag would be pulled down.


An amusement park.


We weren't the only ones to have a bright idea to call a boat "Cinderella".


And whoever came up with this idea was a bona fide genius.


We turn and leave Kastellet and the amusement park behind.


How can something that big stay above water?


"I'm a ship too!"


Strange fountain. I don't know whom that figure on top represents.


Our boat is kind of like a bus, or a local train maybe. Every few minutes it makes a stop at some island.


And there are lots of islands, sometimes separated by really narrow straits.


Apparently, some boats lift their nose when docking.


It's getting darker.


Sometimes it's not even clear if those are separate islands, or parts of the same big one.


One of the stops.


Just a rock in the middle of nowhere.


Another stop. Somebody is getting on a smaller boat.


And this, I think, is a garage. For boats.


The jacket is definitely needed here.


Another stop. Grandma just came by busboat, her family meets her.


I've heard sunsets in Stockholm can be really beautiful. This is not exactly Stockholm...


...but even one of the sailors came up to take a picture.


This looks like a gigantic ancient crab.


Here we actually stopped twice: on the left side and on the right side.


Same rock we've seen earlier.


It's getting really dark.


Some birds flying high...


...and low.


Unexpected meeting.


I've taken a lot more photograph after that, but most of them are totally dark.


This island of light far away is another ferry.


We've seen this castle before, but during the day it wasn't so impressive.


Almost back.


Interestingly, the amusement park still works. I've heard some children's voices coming from it.


Kastellet again. There is no flag now, but that's OK: they take it down in the evening and put it back up in the morning.


Just a minute before docking.


On my way to the hotel I found the same piece of modern art, and it looks a bit... different now.


To be continued...

Sweding (Friday)

I took only one picture that day, in the train. Arlanda express, which goes from Stockholm to Arlanda airport and back. Most of it looks fairly normal, but there is this one area...

That's all, folks!