TOTAL STOCKHOLM

Here’s assorted pictures from my four days or so in Stockholm.

For uninitiated, Stockholm is built on an archipelago of islands. The islands generally have a different feel – I’ll try and use California neighborhood equivalents to compare, from what I saw. Södermalm to the south is the dirtier, “hipper” island with more immigrants, bars and things to do. Think Mission/Lower Haight. Gamla Stan (“old town”) is the touristy, picturesque, cobblestoned, narrow-alleyed, crowded island with the royal palace. Like Fisherman’s Wharf. Norrmalm, technically not an island, is a downtown-esque area with finance buildings, transit hubs (the train and subway main stations), and super-lame clubs – you know, the ones that cost tons of money to get into to and have bouncers kicking out people who aren’t dressed “right”? It’s totally San Diego’s Gaslamp. Kungsholmen is a quiet island with a lot of historical and government buildings, and quiet well-to-do neighborhoods filled with old and other boring people. It’s total Presidio/Pacific Heights over there. That’s about all my pictures show, at least.

Starting with Södermalm!

It’s quite hilly here.

It’s a 5-store designer-label mall with a lounge area for people who are easily exhausted by looking at 300 dollar cardigans.

Turkish fat food!

This is a walkway to an toll elevator operated by a hotel. It offers quite the view.

This is a view of Södermalm from Gamla Stan.

Here’s a boat called “Rambo”.

Here’s the nice hostel I stayed at nights 1 and 4 of my stay in Stockholm (it was booked solid nights 2 and 3, I stayed at yet another boat down the way). The receptionists were 100% babes.

Götgatan is pretty big-time. It’s to Södermalm what Valencia St. is to the Mission. Most of it is for pedestrians and cyclists only. Some rad thrift stores and boutiques, and even a Tully’s Coffee, so Seattle expats don’t get homesick.

I’m not explicitly trying to take pictures of babe’s asses, but point a camera in any direction on Götgatan and try to take a picture without a total babe’s ass in it.

I really liked the cool SoFo neighborhood (South of Folkungagatan, obviously). This neighborhood really reminds me of Lower Haight, where I hope to move to in a few months. There’s a well known store, Grandpa, that just sells designer-y “stuff” – like a small Urban Outfitters if it didn’t suck. I wanted to buy everything in there. Dangerous. Here’s the nearby Vitabergs Parken.

And check out this suggestive advertisement for a magazine with “more on the inside”.

Here’s some pictures from Norrmalm.

Much of the shopping areas around here remind me of Market St. in San Francisco. I’m embarassed to say that a couple people at the hostel got a group of us to go into the Stockholm Ice Bar one night to drink rediculous vodka drinks served in glasses carved out of ice while wearing heavy jackets provided at the door and big gloves.

Shopping central:

That Åhléns back there is the spitting image of Macy’s in SF – I swear, all the flagship, big-city department stores from the in the 50s were all built by the same guy.

Tupperware salespeople.

It’s a Saluhallen – every big city has one (or more). It’s like a mall food court, only filled with upscale butchers, seafood stands, pizzerias, spice shops, a mini-Systembolaget, and anything you’d need to make a nice 5-course meal.

Here’s Gamla Stan:

…the Fisherman’s Wharf equivalent of Stockholm, but with less annoying sea lions. Here’s a picture I took from my boat hostel of Riddarholmskyrkan.

Here’s the cool way the freeway and bike paths are laid out on the eastern side of the island.

I took the obligatory tourist photos of the main touristy street, Västerlånggatan.

I ended up having a nice dinner here – elk carpaccio, walnut pesto, and Parmigiano-Reggiano at the Glenfiddich Warehouse, which was recommended as a Swedish craft-beer destination.

I had a smoked ale ($11!) from Örebro Bryggeri. Not that exciting. The food was excellent, however. Later in the week, I’d come with a group of Swedish people and more Australians after bar-hopping to a place here because last call was at 3AM. When we left, it was easily bright enough outside to drive a car, and it looked as if the sun would come up any minute – just being that much further north of Lund makes that much of a difference, I guess.

Here’s a view from Gamla Stan of Riddarholm (a seperate island considered part of Gamla Stan) and Kungsholmen.

See that big tower in the distance? I wanted to visit Kungsholmen, as I’d never been. LET’S GO TO…

Kungsholmen:

Here’s that tower, up close and in your face. It’s part of the city hall.

Here’s a city hall archway.

Here’s some kayakers rocking the turbulent eddies of Lake Mälaren.

And that’s all.

OH! I’ll leave you with a picture that I stole from the blog of an Aussie, Ryan, I was hanging out with (I’m sure as hell not going to bring my crappy camera out drinking), showing how retardedly bright the mornings are:

This was taken after we got out of the bars, around or a little before 4 fucking AM. WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THAT. LOOK HOW LIGHT IT IS.