WALKING FROM MEDBORGARPLATSEN TO SLUSSEN

Random photos shot as I was walking from Medborgarplatsen to Slussen station, killing time. HC and I had plans to meet there for dinner after his work that day.

Spent some time looking at the shops near Slussen station too, things were too expensive to buy, but just looking was fun.

MARIEFRED + ANNA PA TORGET CAFE

The little town of Mariefred, we were walking around, finding something to eat.

One round about town, and this cafe caught our eye.

We went in, and couldn't understand the menu. But the nice lady at the counter told us they had hamburgers, so we ordered that.

There was a photo exhibition going on in the cafe. Lots of interesting images.

Looking at them made us forget our hunger for a while.

We chose a table out in the sun, where we can see the town church. The hamburger did turn out yummy! Fueled us for the long walk back to the train station.

I WANTED THE REAL THING

It all started actually, because I wanted to see a "castle" castle. I'm sure you've no idea what I'm talking about, but somehow in my warped little brain (too much Walt Disney when I was young),  I had a fixed idea of what a castle should look like, i.e. complete with a moat, a drawbridge, scary dungeons (you need a place to keep the dragons, or maybe for evil witches to lurk around plotting to kill princesses) and lots of romantic looking turrets.

So imagine my surprise when I flipped through my Sweden lonely planet to find lots of their castles looking nothing like what I imagined. To be fair, the architecture looks very beautiful but they looked a lot more like a french chateau or an english manor rather than a castle. I was actually quite aghast. So I searched very hard for a "proper" castle and Gripsholm Slott was the closest I could find in a pretty little town called Mariefred not far from Stockholm.

The original plan was to take a train out and then catch a bus but it turned out that buses are so infrequent that we decided to walk. I think to and fro we walked almost 6km, haha yes we're very good walkers.

The castle was apparently used as a prison for quite a long period of time, before it was renovated and used by King Gustav III. We paid to go inside and everything was really interesting even though they didn't allow photos. One thing we noticed though, it's cold inside even though it was summer. I can't imagine what it'll be like in winter. 

View of the castle from the front.

You can see lake Mälaren and the little town of Mariefred from the back of the castle.

RANDOMLY

All shot at the area around the T-Centralen station. I like it that they all have that bluish shade of gray, even though I shot them all on different days.

Last day of work for me tomorrow. Life's at a turning point again.

BREAD FOR BREAKFAST

The first thing that struck us when we got into Thelins for breakfast on that day was, "hey they've got a beeping queue number thing that you get at the polyclinics". That was one of my first few days there and as the days followed I realized that they have this beeping thing everywhere, even in a wet market that we stumbled upon somewhere near Ostermalmstorg (the little stalls selling vegetables and meat all served via queue numbers). 

It was fun though, choosing among the piles of bread and finally going to a little machine to pull out a number tab. The interesting thing is, you're not getting a tab to collect your food like sometimes what you get in Singapore, you're getting a tab so that they know who to take orders from first.

The bread was tasty and we were happy for a while, until we walked out, turned a corner and saw Swedes tucking into these little trays of bacon, eggs and pancakes at another cafe we somehow missed earlier on, urgh.

THAT BOHEMIAN PART OF STOCKHOLM

Got back not too long ago from a run with JF. Sleepy. Not much mood to write. Some photos I took while walking around bohemian Sofo. The young, creative and arty live and work there. Think hip, fun, laidback. Good night.

Edit>> If you're wondering about the name, it's not a copycat of the Sohos in New York and London. SOFO actually means SOuth of FOlkungagatan, which is the area where it's found. Wanted to explain. Just in case.

WANDERING AROUND THE OLD QUARTER

Gamla Stan, or the old quarter dating back to the 13th century, was what originally made up the whole of Stockholm. Now it's little more than a district, but is apparently one of the must-sees of the city. You can't really tell from the photos, but our Gamla Stan outing was met with strong winds and pelting rain, so it wasn't exactly fun, and we didn't spend much time there either.

THE LAST OF THE MODERNA

Forgot to upload these together with the previous post last night. This is the restaurant where I had my late lunch at the museum. I had been walking around the Haga Parken all morning, a park which to my amazement (and horror), turned out to be as huge as a nature reserve, so I was starving by the time I reached the museum. Sadly the pasta was rather average and not as yummy as I thought. The restaurant interior was really cool though.

MODERNA MUSEET

More from the Moderna Museet. 

Don't you just love the psychedelic cows on the walls? They remind me of a friend who likes cows (yes I've interesting friends) and makes me wanna laugh.

Also loved the cat bowl from the museum shop by Reiko Kaneko, but it cost a whooping 450kr (S$90)! I consoled myself by taking a photo of it instead. Ah to have money to burn.

MEETING ED RUSCHA

Just a little disclaimer, I don't know much about art. My knowledge of it is probably only a little bit better than what I know of dance (and I know nuts about dance). But I did enjoy the Moderna Museet or Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm.

They were having a special roaming exhibition of Ed Ruscha, an American painter, photographer, filmmaker and the list continues. I didn't know who he was, I just liked his works. Somehow they reminded me more of a graphic ad, or maybe a photo more than what we usually know of snobbish high brow art. I liked the colours, the lines, the funny messages he would print across landscape paintings, I actually laughed out loud at quite a few of them.

I caught part of his video interview, and he was talking about how he tends to see our world as made up of big and little boxes, think buildings, trucks, tables, TVs, you get the picture. And I found that interesting too.

It was only much later after some googling that I found out this guy's supposed to be way up there in the league of Andy Warhol. Not as well-know perhaps, but I must say I like him much better.

TRAIN TRAIN

When it comes to trains I can be a worse otaku (see "geek") than HC. I love the hustle and bustle, and the feeling that hopping on one can bring you to all kinds of interesting places. In fact, the more complicated the train system, the better I like it. Here are some pictures of Stockholm's efficient subway system, Tunnelbana or T-bana.