Stockholm i mitt hjärta, Part 4 - Gamla Stan

I've meant to post some drawings, sketches, or even paintings after all the photography posts, but I just haven't got round to doing much. So I'm sharing some more photos today, another part of my Stockholm series.

And oh my, it has been ages since my last post in this series - June, to be exact, and not June last year, but June 2013! High time for a new post, and there are still some more places I to go to. Last time, we visited lovely Djurgården and spent some time in the outdoor museum Skansen. Now let us venture into the heart of the city, the old town, that dates back to the 13th century - Gamla Stan. Let us stroll through the narrow alleys, preferably the quieter ones, away from the crowds.

Gamla Stan is probably the most photographed part of Stockholm, and it seems that it's always the same lanes, places and corners that get captured. So I've played around with textures, to try and make them look a bit different.

Can I get a job here, please?

Even though the main alleys and squares can get very crowed during the holiday season, Stortorget (the big square), is still worth a visit. Not only because of the beautiful old buildings surrounding it, but also because of one of my favourite cafés - Chokladkoppen. A big cup of hot white chocolate is just the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold day. And in summer, you can sit outside, and watch the people on the square and enjoy the mild air, and a slice of white chocolate cheese cake.

Tyska kyrkan (the German church), or Sankta Gertruds kyrka, was founded in 1571.

There are, of course, many more interesting sights and buildings in Gamla stan - among them Stockholms slott (Stockholm palace), also know as Kungliga slottet (the Royal palace). But we'll leave the old town now, for some more exploring. I haven't yet decided yet where we will go next time, but it will definitely a nice place.

Tidying up and dreaming of winter

What mad weather we're having at the moment. Yesterday, it was about 13 degrees, so warm, it felt like spring, and nothing at all like winter. And what a wind there was blowing. The whole house was rattling. The snow has long gone, and there's no sight of any new. And at the same time, I'm reading about and seeing pictures of snow(storms) on Instagram and Facebook - and (some) people compaining about it. Oh please, send it my way! I'd be more than happy to get the fluffy white stuff! The more the merrier!

After the lazy Christmas break, I'm ready to start drawing and painting again. But first, my studio needs a bit of tidying up. So until I'm ready to get started, and until we, hopefully!, get some more snow here too, I'm editing and posting more photos from a couple of weeks ago, from our walk through winter wonderland.

Enjoying winter

It's the last day of my long, almost 3 week's Christmas holiday. It's a bit of a sad day today, as N.'s flying back to England later in the afternoon, and it's going to be a few weeks until we see each other again. But we had a great holiday together, going on walks, daytrips, taking lots of photos, and having lots of relaxing, lazy days too. And we've had a few days of snow too. Unfortunately, it's all gone again, but hopefully, there'll be some more this winter. I really do enjoy winter, the long dark nights, the cold, fresh air, and the beautiful, calm of a world covered in white.

Welcome 2015

The first day of a new year. Always a bit scary, but also exciting. All the possibilities. Plans, dreams, wishes, hopes, resolutions. One of my long list of New Year's resolutions, which really is more a to do list, is to spend more time on photography again. I love to take pictures, and to process them, using textures, creating little pieces of art from scenes, landscapes, things that captured my eyes, and made me happy.

Like a visit to the nearby animal park, to say hello to one of my favourite animals, the mooses. One of which was conveniently lying in the snow close to the fence.

And what happens to all those unsold, left over Christmas trees? They make a perfect Christmas feast for the animals.

The end of the year also brought snow. I absolutely love snow. The world is so much more peaceful, looks so much more beautiful when covered in white. After some grey and very snowy days, which were best spent at home, the last day of the year brought some blue sky. A perfect day for a walk along the hilltop. I just love to hear the sound of walking on snow, the crisp, clear, cold air, the beauty of snow on trees.

I took, of course, loads more photos, and I'll upload some more winter magic in the next few days/weeks. I also have a 500px account, if you're interested to see more photos. I'm not there that often, and try not to upload too many photos, but I've got some of my favourite photos there. It's a place worth visiting anyway, the work and skills found there is just amazing, and very inspriring.