A busy Sunday in Stockholm

_MAL1888, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Sunday morning, I went to Café String for my last brunch there in a while. Linda and Anna came, as well as a couple of their friends. It was nice to enjoy the laid-back atmosphere and just relax for a few hours to take a break from packing.

_MAL1858, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

At my insitence, Linda massaged my shoulders a bit. She made me regret having asked! ;)

_MAL1943, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

In the afternoon, Janaki and Lotta came over to help me pack. A bit later in the evening, Patrik and Isabelle came by with Thai take-out food. As we sat and ate dinner together, I was struck by the love of my friends. These are people I will truly miss!

Here are all of the photos from Sunday.

Late summer flowers in Stockholm

_MAL0899.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

A few days ago, we had a big rainstorm here in Stockholm. After the rain stopped, the sun came out. I don't like to pass up an opportunity to photograph the wet Earth illuminated by bright sunshine. So I grabbed my camera, stuck on my telephoto lens, and went out for a little walk.

_MAL0885.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

There were still some clouds in the sky, so the light was inconsistent; but I still managed to capture twenty photos of flowers in a nearby garden.

For more photos like these, view my Flora photo set.

A few summer flowers

_MAL9507.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

I took a half-hour walk yesterday afternoon and snapped a bunch of photos of flowers around the neighborhood. You can find all 17 photos from yesterday in my Nature photo set.

Sunset over Bergshamra

_MAL1197, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

The sunset tonight was lovely. Most of the day was overcast, but the clouds cleared a bit in the late afternoon and the sun shone for about an hour before it set. I took a few shots of bare trees silhouetted against the glowing sky as I made my way up the icy sidewalk to the subway station earlier this evening.

For more photos, take a look at my Nature photo set.

Sunrise

This morning I went for a walk at dawn.

The first rays of sunlight were just reaching the tops of the apartment buildings when I began my walk.

The building on the right is the one where Lotta & I lived the first three years after I moved to Sweden. Our apartment was the top on on the lower part of the building, on the right side.

The morning sunlight can be quite marvelous here.

I walked under the highway to Stocksundstorp, climbed the embankment, and saw the sun peeking over the trees.

Cedergrenska tornet was also visible from up on the rise.

I continued walking, down the hill and toward Bockholmen. I saw two mallards at the water. They apparently are accustomed to being fed by people, because they investigated me when I approached the water.



The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous.

Just blocking the sun was Cedergrenska tornet.

I walked on to the docks by the bridge to Bockholmen. The sunlight was beginning to reach the far side of the water.

I walked over the footbridge to Bockholmen, and walked across the small island and down to the small dock below the restaurant. The light changed from minute to minute and I was lucky to be there at just the right time to catch some amazing moments.

Here is Lilla Värtan. Beyond lies the Baltic Sea.

By the time I left the dock, the sky had become much brighter, and the sunlight forged vivid colors out of everything.

Here is a gasoline station for motorboats.

Bockholmen Restaurant, where Ethan and I had dinner when he visited a few years ago.

Looking back to the North I saw the bridge from Bergshamra (left) to Danderyd (right). Edsviken lies beyond the bridge.

I took one last photo of the tower before leaving the Bockholmen.

There were several men fishing on the dock.

They probably chose this place because it is where water flows through a narrow channel from Brunnsviken into Lilla Värtan. The channel is called Ålkistan and you can see it in this photo. Brunnsviken lies on the other side, upstream.

As I turned to walk back home, I noticed that the sun had risen fully over the trees. It promised to be a beautiful morning.