The Other Weekend, In Sweden

Have I really not posted since my last trip to Stockholm?  Yikes.  Sorry about that.  (Hmm... come to think of it, I still have stuff I haven't posted from my last trip to China.  Oh, the high hopes I had for the creepy mannequin series I collected there.  Soon...)

I spent a glorious (flu- and snow-free!) long weekend in Stockholm, just as April was transitioning to May.  The sun was out, the air was fresh, and the sky was bluer than blue.  Finally, Stockholm!  Thanks for not making me suffer through another cold and glum weekend!

Here is an unremarkable shot from the bridge going to Skansen.  What is remarkable is how damn photogenic Stockholm is.  The light on the water, the clouds just so, the flare in the sky, the tops of the buildings.  It's almost too easy.  Wanna feel like a better photographer than you are?  Shoot in Stockholm.

The sky is bluer than blue.  I'm fairly certain that's what inspired the paint color.
And golden stags?  Stop.  I am in love.

Speaking of the sky, this is its level of brightness at approximately 4:45 am (yes, am) on the last weekend in April.  So you basically wake up in the 4 o'clock hour, feeling like you need to get up but why are you still so tired?  Oh right, because it's not even 5 am!

And if the light doesn't wake you up (blackout curtains are in order), this horrible screeching bird (it sounds like a woman scorned, I'm not kidding) certainly will.  Whatever this bird is so angry or hungry or horny about at such an unreasonable hour of the morning, he certainly does his best to make the neighborhood aware.

This is my favorite map.  Do you see why I love Skansen so?  They have GIANT animals there!

Creepy troll/teddy antique store box.  I wonder what else is buried in there?

Creepy door handle.

Creepy old chihuahua (Dinky's Swedish grandfather??) installed outside his mom's antique store.

I love this old poster in the metro.

We popped into the pretty pretty Nobis Hotel for an afternoon glass-a.  The indoor "courtyard" bar is striking.  We were pretty stoked about the free wifi, too.

Check out the like-owner, like-beast looks!  Same hair!

Hanging on.

Not an option.

A fancy spork...

and some skulls at Sturehof, where the fish is delish.

Every neighborhood needs a golden moose.  This is ours.

Who you callin'...  oh wait, you're out of panini?  tee-hee.

We had drinks outside (!) at Debaser Slussen and then caught the (free!) Friends show inside.  LOVE this band and all their pos-vibe, mid-'90s schmoove action.  I definitely felt an ESG thing happening in the live show, as well.  Good stuffs.



But you know what the best part of Stockholm was this time?  Something called a "Potato Twister."

Two raw potatoes are put through a spiraling contraption then fried, impaled, and dusted with a spice powder of your choosing (we chose the combo powder, which was something like 16 different flavors combined).  Holy hell, this is next-level snack food.  It humbles french fries in a way I couldn't have imagined.  If I were on that "Best Thing I Ever Ate" television show, this just might be on it with me.

Oh, and did you notice you can also have it with a sausage or a chorizo in the middle.  Forget the Clapper or that personal purse hanger thingy.  THIS is the greatest invention of my lifetime.

(Also note above, "Smor" is "Slut." tee-hee.  It never gets old!)