Stockholm's telecom tower - Job done!

Stockholm has a great telecom tower built in the 1960's at the height of 'Brutslism'. The view from the top was pretty awesome but I didn't take any on the phone so you'll just have to wait until I'm back the photos are loaded on Facebook.

There was a restaurant at the top and obviously some toilets too. Let's just say that having thoughtfully provided facilities in such a unique spot, it would be very rude of me not to take advantage! Look out below!

Stockholm city bus terminal

Ralph Erskine, the Architect of Byker Wall and The Ark worked on the city's bus terminal in 1989. This is very much of it's time and a couple of years before the Ark.

The main passenger interchange is a long atrium with quirky curved roofs, glazed lifts, rounded corners and fair faced block work with bands of marble. It is strangely peaceful and simple in it's operation.

Passengers feed in to the central spine from the streets at either end and access to the busses is via gates along the spines length. The whole section is stepped along it's length. Escalators, lifts and bridge links populate the atrium dividing it into a series of quite intimate and spaces.

Asplund's Stockholm public library

Well walking half way back to Norway in the snow (well that's what felt like - as I got lost) to get to the library was well worth it.

For the un-initiated, this building by Erik Gunnar Asplund completed in 1928, is one of the Architects most accomplished projects. As a student I can remember pouring over drawings trying to work out what was going on.

A classically simple drum sits on a square base and all is what appears to be a rusty red stucco. Frescos of ancient classical antiquities run in bands at high level and the door arches are picked out with decorated stone surrounds.

When you enter through the glazed double height screen and arrive in the black entrance vestibule, light spills from the central reading room. A simple stair case brings you into the main rotunda and 3 tiers of books line the walls.

Above the books is a white painted dome in what looks like rough hewn rock with high level windows and a single pendent light in the centre. As you look closer the walls that are not book lined are covered in inlaid timber with more of the classical frescos.

In the base plinth are housed more reading rooms, one on each side and the space between the outer wall of the rotunda and where this intersects with the base are simply left as light wells.

This building is an absolute joy and is pretty much in it's original form right down to the signage fixtures and fittings.

The pictures won't do it justice but here are a couple to give you a taste of the building.

Stockholm lunch

I'm beginning to think that the Swede's only serve meatballs to Ikea customers in England. I assumed it was the national dish and would be on offer on every street corner.

This morning's culture fest was the Architecture centre and the National Museum. It's snowing again so I have retreated to a sort of chain restaurant (very popular with locals) called Jensen's Bofhus . Come on, I have been really restrained in my posting of amusing signs. It's 'fart' this, 'fart' that and you can't 'fart' here!!

To make up for that, I'm heading back out into the snow to go and see Asplund's library.


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Swedish brew review

Right this is probably the first proper beer review and tonight I'm drinking a dark lager. This concept is new to me so you learn something new everyday. The lager is brewed by the Abro brewery, one of the last 3 independent brewers in Sweden. (Rumour has it that the micro brewery industry is thriving making "folksbeer". Hopefully I'll track some down tomorrow.)

Anyway back to the beer. It is called Brygg Mastarsens and is a lovely dark almost ruby red colour. The taste is clean and fresh like a traditionally brewed lager, not Eurofizz-John ;-) and with a really smooth malty aftertaste that gives the lager real body. It's 5.0% and that creeps up on you rather nicely.




Shout if this is too nerdy!

M has got our latest brew on the go at home and I'm looking forward to some stout when I get back :-)

Stockholm

Welcome aboard the MS Ryggerfjord me hearties. I'm staying on a boat in the harbour. Whilst the cabin is cramped. The view from the corridor sorry gangway outside the cabin is great. That ice seems to be following me. It's like sleeping in a gin and tonic. See pics below:

One for Dominik....

My cousin Dominik appears to be doing some modelling for a Swedish magazine. Before you all get too excited it was the travel magazine on the train from Oslo to Stockholm. What do you think? I reckon this is your doppleganger Dom......

Norwegian periwinkle!

This is one for Simon (bro). Whilst in the Oslo geological museum I came across some specimens of the Norwegian Periwinkle and as luck would have it, they all had a right handed twist!




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Sorry Oslo!

I owe Oslo an apology. I should have been out sight seeing in the warm (4 degree) sunshine this afternoon but I crashed out and slept. I did however manage to fit in the Zoological Museum, Geological Museum and the Edvard Munch Museums. So not bad. There are two versions of The Scream one in the Munch Museum and one in the National Gallery.

When I got to "The Scream" there was a queue of people standing next to it waiting to take each others photo doing the scream! That's what happens if you let the masses in.

The good burghers of Oslo allow access to the Munch museum for free and the man in the ticket office in the Natural History Museum let me in for free. Hurrah!! I can afford some food!!

Pics of the day are:



A something-asaurus and "are you talking to me??"

Poo stories!

I had a request from someone to include some poo stories! So here is the first one.

I went to the cinema to see the Kings Speech and after the trailers they had the usual, Don't tip popcorn on the floor, don't use your mobile adverts. Then, to my great surprise, we cut to a young lady in a toilet and to spare her blushes, let's just say she was dropping the kids at the pool!! She promptly wiped her bottom and threw the paper on the floor.

A big cross appeared which clearly meant that this sort of thing just wouldn't do! So now you can add that to the list of things not to do in Scandanavia. I might drop Lonely Planet a line!


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Where's the Northern lights then?

Unfortunately, despite hanging around in suburban Tromso (away from the city lights) until I thought the police would pick me up for loitering, in sub zero temperatures. The skies remained steadfastly cloudy and when they were clear, there was nothing to see. I'm not desperately disappointed, I'm absolutely gutted. It's a long way to come to miss it but there's always next year and the year after that.......

I had day dreamed about just being in the Arctic circle and that was pretty cool being so far north. I might try for something a little more remote next time.

My last pic from the Arctic is below, waiting at a bus stop. The bus drivers here are amazing. Driving full tilt on half a metre of compacted ice. I knew it was cold last night when I was out as the bottoms of my trousers had frozen to my boots!!




I was smiling here but frowning a minute later. The bus just drove past without stopping. This meant an extra half hour wait when it was -8, that's no joke!!

First beer last night. A fruity little number from the Mack brewery. Norway's second most northerly brewery. It was a lovely dark ale with a very clean hoppy finish. Rather good. The eye watering cost was £4.50 for a 33cl bottle.

Everything here is about double back home. My latte and Danish consumption is somewhat curtailed due to that combo being £7 a pop!!

Onwards to Oslo and Stockholm tomorrow.

Orientation

A quick word about orientation. When you wander round a city you orient yourself by certain shops or pubs. I'm no expert in the demographics of hairdresser provision per head of population, but Tromso has lots. If such a scientific study were undertaken with proper pier review I'm absolutely certain that Tromso would have an above average number of hairdressers per person. I'll get to the point in a short while.

One of my favourites is "Centimetre Frissor" and I'm not sure if that means they only cut hair to a centimetre or you can only have a centimetre off at a time.

Sorry, to the point. I have been orienting myself using hair dressers and I know when I'm on the right road for the hostel when I get to Rita's Salong. Do you think she has heard if Willie Russell?


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Simply not cricket

Please find below the diagram of a polar bear shooting device I'm the Polar Museum. The polar bear eats the bait and shoots himself. Call me old fashioned but that simply isn't cricket!




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Orientation

A quick word about orientation. When you wander round a city you orient yourself by certain shops or pubs. I'm no expert in the demographics of hairdresser provision per head of population, but Tromso has lots. If such a scientific study were undertaken with proper pier review I'm absolutely certain that Tromso would have an above average number of hairdressers per person. I'll get to the point in a short while.

One of my favourites is "Centimetre Frissor" and I'm not sure if that means they only cut hair to a centimetre or you can only have a centimetre off at a time.

Sorry, to the point. I have been orienting myself using hair dressers and I know when I'm on the right road for the hostel when I get to Rita's Salong. Do you think she has heard if Willy Russell?

Gratuitous bear shot from the polar museum:




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Cafe and tie shop!

I'm sitting in a little cafe waiting for the latest snow shower to blow through leaving a foot of snow. I'm developing the habit of the Tromso stomp. Every time someone hits a patch of cleared pavement they stomp both feet to clear the snow. Entry into all buildings is signalled by a quick double stomp and a quick 'Hey! Hey!'. Hello sounds like Hey!

Well this little cafe is frequented by old locals who smiled benignly as I entered and pointing got me coffee and a cake. The owner appears to be selling off his tie collection. I'm seriously tempted!




The passing shower from which I was sheltering looked something like this:




It's nearly Polar Museum time.

The frozen north

With the weather closing in I've been trawling Tromso for arts and culture. There is a great theatre here, the Halgoland Theatre. Completely faced in blue engineering bricks and get the picture below, the next time a builder says he can't lay engineering bricks without smearing pug all over the face show him this:



Awesome! Apologies to non Architects.

This one is for Meg, there was a special feature on Neil Gaiman at the library. (There will be photos of the library which is pretty good too.)


Lastly, I went to a place called Polaria where they had seals in captivity and I was there for feeding time which I thought would be great. However, I'm not 100% sure of the value of training seals to play with footballs and pretend to kiss each other.



Lots of Beacham's powders for me to try and shift a cold!

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Tromso

The blizzard that welcomed me last night is yet to abate. So the morning has so far been spent doing washing with my trusty tube of travel wash bought in 1991. I knew it would come in handy one day and I'm so glad I didn't throw it out.

Exciting morning dodging snow ploughs this morning. They do not give way to pedestrians. I'm back at the hostel after gathering vital supplies i.e.
dinner for tonight and things to ward off the evil cold that has caught up with me this morning.

Please excuse the quality of the photo but I got some pics of Long-tailed ducks in the harbour amongst the mallards. The pic is on my camera so transferred by taking a pic of the back of the phone.




It's now time for the polar museum.........

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I'm in the Arctic circle!

Well I've made it to Tromso, a couple of hundred miles inside the Arctic circle and a mere 1200 miles from the North Pole. There was a slight delay taking off from Oslo as Tromso airport was closed due to a blizzard. The pilot cheerfully announcing that he'd see how we got on when we got there. After the bumpiest ever final approach in a complete grey out we skidded from side to side along the runway and they promptly closed the airport behind us!!

A couple of snaps of down town Tromso to help cool you down in balmy Winchester!








Time to break out the thermals at last :-)

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Oslo and sea ice

Amazing arrival. I sat on deck eating breakfast as the ferry pushed through the sea ice. Lots of black headed gulls and juvenile gulls. However there was a big raft of eider ducks.

Very excited about the sea ice. Pictures below:








This is me loaded and ready to depart. Having had an amazing nights sleep. Very calm and no engine noise. Funnily enough I'm still swaying slightly this morning.



Here is one for you Jon:


Lastly. I'm writing this from the beautiful opera house in Oslo and a party of Norwegian Architects has just walked in. You can spot Architects a mile off.

Best of all today I get to hang about at the airport. Lucky me! Planes galore.

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Copenhagen and DFDS ferry 22.03.11

Quiet day in Copenhagen checking out the National Museum and of course the little mermaid. I was expecting a beautiful setting close to the historic centre......I cut out the background to keep the magic alive for you. Here's the money shot guys.....




Pretty ain't she....

Had a fantastic queuing incident in the post office. The office was empty save me and one lady at the counter. The conversation went like this:

"Can I have a stamp for England please."

"Have you got a ticket?"

"Um! No."

"Please can you take a ticket."

I obviously took a ticket. There was a ping! and a light came on next to the lady I had been talking and she said "Ticket number 2. Can I help?"

"Yes! Can I have a stamp for England please?"

Job done!

Last thing, this is the bed for the night.




I was hoping for some nice sea birds on the way. Not a sausage!

Winch to Cologne 21.03

Just sitting on the platform waiting for my bed to arrive. Chugged up to London on Southwest trains then kicked up a gear on the Eurostar. ICE high speed train was cancelled which was a real disappointment. However, got transferred onto the equally cool Thalys intercity and because 2nd class was full I got a seat in first class.

The guard asked me to tell the waiter that I wasn't allowed to have the first class dinner. I obviously respected that. The waiter said "ok but a liddle trink won't hurt" and I got a beer.

I just had time to compare a big mac meal with a hamburger royal mcmenu mit grosse pommes und coke and check out the cathedral in cologne.







Gutte nacht!

The bedroom



P.S. Have just had a very refreshing deutsche bahn wash in the sink (well I've paid for it, I'm going to use it). Obviously had my fingers crossed that the rather poorly secured blind didn't fly open as we trundled through a suburban German station.

Gutte nacht 2!

Parting shot....

Just to prove that I have left the house :-)




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and he's off!!!

Well the trip has been planned and listed and re-listed to the finest degree. Underwear has been calculated down to the last......that's enough of that. It's time to go. Well it is once I've done everything on the 'before I leave the house list'....... 


Some how in the midst of all these lists I forgot to make a list of what to go and see (building wise). So your task for the day is to help me with suggestions.......Helsinki and Oslo are covered but could do with some help in Copenhagen, Tromso and Stockolm. Thank you.


Not quite sure how internet connection and wi'fi go for the next couple of days as I'm in transit, but should be able to update again at the hostel in Tromso.

Le Tour

Well I have overcome the vagaries of the French campsite booking system to t-up just under 4 weeks touring France in July. I'll be taking in Le Vendee, Normandie, Le Masif Central, Les Pyrenees, Le Mont Ventoux (take two), Les Hautes Alpes (L'Alpe D'Huez and Col du Galibier) and of course I'll be on the Champs Élysées for the final day of Le Tour.

By the end of it I'll be able to pitch and strike the tent in seconds. It'll be another first for me, being nearly a month in a tent. Looking forward to firing up the stove for fresh coffee in the mornings and eating cake for breakfast! When in Rome etc. etc.

Five more sleeps till the off......


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Not buying kit

Today was supposedly to be mostly about buying kit and trying out the new phone app for updating the blog. Most updates will be from the phone while away so I need to see how annoying it is typing in the phone. So far so good and the stupid fat fingers aren't too bad.

Ooh! Just noticed a little camera in the corner of the app window so there might be a gratuitous photo turning up. Here is the gratuitous photo. Having lived in Winchester for only 11 years I have never noticed this pub sign.



It's that pub named after the diver. So tomorrow is kit day and working out what to see and do in Scandanavia. Obviously I'll be flat out and way too busy for cash in the attic....

To do lists......

Tonight's 'to do list' was to do the 'to do list' for tomorrow and I got as far as the first item which was to do whatever was on the 'to do list' for tomorrow and got myself into a 'to do list' feedback loop.......result......I didn't do the 'to do list'. So I started a new 'to do list' which is to do the 'to do list' tomorrow.


I was wondering what the effects of having more time on my hands and a blog were going to be,  and by day 2 the dangers are manifest. I will have time to think about things like 'to do lists' in far too much detail as above and write about it.  One good thing though, I have had time to read several articles about the over use of exclamation marks and have dispensed with their services until I find a suitable and fully justified use.


'To do loo'.....

Day 1

Catchy title for the first day eh!! Day 1.....Quiet day today with a tiny little bit of a headache to deal with after a great send off last night. Need to work out where to hang the awesome "Dirty Harry" poster I got from my friends at work. Need to mull that one over to ensure maximum impact.


Lots to do before setting off on the first trip and mostly centered around underwear management at the moment! Both in the literal sense and managing the great potential for undergarment torsion that could befall the first time traveller. The blog should liven up as we get closer to departure and be bursting at the seams once I'm under way.