Posted by Sven August 13th, 2007
Yesterday I took the red line and stopped at The University. No don’t get me wrong. I’m a true labourer and not interested in reading books in the library or taking classes in maths. I had other intentions with my trip.
Walk about 100 meters from the University subway station and you find The Swedish Museum of Natural History. No you won’t miss it, the building is quite magnificent. This year the museum celebrates the 300th anniversary of Carl Linneau’s birth. Happy B-Day Calle! So besides taking the tour among ancient and present nordic animals and the very important Mission Climate Earth - Exhibtion you can discover the life and work of Linneaus. Actually very sexy. But the real highlight of The Swedish Museum of Natural History visit was Cosmonova. The only IMAX-cinema and the largest planetarium in Sweden. I watched the movie Deep Sea and it was quite an experience. Make sure you don’t have a tendency for sea sickness.
To finish off my “University-tour” I went to Bergianska Trädgården, Stockholms Botanical Garden. It’s located next to Brunnsviken and is a real oasis in Stockholm. I went for nice cup of coffee and just enjoyed the fantastic air and the trees and flowers from all around the world.
Yours truly
Sven
Sightseeing, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet and Bergianska Trädgården
b a n n e r
Posted by Sven August 1st, 2007
The Modern Art Museum in Stockholm, or Moderna Museet as we call it, is a wonderful spot that shouldn’t be missed on any trip to our fantastic town. I went there just to double-check before telling you this.
The museum lies beautifully placed on one of the most central islands of the city, Skeppsholmen. This historical island in the heart of the Stockholm inlet is mainly uninhabited, and instead houses museums, schools, and a bunch of old marine and military buildings that were all built due to the island’s important position. The Moderna Museum itself was opened in 1958, and reopened as late as 1998 in it’s new shape – a wonderful building designed by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. Getting to the island is easy, either take the 5-minute walk from Kungsträdgården in central town, or hop on a boat from Nybrokajen. Once inside, I warmly recommend you do what I always do. Enjoy the current exhibitions while taking an exciting stroll through the whole museum. The collections are breathtaking, with the international one including fine works by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Giacomo Balla, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, and many, many more. And when your legs are tired, have a well-deserved break in the wonderful café that overlooks Djurgården and the magnificent Vasa Museum, or spend your money in the interesting store!
I hope to see you soon!
Love Sven
Moderna Museet, Art and Skeppsholmen
Posted by Sven July 12th, 2007
The City Hall of Stockholm is very dear to me. Not only did it feature heavily in Stockholm The Musical (I played the lead role!!) – it also hosts one of the best events of the year, the Nobel Prize Banquet.
The Nobel Prize Banquet is held annually on December 10th, to commemorate the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. During that time of year the attention of the world is on our town, and the intriguing prospects of who wins what and who wears what. However, this building is far more exciting than that, and what’s better is the fact that every day the Nobel Prize Banquet isn’t on, you’ll be allowed in! The actual building itself was built between 1911 and 1923, and contains some 8 million red bricks. Centred on two large squares, the design by architect Ragnar Östberg also comprises an outer yard and an indoor hall. This hall of course is where all the posh Nobel Prize dining takes place. The organ in the hall is known to be the largest in all of Scandinavia, holding an impressive 10,270 pipes! So what is the reason I’m telling you all of this? Well, because if you make a visit to Stockholm without going up the tower of the City Hall you’re going to miss out on the best view of town! At the very top of the impressive 106-metre tower you’ll also find the Three Crowns - an old national symbol for Sweden.
Did I mention there’s no elevator?
Sven
Sightseeing and The City Hall
Posted by Sven June 28th, 2007
Hello again all my friends! Sven is back! (My sincere apologies that it has been a while). I have some interesting tales to reveal. The other week some friends and I anchored the boat at the most pleasant of places imaginable!
What is it I hear you exclaim! Well, it is in fact a little city pearl that lies hidden under the natural ceiling of the trees, hence its name Boule & Berså. Boule as you know is the lovely French pastime that includes iron balls, and Berså simply means arbour. This place is conveniently accessible by sea, by foot, or by car – and allows you to beat your friends at boule while sipping refreshing drinks and eating lovely food from the bar and restaurant. Immensely satisfied, we wanted more. So once we were done playing, drinking, and eating (how can anyone be done with that?) we took the short stroll over the bridge to Södermalm, and headed up to the old quarters of Fjällgatan – a unique street that offers an unparalleled panoramic view of the Stockholm inlet. Here we quickly proceeded to grab the best seats at the café before trying out every flavour on the ice-cream menu. Burp.
When are you coming?
Sven
Life, Boule, Berså and Ice cream
Posted by Sven June 6th, 2007
The other day I managed to complete a life-long dream that I’ve had. I decided to have a picnic that both outlasted as well as outdid any other picnic that mankind may have heard of. I think I just might of done it.
I got up at around 3.35 am, just in time to catch the breathtaking sunrise a few minutes later. The real reason for this inhumane time was however my eager ambition to make the most of a proper picnic-devoted day. With my basket already packed, including my newly baked bread from the evening before – I grabbed my blanket and began the stroll out towards Djurgården. Needless to say, I found myself first on my favourite spot close to the gardens of Rosendal. I cannot exactly recall what happened next as I dropped off rather immediately after I lied down. But when I awoke, the park was bustling with families and couples who had all come out to enjoy the wonderful summer sun. There were people playing frisbee, I saw joggers, some others riding horses, and also sporty athletes in the canal from the nearby rowing club. Towards the evening the passers-by had changed into couples on romantic strolls, or who were simply walking their dogs. Djurgården truly is fantastic this time of year. It’s so much more than just a regular park – it’s an entire island of opportunity. I broke my picnicking-record by the way, I got home at midnight. What a day!
Yours respectfully,
Sven
Djurgården and Picnic
Posted by Sven May 25th, 2007
I have to tell you about last night! I went on a real blind date! Who would have thought I was one of those online-daters! Most people in my lovely city spend a lot of time online so I figured I might as well give it a go….
So last night, I finally met this underwear model named Bengt that I’ve been chatting with on this underwear model online website. I took him to the restaurant Ciao Ciao at Odenplan. We had some lovely pasta pesto that I accidentally spilled all over my white shirt. Cringe! Had to run to the bathroom and spend the rest of the evening drying up into some light-green shade. Other than that, it was fun! Bengt had seen me in the musical and was very interested in my Stockholm expertise. I really wanted to head on over to Olssons Video after dinner, a nice yet fairly fancy bar, but Bengt excused himself early on to babysit. As the saying goes, there are more fish in the sea, so I went to Olssons on my own! Sipped some red wine in the bar and met up with some friends, what lovely mid-week fun! As for my lessons in Swedish Culture, I suppose I found out the hard way why not to eat pasta on a first date, but I take it that’s a global rule!
Always jolly! /Sven
Eating, Dating, Ciao Ciao and Olssons Video
Posted by Sven May 9th, 2007
Well hello there! Pardon my absence, when life’s a party you have to dance, and there’s not much time for blogging you know! I have however had my share of wining and dining.
The other day I treated myself to a traditional Biff Rydberg at the reliable restaurant Tranan by Odenplan. I know what you’re all thinking, a biff WHAT!? Well, hang on a second and let me present to you Swedish food culture lesson 1: Biff Rydberg! It is basically chopped potatoes and beef, in perfectly fine cubes, mixed together perfectly and then topped off with an egg. Sometimes less is more, and there is no place like Tranan to get this incredible Swedish dish served perfect! Well worth a visit, so head on over! As spring has hit us big time here in our lovely city, I strolled home after dinner in the lovely sun with some classic tunes on my iPod. There’s simply no better place than Stockholm this time a year! Stay tuned for my next lesson in Swedish culture!
Until we meet again /Sven
Life, Eating and Tranan
Posted by Sven April 18th, 2007
Lots of my friends tell me how wonderful it is to live in a town like Stockholm. Because, not only does Stockholm host the largest gay festival in all of Scandinavia, there’s so much more to enjoy than just the regular rainbow bars.
The Pride festival usually takes place towards the end of July every year, and is complete with visitors from far and abroad. Stockholmers celebrate for an entire week, enjoying a jam-packed festival program along with seminars, exhibitions, a film festival, theatre and a large festival area open during daytime. Keeping up to date of gay and lesbian Stockholm is easily done here. My friends on the other hand think I’m way beyond open-minded, what with all my lamppost swinging and singing. Speaking of which, the time for all of that is nigh! The other day I enjoyed a great brunch at the Radisson SAS Strand Restaurant & Lounge, before singing and swinging those calories away all along Skeppsbron. (the waterfront walk that runs through the Old Town). Lovely!
That was all for now,
Sven
Life and Pride
Posted by Sven April 4th, 2007
Last time I told you I was heading off to the SkyBar, and what an evening it turned out to be! Starting out on the 9th floor of the Radisson SAS Royal Viking Hotel I ended up having a fantastic dinner with Mr Meatball.
After enjoying a couple of cocktails and some great service (beaten only by the amazing view of the sunset) I realised it was dinnertime. When at the SkyBar eating is easily accomplished at Stockholm Fisk on the ground floor. However, seeing as I have had 4 dinners there in the last 3 days I decided to go somewhere else. Took a stroll down Vasagatan, and soon found myself on Fredsgatan. To my great surprise I saw Mr Meatball enjoying his supper in the window of the gourmet restaurant F12. I joined him, and we spoke of fond Stockholm the Musical memories that were every now and then interrupted by Meatball’s praise for the food. I had the Arctic Char with dill, fantastic! After that we tried their desserts. I downed the almond soufflé with rosehip, while Meatball insisted on having perfect ball-shaped scoops of vanilla ice cream. He has a sincere hang-up on spheres that fellow.
See you around in town,
Sven
Life, Eating, SkyBar and F12
Posted by Sven March 21st, 2007
So here it is, my first entry in the blog. As you may know, it has fallen upon me to convince you to come to Stockholm. So the problem is of course, where among all the fantastic things do I begin?
Since playing the lead part in the musical (much to
Mr Meatball’s distress) I have continued to swing along the lampposts of Stockholm. Every once in a while I stumble upon something new, and that’s what I expect I’ll be telling you all about here. The romantic dark winter has just passed, and now that spring has its firm grip on the city, you can rely upon swinging reports from singing Sven. The snow has melted, and blondes are appearing all over the place! And on that very note, I’m off in this instant to the wonderful
SkyBar at the Radisson SAS Royal Viking Hotel for drinks and a panoramic sunset view. I’ll make sure to give you the low-down on that experience the next time I write you.
Until then, have an equally fantastic time as I will!
Regards,
Sven
Clubbing and SkyBar
