Focus on Sweden

Summer is approaching and the days get longer here in Stockholm. You can really feel the difference in the day length from one week to another.

Now at the end of May, by the time I get off work at around 6PM, there are still 3-4 hours of daylight to enjoy any outdoor activity that requires light. Enough time for a short cycle trip to try out my new D300.

Yesterday it was a sunny day and I was looking on Google maps for a place with something interesting to photograph toward the east, where the warm light of the setting sun was falling. I settled on a spot in Gärdet’s easternmost tip.

After some research today I found out that the place is called Hundudden (dog peninsula).The Swedish Wikipedia states that the name has a connection with “one hundred men”, which was the meaning of the word hund (dog) in medieval Swedish and had something to do with the defense force in the event of a war.

The same page states that there was a kruthus (gunpowder house) in that place around 1700. Now there is a cafe called Kafe Kruthuset. Gunpowder house coffee … it has to taste good. Here are some other funky product names.

Getting back to the Hundudden area, it is great place for an evening picnic. You get a nice view toward Lidingö, bathed in the sunset light and you can watch the boats, including the big Silja line cruise ferries going to Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki. The place is a bit remote from the populated areas, being a cozy retreat for birds.

After playing with the too-smart-for-me AF system in the D300 and taking the photos shown below, I cycled north, following a path through the Kaknäs forest along the beach.

I also found out that the place hosts Kaknäs Djurkyrkogård, which is an animal cemetery, which I plan to look for the next time.