Stockholm by night

Stockholm is big (geographically) and there are many places that are probably technically "Stockholm" where there is no one in sight. I took a few photos when walking around in the dark.

At the cinema, in Sweden

I live movies. In Japan, going to the cinema is quite expensive compared to Sweden (despite most things being cheaper in Japan than in Sweden). Japanese theaters also tend to have bad sound quality and try to compensate by increasing the volume. In Sweden, sound quality has been great since back when I was in high school (a looong time ago).

I decided to stop by the small local cinema I used to go to when I was in high school. I saw "Crimson Peak", which I liked. Despite it being Friday, I had the theater for 150 almost all to myself (there were three other movie fans there).

Swedish fish soup, and fish

In Sweden, many people eat a lot of fish. If you are in a place close to the sea, the fish is usually very good. My mother made Swedish fish soup one day, which was good.

The fish sold in Sweden is slightly different from what I am used to in Japan, but there is of course some overlap too. Salmon and cod are common in both countries. Mackerel too.

When I lived in Sweden, I never saw these huge crabs being sold. They are common in Japan, though.

Things you may see in Stockholm

People actually fish in front of the government building (across the street from the castle)

Here are some random photos I took in Stockholm.

Dead rat

Houdini clothes. Impossible to get out of?

There is a game for young people called "Ryska posten", but this seemed to be real delivery company.

This shirt says: "Everything is your fault". Which is funny so I bought one.

Life sized Iron Man and Captain America in front of a toy store

First time in a cigar club

When I lived in Stockholm, I used to do martial arts. I even ended up in some TV show teaching old historical fencing to contestants in the TV show because of that. I still keep in contact with my old teacher and we try to meet when I visit Sweden.

This time we had tapas for lunch, then Swedish pie for dessert. He knows lots of good restaurants. Recently he started smoking cigars as a hobby. He has joined a cigar club, and we visited the club together.

It was my first visit to a cigar club. They had posters on the wall showing Winston Churchill with a cigar in his mouth, which was pretty funny. Other than that, it seemed to be a calm and quiet place to relax in. There was Internet and drinks, I was told. What more could you need?

Cigar lighters

Instead of "cigars kill" or similar messages, this one says: "Cigars may cause people to take an interest in you".

This one says: "Cigars have a high risk of increasing your life quality".

There were lots of old pipes in front of the toilet

Stockholm subway and tram network

This is a map of the Stockholm subway and tramway network. The red, green, and blue lines are subway lines.

The public transportation in Stockholm is actually quite good. If you stay for a month, the one month free pass is also pretty cheap, considering the huge area you can visit. If you are in Stockholm for only a few days, it is pretty expensive, though.

The trains are surprisingly non-punctual (in Sweden, being on time is considered very important and being late is rude, so you might expect trains and buses to be on time but they are very often not) and in winter the public transportation companies are always surprised that there is snow and the whole system usually breaks down. But apart from that it works quite well. There is service throughout the night too, which is nice (in Japan the only option after midnight is taxis).

Coin magic in Stockholm

On one of the days I was in Stockholm, another magician I had not seen was performing at Magic Bar Stockholm, so I went there to have dinner and to see his magic. The magician is called Tommy Sköld, and I was told his specialty was coin magic.

Magic Bar Stockholm is more like a restaurant than a bar, and they usually have good food. I decided to try their hamburger. They used to have a rabbit hamburger on the menu, but now it was no longer rabbit meat. The hamburger was good. The soup I ordered as a starter was even better!

When I was waiting for my food, Tommy Sköld came to my table and showed me some coin magic. Later, he also had a magic show for 10 or 15 people in a small room they have for close up magic shows. I got to see that show too, which was nice.

Me and Tommy Sköld

Some other guests