Autumn in Stockholm

Suddenly I find myself spending the autumn months in Stockholm, a cold but beautiful city. Even though I’ve been here countless times during the last three decades, I still find new places and I enjoy exploring the crooked alleys and hidden paths lurking around the corners.

View from Monteliusvägen.

The Old Town never gets old, so to speak. In summer, its alleys clog with tourists like cars in a traffic jam. But in October? The sidewalks are empty and the façades stand bare.

Tonight I wave at my old friends, the dragons perched along the German Church’s spires. I descend the rattling steps of Mårten Trotzigs gränd, Sweden’s narrowest alley surrounded by stone walls and shadows.

Prästgatan in Old town.

When the Christmas market at Stortorget open next month and the hordes descend like lemmings, I’ll step aside and watch. But for now, these cobblestones are mine.