So I went to Blackeberg this weekend, it was an extremely warm day so I didn't really feel the same "vibe" as I wanted to. But here are three pictures I took.
I know I should've taken more but I was so in the moment when I realized that the door to building 75 was open!! Felt really strange to walk up the stairways. I'm not sure though, is this where Oskar or Eli lived in the book? Or was it the wrong house?
https://pasteboard.co/m4VVVggwgHRZ.jpg (station)
https://pasteboard.co/SrQ4PphnowQq.jpg (entry to #75)
https://pasteboard.co/gKuhpFFrh5EV.jpg (view of the playground from top floor)
Blackeberg pictures in context
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Unconditional
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:17 am
Re: Blackeberg pictures in context
For me it's more real than most of what's going on
Re: Blackeberg pictures in context
Thanks for sharing! I'm pretty sure that's indeed the right building, based on the location of the arch into the courtyard and this description from Sunday 8 November (Evening/Night).
Drakkar and metoo made the same conclusion in posts from the earlier days of the forum (e.g. here and here).
(My translation.)The sun caught up with Eli at the arch into the courtyard [...] His own front door lay ten steps away. Oskar's, twenty steps. And Tommy's, thirty steps.
Drakkar and metoo made the same conclusion in posts from the earlier days of the forum (e.g. here and here).
De höll om varandra i tystnad. Oskar blundade och visste: detta var det största. Ljuset från lyktan i portvalvet trängde svagt in genom hans slutna ögonlock, la en hinna av rött för hans ögon. Det största.
Siggdalos' Stockholm adventure
This past weekend I went to Stockholm with my dad to visit Blackeberg and some other places relevant to JAL's works. As promised, I took lots of pictures.
Album: https://imgur.com/a/II3W3R7
First stop: The Brunkeberg Tunnel
Started off first thing in the morning by heading into central Stockholm and the Sveavägen-Tunnelgatan intersection, which should be familiar to anyone who's read the Places trilogy.
If a tourist, after checking off the city sights and photographing the City Hall's reflection in Lake Mälaren, the view from the Western Bridge and a Djurgården ferry with the heights of Södermalm in the background, had come to me and asked: "Where should I go to find the proper Stockholm beyond the Vasa Museum and the Old Town?", I could very well have replied: "Go to the intersection between Tunnelgatan and Sveavägen. Stand still. Look around you. Listen. Linger a while. Then you can go home and say that you've been to Stockholm."
Everything is close by without the place being anything in and of itself. You have the entrance to the Hötorget subway station next to you, you can see the Concert Hall's blue façade and beyond it the glass pillar on Sergel's Square. Behind your back is the Brunkeberg Tunnel connecting Norrmalm and Östermalm and close by is the intersection between Stockholm's arteries, Kungsgatan and Sveavägen. Nothing is happening right where you're standing, but you only need to take a few steps in a direction of your choice for it to happen. You are in the nave. — John Ajvide Lindqvist, I Always Find You
The Olof Palme memorial plaque, looking east along Tunnelgatan toward the Brunkeberg Tunnel. The entrance to the Hötorget subway station is just out of frame on the right.
The Brunkeberg Tunnel and the stairs up to Malmskillnadsgatan.
The tunnel entrance and interior. Nån däruppe måste gilla mig...
Second stop: Råcksta
Next, we stopped by Blackeberg's neighbor suburb of Råcksta and the bridge where Jocke's death was shot in the film. (The actual bridge in Blackeberg wasn't used because it was too tall to fit in the frame, per the Swedish director's commentary).
Third stop: Blackeberg
And finally we went to Blackeberg, where we walked around for a couple hours, starting with obligatory pictures of the zig-zagging ramp up to the main square and the subway station that everyone has seen before.
Jimmy said something to [Roger and Prebbe], pointed, and they took point in the direction of the transformer station above the subway tracks. [...] [Jonny] followed his brother in behind the little brick house. Roger and Prebbe stood in the shadows with their hands in their pockets, stamping their feet. — Let the Right One In, "Thursday 12 November"
Eli crossed Björnsonsgatan, continued into the courtyard between the nine-story buildings, two monolithic lighthouses above the surrounding crouching three-story houses. — "Thursday 5 November"
These high-rises are also the setting for Vertical Village.
The one-time Lover's Kiosk, now a Thai restaurant.
The covered entrance to the Ibsengatan courtyard, where the scene quoted in my signature took place. I went in and had a look at the playground inside the courtyard as well, but I didn't want to take any pictures there. Felt like it would've been intruding too much on people's privacy. For similar reasons, I didn't take any pictures of the school or the former pool building.
We got a little bit lost for a while as I tried to find a way from Ibsengatan out to the wooded area Oskar used to frequent. Some pictures of the woods on the northwestern side.
When it got dark, Tommy and his mother went down to the cemetery. Dad's grave was located just inside the dyke bordering Råcksta Lake, so they took the path through the woods. Mum walked in silence until they came to Kanaanvägen, and Tommy had thought it meant that she was grieving, but when they turned onto the little path running along the edge of the lake Mum let out a cough and said: "So, Tommy ..." — "Saturday 31 October"
Råcksta Lake.
We then headed down the path to the Kvarnviken mill and its granary, or as it's better known...
He walked past the Ghost House that gave the hill its name. A gigantic storage building with walls of corrugated iron that looked completely insane where it stood among the small trees. On the wall facing the hill someone had sprayed in large letters:
CAN WE HAVE YOUR MOPED? — "Thursday 5 November"
We then headed up the (very steep!) hill, past China Park, and followed Virginia's Path into the park to Jocke's Bridge.
The streetlight nearest the bridge under Björnsonsgatan was broken, and the path under the bridge a vault of darkness. If he'd been plastered right now he probably would've walked up the stairs beside the bridge and continued up on Björnsonsgatan, even if it was something of a detour. Could get such bloody strange visions in the dark when he'd had enough to drink. — "Saturday 24 October"
There was only one alternative. To his right the park path continued down through the forest, toward the hospital. Toward the water. — "Saturday 24 October"
The villa of the "tobacco king" Knut Ljunglöf, down by Lake Mälaren.
Only one thing was missing. A history. In school, the children didn't get to do any special projects about Blackeberg's past, since there wasn't one. Or, actually. There was something about a mill. A tobacco king. Strange old buildings down by the water. But that was long ago, without relation to the present. — "The Location"
Finally, I took a lot of pictures of a couple areas next to Mälaren that aren't mentioned in LTROI but have some relevance to a fan fiction I'm working on. I think I'll hold off on those until I can post them with the context of the story.
As expected, it felt slightly surreal to walk around in these places and get a feel for how... ordinary they all are after reading so much about them and studying so many online pictures of them. Something that also stuck out to me was how close by the forest felt in Blackeberg. There was constant birdsong and it felt as though you'd only need to take a few steps from almost anywhere in the suburb to get to a wooded area of your choice. I of course already knew this from staring at the place on Google Earth and such, but once I actually set foot there it still felt more immediate than I expected.
Me and my dad finished off the trip by having lunch at the pizzeria on the main square, the same pizzeria mentioned in both LTROI (Jonny and Jimmy had lunch there on November 7) and Vertical Village. At least, I assume it's the same one, since we didn't see any other pizzerias there. It was smaller and cozier than I expected. Speaking of Vertical Village, they happened to be playing "Always on My Mind" on the radio, which I thought was a pretty unsettling coincidence (those who've read the story hopefully know what I'm referring to).
I skipped over some of the lower-priority locations on my list (I initially wanted to try to take some photos of the Traneberg Bridge as well, for example), but overall I'm pretty happy with the trip. I may do it again at some point in the future.
Album: https://imgur.com/a/II3W3R7
First stop: The Brunkeberg Tunnel
Started off first thing in the morning by heading into central Stockholm and the Sveavägen-Tunnelgatan intersection, which should be familiar to anyone who's read the Places trilogy.
If a tourist, after checking off the city sights and photographing the City Hall's reflection in Lake Mälaren, the view from the Western Bridge and a Djurgården ferry with the heights of Södermalm in the background, had come to me and asked: "Where should I go to find the proper Stockholm beyond the Vasa Museum and the Old Town?", I could very well have replied: "Go to the intersection between Tunnelgatan and Sveavägen. Stand still. Look around you. Listen. Linger a while. Then you can go home and say that you've been to Stockholm."
Everything is close by without the place being anything in and of itself. You have the entrance to the Hötorget subway station next to you, you can see the Concert Hall's blue façade and beyond it the glass pillar on Sergel's Square. Behind your back is the Brunkeberg Tunnel connecting Norrmalm and Östermalm and close by is the intersection between Stockholm's arteries, Kungsgatan and Sveavägen. Nothing is happening right where you're standing, but you only need to take a few steps in a direction of your choice for it to happen. You are in the nave. — John Ajvide Lindqvist, I Always Find You
The Olof Palme memorial plaque, looking east along Tunnelgatan toward the Brunkeberg Tunnel. The entrance to the Hötorget subway station is just out of frame on the right.
The Brunkeberg Tunnel and the stairs up to Malmskillnadsgatan.
The tunnel entrance and interior. Nån däruppe måste gilla mig...
Second stop: Råcksta
Next, we stopped by Blackeberg's neighbor suburb of Råcksta and the bridge where Jocke's death was shot in the film. (The actual bridge in Blackeberg wasn't used because it was too tall to fit in the frame, per the Swedish director's commentary).
Third stop: Blackeberg
And finally we went to Blackeberg, where we walked around for a couple hours, starting with obligatory pictures of the zig-zagging ramp up to the main square and the subway station that everyone has seen before.
Jimmy said something to [Roger and Prebbe], pointed, and they took point in the direction of the transformer station above the subway tracks. [...] [Jonny] followed his brother in behind the little brick house. Roger and Prebbe stood in the shadows with their hands in their pockets, stamping their feet. — Let the Right One In, "Thursday 12 November"
Eli crossed Björnsonsgatan, continued into the courtyard between the nine-story buildings, two monolithic lighthouses above the surrounding crouching three-story houses. — "Thursday 5 November"
These high-rises are also the setting for Vertical Village.
The one-time Lover's Kiosk, now a Thai restaurant.
The covered entrance to the Ibsengatan courtyard, where the scene quoted in my signature took place. I went in and had a look at the playground inside the courtyard as well, but I didn't want to take any pictures there. Felt like it would've been intruding too much on people's privacy. For similar reasons, I didn't take any pictures of the school or the former pool building.
We got a little bit lost for a while as I tried to find a way from Ibsengatan out to the wooded area Oskar used to frequent. Some pictures of the woods on the northwestern side.
When it got dark, Tommy and his mother went down to the cemetery. Dad's grave was located just inside the dyke bordering Råcksta Lake, so they took the path through the woods. Mum walked in silence until they came to Kanaanvägen, and Tommy had thought it meant that she was grieving, but when they turned onto the little path running along the edge of the lake Mum let out a cough and said: "So, Tommy ..." — "Saturday 31 October"
Råcksta Lake.
We then headed down the path to the Kvarnviken mill and its granary, or as it's better known...
He walked past the Ghost House that gave the hill its name. A gigantic storage building with walls of corrugated iron that looked completely insane where it stood among the small trees. On the wall facing the hill someone had sprayed in large letters:
CAN WE HAVE YOUR MOPED? — "Thursday 5 November"
We then headed up the (very steep!) hill, past China Park, and followed Virginia's Path into the park to Jocke's Bridge.
The streetlight nearest the bridge under Björnsonsgatan was broken, and the path under the bridge a vault of darkness. If he'd been plastered right now he probably would've walked up the stairs beside the bridge and continued up on Björnsonsgatan, even if it was something of a detour. Could get such bloody strange visions in the dark when he'd had enough to drink. — "Saturday 24 October"
There was only one alternative. To his right the park path continued down through the forest, toward the hospital. Toward the water. — "Saturday 24 October"
The villa of the "tobacco king" Knut Ljunglöf, down by Lake Mälaren.
Only one thing was missing. A history. In school, the children didn't get to do any special projects about Blackeberg's past, since there wasn't one. Or, actually. There was something about a mill. A tobacco king. Strange old buildings down by the water. But that was long ago, without relation to the present. — "The Location"
Finally, I took a lot of pictures of a couple areas next to Mälaren that aren't mentioned in LTROI but have some relevance to a fan fiction I'm working on. I think I'll hold off on those until I can post them with the context of the story.
As expected, it felt slightly surreal to walk around in these places and get a feel for how... ordinary they all are after reading so much about them and studying so many online pictures of them. Something that also stuck out to me was how close by the forest felt in Blackeberg. There was constant birdsong and it felt as though you'd only need to take a few steps from almost anywhere in the suburb to get to a wooded area of your choice. I of course already knew this from staring at the place on Google Earth and such, but once I actually set foot there it still felt more immediate than I expected.
Me and my dad finished off the trip by having lunch at the pizzeria on the main square, the same pizzeria mentioned in both LTROI (Jonny and Jimmy had lunch there on November 7) and Vertical Village. At least, I assume it's the same one, since we didn't see any other pizzerias there. It was smaller and cozier than I expected. Speaking of Vertical Village, they happened to be playing "Always on My Mind" on the radio, which I thought was a pretty unsettling coincidence (those who've read the story hopefully know what I'm referring to).
I skipped over some of the lower-priority locations on my list (I initially wanted to try to take some photos of the Traneberg Bridge as well, for example), but overall I'm pretty happy with the trip. I may do it again at some point in the future.
De höll om varandra i tystnad. Oskar blundade och visste: detta var det största. Ljuset från lyktan i portvalvet trängde svagt in genom hans slutna ögonlock, la en hinna av rött för hans ögon. Det största.
Re: Blackeberg pictures in context
Some amazing photos and information. I hope to get their myself this year 
Lover's Kiosk is now a Thai restaurant?? Oh no...so no more foam bananas?
Lover's Kiosk is now a Thai restaurant?? Oh no...so no more foam bananas?
Re: Blackeberg pictures in context
Not from the kiosk, at least, but you can find foam bananas (and foam candy in general) in pretty much every Swedish candy store.
De höll om varandra i tystnad. Oskar blundade och visste: detta var det största. Ljuset från lyktan i portvalvet trängde svagt in genom hans slutna ögonlock, la en hinna av rött för hans ögon. Det största.
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InfectedFox
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:15 pm
Re: Blackeberg pictures in context
It's very interesting seeing these photos. I guess I had a very different image of everything in my head - partly from the movie of course so it's still grounded in this, but more Old World European somehow? Which of course makes no sense, as this very much was a planned town. Really it's uncanny how similar this looks to my town and surrounding area in Michigan. Similar remnants of an older community, distinct from what came after. Similar apartment blocks with playground structures positioned the same way. A very similar Community Center with the same design of the pool. Broadly the same species and density of trees close to town and weather with seasons. The only difference is we were the beneficiary of having the worlds largest chemical company headquartered here - had Blackeburg had this we would practically be sister cities.
Also that I had no clue there was so much almost autobiographical about Blackeburg. Seeing these makes it feel so much more indelible of a memory. The Lover's kiosk being now a Thai restaurant, that just feels like a detail Eli or Oskar would remark upon if they revisited here years later.
Thank you for sharing these. I only wish I had seen them before I completed my first read through of the book recently. Hoping to go someday.
Also that I had no clue there was so much almost autobiographical about Blackeburg. Seeing these makes it feel so much more indelible of a memory. The Lover's kiosk being now a Thai restaurant, that just feels like a detail Eli or Oskar would remark upon if they revisited here years later.
Thank you for sharing these. I only wish I had seen them before I completed my first read through of the book recently. Hoping to go someday.