Street art scene is changing

Took a walk on Hanbury Street close to Brick Lane today. Since I last visited the street in December all has changed. For instance, the Octo-Elephant painted by Puerto Rican muralist Alexis Diaz is now replaced by a mural by Australian Rone.

Alexis Diaz in December:

Rone today:

Where we found the mural collaboration by Alex Face (the 'rabbit'), Mau Mau (the fox) and Bon (the bird) last year has been replace by murals made by Snik, a British duo.

Alex Face, Mau Mau and Bon found in December...

...has been replace by Snik:

More Snik:

Other street art. This one is from Sclatter Street, just off Shoreditch High Street where The Lost Souls, a street art crew from around the UK have made spectacular, cartoony mulals. Below by Keith Hopwell or SPzero76. 

This one is from Brick Lane. The artist is Cranio, a Brazilian street artist.

The final two are from Hanbury Street. First another one from SPzero76. 

And finally Brazilian artist Zio Ziegler from the JustKids collective. 

Ukrainian elections

Yesterday we went to the Ukrainian embassy in Stockholm so Maria could vote in the Ukrainian Presidential elections. The candy-guy, Petro Porosjenko who makes my favourite Ukrainian candy - Roshen Nougat, was the favourite and it seems he got over 50% of the votes in the end, meaning that there will be no second round. Hopefully this will lead to peace and quiet in Ukraine!

The embassy is in Lidingo, an island in the centre of Stockholm, and we ran into several girls and guys wearing Vyshyvankas. There was a Vyshyvanka march yesterday as well, which we unfortunately missed as I had to fly back to London.

Too young to vote but still a supporter for the elections!

Hmm, who to choose?

Casting the vote

Surrounded by Vyshyvankas

Dnepropetrovsk

The third time I went to Ukraine I went to Dnepropetrovsk, a Russian speaking city in central Ukraine and the home city of my wife. It was great to see all her relatives and where she grew up. The city clearly bore signs of the Soviet Union, but the city was very friendly and we found a coffee place which had the best coffee I've had so far in Ukraine. Will be coming back!

Soviet style...

In the Soviet Union Dnepro was one of the key centres of the nuclear, arms and space industries in the Soviet Union. In particular it is home to the Yushmash, a major space and ballistic missile design bureau and manufacturer. Because of its military industry Dnepro was was a closed city until the 1990s.

Found a Lenin monument!

No more Lenin on the central square...

Support for Maidan

Public transport

Affection

Lada

Stockholm at its best

I love it when the cherry trees blossom, and one does not have to go all the way to Tokyo to find them. Kungstradgarden in central Stockholm is at its best in late April-early May when the cherry trees are blossoming. Went there with Maria and my son and my mom to see the trees, and they were as pretty as ever!

Maria

Having fun!

Mom

Mom and our enthusiastic son!

Shoreditch street art

Shoreditch and especially around Brick Lane is a heaven for street artists.

Kiev is so much more than Maidan

I visited Kiev for the first time a week after the events on Maidan. The central parts of the city was still like a war zone, but there is so much more to Kiev than that! I love the large orthodox churches and we went on a walk in a park with lots of street art. Can't wait to explore more in this capital of my fiancee's home country.  Below St Andrew's church...

...and St. Sophia Cathedral

Statue of Peeing Colours in a park nearby... 

Soviet style letter boxes it the bottom of an apartment complex

My family

The Motherland Monument or the 'Rodina-Mat' is a monumental statue that is a part of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. It stands on top of the museum building, is 62m tall and weighs 560 tonnes. 

Outside of the museum we found two 'well camouflaged' tanks 

Close by there was an army museum with not so colourful tanks...