A photo taken by Anders Blom, 20 years ago. The Shell station was situated in Gusum, Östergötland, in southern Sweden. None of us know if this gas station still exists.
Shell station in Gusum, Sweden
Shell station in Gusum, Östergötland
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This happened in 2008
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Please pay for gas at market
This happened in 2008. I cannot be clear enough about this; but this blog is currently not a realtime blog, but an historical oddyssey through my archive with millions of gas stations. I know, it is not mainly what blogs are used to be, and there will be, eventually, more real time stories. But as for now, this is a past time medium.
Back to the story. These photos are just some other photos taken from the inside of a car. I was on a business trip to Denver Colorado and this turqouise, lovely gas station flashed by. In my opinion, it is an epic one and the photos have to speak for them selves. Period.
Gas station in Colorado. Turqouise is the new black.
Oh, by the way. These photos were taken in 2008. Did I tell you that?
Gas station in Colorado with unknown brand
We made it to Ulcinj.
BP apparently made it to Ulcinj too. Sort of.
Ulcinj, Montenegro, 2008. A coastal town famous for extremely sandy beaches and traditional river fishing. BP apparently made it to this place. Sort of. But I sure did. I was, by choice, stranded in this border city to Albania for a few days.
Traditional fishing in Ulcinj, Montenegro.
I probably found the last gas station before the Albanian border, and I made the nice hotel owner, of which hotel I stayed at, to drive really slowly in order to make this shot.
Deli Petrol, Ulcinj, Montenegro. A gas station only a few miles away from the Albanian border.
Back to BP – back to Västergötland
- BP Gas Station in Odensberg, Sweden. Photo: Maria Vårenius
Another nostalgic BP gas station. Situated along Byvägen in Odensberg, in Västergötland, western Sweden, not too far away from where I was brought up. It is most likely an original BP station. I gladly receive further information about this one. Maria Vårenius send me the photo.
Iceland. Exotic but ordinary
- Gas station in Iceland. Ordinary, not exotic
This story took place after the financial collapse, but before the volcano Eyjafjallajokull had one of her famous angry moments. In fact, it happened only a few days before Eyjafjallajokull decided to erupt. By a coincidence my working colleague Maria and I took the very last plane back to Sweden, the same night the volcano had that last eruption which stopped the airline traffic for weeks after.
I was working at School of Education and Communication at Jönköping University and was fortunated to go on a Erasmus staff exchange to visit one of our partner universities in Reykjavik, Iceland. Exotic indeed, but the weather as well as the gas stations were nothing else but ordinary Scandinavian; we visited the Blue Lagoon in a hailstorm and at
We made a stop at this ordinary gas station, right by the so called ringroad, close to Reykjavik. The gas station could be anywhere in a Scandinavian country, during any of the four seasons; remember that we have about 250 (at least) different words for rain – but the language immediately reveals the destination. We managed to pick the full service tank – we should have understood that full þjónusta. The brand by the way, is oliuverzlun. It means oil business. Very exotic and innovative.
Along road 42
Shell station in Sollebrunn, Sweden Photo: Anders Blom
Some of my blog visitors have sent me some great suggestions on gas stations. This photo was taken and sent by my friend Anders. It is an old school Shell station along road 42 in Sollebrunn, Sweden.
On a roadtrip to Lesotho
BP Station in Drakensberg, South Africa
Some people cross your roads and walk in your heart forever. Some countries do too. In 2005 I was an exchange student at University of Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; I country that has conquered quite a big piece of land in my heart. During Easter break some friends and I went on a road trip to Drakensberg and Lesotho. We explored the rough wild coast of South Africa, including Coffee Bay, hiked in Drakensberg and visited a village in Lesotho. We could experience many beuatiful sceneries and thatched roofs on the houses were a rool, rather than an exception. On the road up to Drakensberg and Lesotho we could confirm this, by adding the fact that even the roof of a BP gas station was made out of thatch. This gas staion truly belongs to one of my gems in my gas station collection. Enjoy!
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- BP Station in Drakensberg, South Africa
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- Somewhere on the road between Umtata and Drakensberg, South Africa
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- One of my hidden gems in my gas station collection
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- Road market in Drakensberg, South Africa
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- Destination Lesotho
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- Lovely Lesotho
Viva Visingsö Island
Gas station at Visingsö Island
During summer 2008 I was fortunated to work at Gränna museum and tourist information, doing many amusing things, such as helping French people finding a restroom. Yet this summer turned out to be the longest in my life; actually 2 years. I stayed working extra in Gränna during weekends between 2008 and 2010. Gränna is a touristy, summertown that falls a sleep every September and doesn’t wake up until May every year. It is situated right by lake Vättern and if you visit this area you may take the ferry to historical Visingsö Island, a place I can’t get enough of.
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- The gas station is situated right by Öbergs Kafe
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- BP Gas Station at Visingsö Island
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- Nostalgic building
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- Good old green gas
Right by Öbergs coffee place, right in the middle of the island, I found this nostalgic BP Gas Station originally from 1962. The Gas station used to be located right by the East Station in Norrköping between 1962 and 1974. In 2004 the gas station was moved to Visingsö and is no longer of any other use other than keeping a bit of history alive.
“You never know when to be served food next time”
Omanes gas station
When my friend Katrin and I found a really cheap ticket to Dubai in 2008 we never realized how cheap the gas would be in this area. When we had spent 6 Euros on filling up the whole car tank we went bananas and decided to travel all the way down to the city Sur, right were the Omanese Eastern coast ends. The highway between Musqat and Sur wasn’t completed but we still had the permission to drive on it. Katrin was reminded of all the times when she had visited her grandmother. She would always make big dinners and say “eat, child, you never know when to be served food next time”. But in fact, Katrin would always know when to be served food. Her grandmother belonged to that Swedish generation were coffee and snack (so called Fika) was served at 11am, lunch at 1pm and coffee and snack (so called Fika) was served 2.30pm and dinner at 6pm. Everyday.
On our way from Musqat to Sur. Road to be completed in 2009. We travelled in 2008
However, when we were travelling in Oman we really never knew when to be served food. We could travel through the Arabian desert for hours, not finding anything else than sand and rocks. When we finally would reach a gas station it was more a mirage than anything else; the only thing the gas staion could serve included Chocolate bars and soft drinks with artifical strawberries.
Again. Highway from Musqat to Sur
