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Another Summer Gone?

Well, indeed another summer has left. It’s been a great one weather-wise for those of us in Sweden, at least in my humble opinion. It rarely was hot, the nights were cool, and there was a lot of sun. We had some “heatwaves” which I always find a bit humorous. 78 degrees Fahrenheit (I can appreciate Celsius after all this time but I convert it back to my favorite backward index of heat) will never be hot for me. I even wear a light jacket if it is cloudy. But to folks here it’s practically tropical. Yes, I am insufferable when it comes to talking about what “real” hot weather is. Of course someone from where it is incredibly hot could do the same to me and I’d just have to listen and bear it since I know I’d be getting “my own medicine”.

Anyway, it was a uneventful Summer for me. My vacation was a two week trek to the West coast of Sweden and after some of the less touristy spots of Denmark. I’ve not spent much time in Gothenburg till this trip and it’s a very nice city. We stayed at a high-rise hotel which thrilled my son since he loves heights. In Denmark I saw a lot of lighthouses and made the inevitable trip to Legoland. My son’s been there twice already but wanted a third go, which I gave him. It was my first go and I was not too impressed. But they do have great models of places in Europe, including a few we just saw in Denmark prior.

Before I give up trying to write interesting text and lay out the photos I must mention the first few pictures are from the Uppsala University (my alma mater, humble-brag) Gustavianum museum. It has a very old medical dissection theater which is incredible. After a very long restoration the museum it is open again and if you are in the neighborhood I’d recommend a visit.

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Up To Now

As usual, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Since I know I’m probably the only person to view this (not complaining) I’m not terribly motivated. Still, I do have some images taken this year I’d like to share. Winter in Sweden this year was a bit more extreme than I’ve been used to. Still, not as bad as my days living near the Great Lakes in the U.S., those are tough. I decided to take a trip by myself to unwind in a place I’ve never been before in Sweden, Västerås. While not a tourist mecca the Steam Hotel there, created in a early 20th century power plant, is wonderful. I got some nice winter pictures of the old town area.

But before I knew it Spring happened. Or didn’t. We had a slow start to nice weather here, but when it came it was glorious. I went out to see my favorite wildflower, the Fritillaria Meleagris. It’s known here as the King’s Meadow Lilly (Kungsängslilja) and it grows in a place, believe it or not, called the King’s Meadow. It is in other places in Europe but this is a particularly rich patch near me. I find them beautiful, not that I’m fighting against the tide with this opinion. I liked the serious looking birds in the meadow so you get a few images of them.

When the Spring comes to Sweden it’s just fantastic. I captured a few views from the country place of the quite famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus. He doesn’t live there anymore having been dead for a few hundred years.

Lastly, some images of a restored 19th century apartment in this town. If you had the money you lived well, but not ostentatiously.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. 🙂

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Summer’s Gone

“Now I’m standing in a doorway, thinking of Summers gone by.
It ought to make me happy, but it just makes me want to cry.
I was riding in the car with my mum and dad,
He was drivin’ the car, the kids were drivin’ him mad.
Dad looked at us, then he looked at his wife,
He must have wondered where we all came from.
And then mum said, ‘Dad, you know it won’t last for long, before you know it, Summer’s gone.'”

-The Kinks: “Summer’s Gone”

Wow, was that the Summer that just whizzed past? I guess so, I barely noticed. I didn’t travel too much, nor did I do much of interest locally. But I did take pictures, although not as many as I usually do when the air gets warm, and the sun stays out so very long.

Interspersed with these pictures from the Uppsala/Stockholm area are some from my trip to Malmo. That also encompassed a quick trip to Lund and Copenhagen. It adds a little bit of variety.

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Valborg

In the U.S., my homeland, the holidays are not often connected to harvest seasons or other things dictated by nature. I mean, Memorial Day and Labor Day were just plopped down on a certain date and then massaged even more to always provide a Monday off work. The old, weird European holidays I now have gotten used to seem always tied to some ancient time that people were sacrificed to the gods of harvest, fertility, ill-fitting burlap garments, or something.

Walpurgis night, known as Valborg in Sweden, has something to do with lighting bonfires and drinking. Looking it up it has got some folksy background: “Valborg is a very old tradition and used to be all about scaring away witches and bad spirits by lighting big fires for protection and making a lot of sounds to scare off evil forces.” So, what better purpose to have a celebration well into our age of reason? It’s got big fires!

Anyway, Uppsala is a university town, and it can’t claim to be that without some weird student stuff going on. So, on Valborg students build little boats that barely float, mostly due to the buoyancy of fear, and race down the murky Fyris river. The water is too green and too cold this time of year, but they do it. I don’t know the reason, really.

I took some of these pictures when I first started living in Sweden and the rest this spring, almost 10 years late. Like any good tradition, little changes. Here they are.

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The First Normal Summer In Some Time

My summer trip this year was once again intended to bring me closer to my adopted country. With the pandemic less intense it almost seemed normal. Sweden is a land of lakes, and I mean a lot of them. Pond-like ones, scenic petite ones, large ones, and some that are more like small inland seas dot the country. I grew up on the Great Lakes in the U.S. so I’m not as impressed by the big ones but they are still majestic. The second largest lake is called Vättern and I’ve been to it a few times. However, this year the trip was on the Western shore which isn’t as well visited as the more populous Eastern one. 

On the route there we spent a night at Nora which has a rich railroad history. In fact the hostel that kept us warm and cozy that stay was made of 1930’s sleeper rail cars. It was quite interesting to imagine moving along the tracks in the past although I struggled with high and somewhat claustrophobic bed. Still, even stationary one gets a warm feeling of nostalgia for a time when you could lay down and sleep the miles away in a comforting environment with wooden accents. 

Then we went to Karlsborg, Hjo, and Jönköping all of which were fascinating. I’ll quit here since you can google them. Below are some pictures.

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I love Norrköping

This city has done a lot with its scenic old industrial center. Also, the museums there are fascinating in their recounting of the fabric manufacturing past. Here’s a few images from my visit this year.

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Farms, Flowers, Fish, and Frogs

I do love Sweden, even if I favor dry, desert landscapes the most. This is a green, wooded, and insanely natural country. So, 1 point to Sweden. But, my god, Spring creeps from miserable damp cling to sunny cool wonderful at an incredibly slow pace. This year to cheer myself during this transition I once again visited the Uppsala Botanical Gardens as soon as things started getting warm. Later, when the world outside the hothouse showed some soft new growth I started walking in parks. These pictures are from that period.

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Winter, Damn It

If you know me, which you most likely don’t, you would know I’m not a fan of Winter. Actually, the few people who visit my blog might know me so I take that back. It’s damn pretty, I’ll give it that. However, I’d rather be in the shade at a beach with a tropical cocktail in my hand. Anyway, took a walk along lake Ekoln the other week to see the very pretty Winter scenery. I just googled the lake and saw that Ikea named a toilet brush after it. Well, I think that’s kind of a comment on life in general.

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Time Flies

I like the meme that is going around which says the last year proves that time flies when you aren’t having fun. Certainly I’m lucky to be in a country that has had less Covid impact on our everyday lives. Well, those who have not gotten Covid, at least. But it’s been a long haul with an underlying fear of infection and no ability to get away with travel (for us safety conscious people). Certainly, this is nothing that everyone doesn’t know.

Here’s some Fall pictures I took. Walking outdoors is always an option and helps with the mental blues.

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The September of Augusts

The landscape of our Covid world stretches out to the horizon with no end in sight. It’s certainly been a roller-coaster with hope being beaten back by new waves of infection. Right now the world is dealing with Delta and so is Sweden. However, maybe due to the high level of inoculations, it’s not hit us as hard as many places. But, it is truly a wait and see thing, isn’t it?

The new normal here is less abnormal then many places. But August was unusually cold, like we lost a month and September took its place. In fact the weather has been nicer in September than the previous month, but that won’t last. Even with the rain and cold I did take a few trips to Bergianska trädgården, that’s Stockholm’s botanical gardens. It means more pictures of flowers. Sorry, I just love the intricacies and colors of them so I can’t quite stop myself. Enjoy the plant pictures, they can’t run away from my camera like most people do.