Poet - Author - Queer
Fjälkinge Backe – a large hill in Skåne
Fjälkinge Backe is the hill in east of Kristianstad just north of Fjälkinge in Skåne in Sverige . It is a granite outcropping surounded by the Kristainstad pains. At one time it was part of a mountain before warmer temperatures raised the sea level and flooded this area of Sweden. This was about 100 million years ago. The granite mountain was covered over with a thick layer of sediment. Fjälkinge Backe is one of a few places where erosion has revealed the higher areas of the now hidden granite mountain. On top of the hill there is a great view of the of the surrounding area.
Tranor – Cranes First Signs of Sping
One of the first signs of spring in Utah is the arrival of the robins. In Sweden it is the arrival of the cranes or tranor in Swedish. From their overwintering place in Spain they arrive in the Southern part of Sweden in March and April before heading further north for the summer. The newspaper last week estimated that there would be over 12,000 cranes in Pulken this week.
Cranes are Europe’s biggest bird. They can be up to 1,3 meters high (4.2 feet) and weigh between 4 – 7 kilos (8.8 to 15.4 pounds). They can live between 25 to 30 years. The young can fly when they are about eight weeks old. The young will migrate south with their parents. They start to breed between four and five years old.
Every spring the cranes arrive in an area called Pulken just outside of Åhus. Pulken use to be a shallow lake but is now just a puddle hence the name Pulken. In order to prevent the cranes from spreading out through out the sounding farms and eating up all the winter wheat and newly planted crops they are fed grain every day while they are resting there before resuming their journey to the north.
I was unable to get any good pictures but I found a couple of videos. The first one is from Pulken. You get a good idea of what it is like going to see the cranes. You can hear the people talking in the background and the cranes trumpeting. In the second video you can better see the cranes but I am not sure where exactly the video was made other than somewhere in Southern Sweden.
Nosaby Kyrka – Nosaby Church
Nosaby Church is located at Nosabyvägen 264, Kristianstad, Sweden. Nosaby is north east of the center of town. The original church was built in the 11th century. The congregation began talking about building a bigger church starting in the 12th century. In 1871 construction began on a new church. It was completed and the church dedicated on the day of Pentecost 1875. It is Gothic Revival in style. When I arrived the organist was practicing for an organ concert later in the week. I recorded a a little of it and you can watch the video of it below. Also a video showing what the old church use to look like can be seen below the picture gallery.
Krognoshuset – Krognos House
Krognoshuset is one of the oldest buildings in Lund. It was build sometime in the 1300’s. It was part of a farm called Stadsgården. At the time the building was build what is now the basement was probably above ground. In the 1100’s Lund was perhaps the most important city in Scandinavia because it was the seat of the archbishop of Scandinavia. By the 1300’s Malmö had started to grow in importance. In the 1400’s Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark. In the 1500’s because of the reformation Lund lost the archbishopric. In the 1600’s Skåne became part of Sweden and Lund became an insignificant city. Krongnoshuset was built during the time that Lund was transitioning from a city with power to becoming irrelevant.
In the early 1500’s the Krognosättlingar family that owned the farm that Krongnoshuset was a part of had a very extravagant wedding. there was 300 guests, 4,560 gallons (17,268 liters) of German beer, 367 gallons (1,390 liters) of German and French wine. For the meal they butchered 14 cows, 80 sheep, 2 barrels of herring, 4 barrels of cod, 1 barrel of salmon, and 2,000 flat fish (scientific name Pleuronectes platessa). I wrote about a flat fish I ate in August called a monk fish. A celebration of that size would have certainly been a statement of the family’s view of their place in society.
The farm including Krognoshuset was in possession of the family from sometimes in the 1300’s until at least 1619. After the establishment of the Universtiy of Lund it serves for a while as a residence for professors. When the railroad came to lund they divided up the farm and created the city market square that is still there today. In the early 1900’s it served as a resturant and a trade shop. The city of Lund bought the building in 1905. In 1916 they tore down all the remaining farm buildings leaving only Krognoshuset in a restoration effort. Since 1929 the Aura Art Society has been displaying new art work in the building. (The information came from http://www.konstforeningenaura.se/historik.html)
The building is located in the corner of of Mårtenstorget (Marten’s Square). I checked out the art displays inside today. I was more excited about seeing the inside of the building than seeing the artwork. If you have not figured it out yet I really enjoy seeing old buildings. I find old buildings intriguing. The following pictures are from the inside of the building including some of the art work that is currently on display there.
Ander’s Blueprint
(top floor)
A Sound Family Makes A Sound State
(in basement)
The building has three floors. It is a small building. It would be like having three large rooms in a house stacked on top of each other. It was probably a large building when it was built.
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| stairs going up to 2nd floor |
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| stairs going into basement |
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| window in stairs |
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| window in basement |
Intressant Portar – Interesting Entrances
I förrgår i Malmö tog bilder av intressant portar. Jag tycker om porten med två ugglorna. Den är forsta bilden. Andra porten har två råttor. Tredje porten har en häst och ett lejon. Fjärde porten har grön manen med en kanin och en uggla. Femte porten har frukter. Sjätte porten har två lejon ochså det heter lejonpassagen. Sjunde porten har guld lejon över dörren. Och sist porten många stenskulpturer. Den var porten till kungs postkontor gamal.
The day before yesterday I took pictures of interesting entryways. I like the entryway with the two owls. It is the first picture. The second entryway has two ratts. The third entryway had a hors and a lion. The fourth entryway had fruit. The firth entryway had the green man, a rabbit and a owl. The sixth entryway had two lions and it is also called the lion passage way. The seventh entryway had a gold lion over the door. And the last entryway had many stone sculptures. It was the old King’s post office.
Igår i Malmö – Yesterday in Malmo
(I am going to start writing some parts of my blog in both Swedish and English. If you find mistakes in the Swedish please feel free to let me know.)
Min svenska är inte så bra. Det är svårt att höra svenska vokalen men över tiden lära jag att höra de. Också jag behöver att prata och att skriva och att läsa mera. Jag ska skriva av somliga min blogg in svenska. Därför jag hoppas jag kunna hjelpa min själv lära mig mera.
My Swedish is not so good. It is hard to hear Swedish vowels but over time I am learning to hear them. Also I need to speak and to write and to read more. I shall write some of my blog in Swedish. Therefore I hope I can help myself learn more.
Igår åkte tåg till Malmö. Dagen var ljust och varm får höst. Jag till och med sett solen. Det hade regnade för två dagen och kanske mer. Jag åkte bussen numret två bara för rolig, till slutet och tillbaka till centrum. Jag träffas Vanim i närheten centrum. Vi gått till Sankt Johannes Kyrka så jag kanske tagit tavlorna.
Yesterday I rode the train to Malmö. Today was light and warm for fall. I even saw the sun. It has rained for two days and perhaps more. I rode bus number two just for fun to the end and back to downtown. I met up with Vanim near downtown. We walked to Saint John’s Church so I could take pictures.
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| Church Tower |
The information about St John’s Church comes from the pamphlet provided by the church. Construction for the church was started in 1903 and completed in 1907. The design of the church is Art Noveau unlike many of the churches built in Sweden at that time in the new Gothic style. I really like the Art Noveau style. This church is referred to as “The Church of Roses” because there are over 1,000 roses in the church. Traditionally the church tower would be placed in the west but at Saint John’s Church it was placed on the north side of the church. This was to signify the arrival of a new era.
The inside of the church has plastered walls with murals in the Art Noveau style. The older churches built in the medieval period have a more somber and more solid feel to them. This church had a more lively feeling. Sitting in the pews you could almost feel the hum of the building. I find it interesting to visit these different churches. They each were built for the same reason but each one has its own unique feeling and atmosphere.
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| Wooden Rose |
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| Stone Roses |
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| Church Altar |
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| Closeup of Church Altar |
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| Looking to the front |
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| looking to the side |
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| looking to the back |
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| Mural |
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| Mural |
Vångabygdens Skördefest – Vanga District’s Harvest Festival
Today was the 21st annual harvest festival and craft fair in the village of Vanga at the bottom of the ski slope. Yes, you read that right a ski slope. Now this would not even compare to a ski slope in Utah, I would call it more of a ski hill. The Swedes love their marknader (markets) and this is no exception. A large grassy area is turned into a market and a field of harvested grain is turned into a parking lot.
Now in my opinion that best part of this market was the äpplelkaka (apple cake) made by Mona from apples purchased at the harvest festival. It was a heavenly treat that smaka god (tasted good). I have been working on my conversational Swedish but that is another post.
If you want to see a Swede in their native environment than it is a requirement to go to a marknad (market) or a loppmarknad (flee market).
Järnvägsmuseet – Kristianstad’s Railroad Museum
Today I bicycled out to the railroad museum is located at the old Kristainstad’s southern train station. The picture below is a sign for the old southern train station. To the right of the sign is a small yellow wooden building which was the original train station. Its purpose was as a rail yard and not as a passenger station as far as I can tell. At the end of the train yard is a large building with houses the museum. All the information signs were in Swedish and since I was alone I did not understand most of them but it was still enjoyable to see the old trains.
This is a turntable I believe. It was used to turn the trains around. There use to be one in Idaho Falls and I wanted to see it so my father took me to the railroad yard. It has been removed not long before he took me to see it. I was really sad about that it was gone. I believe I was 8. It was the year I received a model train set for Christmas. It was one of the happy memories I have as a child because I was able to spend time with my father.
I have never seen anything like this before, a passenger cart powered by bike. It would be fun to try it out but I would hate for that to me my job to bike people around on the train tracks.
They had a fun model train set that you could start and the trains would all start running. It was fun to just watch the trains move around.
Coastal Adventure – 19 August 2013
First of all I want to thank Mona for a fabulous day yesterday. It was a lot of fun.
Kåsaberga Village
We spent the day on the Southeast coast of Sweden traveling though some of the small fishing villages of the area. We started out in the small fishing village of Kåsaberga. On a bluff just outside of the village is Ales Stenar a stone ship monument from the Viking age. If you want to read more about it I have a separate blog post on Ales Stenar. As soon as I was done hiking up to the bluff and could see the stone ship the feeling of the place changed. That was something I did not quite expect. I can not really explain how if felt different. It is a place where the Land, Sky and Ocean appear to merge into one.
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| Ales Stenar |
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| Ales Stenar |
After our hike we enjoyed lunch in the village overlooking the bay before heading to Skillinge.
Skillinge
At Skillinge we walked around the harbor. There they have a cute tourists bureau there. It was defiantly a working harbor. There was a fisherman cutting up freshly caught fish and boats being repaired. At the end of the harbor was a statue of a woman looking out to see as well as a line of flags, a common feature in Swedish harbors from my observation.
Of course what good adventure to fishing villages would complete without eating fish so we stopped in Kvik and got some smoked salmon and some marulk. Marulk is monkfish in English, I have also seen it refereed to as frog fish or devil fish. I did not take a picture of it while I was in the market so I am using a picture found on Wikipedia which looks very much like the one I saw at the fish market in Kvik. To the right of the fish is monkfish stakes which is what we picked up at the fish market. It is what we had for dinner once we got home. I really liked it. The meat does not flake like most fish I have eaten. So to take Vanim’s words a toast to the ugly fish.
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| Skillinge Turist Byrå (Turist Bureau) |
Simrishamn
We then headed to Simrishamn which is a small beautiful city. There was some fish processing plants there. This looked to me to be a major fishing port of the area. We stopped and enjoyed some glass (ice cream) then Vanim and I walked through the docks and checkout out the ships. (Every time I walk through the docks and check out the sailing ships I think of Captain JR and sailing on the Great Salt Lake.)
Vik
We stopped at Vik to see a cool geological feature along the coast of a formation of round rocks. If there was a village that I would love to have a vacation at it would be Vik. The sea and beach there was beautiful. It was a little village with very narrow streets and an beautiful coastline. To keep this posting within reason I created a separate blog post for ocean pictures. I also tried something I have not done before. I took some videos of the ocean with my iPhone which I have also posted in a separate blog post. Check those out if you are interested.
Kivik
Of course what good adventure to fishing villages would complete without eating fish so we stopped in Kvik and got some smoked salmon and some marulk. Marulk is monkfish in English, I have also seen it refereed to as frog fish or devil fish. I did not take a picture of it while I was in the market so I am using a picture found on Wikipedia which looks very much like the one I saw at the fish market in Kvik. To the right of the fish is monkfish stakes which is what we picked up at the fish market. It is what we had for dinner once we got home. I really liked it. The meat does not flake like most fish I have eaten. So to take Vanim’s words a toast to the ugly fish.To end our adventure we drove past a pig farm on the way home. Nothing whatsoever to so with fish and fishing villages but still fun nonetheless.
Each time I go on an adventure and see something new I am amazed at the diversity in such a small area. Sweden is a beautiful country.
Ales Stenar in Kåseberga
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| Looking West at Ales Stenar |
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| Drawing of Ales Stenar in 1777 |
What is Ales Stenar (Ale’s Stone) in Kåseberga? It is a stone representation of a ship. That is the one thing that people seem to all agree upon. Other than that there appears to be disagreement between experts about when it was built and why it was built. In 1777 not all the stones were standing upright. In 1916 and in 1950 there was two restorations. No one knows if the stones are in the exact same place as they were originally. Were the stone ship sits is on top of a stable sand dune that is covered in vegetation. The information provided at the sight appears to be current accepted the narrative identifying the stone ship as a solar calendar. That is the information I will provide. The Ship Faces Northeast. You can see an aerial view from the embedded map below.
Stone ships like Ales Stenar were often built during the Viking Era 800 – 1050 CE. Ship like monuments were also erected durring the early Bronze Age, from around 1100 – 400 BCE, but they had a slightly different form. Analyses show that Ales Stenar was erected sometime durring the period 500 – 1000 CE.
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| Cup Marks on stone near Malöhus |
Cup Marks- small carved, concave depressions – have been discovered on many of the boulders. These kind of carvings are often found on boulders in Stone Age dolmens and passage graves. This means that boulders from old graves have been used to build Ales Stenar. To the right is a picture of a stone with cup marks. The cup marks have been marked with red for easier identification. This stone is found just outside of Malmöhus. (It is a typical example of how people used the avaliable stones in Skåne to produce rock carvings. The cup marks are small and often ground depressions on the flat pieces of rocks and loose boulders. They are the most common form of rock carving in Sweden and have been interpret as symbols for fire, sun, of the female gender. taken from information marker by stone) Also if you look at my blog post My Bicycle Adventure 16 July 2013 there is a section and a picture of an excavated passage grave.
To better understand the calendar aspect of the ship I have included the picture above from the information sign. Winter Solstice: at winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the sun rises above the southeastern stern stone and stets besides the midship stone 16 in the southwest as observed from the observation point in the middle of the ship. At this time 1/4 of the ship is day side and 3/4 is night side. Summer Solstice: At summer solstice, the longest day of the year, the situation is reversed. The sun rises then above the opposite midship stone and sets above the northwest stern stone as observed from the point of the middle of the stone ship, At that time 3,4 of the ship is day side and 1/4 is night side. Equinoxes: at vernal and autumnal equinoxes, when the length of day and night is the same, the sun rises above stone 12 in the east and sets above the opposite stone 12 in the west as observed from the middle of the stone ship. At that time the sun-ship is divided in such a way that equally many stones correspond to day and night. (Taken form the information marker)
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| Southeast Stern Stone |
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| View Towards the Northeast |
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| Northwest Stern Stone |
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| View to the Southwest |
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| View towards the Northwest Stern Stone standing at the Southeast Stern Stone |
kkdlasjfkl
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| Northwest Stern Stone |
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| Flower at the base of the Southeast Stern Stone |
Standing in the middle of the Stone Sun-Ship you are up on a bluff over looking the sea and you feel as if you can touch the sky. It is a stunning visual and an appropriate place to build a stone monument of this kind whatever its true purpose was.