The King of Gothenburg! Gustaf II Adolf (known in English language history books as Gustavus Adolfus) founded Gothenburg in 1621. This statue of him in the main square has just been unwrapped after months of careful restoration and cleaning. … Continue readingThe King
Darth Vader at the train station
Family with an outsized Darth Vader helium balloon at the central station. … Continue readingDarth Vader at the train station
Sandpit stop
In the sandpit of the children’s playground off Arsenalgatan, a racing car called Azra is making a long pit stop. … Continue readingSandpit stop
Hällmålning Tumlehed
This is a hällmålning or rock painting on the face of a cliff near Tumlehed on Hisingen. When the painting was made it was almost certainly beside a rocky beach, but since then the land has risen and the sea-level fallen and now there’s a bit of a climb to get up to it, though it’s not too difficult to find when you know where to look. The picture shows a deer, fish, water, boats with figures in them and perhaps a fishing net tangled in the antlers of the deer. The painting was made with red iron ochre (hematite) and has lasted for more than 3000 years. It’s about as tall as a person can reach above head height – say two and a half metres from the bottom to the top. There are only eight other simialr paintings in Sweden, though many more hällristningar (rock carvings), for example up the coast around Tanum. … Continue readingHällmålning Tumlehed
Harebells at Ragnhildsholmen
Harebells (called bluebells in Scotland and blåklocka in Sweden) – Campanula rotundifolia. Photo taken at Ragnhildsholmen, the ruins of a late Viking age/early Medieval castle on what used to be an island (holm) on the north shore of Hisingen. Behind the flowers to the right you can see a bit of the castle wall and in the distance Norra Älven – the northern arm of the Göta River. … Continue readingHarebells at Ragnhildsholmen
Reversed a Rea
It’s not always easy to get letters around the right way. Swedish shops advertise clearance sales either with the English word “sale”, or with this abbreviation of the French “réalisation” (though obviously “rea” should be spelt without the a reversed). The shop is Mouche on Västrahamngatan. Photo taken yesterday morning. … Continue readingReversed a Rea
Do not remove
Some people feel they just have to defy authority. (The Swedish reads: Do not remove this backing.) … Continue readingDo not remove