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
Lisebergslinjen
One of the antique trams running on the Lisebergslinjen – the Liseberg funfair line. Despite rain and threatening clouds, flags flying bravely (blue and yellow for Sweden, blue and white for Gothenburg). … Continue readingLisebergslinjen
Jack Sparrow
Jack sparrow taking an interest in my fika in the sunshine at Villa Bellparc on Saturday. Sparrows may be flying vermin – or small pirates – but this one takes a nice photo. Sparrows – so Wikipedia tells me – don’t have a generic nickname though the Tudor poet John Skelton wrote a poem about Phillip Sparrow. Still, I choose to call this one Jack.
(By the way, a fika is “something to eat with a cup of coffee”.) … Continue readingJack Sparrow