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A Grave in Grove
Remember when they were replacing the stairs to part of the cathedral and discovered a mysterious corpse last Fall?! The new staircase is finished, and now I’m wondering if archaeologists have learned anything more about the man who was buried beneath. I’m booking a tour of nearby Uppåkra, a major dig near Lund, where I…
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Vandrings i Söderåsen
(Hiking in Söderåsen national park) Finding myself with a (mostly) free day, I decided to go back to Söderåsen. Jen and I had hiked there last fall, and I wanted to see it in the summer. It was REALLY nice. For those that want the geographic placement, we live in Lund (blue dot) and the…
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Island of Ven: Mors Dag 2
We lucked out with one of Sweden’s Top 10 Weather Days of 2021, I’m sure. Sunny and warm with a very light breeze. Caught the 10 a.m. ferry from Landskrona to Ven where we had a little snack at the harbor, then rented 2 tandem bikes and headed out to tour the island. It was…
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Flowering Raps Fields
The countryside is gorgeous right now, with bright yellow rapeseed in bloom. I didn’t know until recently that raps oil, which is very popular in Sweden, is just canola oil! The best views seem to be in places that are difficult to access from the highways along the coast, but even around Lund there are…
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Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg
was a summer royal palace, just across the Öresund from Denmark at the narrowest point. In the top picture below, the little darker grey rectangle is the castle at Helsingør Denmark, better known as Elsinore from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. King Oscar collected rhododendron from around the world and took advantage of the brook and ravine to…
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Valborgsmässoafton Walpurgis
Lund is employing multiple strategies to stop large gatherings in local parks tonight. Saint Walpurgis night, originally a pagan, equinox (Beltane) festival turned folk fest, with singing and bonfires has in recent decades become a huge party for students who have just completed their Spring exams. Lund has possibly the largest (unsanctioned) party in the…
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On the mend
Lily and I rode the train to Malmö for her Handkirurgi appointment. The hand specialist said the cast could come off- she can use a velcro wrap for a few weeks until it stops hurting and moves easily.Then we stopped in our old Hyllie neighborhood to have lunch at her favorite place from those weeks…
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Greenhouse at City Park
International Citizen’s Hub (just a French lady named Carole) has been hosting a weekly walk around Stadsparken, a little over half a mile from our house. This is where I take most of my pond pictures. I like the view from the top of the rampart walking path. We’ve had fairly low turn out for…
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Arctic Spring – Night Snowmobiling
There was an outing that was on the itinerary that escaped Jen’s attention to detail – a snowmobiling outing after dark with dinner (link). Snowmobiles? Driving them? Not for some of us. Lily and Bryant, however, thought the idea was pretty cool. So, Jen and Hil skipped it, while Bry and Lily revved it. We…
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Kiruna, Background Info
We decided to spend our Easter holiday doing something. In Sweden, Easter (or Påsk, pronounced “poask”) is a very secular holiday, and Holy Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays (so, no work!), and the schools are out for Easter week. So, we took a trip to Kiruna, Sweden. Kiruna is a city of 30k…
Living La Vida Lunda: A blog abroad
The Minnesota Noices