Sveringe: Uppsala, Stockholm, Luleå, Piteå, Haparanda, the Arctic Circle...
May 30th - June 6th, 2007.
Breakfast at Gunnar and Katarina’s (Uppsala).
If you ever are offered filmjölk, it is actually buttermilk, so don’t be too generous serving yourself up a bowlful unless you know what buttermilk is.
Some ostentatious shield in the Uppsala Cathedral.
The Franco-Belgian blue men: Les Schtroumpfs.
The Silver Bible: 6th c. MS of the bible translated into Gothic from Ulfilas’ 4th c. translation. Taken as war booty at the end of the Thirty Year’s War by some Swedes (& yet to be returned, suckas!).
Fields around Gamla Uppsala (“Old Uppsala”).
Gunnar takin’ a walk around Gamla Uppsala (& ranting endlessly, I’m sure: he’s lovely. He's a revolutionary :D).
My grandma’s cousin.
Fog fields around Gamla Uppsala.
Garden around Carl Von Linnes’ House (& the day of his 300 year jubilee!).
“He lay the foundation to the modern systematics and nomencalture of plants. In his Species Plantarun (1753) he also included some fungi, and this publication works as startingpoint for both plants and fungi.”
Hey, let’s pet them.
The clumsiest, knocked-knee foal.
Yeah, conifers!
Alskling: Darling: Me.
Ummmm, it was implied with the receipt of this cup.
Stockholm Town Hall - where the annual Nobel Prize Banquet is held.
Nordic Museum in Stockholm.
Breakfast buffet!
Fredrik preparing his boat for us to float about Stockholm’s archipelago.
Waiting for a lock to open (lemme stay in Stockholm forever).
Ghost-petting some gosling.
“I just want to poke it on the head!”
“Cailin … please don’t touch it.”
So cute: they were stumbling around, trying to move away from people, but as the wind was much stronger than they were, they’d plop down and cozy up in their tiny, downy bodies and instantly forget the pulsing crowds around them.
Approaching Skansen!
WHAT? Can I really enter this (paradise) humid room full of lantern-eyed lemurs? (Feck off, I can call whatever I want to "lantern-eyed" regardless of what species that actually refers to.)
The term "lemur" is derived from the Latin word lemures, meaning "spirits of the night"
nom nom nom
Secretary bird (or so I thought! Secretary birds are falcony-lookin’ & birds of prey, while this is clearly not the same species. Some ornithologist - or Dr. Seuss - tell me what it is!).
Turf Roof.
Some spires I spy from Skansen (every building in Stockholm is a castle).
Some paint chip is aping Africa Afrika!
Tons of ocular spots - gimme some!
Regalskeppet Vasa, one of the last surviving ships of this line (includes the HMS Victory) - the most absurd/decadent gun ship that capsized on its maiden voyage in 1628 (but was recovered mostly intact, incredibly).
The lighter wood pieces are reconstructions.
“Hmmm. No, that doesn’t really look too tall or top heavy. Send her away!”
Up by the Baltic Sea in Piteå.
Folke, Anna Greta & Lina (my second cousin).
Lina used to drive the sleigh for guests on their way to the
ICEHOTEL.
The Baltic Sea!
Baltic Sea, me, sand.
Piteå
Katarina and Fredrik at Folke and Mildred’s.
Swedes are always pursing their lips!
Anna Greta & Folke (brother & sister, my mom’s second cousins).
Finland border at Haparanda!
Looking for some relatives…
Found one!(?)
WHAT, hahahaha.
Some warehouse churches stacked up.
Haparanda Hotel.
Gunnar.
CLOUDBERRIES! Mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere between 78°N south to about 55°N.
Finland over there (Tornio).
The KKK supermarket in Finland.
MIDNIGHT SUN LEAVE ME ALONE.
Kukkola Rapids.
My perspective…
Fredrik’s perspective.
Gunnar.
Djurhållning (rein-ass-deer!).
From the top of the Luppioberget.
ha ha ha
Katarina.
AHHHHHHHHHHHH
the Arctic Circle > Lemurs.
I look a bit too giddy (thick) in this one: “YAAAY ARCTIC CIRCLE”.
Stockholm on Sweden’s national day. Not quite as exciting as Norway's Syttende Mai.
