Linear view vs. Masonry View

Archive for ‘Travel’

Trams and bikes

Trams and bikes

You have to love a city with trams. Amsterdam, Holland has them and bikes, lots of bikes. I must confess that I was more afraid to get into an accident with a bike than with a tram. They Ride really fast and they must be totally fearless, even if they show impressing skills navigating around lost tourists. I did not see anyone wearing a helmet, not even children. The sound of the bicycle bell was the soundtrack of the city. Of course there are dedicated bicycle bell shops.

It never happens to me, until it does. Take care, ha de Gött!

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Amsterdam

Amsterdam

We took a quick decision and went to Amsterdam, Holland for a long weekend. The weather went from sun 30°C to rain and 13°C but as the saying goes “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes”.

There will be more pictures, here and on Instagram, as I sort them out. As a teaser this evening shot of Walter Suskindbrug. Hand held camera using another bridge rail as support.

You must get away to feel at home, ha de Gött!

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Home and away

Home and away

A picture from Morups Tånge in Halland Sweden. I lived just one kilometre from this proud lighthouse from the age of 13 to 27. Made me think about what’s home. In my first 13 years we moved as many times so this was the first time I actually felt rooted. I drove past the farm and the new owners had changed pretty much everything. So the feeling of home was not for me anymore, all gone. Maybe it’s like that song “wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home”. What do you think?

There’s no place like home, ha de Gött!

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Back again

Back again

I’ve been off to Lund in the southern part of Sweden on a business trip. Long working days but since the daylight becomes longer by the day I still got some time to go out and test my new travel photo kit. Canon R8 with Canon 24-240 lens gives me a wide range but still is light to carry.

The picture is from the university area in Lund with shadows playing on the facade of the Dominican Order monastery. The order was established in 1216 and already 1223 they came to Lund. They stayed until the 1500 when the Lutheran reformation forced them out. With the freedom of religion they where back again in 1948.

Freedom is the best thing, but it doesn’t come for free! Ha de Gött!

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Sote canal

Sote canal

The man made canal, in Swedish Sotekanalen, has been dug and blasted through the rock as a relief work for unemployed stonemason workers. The idea to build a canal came up already in the late 1800 to create a safer passage over the dangerous waters in the Sotefjord. The decision was made 1913 but the work didn’t start until 1931. It was inaugurated in 1935 by the Swedish Crown Prince Gustav Adolf. This made the peninsula Ramsvikslandet to an island but it’s now connected to the mainland with a swing bridge.

The canal is 4800 meters long, 4,5 meters deep and 15 meters wide. Today it’s not used for commercial traffic but each year over 50 000 recreation boats passes this beautiful waterway.

No man is an island, ha de Gött!

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The America Shed

The America Shed

For many Swedes this quay with the white building behind was the last steps on Swedish soil as they emigrated to America. The building is named Amerikaskjulet, the Amerika Shed. It was built in 1910 to 1911 as a warehouse for the Port of Göteborg. The docking place with number 36 was the first quay with enough depth for the Svenska Amerika Liniens steamboats. As the name suggest the shipping company established in 1915 was dedicated to traffic between Göteborg and New York, USA. The company was closed in 1975 after a, in many cases, dramatic history.

To name this quite large building a shed, must be a proof of the very special humour in Göteborg. It was the first building in the area built of granite stone and concrete. Quite different to the other wooden sheds along the quay. Behind it one of Göteborg’s most famous landmarks, the Seafarers Tower with the statue of a sailors wife looking out to the west praying for husband and sons safe return from the sea. A reminder of the importance of the city as a port that it still holds today as the largest in Sweden.

Sail safe, ha de Gött!

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Lost

Lost

Wait in vain at the baggage claim.

Standing there looking at the suitcases

traveling the forth or fifth round on the conveyor

bound for somewhere else

slowly realizing that in some other airport

far away, there is another poor soul

with the same empty distrusting face

looking at the conveyor in despair

realizing that the underwear

has to be worn inside out tomorrow.

Don’t you hate when this happens, ha de Gött!

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Lipstick

Lipstick

Statue of the Swedish national poet Evert Taube with the ship Viking and the building called the Lipstick in the background. I let your own imagination figure out why it is called that. This 86 meter building stand in the clay on piles that had to be driven over 90 meters down.

You cannot call yourself Swedish if you can’t sing at least one of Evert Taube’s song. He wanted to be seen as a poet and writer but is know by most as singer-songwriter. He was born 1890 in Göteborg and he grew up at Vinga lighthouse outside the port of Göteborg. As a young man he sailed the seven seas and spent time in Argentina. A theme he often returned to in his writing. Many of his works has been translated into English. There are some links available on Wikipedia.

While the boat still sails on, ha de Gött!

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