Linear view vs. Masonry View

Archive for ‘Writing’

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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Swing bridge

Swing bridge

Stora Bommens bro in Göteborg, Sweden. In English The Large Gate Bridge. The bridge is used as bike and walk bridge over the Harbour Channel but was built as a train bridge. The name comes from the toll gate that was here in the past. The gate protected the channel from invading enemies but also ensured that the mooring fees and toll could be collected.

It was replaced with a replica, where the steel parts has been kept, in 2015 and cannot be opened. The old bridge was a swing bridge, swinging open around its centre leaving two lanes for boats to pass. The old bridge was very low and slowly sinking, making it more and more difficult to pass under during high tide. It was therefore called the cheese slicer bridge by the sightseeing tour boats. The possibility to open was disabled during a renovation in 1929. I haven’t been able to find out why, but a guy-guess is that the harbour was moved out to the river bank as the boats became bigger.

The white building in the background is the the court of appeal for West Sweden.

Hold your head down, 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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The Barque Viking

The Barque Viking

This old sail ship has been a symbol and landmark in Göteborg since 1951. It has been moored basically in the same place since then. It was originally built 1906 in Copenhagen, Denmark as school ship for the Danish merchant fleet. It is the largest sail ship ever built in Scandinavia. She served in Denmark until 1928 and after that the four-masted beauty was sold to Åland. There she served as merchant and passenger ship before finally arriving to Göteborg in 1951. This time to once again serve as a school but without ever to set sail again. Today it is a hotel and restaurant.

Sail, sail away on the winds of hope. Ha de Gött!

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Advent

Advent

It starts already in September

sneaks up on you

when you least expect

you freeze, a shiver down your spine

but there, in the windings of the brain

the deceiving jingling pops up

welcome as zits in a teenage mirror

You try to fight it off, but then

but then in the shop

the frantic wailing from Mariah

all I want for Christmas is youOUOUOUOUOUOUOUOU

it sticks in your poor brain

like chewing gum under your shoe

You flee out the door while trying to keep your lunch

trying to calm down with a nice coffee

only to be punched in the face by

the ultimate torture

last Christmas I gave you my heart

a Wham in your gut

then you know, you have to succumb

to three months of terror

stumbling off, hollow eyes and pale

whistling jingle bells, jingle bells

Let the celebration begin, ha de Gött!

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Skansen Kronan

Skansen Kronan

The Crown redoubt was built between 1687 and 1700 as part of Göteborg’s defence system. It is built on a steep mountain Risåsberget above Haga city district. Takes your breath away in more ways than one. The stone building is 33 meters high and reaches 87 meters above the sea level. The sconce has a twin Skansen Lejonet (Lion redoubt). Today the fortification has a better use for conferences and parties.

Take a deep breath, ha de Gött!

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The Library

The Library

some in frequent use
pages darkened by hungry fingers
'who done it'
tickling the darkest inside us

some covered by dust
only yellow by age
'who wants to know'
fuelling the creative light

during long dark nights
dark prose in the poetry corner
and whiskey stinking PI's
comparing their scars 

silent with millions of words
organised in rows and shelfs
collective minds
peaks and abysses of humanity

Growing up in a broken home in the suburbs, the library was always a safe haven. Still today I get calm entering a library or a book store.

Take care of the libraries, Ha de Gött!

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Books, books, books

Books, books, books

A fair for people interested in books. Yes, there is, every year in Göteborg, and this year I was there. Not only because I’m interested in books but my son was there to receive an award from the Royal Swedish Academy for the Swedish teacher of the year 2023. Sorry for the boast but I’m so enormously proud. At 25 he is the youngest ever to receive this award.

The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by the king Gustav III. With 18 members elected for life the members are the highest language authority of the Swedish language. This are the same persons that elect the Nobel prize winner in literature.

The five day fair was really crowded and it nice to see that the book is still going strong. In this day and age with social media scrolling it is comforting to know there are so many people working for the printed book.

The only heat that should come from a book is heated exchange of ideas, ha de Gött!

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Giant’s kettle

Giant’s kettle

I found this giant’s kettle at Lindö. It’s approximately one meter in diameter and I estimate it to be around one meter deep. In the folklore these holes was created, and was used for cooking by the giants that in the past roamed the world. Hence the name. The giants tossed large boulders at each other when fighting. You can find these laying randomly in nature. God was angry with them and turned them into stone. Yes, if you look close, you can see them in the hills.

There is of course a more scientific explanation, equally forceful. As the inland ice shelf melted away huge rivers with strong currents was formed. When a smaller rock was trapped and started to spin it grinded down into the solid rock. These stones can sometimes be found at the bottom with a perfectly smooth egg shaped surface.

Don’t throw stone in a glasshouse, ha de Gött!

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Svangen lighthouse

Svangen lighthouse

Since 1889 it has been guiding ships towards the Kosterfjord sea-lane and Resö. Originally the light came from the second floor windows but in 1917 it was replaced with gas driven AGA lighthouse in front of the building. The first floor was the living quarters for the lighthouse keeper with family. Since the the new AGA lighthouse was automatic there was no personnel after 1917. The house was sold to a private owner in 1950. Easy to manage garden, I guess, but probably needs to be painted regularly due to the harsh and salty west winds.

The fully automatic AGA lighthouse was invented by the Swedish inventor Gustaf Dahlén. He was awarded Nobel prize in physics for his work with lighthouse technology. The light was kept burning with the help of carbine gas. To save gas it was started and stopped with the help of a sun-valve also invented by Gustaf Dahlén.

Always steer towards the light, ha de Gött!

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