Linear view vs. Masonry View

Tag Archive for ‘Travel’

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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Misplaced

Misplaced

So many questions of this wheel. Did it fall off and rolled down the hill bounced on the curb and landed in the thicket. Where is the bike and does the other wheel miss his mate. What must the owner feel, was he or she in to much of a rush. Had to be balancing off to work on a mono bike. This runaway tire, what tales could be spoken.

Life is like a box of chocolate, ha de Gött!

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Night vision

Night vision

This picture gave me a bit of a challenge in post production. The hotel was really accommodating giving me a room high up with a view over Hisingen Brige in Göteborg, Sweden. Problem was that the windows could not be opened and there was a thick layer of winter dirt on the outside. I had to take some help from Lightroom AI to clean it up. Came out much better than I expected.

If I only could be a bridge over troubled waters, 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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