What makes a museum great? I am at Skansen, Stockholm’s traditional open air museum and I’m not feeling it. I expected a five star attraction. It’s not. And I’m trying to understand why. I paid kr 305:- for a one day ticket. "Maybe it’s the inflation?" a friend offers. I don’t know. I paid 70:- … Continue reading Skansen: Not a five star attraction
As I was in the area, I took a detour to see the Snösätra Wall of Fame. An abandoned industrial area turned into a canvas for street artists from all over the world. Each spring in a week long festival new works are completed and all summer people come and practice their skills. It's a … Continue reading Snösätra Wall of Fame
Next week it's time for Medeltidsveckan, a yearly festival in Visby on Gotland that celebrates all things Medieval. This year I'm contributing to the programme with two sessions of Gotlandia, a board game about Medieval Gotland. Pirates, sheep, buried silver and exquisitely decorated churches. Are you the greatest Gute of them all? Play Gotlandia to … Continue reading Gotlandia at Medeltidsveckan 2026
My sister lives in Jutland in Denmark. After moving to Stockholm we don't get to see each other a lot but we try to make it happen at least once per year. This time we agreed to meet up over the summer halfway: In Västra Götaland, the Swedish West Coast between Gothenburg and Vänern, Sweden's … Continue reading Trollhättan and the twin table mountains
In a beautiful Swedish mountain scape that you drive through on the freeway on the way to Norway, lies a Word Heritage Site with spectacular Bronze Age rock carvings. To go there was top of my list for our family vacation in Västra Götaland this year. We stopped at the Vitlycke Museum on a bright … Continue reading The Tanum Rock Carvings
The weather forecast promised warm sunny days and asked my oldest if he would join me for a hike. We had canceled a planned hike due to rain earlier this summer. The idea this time was to hike from the southernmost tip of Botkyrka, the municipality in which we live, and home along Sörmlandsleden. 28 … Continue reading Hiking Sörmlandsleden through Botkyrka
A friend from Denmark visited with his family. They stayed at a hotel a short walk south west of the centre of Stockholm, which gave me an excuse to further explore Södermalm, the island south of Old Town. I treated them to a guided tour of Stockholm Inner City and the Stockholm Metro, then we … Continue reading Södermalm
Today I give to you a free game you can play in the browser. Here is the pitch: Do you also always mix up your ᛘ and ᛦ and your ᚾ and ᛅ when translating rune inscriptions? No more! Solve the Futhark Puzzle Challenge and upgrade your Futhark skills this summer! The Futhark Puzzle Challenge … Continue reading The Futhark Puzzle Challenge
In Dalarna north of Stockholm lies Falun Copper Mine. Today a world heritage site and no longer active, historically the mine has been a source of much of Sweden’s wealth. Copper has been excavated there for maybe a thousand years, we don’t know exactly for how long as later activity has eradicated traces of the … Continue reading Falun Copper Mine
The bedrock is a treasure trove of rock art. Moose are abundant but also fish, humans, boats and dots and lines that are harder to identify. Worn away by water and weather or left unfinished by the artist for unknown reasons. A herd of moose on the way to the water. I’m at Nämforsen deep … Continue reading The Nämforsen Rock Art
