I live in Alby, Botkyrka, Sweden. If you have been here, you probably live here or used to live here. It’s a suburb south west of Stockholm near the end of the red line. Together with Norsborg, Hallunda and Fittja, Alby is part of the Million City project from the sixties. Concrete high rises. If … Continue reading Botvid: The first Swede
Tag: History
Dead bodies in the basement
I visited the Egyptian collection at the Mediterranean Museum in Stockholm this week. It's one of the places in Stockholm that I had not yet visited so when my oldest was going there with his school, I jumped at the opportunity. A display at the entrance asks: Where are the willies? Many ancient statues have … Continue reading Dead bodies in the basement
Gotland: Three churches
The Swedish island of Gotland is home to a hundred medieval churches that are open to the public. Carefully maintained to display the rich decorations added over a millennium, each church has its own stories to tell. Our visit to Gotland this year gave us opportunity to explore a few more. We stayed in the … Continue reading Gotland: Three churches
A buried viking ship
One morning as I walked the dog, a ship had arrived overnight. At the pier next to the scenic viewpoint of the bridge that has brought us to Langeland, Denmark, a wooden ship in bright blue and yellow colours was moored. The grinning dragon in the stern left no doubt: This was a viking ship. … Continue reading A buried viking ship
A thousand year old carving of Sigurd the dragon slayer
One hour west of Stockholm lies Eskilstuna. 10 km north east of Eskilstuna at Lake Mälaren lies Sundbyholm. Today featuring a horse track that draws an audience from all of Sweden, I’m here for another reason. The foundation of the bridge near the Ramsund carving is still visible. Hidden in a nearby forest, on a … Continue reading A thousand year old carving of Sigurd the dragon slayer
Return to House on the Hill
In February I visited a nearby House on the Hill, a 19th century wooden house now in serious need of some TLC. Back then I peeked through the windows. Today I entered. House of dreams. The house is owned by the City of Stockholm but maintained and managed by a group of volunteers. On condition … Continue reading Return to House on the Hill
Four books that broadened my horizon recently
Reading books on paper is a great way to get away from bite size snippets of the internet age. Information moves so fast on social media and news aggregators that you rarely get enough context to understand the background and get wiser on why something happened. And it’s only getting worse. We are caught in … Continue reading Four books that broadened my horizon recently
PNG is not GIF
Restrictions spur creativity. Perception shapes reality. Or why you don't want to get on the wrong side of your users. In the early days of the internet, GIF was the prevailing file format for website graphics. While JPEG is great for compressing photos, GIF (Graphical Image File) is a lossless encoding that works great when … Continue reading PNG is not GIF
Singapore day trips: Rail and river
Going to Singapore? Singapore day trips is a series of posts with fun and inspiring day trips for getting to know the city state. This post invites you to explore Singapore along rail and river, beginning at the former Ford factory near Singapore's highest natural point and ending at the mouth of the Singapore River … Continue reading Singapore day trips: Rail and river
Crossroads: Sweden and Ukraine through 1000 years
Sweden and Ukraine shares more than 1000 years of history. From the Viking Age marriage of Ingegerd and Yaroslav to today’s fight against Russian aggression, the historical paths of Sweden and Ukraine have intersected multiple times throughout history. The Army Museum in Stockholm examines the shared history in the exhibition Crossroads on display until February … Continue reading Crossroads: Sweden and Ukraine through 1000 years