Sunset

I have been living in several countries and always enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Sweden might not be the best country to see a magnificent sunset, but I was surprised one evening returning home. I am not sure the pictures tell the absolute truth, it was breathtaking. I hope the some of the feelings can be felt from the photos.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jenny Lind - 200 year anniversary

Image
 One does not get out too much these days. I was therefor happy to see that there is an exhibition about Jenny Lind, the famous opera singer of the 19th century. The exhibition, at Torup castle, was a guided tour and the group was limited to 12 persons due to the restrictions. Jenny Lind was born on the 6 October 1820 under difficult circumstances. Usually, you can read in the church books 'father unknown', but for her birth, it said 'parents unknown'. She mostly grew up in foster care, but her mother took her in from time to time, more disrupting her life than caring for her. One day she was sitting in her window singing. A maid working for a ballet dancer at the opera house passed by and heard her sing. She was amazed at the voice and talked to the people in charge of the opera. She came to audition when she was only eight. Much was lacking in her voice at the time, but she was accepted. As they say, 'the rest is history'.  She had a very successful life, sing...
Read more

A trip to Austria

Image
Our son Hannes is going to study for a Masters in Geophysics in a program that covers three universities; Delft, Zürich, and Aachen. Normally, it would not be a problem to go from Sweden to Holland for the start of the semester. However, this year is not normal. Swedes coming to Holland had to be in quarantine for 14 days. It would have been expensive to stay so long. He could not come into his student hotel until 1 September. Instead, we decided to go to Austria. Martin, my husband, was already there and had arranged for a corona test the day after our arrival. Otherwise, we would have had to spend the entire time in quarantine. It has been difficult for Swedes to travel this summer, although it has eased now. Well, as Donald Trump says: "It is what it is." We took the car in mid-August and drove 16 hours to arrive in Innsbruck in Innsbruck. A long drive indeed, but it went very well. Less traffic than usual and fewer queues by the roadworks made for pleasant driving. The mo...
Read more

A visit to Glimmingehus

Image
Glimmingehus is a medieval castle located about an hour's drive from my home. If due to the coronavirus or not, only guided tours are available, every hour. I came 15 min before the first tour at 11 am, and got a ticket for the 1 pm tour. I spent the waiting time visiting the small, but interesting museum, walking around the castle, visiting the herb's garden, and the small park surrounding the estate. As I always have a book in my bag, I sat down at a picnic area to read while waiting for the tour to begin.  I always find guided tours interesting. They will tell you a little bit more about the history and the lives of the people living there. The estate has quite an interesting story, and we were treated with information about past and present times.  Glimmingehus was built 1499-1506, during an era when this place was part of Denmark. It is the best-preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. Due to the troubled times in which it was built, it contains many of the defensive...
Read more

Excursions in the vicinity

Image
Here in Sweden, we continue to self-isolate. Venturing out for errands, shopping, and excursions. If one should seek a positive angle for the present situation, it is that we have so much time on our hands. In the last 20-23 years, we have been very busy, and time has been a rare commodity. We, therefore, appreciate it a lot. It has also given us the opportunity to discover our new surroundings. I think we would not have discovered so many wonderful places had times been normal.  The Skåne (Scania) area where we live has a lot of nature parks, forests, and seashores. It is all there to enjoy. Here are a few photos from our latest outings.  The modern-day Falsterbohus, today housing flats. In the foreground the ruins of the ancient fortress.  There are lots of castles in this area. They are mostly beautifully situated around a lake. One of our favourites is Häckeberga Castle. Surrounded by woodlands they make for a stunning walk.  Söderåsen/Skäralid is another beautif...
Read more

Visiting the Caribbean - Martinique

Image
We took a boat between St. Lucia and Martinique. It is only around 1,5 hours and quite convenient. However, although loving water, it does not always agree with me on a boat. It was a little bit windy, and I had to stay outside, fixing my stare at the horizon. We had only booked a five day stay in Martinique, over Christmas. We stayed in a French tourist hotel with all the usual facilities. It was very convenient, and we had walking distance to restaurants. After ten days of extensive travelling in St. Lucia we were suffering from a little bit of fatigue. Meaning, that we, at least me and our son, stayed mostly in the hotel relaxing, swimming and reading. Martin did a few excursions on his own. Martinique and Les Trois-Ilets, is the birth place of Empress Joséphine of France. She was born on 23 June 1763 as Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie. The plantation where she grew up is now a museum. There is not so much left of the houses, but some have been rebuilt. It is quite ...
Read more

Visiting the Caribbean - St Lucia

Image
Seeking the sun we decided to go away for Christmas and New Year. It turned out to be a very exciting trip to the Caribbean, where we visited Guadeloupe, St Lucia, Martinique and Dominica. Let's start with St Lucia. We flew from Paris to Guadeloupe and started our adventure from there. After two days to adjust to time difference, we took a flight to St Lucia. A wonderful, tropical island, especially the southern parts of the island. We were staying in a beautiful B&B in the outskirts of Castries. Sérénitý Vigie. At the end of a small peninsula we had nothing but the sea in front of us. From there we did excursions and drove more or less over the whole island. The most touristic area is Rodney Bay, on the north western part of the island. Here we enjoyed the beaches and also a visit to Pidgeon island and its old British fort. Yes, it started to rain not long after...! The most beautiful part of the island is in the south. We went there a couple of times. We p...
Read more

Ludwig van Beethoven

Image
The other evening I went to the Concert Hall to listen to Beethoven's three first symphonies. Malmö Symphony Orchestra new conductor, Robert Trevino, is a charismatic person and has created an interesting program for the 2019-20 season. He is a young American conductor, born in 1983. This was my first encounter with him and his interpretation of music. They play all of Beethoven's nine symphonies during four days, in two weeks. Unfortunately, I missed symphonies 4 and 5, due to my hiking weekend! Beethoven is one of my favourite composers. It is such a treat to hear his music live and with such dedicated musicians and conductor. It was a great evening. I am looking forward to hearing the other symphonies later this week. I don't know a lot about classical music, but I know what I like. With Beethoven you just can't go wrong. His music is something out of the extraordinary. It takes you to another place, where it is just you and the music, even if you are sitting ...
Read more