Accident Waiting To Happen

Took a Spring like promenade along the picturesque Strandvägen in Nynäshamn. Had to stop and take a photo of this new boathouse on the islet Trehörningen because it could be gone tomorrow. Continuing my walk I made up this story: The property gets a owner. They decide to fix a few things. Why not build a boathouse down by the water on the old pier? They look up a carpenter in the yellow pages, (meant to say they Googled one), he comes over and gives an estimate. They respond, but we really want it to look like this, shows the handyman an amateur drawing, he laughs and tells them it's your money. Builds the thing, collects the money and disappears into the night. A little later squeaking sounds can be heard from the new boathouse...

Icy Waters

The last ice around the Trehörningen island in Nynäshamn is melting away fast now. This is how it looked yesterday afternoon. We have already seen several temperature records broken this year and I'm sure there are more to come. It was around 10C when I snapped this and two minutes later I had to take off my Winter jacket and walk in my t-shirt for the rest of the promenade.

Church Details

Out on a drive with the usual suspects we made a pit stop at the convenient store in Sorunda. And while the suspects enjoyed their chicken sandwich sitting on a bench at the 900 year old church I decided to go for a walk around the cemetery and take a few snaps.

Last Year's Leaves

Nothing can stop Spring! Ensiform leaf growing right through last years leaves. There will be a yellow crocus blooming here in a few days time and I will be there for the photos!

Björkstammar

I need to get out and start shooting again. My bad back is healing fine, which is good news, so good that I celebrated with buying another used lens over the weekend. Hopefully it will arrive in a day or two. This is what I call a lazy shot. Birches at the pet cemetery at Håga. Lazy because i just jumped off the bike reached for the camera and snapped a few quick shots knowing that they would probably look good in black and white.

That Old Tree

Took the bike for a spin the other day and ended up at the old tree, (big surprise). Not a very pleasant ride at all. Quite cold with the wind in my face for most of the time. Looks like we will get a warm and sunny day tomorrow, at least if you want to believe the meteorologists and I really would like to do just that.

The Off Season

Still a bit icy at the driving range at Fors Golf.

Marieberg

I'm guessing these old buildings at Marieberg in Fors, Västerhaninge will be gone soon. For many years the property was hidden behind a little forest. But the trees have now been cut down and as the new owner is a builder chances are that we will see something new here soon. Marieberg has a well documented history thanks to Sune Nilsson. He was born in the red cottage and his family and several generations of his family have lived here. Sune was only four years old when he moved out from Marieberg but half a century later he started researching his family history and if you understand the local lingo you can read more at haninge.org. Here and here.

Construction Dialogue

Byggdialog. That is the name of the builder. And that word works well here at Vitsåvägen in Fors, Västerhaninge, as there have been a long and heated dialogue between the unhappy neighbours and the Haninge municipality about this project. Fuchs Lubricants (previously Statoil owned), with 70 employees decided to close their, (unmodern), factory in Nynäshamn and build a new one here at Fors. The workers, (and politicians), in Nynäshamn were of course very unhappy to see the company go. And the neighbours in Västerhaninge were equally unhappy to see a factory being built so close to their homes. They claimed that the traffic to and from the plant would ruin their lives, more or less. But the County Board soon approved the plans and as you can see the new plant is now under construction. The factory will produce at most 100,000 cubic meter lubricant oil per year. Friction free, who knows.

Home By The Sea

A house on the hill at Ankarudden on Torö island. They have a great view over the ferry port and the sea from up there. But it can be quite windy out here in the most southern part of Nynäshamn.

Ferry Me Across The Water

Later this year this ship Bamse, Landsort will ferry me to Öja and back. Bamse is an old icebreaker tugboat. Snapped this at the Ankarudden port last Friday. I grew up watching Bamse on TV. And later read the magazine that my brother subscribed to. Bamse was given thunder-honey, (Dunderhonung), by his grandmother, and that is what made him so strong. Anyone else who tried eating it ended up with a really bad three day long stomach ache. This particular Bamse is the name of a ship with it's home base at Landsort on the Öja island.

The old mill

The mill at Herrhamra on Torö island. Photographed from the ferry port. It was a tullkvarn, a three storey smock mill, up on the Ankarudden hill. The mill was built back in 1857. It was in operation until 1925. It is the only mill left in Nynäshamn. Inside you can still see the old machinery, sadly there are no sails left, they were removed back in 1930. The mill itself was renovated back in 1980.

Maritime Cemetery

The old maritime cemetery, (Lotskyrkogården), at Herrhamra on Torö island in Nynäshamn. Built by Baron Erik Sparre from Herrhamra. The estate was destroyed when the Russians attacked in 1719. The cemetery has been in use for many centuries. The oldest gravestone dates back to 1660 and it is very likely that a few sailors from the ship Resande Man, that went down here that year, are buried at the cemetery. The ferry port Ankarudden is just down the road. It has been in use for more than 800 years.

Torö Stenstrand

This is Torö Stenstrand. A famous beach with local windsurfers. Walking on this rocky beach today was a bit different. We have a law in this country called Allemansrätten. Freedom to roam in English. It is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, so I was a bid sad to see Private signs and a couple of new fences on the beach. I had to climb over one such fence on my walk. Will have a talk with the local authorities about that. 8C today and most of the snow is gone. The meteorologist says that Spring is only a couple of days away...

A Tamed River

Not every city has a couple of waterfalls in the downtown area. But Norrköping does. There's an 18 meter drop in the Motala Ström that runs through Norrköping. The building in the background is the Louis De Geer Konsert & Kongress.

Magnentus Tower

The brand new ten-storey building Magnentus Tower in Norrköping. By the architect firm ÅWL Arkitekter. There used to be a furniture factory here called AB Chamberts möbelfabrik. The blade pattern,(made of cembrit cover), on the new building is said to be inspired by "De nio bladen" a textile pattern, designed by the furniture designer Erik Chambert. Photo taken from the Strömparken near Motala Ström.

Can I move in?

This hungry cat has been visiting the veranda all Winter so I have been feeding it. Chances of moving in are slim as the cat that already lives here has made her objections quite clear.

Strykjärnet

The famous heptagon-shaped building Strykjärnet, (clothes iron). Situated on the tiny islet Laxholmen in Motala Ström, in Norrköping. Built for Holmens Bruk as a cotton mill in 1916. The architect was Folke Bensow. Today it houses the Museum of Work and a restaurant. Oh, and the smokestack in the middle of the stream is an artwork called Den femte skorstenen it was made by Jan Svenungsson.

Motala Ström

The old industrial landscape in Norrköping. The buildings on the other side of Motala Ström were part of Drags Fabriker for more than 300 years.

Time Stood Still

I took a promenade in the industrial area in Norrköping a while back. A few of the buildings here dates back to the 1850s and it is a must see for any visitor with or without camera.

Stiernorps Slott

This is the Stiernorp, (old spelling), castle and castle ruin at Roxenbaden in Östergötland. Built back in 1655 by the famous architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder for Greve,(Earl), Robert Douglas. The castle was completely destroyed in a fire in 1789. The wings were soon rebuilt, but there was no money for the main building so it has been a ruin ever since that fire. At the moment there are some work being done at the ruin so that it will not collapse. More photos to come.

Woof?

Woof? Looks like Garron really enjoys all the fresh snow. Or maybe not. He was out walking his owner over the weekend when I spotted him. His owner keeps track on my photostream so a few minutes after posting this photo at flickr I messaged him to let hem know about the photo and he answered that he had already downloaded it! He also invited me for coffee and I will take him up on that come Spring when we can sit outside enjoying some "fika".

If your car is stuck in snow...

Clear a path around your tires. Try to dig snow and ice away from the drive tires. Rock your car free of the snow. Don't floor the gas. Improve traction. Get others to help push your car.

Empty Roads

So it is Winter here in case you hadn't noticed. And over the weekend, from Friday, it started to snow again. And surprisingly Sweden and snow is not a good combination at all these days. And as expected chaos followed in the wake of that snowfall, which meant traffic problems all over the place. Nothing works here when we get a few centimetres of snow. Here are two photos I took along Allévägen in Tungelsta on Saturday.

Dubbelgångaren

Dubbelgångaren. That is the name of the nine meter high iron sculpture down by Lake Roxen at Berg in Östergötland. The artwork from 2006 weighs four tonnes and consists of two identical profiles and depending from where you see the sculpture it will look different. The name in English would be The Doppelgänger. It was made by the sculptor Kent Karlsson. Part of the art project Visions by the Water that needed the help of the local military to get the sculpture to where it stands today on one of two breakwaters out on the lake. I would have liked to get closer to the impressive sculpture, but from where I was standing up at the locks it was impossible to safely walk down to the lake because of the weather condition.

Bergs Slussar

If I were to make a bucket-list chances are that a Summer boat ride along the famous Göta Kanal would be on that list. If you want to learn more about it (and you really should), I can recommend the official web site. On my recent trip south together with two of the usual suspects one of the suspects and I decided to check out the locks at Berg which is part of the Göta Canal system. A Winter visit here is a but unusal as there's no traffic on the canal but there you go. The first two photos here shows the seven Carl Johan stairway locks that will take you from the canal to lake Roxen. The third snap shows houses close to the canal and marina. The fourth photo shows the frozen and over-snowed guest harbour at Bergs slussar. It's an artificial man-made harbour. The fifth and final photo shows what I believe to be a retirement home that sits just a few meters from the lock.

Anyone for candy?

There are two things to see in Ljungsbro. The aqueduct, (see yesterdays post), and the chocolate factory Cloetta. The factory in Ljungsbro dates back to 1901. That's when the Swiss brothers opened their factory. I snapped these three photos during my visit there yesterday.

Frozen Aqueduct

Swedish word of the day. Akvedukt. This is the Aqueduct at Ljungsbro in Linköping, which is the furthest away from Haninge in any of my blog posts,(a few hours drive south with a fast car). Sadly the aqueduct is frozen during the winter so no boats will be passing by here this time of the year. The guy with the gray beard is Jujja, one of my travelling buddies of the day. Theme Day at City Daily Photo. White.