Behind the ferns

 

Hidden behind these ferns in the Open Air Museum in Brede north of Copenhagen is a house from the former Danish areas in what is now Sweden. A simple wooden structure that would fit perfectly in those large forests our neighbour has.

 

Bridge to Sweden

A few weeks ago I told you about the bridge to Sweden, so here is a photo of it, taken from the cozy and sleepy harbour town of Dragør.

Where's the boat to Malmö?

 

Before the bridge over Øresund linking Copenhagen with the Swedish city of Malmö was built, this was the place where the small, fast boat left for Malmö. This was an hour of sailing and only for passengers. The cars had to drive to Dragør where the car ferry to Limhamn left from. The low brown building along the quay is called Custom House and was the old waiting room for the boat. Today it's has a couple of restaurants, mainly catering for the in-crowd and the tourists.

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It's Xmas

To most Danes this is the day after as we celebrate on Christmas Eve with a dinner of either roasted duck (my favourite) or roasted pork with caramelized potatoes and all the trimmings. Gifts are given after dinner and then it's time to enjoy a cup of coffee. And Christmas morning is usually a slow one unless a family lunch has to be prepared. Btw this is my sister's very nice version of the duck last year.

Long time, no see

With the southern Sweden within easy reach of Copenhagen, I sometimes take a quick trip to the brother-land. Usually it's to Malmö or Lund, but in April I decided to visit a town I hadn't seen since my childhood, Helsingborg just across the Øresund from yesterday's Helsingør. A nice town to spend a few hours in with the keep of Kärnan as a dominant landmark.

Start with an icicle

Soon it will be the last month of the year and this has made me think, that I'll use some posts here on looking back on it photography wise. My photography year started here in Arbrå in Sweden on New Year's morn with a very cold winter view. From there the year has taken me around Copenhagen a lot and Denmark a bit, not to mention a cold Budapest, a spring-warm Berlin, a great road trip through Germany, Italy and France, and a quick trip to London. So there's lot to tell you about in the next couple of weeks.

Tulips

The tulips in the Swedish coastal city of Helsingborg is in full bloom. And they are yellow of course.

Not Bandy?

Right next to the bandy players shown in yesterday's post are these two silhouettes. I wonder if they have got anything to do with bandy, as they obviously are cast from the same mould, but the things they're carrying are not hockey sticks, so maybe they are representing another local sport.

In the Land of Bandy

Bandy is the national sport in this area of Sweden, so naturally the silhouette of bandy players is situated in central Ljusdal.

Catch a Fire

The second of the doll houses mentioned yesterday seems to have been on fire. Maybe this sleepy town have got it's own share of hoodlums?

A Big Doll House?

In the center of the Swedish town of Ljusdal, three of these oversized doll houses divide a parking space. I still haven't figured out what they are about, but they look pretty.

And Yellow...

The post yesterday showed what I would call a typical Swedish house; wooden and dark red, but lighter colours are in evidence, especially in the towns. This yellow colour is very popular too.

Falun Red and Wooden Houses

Two things makes for a typically Swedish house; it's wooden and it's painted this special dark red called Falun Red after a town called Falun. The paint is based on copper from the mine near the town and is widely used, especially in the countryside.

Early Sunset

As you might recall from your geography lessons in school, the sun sets rather early the further north you get during the winter. In Ljusdal in Sweden that time is about 2.30pm. Good thing that all the snow at least makes it more bright even at night.

Children of Our Time

When out and about I often come across graffiti like this. Often there's a message hidden, a statement or just a signature. In this case from Ljusdal, Sweden, the line reads Children of our time in Swedish. What is meant by it, I'm not sure. Maybe the artist meant that this is what children do today, i.e. paint on other's walls, or maybe that children is a product of our time. I don't know and it still baffles me.

Buried in Snow

I do hope this caravan is not going to be used before springtime, as I'd hate to be the one to try to get it free of the snow.

A Lamp with a Hat of Snow

Snow is something I don't tire of easily, as you might have noticed. This photo of a lamp with a hat of snow was taken the same place as yesterday's, just outside of Arbrå on the first day of the year.

In the Countryside

Today's pic is from my trip to Sweden, where I spent Xmas. This is taken at my niece's in-laws just outside the little town of Arbrå on the first day of the year. We were really in the countryside here, nice, quiet and very winterly.

These icicles greeted me on the first day of the new year. The visit to my sister in Sweden was a treat, as I love winter.

This is winter

At my sister's place in Ljusdal, Sweden, the news during Christmas was followed by quite a bit of humorous comments. The winter weather in Denmark closed down parts of the traffic which caught a lot of travelers and the authorities on the wrong footing so to speak. As you can see on this photo from Ljusdal, they are used to getting a few meters of snow each winter so the few centimeters that created havoc in Denmark did raise a few eyebrows. "Why do they stop clearing the roads until it has stopped snowing? Why don't they have the right equipment? Why do the Danes expect to be on time during a snowstorm, when they are on the road, in the air or on the tracks?" Good questions and no good answers. Only the chaos on the island of Bornholm seemed justified by the 1.5 m of snow they got during Christmas.