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Posts tagged gavle

Swedish Torp

swedish torp gefle sweden

Gävle, Sweden (July 2019)

The older I become, the more I feel like odd connections happen in my life. It’s not that I’ve become superstitious or believe in cosmic connections (at least not while sober); I think it’s just that when you are older you have experienced more so there are more connections to be made.

Anyway, back in the summer of 2019 I arrived in Gävle before my Airbnb’s check-in time. So I wandered around the neighboring tiny farms and took photos of the curious buildings. I had the full intent of researching the buildings later (as they have similar counterparts in Denmark and Germany), but I didn’t. Instead, they found me with the release of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition in the following year. The newly introduced Swedish Civilization features these Swedish torps, which are key elements to successfully competing as the Swedes. What are the odds that I encounter Swedish torps for the first time (in my 50+ years of existence) in the year before a game I have spent far too many hours on reacquaint me with them less than a year later?

Swedish torp icon in AOEIII: Definitive Edition

After midnight in the summer in Northern Sweden

gavle sweden night-DeNoiseAI-clear

Gävle, Sweden (July 2017)

I’ve experienced about 10 summer nights in Northern Sweden, when the night never gets fully dark. I was probably on a bike, on my way back to my Airbnb, when I saw this scene and thought, “If I don’t take a photo of this, I’ll never remember it.” And, sure enough, I don’t really remember taking this photo, but it showed up as my random, desktop image today.

As we are currently near the winter solstice, I looked up the number of hours of daylight in Gävle right now. The answer? Less than six and I bet the sun won’t be getting very high in the sky during those six.

Equilibrium

Equilibrium gefle metal festival Martin Skar Berger Dominik Dom Crey-DeNoiseAI-clear

Equilibrium @ 2019 Gefle Metal Festival (Gävle, Sweden)

@Equilibrium

Länsmuseet Gävleborg

middle of sweden art peter tillberg Länsmuseet Gävleborg

Mitt i Serige by Peter Tillberg

Nine years ago I walked into this art museum (Länsmuseet Gävleborg or Gävleborg County Museum) near central Gävle, Sweden. Admission was free. Neat place.

The artist of this piece, Peter Tillberg, died in 2016.

Happy birthday, Wolf Hoffmann!

accept gavle metal festival

Accept @ 2011 Getaway Rock Festival

@accepttheband @thewolfhoffmann

Koloniträdgårdar

Gävle community garden neighborhood

Last year, when I traveled from Copenhagen to Sweden, my SIM card didn’t work in Sweden so I could only use my phone when I was on wifi. I arrived in Gävle a half hour or so before my Airbnb hosts were expecting me, and I had no way to ask them if it was OK if I showed up early. So I took a walk around the neighborhood and discovered a lovely community garden (that I would have never stumbled upon had I not had the extra time).

I believe the place is called Södra Kolonin Gävle. I found out later that the community gardens were established in 1905. Originally there were only a few tiny buildings, and no one lived there. The gardens were a place for the city dwellers to escape to for the day during the summers. As more and more people desired the properties, more small houses were built, and some now live there all the time I’m told. I hear there is a waiting list to buy a place should one become available. I’m not sure how many tiny houses are there now but over a hundred I think.

Should you ever find yourself in Gavle, you should explore this place. Head to the southern end of Muréngatan.