Hammarberg Area

We spent the weekend in Hammarberg territory and it was beautiful! Here are a few of the many pictures that we have taken. This is iron country and very mountainous. The houses in this area are typically two stories high and seem bigger than the southern part.

This is where the Hammarberg name began and traces back to the late 1600's. Johan Parsson had eight sons and they all took the name of Hammarberg. "Hammar" meaning hammer and "berg" meaning mountain. It would make sense that with iron working, there would be blacksmithing or the use of the hammer. At the kyrka (church) in Logdo Bruk we found indications of iron working. I have included some pictures of the grave markers that are wrought iron (Mark, I know that it isn't technically wrought iron but I am not sure how else to refer to it.) It was so artistic and beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.

I know it seems odd that I would include pictures of a cemetery.....but hey, we did spend some time going to them and looking for ancestors. At Timra, where Carl Eric Hammerberg was born, we saw more unique grave markers......the area in front of the headstone was sand and each one had a pattern raked into the sand. Very artistic.....and in this region, there is a lot of sand.

See that car in the background....the one behind Kris....well the calculations are in and that car got an unbelievable 67 mpg. I know you won't believe it, but it is true. It is diesel, manual, ISG (idle stop and go) and Kris said it was a dream to drive. Kia Ce'ed Eco. I wonder if they sell it in the states.

Check out this trio of beautiful Hammarberg horses.

We wanted to share with you a little of the roadside lupine....but I suggest that you turn the sound off because all you can hear is my jacket whipping in the wind. LOL

Midsommarsafton

We left our little cottage in Falun today and drove north to Sundsvall. It was midsommarsafton (midsummer's eve) today so we could see signs of celebration as we drove along.

We saw a daddy with a wreath of flowers on his head riding a bicycle toting his daughter. At gas stations birch branches were tethered to the pumps. You could see people in the fields collecting bouquets of flowers for the maypoles. Traditionally girls collect seven to nine different flowers in a bouquet and put it under their pillow to dream of the one they are to marry.

We came across this wonderful man and his horse coming home from festivities. He had birch boughs tied to his cart. If you look closely you can see the wild flowers in the horse's mane.

Ever since we started driving in Sweden, we have seen these signs.........

and finally, today Kris spotted this moose in a field. We circled back and luckily he was still there so that we could take this picture!!!!! So cool!

Then to top it off, there was a double rainbow tonight after a light rain!

We are going to travel to the Hammerberg area tomorrow and look up some of the home towns of Hans Eric and Charlotta. Good night for now!

Fika and Hammarberg

We have made a wonderful discovery and it is called fika (pronounced feeka) and it is a coffee break, it is a break from work. A time to sit down with family and friends to drink coffee and have a bun. Kris, Mom and I have decided that we love fika and are going to make time for it every day.

While we're on the subject of good things, I want to share with you another wonderful dinner that we had on our little porch at our stuga (cottage). This is a pretty typical meal, usually served at breakfast but we like it best in the evening with beer or wine. The jar is pickled herring with mustard......really delicious!

Falun is known for its mines, particularly copper mines. They have produced 2/3 of the copper for the world. Anyway, Mom picked up this brochure at the copper museum on iron mining and looked who she found inside.....
Lars Erik Hammarberg. He is second from the left. Is he a relative???? I know that Hammarberg is the former spelling of Hammerberg. Does he look like a relative???? Let me know what you think.

Sundborn and Falun #2

Tuesday I had some trouble with connections but we have had some really full days. Yesterday we went to Mora (Zorn's home) and Nusnas where the dala horses are made.

We have made some interesting observations in Sweden:

• People in Sweden aren't dependent on carrying drinks around like U.S. One doesn't see people walking around with water bottles, Starbucks or sodas. We have seen many cafes but no Starbucks. When people drink kaffe, they sit and drink kaffe.
• People in Sweden ride bikes everywhere. It is common to see folks of all ages riding bicycles.
• Many Swedes enjoy ice cream - I mentioned that in another blog - and the ice cream is very good.
• The workmen wear shorts in the summer and in some cases, no shirts. We are trying to get a pair for Peter! Let us know if anyone else is interested in a pair. They seem to be so happy to have sunshine and warm weather that they'll take every opportunity to soak it up.

Another observation that we have had is that we haven't seen people walking around with cell phones. You just don't see people walking around texting and talking on phones.

• Swedes seem to love their dogs. We see them everywhere and all breeds. It is fun to see. They ride on scooters and in bicycle baskets. We even saw a Ramona look alike......isn't she a doll?

• Fathers seem to be very involved and attentive to their children. Not that a person doesn't see that in the U.S. but it seems to be more so here.
• Everyone has been so kind and polite to us. Kris has been really great about trying to speak Svenska with people and they really appreciate that. I think we are received more warmly when we (she) tries to speak their language.
• The roads are in great shape even though the Swedes don't think so. I guess in their minds they aren't. When there is a road repair, there is little warning but at the same time it is very orderly.
• Round abouts are used a lot! We think they are great! When you make a wrong turn, they are the best for backtracking.

Last night we had a wonderful meal that we wanted to share with you. Crayfish, blue cheese, spisbrod and wine. Crayfish are a traditional food eaten this time of year.

Tuesday, June 22

On this day we went to the Zorn museum and to the Nusnas where dala horses were born. I am not going to write much here because I am behind on blogging but I did want to share a picture of one of Zorn's paintings to give you an idea of what an incredible artist he was. You may want to google him and see his other works.

We didn't stay long in Nusnas but had a chance to walk around in the little factory. It always impresses us that the Swedes unlike the U.S. put the onus on the public to keep themselves "safe." There aren't a lot of "keep out" signs and rules. One is on their own to wander around without restrictions. There is the occasional barrier but there aren't many.

Allmanstratten, or Every Man's Right is a unique right to public access in Sweden. I guess it dates back to the middle ages and it allows everyone the possibility to visit somebody else's land, to take a bath in and to travel by boat on somebody else's waters, and to pick the wild flowers, mushrooms, and berries provided that you leave the property unharmed. While taking a stroll Tuesday evening, and practicing allmanstratten, I saw this gorgeous sunset. I call it a sunset but the sun never did set. It was midnight and the longest day of the year.

A Day in Sundborn

(This blog was written on Monday, June 21)

We had another beautiful day in Sweden! Yesterday it rained the entire way from Kalmar to Falun but the sun emerged just as we were within 20 km of our destination. Also, I have to mention that we are renting a manual diesel C'eed Kia and it seems to be getting amazing gas mileage. We drove nine hours with one tank of gas. Gas is 12,62 a liter. We really haven't factored what it is but feel that it must be very good. When we do calculate the mpg, we'll let you know. Do they sell manual diesel Kias in the states? This one is an eco diesel too and we just discovered that it turns off when you stop and put it in neutral. Kris was thinking that it was dying but then realized that it was a energy saving feature. As soon as you put it in gear, it starts up again.

All of us remarked that Carl Larsson's did not disappoint. The weather was outstanding and his house was just like the paintings and pictures. It was so neat for us to be able to see the place first hand. I mean it was REALLY so amazing to be standing in the very rooms and walking around in the same places that were depicted in his paintings. And also, to see first hand the incredible textiles that Karin designed and created. She was also a furniture designer; Kris and I didn't realize that she did that.

We couldn't take pictures inside of their house so we decided that we will have to go back and take another tour while we are here. Carl uses his family as inspiration for his art and inside of is house he had painted murals of his children on the doors and panels. One could see that Karin and Carl were very family oriented and it was nice to hear little family stories from our tour guide.

Another discovery that we made is "glass" which is ice cream. It is the best and is everywhere. Anytime you see this little clown, you know that glass is somewhere near. Kris had lakrits glass today....licorice ice cream. You know what? It was very good.

Tomorrow we are going to drive even more north to Moro to see where dala horses are made and the home of Anders Zorn, another painter. The weather is supposed to be even warmer so we are looking forward to that.

Kalmar to Falun

Yesterday we drove nine plus hours from Kalmar to Falun. Kris did all of the driving, bless her heart. We made a couple of stops along the way and that undoubtedly made the trip a little longer.

First we stopped in Doderhult. Mom was thinking that Ernst was from this area but after talking to the pastor, it was decided that this probably wasn't the church. In any case, the church was beautiful.

Here is something that we have noticed. We have only seen one pick up truck and it was a vintage Ford. We have seen only one SUV. Everybody hauls trailers, campers and horse trailers with this little station wagons. We've seen Audis, Volvos, VWs, etc. but no huge vehicles.
We are staying at a wonderful stuga in Falun. Our hosts Eva and Bengt are so gracious and have a wonderful cottage for us. We slept very soundly last night and are really enjoying ourselves. Today we are going to visit Carl Larsson's home and can't wait. I will blog tonight and show you the pictures that we will take.

Kalmar

Hello from Kalmar, Sweden. We have been having a great time and really packing a lot of activity into a short time here. Kalmar is on the Baltic Sea and is a very quaint city (the part that we are staying in). Here's a picture of the Slottshotellet where we are staying. Slotts is Swedish for castle and....
right across the street is an old castle. It was from the 1500s and has been used for different things throughout the years but was very neat. There is a moat around it and many restored areas. We toured the castle this morning and then drove to the Island of Oland. Mom had the names of three great grandparents that were from this Island.
Oland has many windmills and has a very formidable terrain. Farmers have to contend with rocky soil and not much vegetation. The southern part that we visited is mostly a nature area for bird watchers and botanists. I thought of Jim a lot. Because of the acid soil, it is a great place for orchids......so I read.
Kris said that every blog needs an outhouse picture.....so here is ours. This was available as a wayside stop.
And here it is, the picture of the day! We went to a bronze age ruin and there was this sign that Kris thought said "Don't eat us!" Ha, ha! When she looked it up later, she decided it said, "Don't feed us!" There were the cutest little pigs that are an heirloom breed of ancient Sweden. I guess they get as big as 400 kilograms. When you scratch their belly they flop over. So Cute!

The piggies are in the foreground in this picture.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early to drive North eight hours to Darlarna province. We are anxious to visit Carl Larsson's home and see this beautiful part of the country. Much love to all, Kay

Vaxjo

It felt as though we spent a great portion of today in Utvandrarnas Hus. It really was interesting and helpful but it reminded me of a place that Jim and I took the guys when they were little, Roadside America. The exhibits were ancient, dusty, tired and did I mention old? And yes, the archives were closed. We were afraid of that. It just so happens that after this year the museum will no longer exist. They have lost their funding; the same as what we see happen in the U.S.

Weather wise, today was absolutely gorgeous!!!! So, after spending too long inside, we decided to hop in the car and drive south to a couple of places that Mom's family is from. Thanks to Jeff Hammerberg, who compiled a very thorough genealogy map, Mom knew of some new origins of great grandparents. Ostra Torsas was one of our destination. We found it with no problem and the skirka (church) where one of her great grandfathers would have attended. Kris did a fantastic job conversing with a woman we found doing gardening at the church. She helped us find our next destination.

This area of Sweden is very rural and as I mentioned yesterday, looks very similar to Wisconsin and Minnesota. The only thing different are the color and architecture of the buildings. This is just one of the many quaint homes that we came across. There are lupine everywhere along the roadsides, in every color, along with many other wildflowers.

This is a sweet "Children at Play" sign. So far we haven't seen any reindeer, elk, moose or deer crossings but we will let you know if we do.
The churches in the parishes seem very opulent and the parsonages were the biggest homes in the little towns. We had learned that in the olden days the pastor's wife would have been the person that the other women in the parish would look to for the current fashions. I thought that was surprising.
Even though the churches seemed opulent it was neat to see little uses of nature to decorate. Here is a beautiful gnarled twig that was in one of the windows that had little glass ornaments on it. On the altar were vases with wildflowers in them.
We kept seeing this symbol on roadsigns and couldn't figure out what it represented. On the way back to Vaxjo we decided that we would follow the sign to see where it ended up.

We ended up at a ruin. It was pretty neat. The symbol is for a national heritage site. We had to walk along a pasture quite a way before we came upon a huge mound and a smaller one. These were burial mounds for a wealthy family; the burial mounds are believed to have been laid during the bronze age, 1500-500 BC. The larger one had been a burial site for Thiudhby, a village close by, during the first century AD.. The ancient people placed this rock and the carved rock next to it to mark the grave. It was really fun to come across and now we know that when we see that symbol, there might be something new to discover. Tomorrow we should be able to some castle ruins. We will leave Vaxjo and travel east to Kalmar situated along the Baltic Sea.

Picture of the day: Kris says, "Kay, put your head down by that big ancient rock so that people can see how big it is!" Was she talking about me or the rock?