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Fredrik Andersson

Redesigning the web, pixel by pixel - since 1995

Kungsholms Fortress

kungsholms fortress

I'm at top of the tower of the Kungsholms Fortress in Karlskrona, looking down.. It's windy up here and a bit scary, but pretty cool. The guided tour is good, thanks to the enthusiastic and knowledgeable military guide. :smile:

The fortress is actually the oldest continuously fortified military base in the world, as it has been manned since the 17th century. In true Swedish peaceful tradition the most important part of the fortress is a garden with exotic plants and trees from the navy's expeditions around the world. :D

Warship figureheads

me in front of warship figureheads at the maritime museum in karlskrona

I saw these beautiful warship figureheads at the Maritime Museum in Karlskrona. I have always liked old ships with figureheads like this, specially from the 17th and 18th centuries when they were most impressive. It would be fun to get the chance to design a figurehead like this some day, for my own ship. :smile: Did you know that at one point the ships were so overburdened with sculptures and ornamentation that it affected their sailing qualities, and during the latter part of the 18th century decoration was reduced to that of little more than a lone figurehead. And from that point on the age-old custom slowly but surely came to an end.

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Blue lagoon

mattias and johanna at the blue lagoon on gotland

A day at the "Blue Lagoon" on Gotland; a former chalk quarry with crystal clear blue water. :smile: A very nice place. I'd like to go back again. In the photo: Mattias and Johanna.

Trix fireshow

trix eldshow visby

Trix beautiful & magic fireshow was a highlight at the medieval week. I specially liked this part, where one of the guys had burning wings.

Medieval Week

visby nordergravar

The Medieval Week in Visby is over for this year, and I'm already longing to the next. If you have been there you know what I mean. The beautiful city, the good food, the fire shows, the music, Loke, Patrask, Trix, Cultus Ferox, Jauvet, Effes, Nordergravar, the market, all the beautiful medieval people, the neverending party; everything was just right.

And the last weekend I met someone special... :smile:

At the beach

me at the beach

Do you prefer to stay in the shadows instead of beeing in the sun? Then you are like me. :rolleyes: I went to the beach this summer but I usually try to avoid strong sunshine. Among all the people I know I have by far the most pale skin tone, like a vampire, so I mostly stay in the shadows when it's hot..

Glimmingehus

glimmingehus

Old castles and the like are always fun to see, so we made a visit to Glimmingehus on our trip in southern Sweden. It's the best-preserved medieval manor in Scandinavia and was built in 1499. It's well fortified with many defensive arrangements, but ironically it was never attacked. :smile:

One time though the Swedish king, Charles XI, ordered to demolish Glimmingehus, to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the war. However, just before the kings men could carry out the order they saw far away how a Danish-Dutch naval division was arriving the Swedish coast, and they had to change their plans.

Glimmingehus might not be that big or fancy, but the guided tour is good and it's worth a visit.

* Photo by Robert

Ales stenar

ales stenar

It was a perfect summer evening when we visited Ale's Stones. I have wanted to see this for some time now and was happy to get the chance. Ale's Stones is a stone ship; a megalithic monument from 500 AD located at the southernmost part of Sweden. Speculations have been made about the purpose of Ale's Stones. Some say it's a burial monument and some say it has an astronomical and/or astrological purpose, and that the stones are positioned according to the 365 days of the year and the 24 hours of the day.

ales stenar

I think it's amazing that we have such an open and friendly culture in Sweden and that places like Ale's stones is open for anyone to visit whenever they want, and there are no entry costs, sales people, cheesy souvenirs or anything like that. It's just nature, as it should be. I have not visited Stonehenge in England, but I know there's an admission charge and it's only open for visits at certain times of day.

Lund Cathedral

lund cathedral

The cathedral in Lund is quite impressive. It was well worth a visit, and just imagine that this cathedral dates all the way back to 1080! Wow. The typical romanesque architecture looks great and there are many beautiful things to see, such as the amazing astronomical clock from 1424.

It's also possible to go down into the crypt that has been largely untouched since 1123.

*Photos by Robert

Lund

lund university

It's interesting how different places makes you feel. We were in Malmö and I did not particularly like it but when we got Lund I almost instantly felt that I liked the city. I believe the environment in which we live affect us more than we think and I want to live in a beautiful place.

Anyhow, Lund is a nice city and I specially like the area around the cathedral and university. You can see the main university building in the photo above. It's just the kind of impressive architecture I like. :happy: