Last night it fell about five cm of snow. Now, if the temperature doesn't rise too much it will still be there this afternoon which would be perfect since Liseberg's Christmas Market is on tonight's agenda.
Five million lights and 700 Christmas trees greet you when you walk in the entrance to Liseberg Christmas Market in Gothenburg. This year Christmas at Liseberg celebrates it's ten year anniversary and is more popular than ever.
Northern Europe's largest Christmas Market offers, in addition to all the traditional attractions; buildings dated from the 18th century, about 80 rustic stalls brim with traditional handicrafts and seasonal Swedish treats, reindeer and ice skating. And of course, the restaurants serve Christmas delicacies.
The design and craft market offers an enviable selection of gifts from famous names such as Iittala, Georg Jensen, the Kingdom of Crystal (including Orrefors and Kosta Boda ) and Lammhults furniture. In the Lapland area you can buy unique Sami handicrafts and see the reindeer. You can visit Liseberg Ice Gallery & Bar, the interior of which is sculpted entirely from ice from the Torne river.
Christmas at Liseberg is open from mid November to 23 December.
Source: boinzo, kberberi, maj-lis, nouna andersson, sofia bystr'm ' flickr.com
Since my Man recently became the head of security at The Swedish Royal Opera House, I thought I'd publish a blog about the historic building.
The opera company was founded by King Gustav III and its first performance, "Thetis and Phel'e" with Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin, was given on January 18, 1773; this was the first native speaking opera performed in Sweden.
But the first opera house was not opened until 1782 and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses were officially called the "Royal Opera", however the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera", or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.
The original Stockholm Opera House, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz was commissioned by King Gustav III, a strong adherent of the ideal of an enlightened absolutism and as such was a great patron of the arts.
The Swedish Opera company had first been located in Bollhuset, but there was a need to separate the Opera from the theatre and give them separate buildings. Construction began in 1775 and the theatre was inaugurated on 30 September 1782 with a performance of the German composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann 's Cora och Alonzo . It was also the place for public masquerade balls, events inspired from the famous opera-balls in Paris, which was open for everyone wearing a mask at a cheap cost and somewhat ill-reputed.
The Gustavian opera building in 1880:
The building was very imposing with its center Corinthian tetrastyle portico supporting four statues and topped by the royal crown. The four-tiered auditorium was oval in shape, had excellent acoustics and sight lines. The sumptuous foyer contained neoclassic medallions and pilasters.
It was in the foyer of the opera house where the king met his fate: during a masquerade on March 16, 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarstr'm, and died 7 days later. (In turn, this event inspired the opera Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi.)
Following the assassination, the opera house was closed until 1 November 1792, when it was opened again, which by some was considered shocking.
The son of Gustav III, King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, did not like the Opera, possibly because of the murder of his father, and disliked the fact that the scene of his father's murder was used as a place of amusement and leisure, and when a frivolous play was performed for his queen Frederica of Baden in 1806, he decided to close it down. It remained closed until 1809, and when the king was deposed, it took until May 1812, before it was organised enough to be fully opened again.
I woke up to the first snow of the season. And the only positive thing about that is that if it's going to snow some more all the leaves on the ground won't show and we won't have to do anything about it.
Today, the Medieval week on the Swedish island Gotland starts. Markets and music, theatre and lectures. Knights clash in tournaments. A journey in time and space. Gotland's special settings, Visby's 200 medieval houses on winding lanes, splendid church ruins, and the magnificent city wall frame makes the beautiful Hansa city a perfect place to celebrate the Middle ages.
Additional information: Gotland is listed on UNESCO's world heritage list, and film maker Ingmar Bergman lived here, on F'r'.
Today, Sweden celebrate midsummer with the blue and yellow flag raised and likewise the traditional 'midsommarst'ng', decorated with flowers. Friends and family gather to eat good food (especially fresh Swedish strawberries), dance, play games and just relax in, hopefully, the warm, sunny, bright Scandinavian summer evening.
Tonight the sun sets a little after 11 pm, but still the darkness keeps away and about 3 am the sun rises again. It's happy times and the fact that we're already going towards the darker season doesn't matter. It's summer!
Everything is bright, colourful. We're barefoot in the grass, lying in the sun, taking long walks and just trying to grasp as much as the often short summer in Scandinavia. Perhaps it makes us appreciate it even more.
Anyhow, the consequence is that the blog is still and boring. I'm so sorry.
Sofiero Palace and Gardens in Helsingborg has been named 'Europe's Best Park 2010', becoming the first Swedish park to receive the prestigious award. And by looking at these beautiful pictures it's not hard to understand the choice.
In 1865, Swedish Crown Prince and Princess Oscar and Sophia built the summer castle Sophie-Ro. In 1905 the newlywed Gustaf Adolf and Margareta was given the castle as a wedding gift and Margareta created with great pleasure the garden. Her parents, who owned the castle Bagshot, in England were both interested in gardening and her father who several times visited Japan brought back plants and inspiration, which affected Margareta's gardening interest.
When Gustaf Adolf died in 1973, he left Sofiero to Helsingborg city and today the garden is a blossoming oasis, with exhibitions, activities and arrangements. In the garden there are approximately 10 000 Rhododendron bushes of 300 different sorts and equal many hybrids. Sofiero has northern Europe's largest collection of Rhododendron.
The first photo shows our area only three weeks ago, all white. The others I took today, all green. Amazing ' it has exploded. One day it was winter and two days later, the summer is nearly here. Yesterday it was 30 degrees (Celsius) in the sun and I have a nice red colour already.
I hope you had a happy Easter, we certainly did!
Still Winter:
Three weeks later.
The bee's are buzzing loudly in this tree.
Food cellar. We're not using it, though.: )
Viking grave.
View from garden.
Garden.
Swedish flag. I would have preferred the Norwegian, but when in France' We're getting the red-white-blue for May 17th, though.
Easter Tulips. Bloomed for a week. I'm getting good at this. ;)
So pretty!
My proud and joy. It's been blooming for months now. I'm in awe over myself.
Maja enjoying Spring.
R's darling veteran motorcycle.
Newly bought veteran Volkswagen. Extremely ugly but I've been promised it will look better soon.
I was riding the tram home and suddenly, a few hundred yards ahead, over the roof tops fireworks appeared. The whole sky lit up in an explosion of vibrant colours. It marked the start of the summer season at Gothenburg's amusement park Liseberg. And what a start! A clear moonlit sky at the evening blue hour. Saturday, pay day, lots of people celebrating. Certainly a perfect night to open such a happy place. Ironic though, that the opening of a park that is meant so much for children only contains of grown ups.: )
Three months of constant white (seriously). Last year the snow came in the middle of December and stayed till March. This year it was the middle of November. Will it be October next year? I'm starting to long for Spring!
