Stamp of the Day: Eskilstuna

Can you believe it?  My hometown in Sweden has a Swedish stamp! This is Eskilstuna, a town about an hour west of Stockholm.  Listed at the bottom of the stamp is the friendship cities of Eskilstuna in Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark.  The images are typical for the town, the double-towered cathedral (not as old as it looks like), a sculpture in Torshalla by local artist Ebeling (I think), and the old 16th century blacksmith houses in the old historic town area for traditional trades (Rademachersmedjorna).  When I grew up it was mostly famous for being the home of Volvo BM's factory of giant dump trucks, a hospital, the home of one of the ABBA girls, and... I can't remember.  I am sure it has changed now.

Book review: Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann av Jonas Jonasson

One more book review of a Swedish book in Swedish on this blog, but this one it on its way to be translated into English and a multitude of other languages.  It was a long time ago I read such a hilarious book.  It helps that the long beginning takes place in a small village not far from where I grew up, and that the author successfully makes fun of Swedish society, world history, politicians and incompetent bureaucrats, and puts together an obviously too-incredible story, but it is fun!  Just like crazy movies like Young Frankenstein is fun.  It is not because the story is believable, but because the book (or movie) creates laugh-out-loud moments in your life. 

In Swedish this book by Jonas Jonasson is called 'Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann', which means The 100-year old who stepped out the window and disappeared. It will be made into a Swedish movie in 2012.  Jonas Jonasson is a former Swedish journalist who had the first draft of this book in his drawer for over 20 years or so.  The story seems simple, but it is not.  An old man turns 100 (named Allan) and decides to escape before his birthday party at the old-people home, and steps out the window.  And then the story starts, which includes murders, elephants, police, journalists, mafia, drug dealers, akvavit, swedish summer, swedish women, and much more... all written in a hilarious Swedish based on 1940-1950s intricate and sometimes stilted grammar with words of today thrown in. Throughout the book the 100-year old reminisces about his colorful life, where he has traveled the world, and in fact, helped (or not) world history personalities such as Franco, Roosevelt, Mao, Einstein's brother, Stalin, and he visits and deals with the associated gulag camps, atom bomb makings, secret submarines, and Iranian revolutions.  The book gives a great work-through of 20th century history, but of course it is all wrong because Allan is inserted in it.  But hilarious! I won't tell you the ending of the story, but it is good to the end.

I loved this book.  Apparently many (snobbish?) book critics in Sweden didn't like it at all, and thought it was silly, overwrought, or just plain dumb.  Well, dumb, that is Danielle Steele.  Overwrought, sure, but that is the point!  Just like a Mel Brooks movie, get it!?  Remember Springtime for Hitler - just the same thing, but this is nearly better, I think.  Silly - come on, good culture can be FUN. One critic complained that the book wasn't believable (hello, it wasn't meant to be!). This is pure entertainment, not serious literature... I am keeping this book so I can read it again next time I get the flu and have to lay in bed for a day or two. It will make me laugh many times again.  (And thanks to BOS for sending it to me!)

So, English-speaking readers, keep your eyes open and get it when it comes out in your country in the translated form.

Gorgeous: summer waters

rushes, originally uploaded by Vilseskogen.

The vertical lines of the rush stems go from the bottom of the lake straight through the water column and up in the air, and are slowly moved by the small surface ripples created by the summer winds. This photo was taken at Lake Trehörningen in Sweden, a little gorgeous place that few know about.

OK snapshot: First swim of the year

In the lake Bårsten, Södermanland, Sweden, 27 June.

Cold winter in Sweden

Kylan håller i sig mellan -10° och - 24° och det är dimma i luften. Rimfrosten växer sig flera cm lång på grenarna. Det är otroligt vackert. Sådan kyla under så lång tid minns jag att vi inte haft sedan vi köpte torpet 1965.

{The cold is between -10 C and -24 C, and it is fog in the air. The frost is growing on the branches until it is several centimeters long. It is incredibly beautiful. I can't remember that we have had such cold weather during such a long time since we bought our country house in 1965. (translation by LS. This is the house I spent most of my childhood in.}

The best softserve icecream in the world...

...can be found across the street from my old elementary school in Eskilstuna, in the Slagsta neighborhood. People are driving from near and far to order the silky-whipped-creamy-softy-white-and-yummy concoctions. Even the construction and public works workers show up at lunch time to have a cup of icecream (they are the ones in the bright yellow clothes).

Slagstaglass... oh, what memories from childhood. It started out like a regular candystore (kiosk) with an icecream machine, and now, 30 years later, the candy is gone and it is all icecream. You used to have to eat the icecream standing on the street outside, and now they even have tables and chairs and a little indoors place to sit if it is cold and rainy. The sign below says 'diet cup' (Dietbägare), but that is not what we ordered.. :)
Mmmm, waffle cups with icecream and accessories. Whipped (real) cream on top of course, and one with 'polkagris'-candy, one with chocolate sprinkles and caramel sauce, and one with fresh Swedish summer strawberries and strawberry jam. The jam is a trademark since the 1950s when it all started with Folke Johansson in this exact place. This is the original, folks! The real thing. It reminds me of the classic concrete icecream on old Rt 66 in St Louis, USA, also fantastic experience.
A closeup for those of you that really want to get your mouths watering. This one was my choice from their extensive ice cream menu. The cups are called 'snäckor', = shells, and the strawberry one is only sold when there are Swedish strawberry season.

Slagstaglass is so local and Swedish that they don't have a website in English. The icecream is made on site, from fresh ingredients, and it is a small family-owned company. Long live the local food producers...

Swedish summer, June 2008

A Swedish summer letter from my mom (AnS) arrived, with photos that she asked me to post, since there is a problem with blogger on her computer. This is how I grew up, and this is the Sweden I miss so much. Enjoy!

"Dom har slagit ängen nedanför där räven går och jagar möss."

They harvested the hay extremely early this year, and in the cut grass the red fox is hunting mice.

"Jagande räv." Red fox, ready to pounce.

Iris.

"Lupiner vid källardörren." Lupines at the cellar door.

"Lunden med vedboden i bakgrunden." This place is called the a word I don't know how to translate, but it means an open deciduous forest with lots of spring flowers. The wood shed is in the background.

"Vallörten blommar." Russian comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum

"Sädesärlan matar sina ungar under vedbodtaket. Här skriker tornseglarna runt huvudet, de har återtagit sina gamla bon och stararna skriker i sina holkar och flugsnapparna sjunger för fullt."
The Pied Wagtail is feeding its chicks under the tiled wood shed roof. The chimney swifts are screaming around my head, they have repossessed their old nests and the starlings scream in their bird houses and the flycatchers sing constantly. The photo is of a wagtail.
"...jag njuter av trädgården och hur fint allt är. Det är 29 grader i skuggan och jag sitter i skuggan under syrenen och på nätterna är jag ute och jagar nattsångare. Jag har hört vaktel, vassångare, busksångare, flodsångare, trastsångare och spelat in. I kväll skall jag försöka få en nattskärra vid Klockarsjön. "
...I enjoy the garden and how beautiful everything is. It is 29 degrees (Celsius) in the shade and I am sitting in the shade of the lilac and during the nights I am out finding night-singing warblers. [then she lists lots of different bird species in swedish, including quail, Savi's Warbler, Blyth's Reed Warbler, River Warbler, and Great Reed Warbler]. Tonight I am going to try to hear a Nightjar at Klockarlake.

"Hundkex, rödblära, gräslök, och syren blommar och alla pelargoner är
uttagna. Det är så ljuvligt. "
Queen Anne's lace, red campion (Silene dioca), chives, and lilac are flowering and all geraniums have been moved out into the garden. It is so wonderful.

"Akleja." Columbine.

Spring is here in middle of Sweden

Now springtime is really here. Hundreds of greylag geese are on my field and together with them are also hundreds of bean geese. It is really early this year. Three pink-footed geese are there too. Starling, lapwing and sky lark is in the sky. I am happy.

Släktbrev från 1860-talet (Family letters from the 1860s)

Jag läser gamla släktbrev från Lignellska släkten. Ett av breven är från min mormors mormor Maria Melander till min mormors mor Eugenia Jenny Lignell f. Melander. Det är så innerligt och kärleksfullt skrivet. Brevet är daterat Eskilstuna 1868. I en anteckning står det att det är skrivit av hennes man sergeant Samuel Melander efter hennes diktamen. Maria kanske inte kunde skriva eller var dålig. I brevet fanns ett fotografi av Axelborg i Eskilstuna där Samuel och Maria bodde. Jag misstänker att fotot är taget efter en mycket fin teckning. Bilden ser mycket gammal ut.
[I am reading old family letters from the Lignell family. One of the letters is from my grandmother's grandmother Maria Melander to my grandmother's mother Eugenia Jenny Lignell (born Melander). It is written in such a very personal and loving way. The letter is dated in Eskilstuna in 1868. In a note it says it was written by her husband sergeant Samuel Melander after her dictation. Maybe Maria couldn't write or she was sick. In the letter is a photograph of Axelborg, the place where Samuel and Maria lived. I suspect that the photo is taken from a very good drawing. The photo looks very old.]
Personen till vänster är min mormors mor Eugenia Lignell och hennes syster Malin. Det sitter några tavlor på väggen bakom dem och två av dem har jag på min vägg i mitt hem. Bilden är tagen 1908. Det är spännade att upptäcka dokument som man inte har sett. På den tiden fanns inga bilar eller tågförbindelser utan breven gick med postdiligens.
[The person to the left is my grandmother's grandmother Eugenia Ligness and her sister Malin. There are some paintings behind them, and two of these I have on my walls in my home. The photo is taken in 1908. It is exciting to discover documents you have never seen. At this time there were no cars or railroads and the letters were transported with horse-pulled stage coaches]
[Translation by LS]

Swedish Cheeses

There is hope, there is not just mass produced Greve, Herrgård, and Svecia cheeses from Arla in Sweden anymore! I am just kidding, I know you have other good cheeses over there. But this organic little dairy place is something special and we have to visit it next time in Sweden. Which other place has a cheese wrapped in spruce bark, "granbarksost"? It is a brie, that you heat up in the oven and then eat melted contained in the bark ring. Wow! See photo. This is Jürss Mejeri, in Flen, not far from Eskilstuna and Stockholm. Put it on your do-to-lists.

Forgotten places in my hometown

I went by bus in Eskilstuna and took a timetable. Do you remember Helgestahill, Valhalla, Glömsta, Rinmansparken, Tunavallen etc, dear family. It´s been a long time since I thought about these places, but seeing the names calls the memories back. Do you feel the same?

Editing: Ohhh, forgot the most important of all SLAGSTA, but that I hadn´t forgot. Slagsta-glass mmmm...(yummy)

More familiar names and places...