DAYS 159 & 160 - Ferryin' the Fjords

Aug 25 & 26 - Could We Have Picked a Better Day?

View from Ramberget (Raven Hill) and Keiller's Park in Göteborg

 Matthias took the morning and gave us a quick tour of his favorite place to go - the highest point in the area and best view of the city.  It was here that the Vikings would go to die a violent death.  They would engage in a fight and be thrown off the cliff to their death.  Or - it is said that the elderly would be asked by their relatives to be pushed off.  Then they would be assured to spend their afterlife in Valhalla.  Before Christianity, Valhalla was the Viking eternal paradise, like Heaven. Valkyries were warrior-women goddesses who searched battlefields for dead heroes. Warriors who had died bravely would be carried by the Valkyries to Valhalla. There they would be welcomed to the afterlife by the god Odin, with whom they would feast every night.

Looking across the river to another island.

Discussing the history up here on the mountain.

Looking at the marble map of the area.

Another view of the Lipstick building

 We went to a cute little church up there that I don't know the name of, but I enjoyed touring inside and out.

Viking Ships are even in the churches as history

 

 The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith.  During the 20th century the Church of Sweden oriented itself strongly towards liberal Christianity and human rights.  A proposal to perform same-sex weddings was approved in 2009

These are very old furniture pieces at the front of the church.

Talking again about Swedish culture

Oh boy - another portrait of us

 Sailor tower (194 steps) is erected in memory of the Swedish sailors who perished on board Swedish ships during WWI. The tower base are the names of 684 Swedish sailors, of which 36 were women. Another 103 foreign sailors lost their lives in these accidents. 434 Swedish seamen on board foreign ships also were killed, but their names are not on the shelf.

A fun "Viking" trash bin

Bronze sculpture "Woman by the Sea" by Ivar Johnsson stands and looks out over the river.

 The Maritime Museum was closed as it was Monday, so I'll have to find the Immigration records for my ancestors via the internet.

War time relics overlooking the sea

Sillgatan:   The Emigrant Path through Göteborg    http://goto.glocalnet.net
I'm hoping that when I do a little more research, I will be able to find out where the Olsons left Sweden and on what ship.  This website is really interesting and gives some insight as to what happened back then - 150 years ago.

More and more immigrants are coming into Sweden all the time to reap all the benefits of the health and education systems that the country has to offer.  Many Swedes are not happy about this.

Time to take the afternoon and go "ferryin'. "  We bought a ticket and were able to use it for two round trip tickets to visit several islands.   
 

This is the ferry we hopped on for our first ride.

 Great weather!  

         Great scenery!  

                  Great time!

Rich loves to get photos of each country's flag.

Great use to catch the wind for energy.

The fjords are such a wonderful natural phenomenon.

Pinch me - I can't believe how cool this is - and the ferry is going F-A-S-T!!

This bridge connects two of the islands.

How can people ride inside when all this is out here?

Some of these islands have very few people living on them, but we stop anyway.

Cute car!  We stopped for 1/2 an hour on one of the islands & did a quick tour.

Another jellyfish and this is a big one.

Rich is eating his favorite cookie - they're made up north in "reindeer land"

My next adventure is going to be on a sailboat through the fjords.

We're going to stop over  in another city - all of the flags from different countries.

 The waters out here are just a buzzin' with different kinds of boats - it's a regular city right on the water.

"I Can't Keep From Singin' "

This is one of my favorite photos- and I even took it on my little camera.

Lots of tiny little islands.

There are even boats that are ambulances.

"Ok guys, say good-bye to Rich and Shari - weren't they fun?"