End of year clearance

Before I start posting about my trip home after a year of living in Luleåland, I thought Id just clear out a few pics that never made it into the blog so far. Varsågod.

Not-quite-the-most-expensive-set-of-tongs-in-the-world

This is the oldest unused pic. When I first arrived I needed a pair of tongs. Here in Sweden they all seem to use these thin pincer like tongs that are like oversized tweezers - they dont have large spades at the bottom, which I desired. Not knowing where to go for cheap stuff I ended up paying 18 dollars (AUD) for these at a gourmet cookware shop. They are a fantastic set of tongs, love them, great balance, good closing action, great handfeel. But all I really wanted was a crummy 2 dollar set of aluminium ones.

One of the best things about the almost 24 hr sunlight, were the massively long sunsets. Sunset can take 4 to 5 hours - no wonder the idea western idea of sitting on the back porch with your lover having a romantic evening watching the sunset never appealed to readers in the north of Sweden.

There was one fantastic one when I went shopping, that made me stop every few minutes just to watch and it took an hour to get home. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera then, but here are a couple of shots from another time, trying to capture the magic.


The only bad thing about these sunsets... the lack of thick curtains on houses meant I couldn't sleep. Sunsets and sunrises are great, but when I'm in my pj's in bed at 2am I could care less.

Fancy modern buildings at the Aurorum science precinct next to Uni.

Typical large Swedish house

New, non-typically swedish houses being built around the SSAB steelworks area. Now the trendy spot of town - think Kensington or Port Melb, I guess.

Modern bathroom design seems to be forgetting about usability and privacy.

Here they block off alot of streets, especially within blocks of flats etc to restric cars. About half the time the concrete barriers are a little more decorative than just red and white blocks.

"Private Ground, Private Road (Here ends the EU)".

Lakeside

Old railway maintenance sheds

Typical hay sheds in the countryside - sloping walls prevent snow from piling up on them.

The Old Church Town (Gammelstads Kyrkbyn). These huts date from the 1400's and were where people would stay overnight after the long journey to get to church. People can own them now, but they are protected and cant be modified. So without water and electricity etc, I dunno what they do with them.

The Ormberget ski practice hill in summer. Surprisingly it looks alot like Thredbo did in the winter...

Badly scanned postcard showing the town central. In the back is the SSAB steelworks and port. Uni and my apartment are out WNW of the pic.