‘Xcuse me please, but there are no places in Sweden beginning with the letter X. But the town where I live is part of a historically interesting teXtile industry district – and does it really matter where in the word the X appears?
Yesterday my aunt and uncle were visiting, and they wanted to take me and a friend of my aunt’s out to lunch. They had a place just outside town in mind. But as it happened, we missed an eXit or two, found no place to turn the car around, and ended up on an eXcursion further on into the teXtile district instead.
At Rydal there is an old cotton spinning mill that has been turned into a museum:
The mill was built in 1853. Rydal is also where the first hydro-electric power station in the country was built, and this mill was the first building in Sweden to have indoor electric lighting.
Just now there is an eXhibition of Swedish Design from the 1960s and 70s going on. This is an eXhibition I also saw last year at the Textile Museum in Borås. So I recognized a lot of the objects, but since they were hung and eXposed quite differently here, it still did not feel quite like a repetition.
That’s my refleXion in the mirror to the right!
As eXtraordinary as some of the eXhibited objects were, we did not linger too long, because by now we were getting eXcruciatingly hungry!
As the inn across the road from the museum did not serve lunch eXcept if one had made reservations in advance, we had to go on to the neXt small town to find a place to eat. But when we finally found a café named Tailor’s Shop (Skrädderiet) in Kinna, it proved worth the wait.
The eXterior of the place looked very inviting too:
(I know, I know. There should have been Xs instead of pushpins on the map. I just didn’t know how…)
18 comments:
Very original, and your post is a lot of fun. I would simply love to see the eXhibition of TeXtile design! I love Swedish and indeed all Scandinavian design. Much copied but never beaten, and hardly ever equalled.
you already know i love textile things, and that restaurant looks good from inside and out and the food looks wonderful. i am eXcruciatingly hungry right now. just got home from visiting my friend in the nursing home.
eXcellent post of a very eXtraordinary place...I've never been to Sweden, but it's on the bucket list.
Leslie
abcw team
I love the pictures, I always love when you post the textile museum. Looks like a really fun day. What are those colorful pictures that look like T.V. screens beside the bed?
Lovely post. (Someone beat me on the 'excellent'). I also have Sweden on the list. Lapland, actually. I have a relative who lives there. I want to come in winter and perhaps catch a view of the Aurora.
nice trip
Rog, ABC WEDNESDAY team
An excursion I'd have loved to be part of! The museum looks very interesting.
I wonder whether Rydal has the same meaning as Ryedale in Yorkshire.
I love the quip about the pins vs Xs :)
Pretty pics
Or Rydal in the English Lake District.
I'm looking out of my window at a dull, misty morning and your cafe looks exceedingly welcoming.
I didn't eXpect such an interesting post about teXtiles. Looks like you had an eXceptional time.
How nice to see the mill and all the interesting things about teXtiles...
Well, here's to playing fast and loose with the (eXpected) rules! Love your words and especially the vignetting you did on the photos.
I didn't know there was a Rydal in England - nor a Ryedale, for that matter. As for the Swedish name, I suspect the orignal meaning would be "the clearing in the dale". 'ryd' and variations thereof is quite common as part of Swedish place-names.
Thanks Lisa. There was difficult back-lighting in some of these pictures and that led me to experiment with white vignetting in the editing. "When you cant beat'em, join'em!"
Dawn, just got your comment to enter my drawing....That's great...You name is in the cookie jar!!! Thanks for joining the fun.
My understanding from a website on Rydal Hall is that the name Rydal is derived from Old Norse meaning "valley where rye was grown" and is first mentioned in 1240.
You have such a nice post. Love the textile information it seems that this industry is already almost extinct which is kind of sad. Good thing I see it here. Thanks for sharing and happy weekend!
Kim,USA
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