Thursday 23 August 2018

This & That

Still trying to catch up with myself, but…

Image borrowed from whereever on the Internet.
(If the rightful owner objects, I’ll return it and apologize.)

Time of course keeps ticking on as always, ignoring my desire to stop it for a bit while I continue sorting out my holiday photos...

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Only just over two weeks now until Election Day in Sweden (September 9th)... Including national, regional and municipal elections. Whether you turn on the TV, the radio or the computer, or go for a walk into town, there seems to be political debate going on in every corner. At the moment, I think I’m even more tired of all the media analysing than with the ‘actual politics’!

There have been other goings-on as well, though.
For example, this uplifting piece of street art:

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2018-08-13 Centrum, pianotrappa

On the same day that I took the photos above (Monday the 13th), there was also something else happening down by the river…

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This, however, turned out to be neither about Art nor Politics, but Sports! - to do with an Action Run event the following weekend… (How exactly they made use of this contraption I cannot tell you, though, as I wasn’t there to see it.)

On Wednesday last week, a friend and I went to an evening concert in one of the churches in the city centre. Not the one at the top of the Piano Stairs, but the other big one. Earlier in the summer I also visted that church in the daytime on a weekday, when it was empty:

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The church reflected in the windows of the Cultural Centre nearby.

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At the concert last week, the same church was full to the brim:

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The main attraction was a nationally well-known Swedish singer-songwriter (Göran Fristorp), performing together with a local choir and orchestra. It was a lovely summer concert – even if a little long to sit still on a wooden church bench from the beginning of the previous century… (We arrived half an hour in advance – and good thing we did, or we wouldn’t have been able to get seats at all – and the concert itself lasted about 1 h 45 min…) (Luckily the next day I was free to do Absolutely Nothing…)

On Tuesday this week, another old friend (who lives elsewhere) called quite unexpectedly and said she happened to be in Borås in connection with her job and could I come into town and meet her after six? I’m not the most spontaneously flexible person in the world, but I managed… So we had a catch-up chat over cup and bite of something in a café down by the river. It was quite a nice evening so we were able to sit at a table outdoors, overlooking the river (ground floor of the big building in the background of the photo with the guy preparing the Action-thingy).


InSPIREd Sunday

19 comments:

  1. The church is so beautiful!

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  2. What great shots of this church. I have never seen the inside of a church like this. The colors, paintings, ceiling, and art totally fascinate me. The bookcases in the front, are those bibles or hymnals? What is the denomination? Thanks for the lovely church painting card! I also love the pink hanging flowers, especially with the contrast of the tires underneath! Those tires tied together partly in the water looks so much like someone made a raft! Maybe people will get in each one and float or something. Love the piano steps!

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    1. Thanks Ginny. I'm sure I've posted photos from this church before but it may have been some years ago. The domination is Church of Sweden (Lutheran), and the books in the foreground are hymnbooks. When visiting an ordinary church service in the Church of Sweden you're usually given a hymnbook + a program by a churchwarden when you enter.

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  3. Churches are great in terms of acoustics, aren't they, and also to let the eye and mind wander a bit while listening to beautiful music. Next time, bring a chair cushion :-) I would have been rather uncomfortable, too, sitting still on a wooden bench for so long.
    The "action thingy" was probably used for the runners to run across the river on it, splashing and sliding about if they weren't fast enough or took a wrong step!
    Lovely to have a surprise meeting with your friend.

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    1. Meike, the acoustics in this church is good for concerts, yes. Actually the wooden benches do have a (thin) layer of padding, and I had also brought an extra cushion for my bad arm/shoulder, + folded my jacket to support my back... There's kind of a natural limit to how many extra cushions you can bring with you into a narrow and straight-backed church bench, though (try a thick cushion and you'll find you have no room for your knees!) ;) ... A normal church service is usually ok as (in CoS) that nearly always involves a variation of sitting vs standing (like standing up for certain hymns and prayers).

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  4. Wonderful images from the north. I love the sports event equipment as well as the shots from the city by the river. Have a great weekend ahead!

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  5. all the photos are beautiful today, I especially like the two with the rubber tubes. and now I wonder just how they used them... love that reflection photo and so glad you could meet a friend for a bite to eat out in your beautiful hometown

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    1. Sandra, like Meike and Ginny suggest in their comments, I guess it served as some kind of bridge for the runners to get across the river.

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  6. It took me a few minutes to realise the street art to which you were referring (the piano steps) which is very clever indeed (in my humble opinion).

    I've learned to take a cushion when I go somewhere for a concert when I know it has hard seats.

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    1. Graham, I like the piano steps as well. Unfortunately I think they were just painted, so most likely won't survive winter... But a fun art feature for the summer events.

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  7. What a beautiful church! So different from the simple wooden structures we see in this part of the world. The piano steps bring a smile! Love the pretty hanging baskets. I can imagine the mayhem that will take place when the contestants reach the rubber tyre thingy.

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    1. Pauline, the wooden countryside churches I've seen from NZ (mostly from your blog and GB's!) resemble chapels belonging to various "free" churches here. The big ones with bell towers are usually Church of Sweden and many of those go back centuries. The Church of Sweden was State church until 2000 when state and church officially got "divorced". From its long history and traditions it still retains a bit of special status compared to the younger denominations, though.

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  8. I wondered what the tyres were for until I saw they were going in the river, and it's always good to catch up with friends for coffee.

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    1. Always Tea for me, Amy! (but my friend did have coffee)

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