Down the Road

A week ago, last Saturday, there was an event in town in connection with the grand re-opening of a street that has been more or less dug up and in general disarray for a year or more, in connection with laying down new water pipes and whatnot.

*Västerlånggatan, January 2017

Now the job has been finished at last, and besides new pipes under ground, we have a new visible water feature on the surface, in the shape of a narrow canal with running water and little basins with splashing fountains. The project has been much discussed along the way (couldn't the money have been spent on something more useful etc) – but whatever our opinions may be, it’s here now. And last weekend the Spring Sun joined in the opening celebrations and made it all look rather pleasant and cheerful and relaxing.

There were also peace offerings of free ice cream, festive brass music, balloons for the children, and (for some mysterious reason) a group of marching soldiers (or actors) dressed in 17th century uniforms.

(The expression “bread and circuses” comes to mind…)

 

The main square is just a block away.

Guess which drummer became everyone’s favourite?

*Västerlånggatan: “West Long Street”.
We also have an East Long Street (Österlånggatan).

Linking to: Friday My Town: Down the Road

Don’t Ask Me

I’m thinking of having this made into a big button to wear on my coat whenever I’m out and about in town.

I might look trustworthy (if I didn’t, I don’t suppose I’d get asked as much!); but more often than not, I feel absolutely useless when it comes to giving directions to people how to get to a place - especially if they’re driving (as I don’t drive in town myself, and never keep in my head which streets are open for traffic and which I can only use when walking). But I’m afraid I’m not always much use to pedestrians either, as I’m not all that good at remembering street names and numbers. Knowing how to get there myself is one thing; giving directions to somebody else is another matter!

Today, having been into town for some groceries in the morning, I was sitting on a bench waiting for my bus back home, when a young immigrant woman (pushing a pram) came up to me and waved a piece of paper about and asked me for help. The heading told me she was looking for the Public Dental Service. So I told her to go past a nearby kiosk, cross the street and she’d be there. For some reason this answer seemed to confuse her a little; but she did toddle off in the direction I pointed ut.

So I was happy with myself until I’d got on my bus; and then my brain woke up and started throwing doubts at me. Okay, I visited that dental service once – but how many years ago? 15? 20? (I only went there for an emergency once when my regular dentist was out of town…) And didn’t I notice, only a few weeks ago, a sign with that name (public dental service) on a completely different building in another street, in the exact opposite direction? and didn’t that make me reflect that “oh, they must have moved”…??

When I got home, I googled. It seems the Public Dental Service actually has surgeries/offices in both those places in central town. As I did not look for a street address on the letter, I can only hope I happened to point her to the right one. She might still have had difficulties finding that one though, as the entrance is from the other side of the building…

Could someone tell me, please, why my brain seems to still keep outdated and more or less useless memories on top for easy access, while it pushes the fresher ones off to the back, from where it takes ages (or at least many minutes) to dig them out??

Linking (possibly a little bit off the mark) to
Friday My Town Shoot Out: Personal

The images are from recycling/closed loop festivities going on in town on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago.

FMTSO: Streets

A piece of street art that I happened to miss during the recent Street Art Festival, but went in search of later (click on the link to see my street art post from last week)

Artist: Nira Dahan

Weekend Reflection: Happy Easter

Not sure I’ll have much time for blogging in the week to come, so I thought I’d put in an Easter card already this weekend. Happy Easter to you all – and good luck with figuring out what’s inside vs outside in this picture!

Weekend Reflections

Catching Up: Ice, Snow, Thaw, Slush…

Saturday 7th Dec: Clear, icy cold and slippery.
(More photos from the Christmas Market coming up soon for ‘Friday My Town’ in my Picture Book blog.)

 

Sunday 8th Dec: Snowing, snowing again, all day long. I stayed in, did not set even one foot outside.
(The bottle, if anyone is wondering, was bought at the Christmas Market and contains non-alcoholic mulled wine – “glögg” – made from Swedish wild berries. I’ve not opened it yet, but tasted some at the market.)

Monday 9th Dec: Sunny and thawing. Took the bus up to the hospital for my rehab… Judging by the amount of snow plowed up at the bus stops, one might think they were trying to get more patients! (We don’t have competing hospitals here though. There is only one in town, and it’s usually over-full.)

Today: Foggy and slushy… Had an appointment for a haircut, the salon is in a side-street across town.

Some day I think I shall have to do a special post on various kinds of winter footwear and ice-creepers…

Street Scenes

While our city is prospering and growing lately (with  new building projects going on everywhere), we are also getting “the flipside of the coin”…

They come here from Eastern Europe: Not to live, not to stay, but to beg. As members of the European Union they have the right to stay three months as ‘tourists’ (or whatever). Technically they are not breaking any laws (because there is no law against just sitting in the street hoping that people will drop some coins in your paper cup). But being neither citizens nor refugees seeking residence, they fall outside the normal social welfare systems. From what I’ve read in the papers they also sleep rough – in spite of the hard winter we’ve been having. In a town this size there are no charity shelters to cover this kind of situation.

I can’t imagine that these beggars are here, doing this, for “fun” - especially not in winter. But at the same time it can’t be ruled out (as some suggest) that it is “organized” (meaning some of the money might go to a boss somewhere who does not actually have to sit in the streets himself). But until someone can prove that, or some new law is introduced to prohibit begging… It seems we have to live with it. (The beggars who are here just now won’t be here forever. But no doubt there will be others.)

Meanwhile, the rest of us continue running in and out of shops as usual, buying new spring clothes or colourful scrapbooking items or whatever. (I mention scrapbooking because a new hobby shop opened in town on Friday, and I popped in to have a look around… And yes, spent some money too.)

So we shop, and manage to put the beggars out of our minds for a little while... But as soon as we get back out on the street - there they are again (or still).

I have no more idea than anyone else how to handle it. For years, my personal policy has been to only give to charity through established organisations or churches – not to any anonymous collector that happens to wave some list in my face in the street.

But these silent people with their paper cups sitting bundled up in the streets in the freezing cold all winter long... The same faces in the same street corners, day in and day out… By their presence alone, they bring world poverty uncomfortably close. Occasionally I break my own rules and drop them a few coins. Do those coins make any real difference? Probably not much. Does it make me feel any better? No. It just makes me think I need a new (or renewed) policy. (Actually I feel the town needs a policy. Or Sweden does. Or Europe. Or the World…)

Any thoughts, experience, advice??

Saturday Surprise: Yikes What A Lot Of Bikes!

Today for the first time in weeks I went into town “just for fun” - and was rewarded by a most unusual and surprising sight: The whole town square full of …

…. MOTOR CYCLES! …

I came home with 100 pictures from this event, so you’ll probably be seeing a few more in the near future!

Linked to Weekend Reflections and SOOC Sunday.

Saturday Surprise: Pink Punk

  

Ï’m not really very bold when it comes to taking photos of strangers in the street… But sometimes I just can’t resist!

So I used the “shooting from the hip” method we practiced recently in the Friday My Town Shoot Out Challenge (which I take part in from my other blog).

If I had been a more daring reporter (or a very close personal friend), I would gone up to him and asked how long it takes him to do his hair in the morning…?