A Sunny Day

Over the past week or so, thaw and rain have been working away at the thick layer of snow we had before that. It's been a slow process though, and the nearby surroundings have been such a mess of slush and ice that some days even the few steps to the dustbins at the corner of the building have not seemed worth the risk. 

 

Yesterday, I manged a somewhat longer "reconnaissance tour" in the immediate neighbourhood, though, trying to assess the general situation - and I found the streets now for the most part fairly ice-free and dry. And with the forecasts for the beginning of this week suggesting temperatures to remain around freezing point, but no further rain/snow falling, I gathered up my courage to at last try to get myself into the city centre for a by now seriously overdue haircut. (The combination of my unfortunate fall and knee injury in early October, and the snowy winter following, has made it difficult for me to walk much; and even to try taking a bus part of the way hasn't felt safe.)

 

Today even seemed to promise some sunshine, and after having washed my hair in the shower in the morning, I decided to call my hairdresser. I was in luck: she could fit me in at 11:40. I decided that my best option was probably to walk along a major street towards the railway station/travel center (about half-way), because if I felt too tired when getting that far, I'd be able to take a bus from there to a place closer to my goal. However, having reached the intersection where I needed to make that choice, I felt ok to continue walking. I also found I had time before the hairdressing appointment to visit a nearby pharmacy (for a few non-prescription things). I arrived at the hairdresser's at 11:30, and found her ready for me. She was efficient as usual, and when she was done, I felt relieved to "be myself" again. Actually I almost felt like about ten years younger...!  (Not in the sense back to 60, but at least back to my actual age, from lately having felt more like 80!) 

 

AI image reused from some previous occasion.

 

Thus rejuvenated, from the hairdresser's I walked to a nearby bus stop, prepared to take any of three buses passing by there back to the travel center. One came in just as I arrived to the stop; and as it turned out, at the travel center I could then change directly to another bus taking me a further two stops closer to home; with only ~10 min left to walk from there. 

 

I had left home at 10:45, and was back at 12:15; and the whole adventure went more smoothly (and with less knee pain) than I had dared hope for. 

 

The photo at the top is the only one I snapped on my outing: Looking back at the street where my hairdresser's salon is situated, before I walked on to take the bus back home.

 

 

Keep Walkin', Part 2 - Street Views

 Continued from Part 1, last week

From the woodland park that was not showing off quite as much autumn colour as I had hoped, I turned into a street leading towards the Culture Center (library, art museum and theatre). There are some impressive big old houses in that part of town.

I've always liked old houses with towers and odd angles etc. I remember thinking when I was younger that I'd like to live in a house with a tower... Now I'm not so sure I'd really like climbing all the inevitable stairs, though!

 

This entrance door caught my attention - especially with the rag rug in front!

I like the bay window, too. Never had one of those either!

Nice autumn colours in the trees along this street.

 

This is (part of) a upper secondary school (senior high school). Although I did not live here back in my school years, I actually did go to this school for six months later in life, attending a medical secretary training course. 

The biggest church in town is nearby, built ~1906. It has been on this blog before.

Ryttaren - The Rider
Sculpture by Sven-Erik Johansson

 Not one of my favourite sculptures (too odd for my taste). But the artist (1925-2020, born in Borås) is quite famous for his rather eerie paintings and sculptures.

The Culture Center. I went inside for a bit, but the Art museum turned out to be currently closed, preparing for a new exhibition.

A mural revisited on the way back.
I don't remember its title or artist.

 

The Times They Are A'Changin'

 

On my way home from the city centre on Midsummer Eve, I snapped this photo of an old lady with a walker, moving very slowly into a part of town that is going through a major transformation compared to what it used to be. When I moved to this town to live in the mid 1980s, this was a rather deserted area of old industrial buildings. Now only a couple of those still preserved, while others are being replaced by one 'skyscraper' after the other of new apartment blocks.  

I know nothing about the old woman; but watching her, I could not help thinking that if she has perhaps lived all her life in this town, it must all seem even more strange to her. Even to me (not yet in need of a walker, but recently 'old age' pensioner), the world seems to be spinning ever faster these days, while I keep slowing down...

A couple of weeks ago I took some more photos of what is going on:

 

 

(this photo from back in April, hence no leaves on the tree)

 

I know the population is growing and that we need housing, but I have to say that this "densification" with more and more tower blocks close to the city centre does not appeal to me... In the flats at the top, or facing the river, I suppose some lucky people are or will be enjoying great views. But with so many tall buildings so close to one another now, a lot  of other people must just be staring straight at their neighbours in the next building...

I live in a flat myself, but on the 2nd floor of a 3-storey building, and with quite wide green lawns between the buildings. It's not a high status area (built in the 1940s and the flats rather small) but I keep praying/wishing they'll continue to keep it like this - with low buildings and spacious green areas in between. 

Here I should have some photos to insert for comparison, but although I must have taken plenty over the years, they prove difficult to find in my archives... Oh, found a couple of old ones at last that should prove the point: Distance between the buildings, and a larger park/playground area in the middle of the estate. And plenty of trees and flowers.

 

Linking to Weekend Street

December 17 - Tuesday

From Lund, Skåne, Sweden

The city of Lund is full of charming old houses.
And in July, hollyhocks and roses in bloom everywhere.
Often flourishing in seemingly impossible places!

July 2019

Red Brick and Roses

On our last evening in Lund (back in July) we went for a random walk along charming back streets that had me stopping at more or less every house and corner to take photos... 

I think I'll just share one now and then rather than gather them all in one post!





Ruby Tuesday Too

Panorama 2

A couple of days ago, I wrote about how Google Photo surprised me with automatically turning some of my photos (taken with my mobile) into a panorama.

Today, I decided to put it to the test if the same thing would happen again if I deliberately took three overlapping photos in different directions from the same spot.

 Looking along a side street to the right.

  Looking straight along the row of houses ahead of me.

Turning a little to the left to also catch the school buildings on the opposite side of the street ahead.

And voilà... Not long after I got back home, and my phone was back on WiFi, Google again laid the puzzle (quite automatically), and made this panorama view for me:

This is from a part of town where I don't walk very often, and had not really intended to go today either. My plan was to buy some geraniums for my balcony, and for that purpose I took a bus to (the neighbourhood of) a certain garden center across town. After I had bought my four pots of flowers, instead of waiting for a bus back, I decided to try a path I spotted that seemed to lead in the right direction, through an underpass under a road and railway. It soon proved to be (as I hoped) a convenient shortcut to more familiar surroundings.

Here are some more photos I took along the way:

  A mural at what I assume must be a school.

  Large tenement buildings from the 1960s or 70s. 

This is a part of town that is some ways a weird mix of old and 'new', and nowadays predominantly inhabited by people from "all over the world". (Africa, Middle East, Asia... And a lot of muslims, judging by the dress code.)

There are some quite charming older tenement buildings too, though - looking especially pretty on a sunny spring day like this.

Some areas along the railway seem just to be waiting (still) for decisions about future plans for the railway.

The railway station. I think you probably have to buy your tickets online these days, though! (It's been so long since I last went anywhere by train that I'm not even keeping up any more with how to go about it... It might have changed next week anyway!)

The geraniums that accompanied me on my walk!