FMTSO: Important Buildings

If I choose to walk into town past the railway station, these are some of the buildings I pass by.

An ‘avantgarde’ triangular office building from 2010; the head office of a rapidly growing fashion company (Gina Tricot, founded in 1997).

The railway station, built in 1900 (building listed as an important part of our cultural heritage).

Not sure about the importance of the building in the background, but it’s one of rather few old wooden buildings in town, and is a restaurant of some kind. (It was really the tree that caught my eye now, though…)

Across the street from the railway station there is an old “senior high” school for technical sciences; founded back in 1856. On the ground floor in the red brick wing, facing the station, you now also find our tourist office.

Across another street from there, we have one of the town’s first cinemas, built in 1914 – Röda kvarn (after  the famous Moulin Rouge - note the decorative wind mill on top of the wall. 

This building is also a cultural heritage listed one. It still serves as a cinema, but is now run by the town’s culture administration. They show certain classics or more ‘difficult’ or educational films etc, usually just one or two shows per film (and daytime specials for schools sometimes).

The town centre this weekend was full of market stalls for the spring market, which I’ll save for a later post.  So let’s just sneak around all that for now and just have a look at some of the views along the river which I took from the town park while waiting to take a bus home.

View from the park across to the South Square, where most of our bus lines meet. It is surrounded on three sides by low old wooden buildings (and on the fourth side by the river).

River View–For Some

The building in the foreground was recently finished.

Walking by today, I was pleased to see that it will soon be possible to walk along the river behind it.

Those who have windows and balconies facing west will have a nice view overlooking the river. (On the other side of the water, up on the hill, is an old cemetery. So no high buildings there.)

Looking east, the view won’t be too bad either – at least not when you get up a few floors from street level (it’s a rather busy street).

I’m not so sure about the view for those in the new building with balconies looking south, though. Or those in the bottom half of high building to the left, facing north… They’ll almost be able to shake hands with each other from the balconies.

This is they way they are building now in several places in/near the town centre, though. ‘Urban densification’ is the new keyword; rather than extending the suburbs.

Linking to FMTSO (“Rivers and Lakes”)

Shapes & Reflections

Weekend Reflections #285 & FMTSO – Shapes 

More Signs of Spring

From Human Behaviour point of view, I think that perhaps today may be counted as the first proper day of spring around here.

Walking into town, I saw a student lying flat on his stomach on the lawn outside a school building, reading a book. (Don’t ask why the sofa is outside - or, seeing that it is, why he was not using that. I haven’t got a clue! But it is a sure sign of spring, because it wouldn’t happen in winter!)

Approaching the main square, there was music in the air. It turned out to be coming from live street musicians; and lots of people were sitting around just enjoying both the music and the sunshine.

I got infected by the spring bug as well, and got some balcony stuff out from winter storage. My clematis plants will remain covered for a while yet though as otherwise the variation between frosty nights and sunny afternoons may be too much of a shock to them.

 

 

(And yes I will be careful with myself too.)

More City Lights

Some of you might remember that back in mid October I posted about A New View in my town. Yesterday that new part of the walk along the riverside was officially inaugurated. The ceremony took place at 4 p.m., which is when darkness falls here this time of year.

Instead of cutting a ribbon, they tied one together…

… as a symbol of the new part of the walk connecting previously existing possibilities to walk along the river.

The plan is that in 2018, it will be possible to walk close to the river all the way through town, for about 2,5 km (~ 1,5 English miles).

In the old days of textile industry, the river was lined with textile mills, and chemicals from the dyeing works used to colour (and pollute) the water in the river. Now, coloured spotlights are used as a reminder of that not-so-pretty history of our town, and the changes it has gone through more recently to become more of a post-industrial centre of commerce and culture. Which, in a way, is kind of how it all began back in pre-industrial times… When the town was founded in the early 1600s, it was as a trading-site!

FMTSO: Routine (Summer Thursday)

Summer Thursdays in My Town (Borås, Sweden) differ a bit from the usual everyday routine, but have become a yearly tradition, to draw people into the city even in the heat of summer (when many prefer the beach or the countryside). The attraction is free concerts in the main square on Thursday evenings in/around July, and the shops then also staying open late (until 9 pm instead of closing at 6 pm). The main concert starts at 9 pm, and before that there are some less well-known bands etc playing. There is also dance music (different band) and an outdoor dance floor in the town park.

I never actually attended any of the late night concerts – not quite “my thing”, too loud and crowded. But we have had exceptionally warm and sunny weather this week. So after a few days of that, I tried a routine more associated with southern European traditions - taking a “siesta” during the heat of the afternoon, and then a walk into town towards evening, checking out the early part of the Thursday Night events.

Me and my shadow!

The rose garden in the Town Park in full bloom.

“Pre-concert” band playing in the Main Square (photo taken around 6:30 pm). That early there aren’t yet all that many people standing still to listen to the whole show. (I might have stayed a bit longer if they had not been quite so LOUD…)

Many like myself seemed to prefer to wander about, popping in and out of shops etc.

The police were on patrol to make their presence known.

… and an ambulance waiting around the corner…
I don’t know if that’s routine too!!

Pretty much summer-idyllic so far, but…
Wait a minute…
What’s that up on the roof?

An inflatable sculpture copy of Edward Munch’s famous painting The Scream. (Part of the ongoing sculpture biennial.)

Yes. There’s certainly a lot of anxiety lurking in the heat of summer as well. And one can feel very lonely in a noisy crowd - especially if one is there on one’s own rather than with someone in particular.

So after strolling around for a bit, I turned back home before it (presumably) got even livelier in town.

Seeking the most shadowy way on a hot day like this, I walked across the old graveyard both ways. (The first picture of me under the tree was also taken there.) On my way home, I spent some time watching the bunny rabbits living there (quite a big colony of them) – disturbing them in their supper (consisting of delicious green grass). They are very camera shy, but I managed to zoom in this one with the evening light shining through his ears.

 

FMTSO: Landscapes of My Town

Borås was founded along a river, the industries making use of the water in various ways; but the landscape on both sides is quite hilly.

It’s not really easy to get a good perspective of that in photos, though. And no matter how I tag my photos on the computer, the tags never seem to match the themes that the FMTSO team come up with! [sigh & smile]

A photo taken some years ago – view looking east/ south east from one of the top floors of the hospital; which is in turn situated on the top of a hill.

Walking down from that hill westwards towards the town center. Keep your eye on the church tower.

Looking back up at the same church from below, still walking downhill towards the town center.

From the west end of the Town Park. The church tower sticks up well above the horizon, and yet the church is really only like half way up the hill… Where did the hill go? One of the mysteries of perspective, I suppose. (I never really thought about that until now!)

View looking south west from a bridge over the railway near the central station.

This lake stretches from the north edge of the town to the village where my parents lived. This view is from the beach nearest to our house (not quite at the furthest end of the lake); looking south-west towards town.

There are several smaller lakes in the vicinity of the town as well. (Sweden is a country of many lakes.)

… And there are woods …

… and farmland …

… and ancient monuments, like stone circles and grave fields dating back to “B.C.” …

Obviously, people found this a good area to settle down in even thousands of years ago.

Friday My Town Shoot Out