Neil Hopcroft

Every year there is a “Tram Day” celebration on the Stockholm vintage tram – the tram cafe serves a tram cake.

We took another visit to Vaxholm via Bogesunds Slott.

Walpurgis Night is a big celebration in Sweden – with the celebrations being broadcast live from Skansen.

Upplands 855“inki-… [a]uk : iuker [:] þau : litu : raisa * stain : þina : a[t] * ais[t *] sun * sin : ernfastr * auk * þaiR * (b)ryþr * raist[u] * at * bru… …”“Inge-… och Jogard de läto resa denna sten efter Est, sin son. Ärnfast och bröderna reste (den) efter […]

[audiobook] Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit is a collection of essays and articles about the interactions between the sexes. The headline essay collected the thoughts into a coherent whole that turned into an understanding of what we now know as mansplaining, although the author did not use that portmanteau and does not […]

On the road to the Vik estate are a few rune stones.

Vik Slott is a country estate on the lakeside near Uppsala.

Outside the church at Västeråker are a couple of rune stones. Then a few more across the countryside nearby. Upplands 847:“Åsger och Gislög lät resa denna sten efter sina två söner, Ådjärv och Slode. Åsmund högg rätta runor för den som skall tyda. Åsmund … ristade.” Upplands 846:“Jovurfast, …-fast, Vigunn, de lät [rista] dessa [runor] efter sin […]

Hidden in the walls of Dalby Church is a fragment of a rune stone.

We took another trip to Gamla Uppsala. This time just before Walpurgis Night so there was a big bonfire being built – Uppsala is one of the main centres for the Walpurgis celebrations in Sweden.