Mellan hägg och syren

A bit of a tradition. I usually take the bike down to Årsta castle this time of the year. It is close to the coast and my favorite beach, Årsta Havsbad. There is a newish promenade here that you can take to learn more about local history. Also, this not very comfy bench that I often use. On this occasion, shared with a bunch of flies. The title of the post is from a cordwainer that back in the day closed his shop this time of the year to enjoy the time when everything bloomed. The story says that he put up a sign on his door with the words, Stängt mellan hägg och syren. Closed between Hackberry, and Common lilac.

Stängt mellan hägg och syren

"Closed Between Bird Cherry and Lilac". A saying first uttered, or written down by a cordwainer that closed shop this time of the year many moons ago. It is a period of about two weeks in the middle of May when everything blooms. It is many peoples favorite time of the year in this country, me included. I found this bench along a historical promenade with info about "Old Årsta" close to Årsta slott in rural Österhaninge

WTF!

Årsta Castle in Österhaninge. It has a rich history. It also has a golf course and this old alleyway, Norra Allén, that is open for the public and local cyclists like myself, until yesterday that is when I encountered this horrible looking wooden gate. I wonder if it is former hockey great Peter Forsberg's fault. His company has taken over the operation of the castle and golf course, and they will build houses and what have you in the area over the next five years.

Viking Era Runestone

A 1,000 year old runestone that once stood at the long gone village of Blista, not far from Alvsta in Haninge. There's an old painting of the runestone dating back 400 years, and the top right corner of the stone was already missing back then. Today the stone stands close to Årsta castle in Österhaninge. It has been there since around 1864 when Gustav Upmark pieced the stone together. At that time the stone had been missing for hundreds of years and when it was found it was broken in several pieces. It is 263 centimetres high and 146 centimetres wide. The inscription reads: Sven had this stone made...(a few words are missing here) ...his good father and for Gudvar. The inscription was made by Halvdan. It means that Sven raised the stone in memory of his parents.

Sit back and relax

Just sit back and relax and have a look through the slideshow why don't you. Here are 90 photos from my visit to this years Targa Florio Svecia event. Cool cars. Expensive cars. People. Performers. Posers. Enjoy.

Every Day is a Good Day for Golf

Matte, Allan and Tomas out on the golf course at Årsta Castle in Haninge earlier today. Midwinter, 0C, grey skies and a bit of rain, perfect for a round of golf! The guys are all 70+. They have been playing golf together since 1986.

Årsta Castle

The view back towards the Årsta castle and part of the golf course. On the panorama you can see two female golfers walking over the course. Shot this from the tree lined avenue i showed you yesterday. The current castle was built by Claes Hansson Bielkenstierna and his wife Barbro Åkesdotter Natt och Dag around 1650. Two other well known owners include Fredrika Bremer and Hans Johan Hierta. If you would like to see a few more photos check out my flickr set.

The long way home

I decided to take the long way home from my visit to the farmers market at Årsta Castle. That meant riding the bike through the long tree lined avenue.

Farmers market at the castle

The annual farmers market moved to Årsta castle in Österhaninge this year. I took the bike down to check it out. Quite a few familiar faces there selling their produce. Some of the farms in Haninge where there, including Stegsholm and Sanda. You could buy anything from wool products to locally produced cheese, honey, marmalade and more. For the hungry there was a stew made from wild boar!

The Old Castle

Time for another different seasons diptych. This time I give you two views of Årsta Castle in Österhaninge. The left part of the diptych is how the castle looked on Sunday as I passed it after a visit to the beach. To the right how it looked in late May of 2008 with the blooming rapeseed in front of the old castle. The castle is open for visitors, and there's a decent restaurant here, but you need to look out for all the golf players!

Castle Avenue

Autumn colors along the North Castle Avenue at Årsta in Österhaninge. The castle looks like this. There's a golf course here and you can see the fairways on both sides of the old road. The weather was great today so there was quite a few golfers out there looking to make a birdie or two.

Åsa-Nisse the mjosikal

I visited Årsta Castle yesterday. It's situated close to the sea, just a kilometre from my favorite beach. Over the summer there's a play here. Not Shakespeare as they do at Häringe Castle a few klicks from here, but Åsa-Nisse the mjosikal (yes' that's how it's spelled). If you don't know Åsa-Nisse check out the wikipedia article. The play also have a website. If you are interested the ticket is 275 SEK. The premiere is tonight.

Årsta Castle

This is Årsta Slott in Österhaninge.The castle as it looks today was built by Claes Hansson Bielkenstierna and his wife Barbro Åkesdotter Natt och Dag around 1650. Other famous owners include the Bremer family, and Fredrika Bremer, wrote some of her books here. Another owner was Hans Johan Hierta, who founded Aftonbladet. If you visit today you can have lunch here after a round of golf. I only stopped for a few photos after a visit to the nearby beach.

Bigger photo.

sven had this stone made

A runestone at the Årsta Castle in Haninge. The inscription reads: Sven had this stone made...(a few words are missing here)
...his good father and for Godvar. The runestone was moved to this location in 1864. Runestones was the number one status symbol one thousand years ago. Often placed as boundary mounds. There's a cross at the top so Sven was a Christian. Today the castle acts as a clubhouse for a golf course. There's a big farm here that has been turned into a conference center. Everything owned by the same family.