Welcome to Sweden – the land of FIKA! Used as both a noun and a verb, fika is a Swedish institution–coffee with a snack. The word fika is an inverted form of “kaffi,” the 19th-century Swedish word for “coffee — their adaptation since coffee was banned five times between 1756 and 1817. Well the tradition has persisted.Gamla Uppsala had mound builders! The Viking used to sail directly here 1500 years ago when the Baltic Sea was higher and this was the center of their world. There was even a “ting” here — the site of the annual political assembly of all the tribes — where laws were passed.Some amazing items found in the unlooted, un-cremated viking grave mounds like these intricate helmets. The leaders were buried in their boats with their horses amongst many treasures.Gamla Uppsala was also the center of all the pagan Swedish kingdoms. All these kingdoms came together 1,000 years ago and also became Christianized here.The Gustavianum — the university museum — holds these treasures and has a garden full of Rune stones found there — an ancient burial site.We learned a lot about Rune Stones that we found interesting. Old Norse language is based on Latin, and Runes started appearing around 400 BCE, in the Roman Iron Age. This county in Sweden has the most amount of Runes, which are being documented and maintained.The alphabet for the Rune is simplified into these symbols. Can you write your name?Uppsala has a very visible Cathedral, one of Scandinavian’s largest and most historic, completed in 1435.Gorgeous gothic architecture and murals in the longest nave in Scandinavia!King Gustav Vasa brought the Reformation to Sweden in 1527 so got the prized chapel space. In the tomb sculpture, he is flanked by his two wives — the first died young but the Gustav wanted her next to him in the afterlife — and murals depicting his illustrious life.The dome on the Gustavianum is a sundial on the exterior, and inside is the anatomical theater. Plus a great museum that has other non-viking treasures……Like Anders Celsius’s Thermometer! What is special about this is that the numbers are flipped — in that water boiled at zero degrees, not 100. He later reversed the numbers. He was a colleague of……Carl Linneaus, also a professor here, who used this Microscope to come up with his formal classification system for naming plants and animals — that we still use today.We went over to Linnetradgarden, which is the oldest botanical garden in Sweden. It was founded in 1655 by Olof Rubeck the Elder, gutted by fire in 1702, reworked by Linneas according to his system for arranging plants.This is the Autumn Parterre, with imported plants from the state of Virginia. Many varieties of Rudbeckias – you might have some in your yard! Linneas named to honor Olof Rudbeck the Elder and the Younger.Just a beautiful flower in its prime! And a treat to be in the house — now museum — that Linneas lived and the garden he tended. Contemplating walking in the footsteps that were before us in Uppsala.
One Reply to “Uppsala, Sweden”
Runes are pretty exciting to know…as it also has a mystical sound to them!! The Vikings were a tribe that had their own ideology and war ideas!!
I did watch the series Vikings and found it scary and mesmerizing at the same time! The women fought as hard as the men!!
Thank you for sharing so much history with us.
Runes are pretty exciting to know…as it also has a mystical sound to them!! The Vikings were a tribe that had their own ideology and war ideas!!
I did watch the series Vikings and found it scary and mesmerizing at the same time! The women fought as hard as the men!!
Thank you for sharing so much history with us.