An old fortress and some seals

A view from Skansen

A day of walking.

Went up the steep hill to Skansen, an old fort built in 1698. It was closed today, but a nice blonde lady let us walk up the narrow stone stairs to the top, where there is now a restaurant. It’s like a cave, with tables and plastered, uneven walls and very deep window wells. In each of the wells, a cannon. Just in case. You never know when the Danes are going to get all shirty again. The view from the hill is incredible. Again, it was a foggy morning, but warm. (Nevertheless, all the kids are wearing snowsuits.) The ever-present Beech trees are huge and beautiful, and the colour of the leaves is somewhere between red and brown, covering the ground in a luminescent copper, with strokes of green from the grass. Very stunning, especially with the fog.

Give me a reason, Denmark (inside the fortress)

After Skansen, another stroll through Haga, an old district in central Gothenburg built entirely of wood, except for the cobblestone roads, and then lunch. And more pastry. Today, kind of a flat, chocolate cookie covered in salty peanuts and sunflower seeds. Delicious. Followed the feeding frenzy with a walk to Slottskogsparken, a huge park with many ponds, creeks, and assorted wildlife. Fascinated by the birds, especially the Magpies, which look just like ours but a bit smaller, and Jackdaws, another handsome corvid with black/grey feathers and really lovely light eyes. This park also has a free zoo, which is built vertically up one of the many rocky outcroppings throughout the city. Seals, sheep, goats, moose, and Fallow deer, which look like reindeer. Interesting layout for a zoo. Can’t imagine pushing a baby carriage up that incredibly steep hill, but I’m sure people do. They’re Swedes, after all.

Sharon and I are both in the thralls of dog-withdrawal, so we’re hitting up strangers for a quick fondle of their animals. Sharon especially is having a tough time. It seems weird to come home and not be greeted by a cat or a dog. Well, they’re only here until December, and I’m leaving in two weeks, so I guess we can deal with our dogless existence for the incredible trade-off of living and/or visiting such a wonderful city, and country. And their baked goods.

Tomorrow, more walking. And a visit to the museum.

8:55PM (12:55PM Edmonchuk time)/8C

Gothenburg

downtown Gothenburg

First morning after first full day of being in Gothenburg. What a BEAUTIFUL city. After about 16 hours of travel, a lot of it in airports waiting for connections, I arrived in Sweden’s second largest city around 6:30PM. Too dark to really see anything that night, but when I woke up in the morning, the city was encased in fog. Gorgeous fog, with the ubiquitous red roofs of the buildings peaking through. Also have a view of Skansen, and old fort, just to the left, and Haga Krykan (Haga Church) to the right. So European. So...northern European. Walked all around the city yesterday. Many of the streets are cobblestone, and there is a dedicated bike path on the sidewalks, not the streets. I have been told to watch out for the bikers, who apparently are much more dangerous than the cars.

Even on a Sunday, there were lots of people on the streets, in the shops, out for strolls. Even the candy store, which is unlike any other candy store I’ve ever been in, was full of adults filling their bags with many different kinds of sweets. The Swedish people are living up to their stereotype. They are beautiful-tall, slim, and well-dressed. All of them, men and women. Haven’t seen a wide-legged pant yet…tights and leggings with skirts are de rigueur, and everyone wears a scarf around their necks. More for fashion I think. It’s about 8C, so warmer than Edmonton. And the grass is still green. Kinda like Vancouver weather.

The architecture is amazing. Very few high-rises, mostly those old 19th, early 20th century buildings, all with different

Gothenburg's Beech trees

facades, five or six stories in height, encompassing residential and commercial properties. Very densely populated. No single family dwellings, at least not in this central area, although I don’t think they have a lot of sprawl. Some of the streets are narrow, and people cross the streets when it’s reasonable to do so. In other words, they act like adults. There isn’t that lock-step sort of mentality with regards to regulation. There is lots of see at street-level, and everywhere is a visual feast. Up, down. It doesn’t matter. Lots to eat too. The pastries are fantastic. Everything is topped with a crunchy sugar, kind of like…well,  I don’t know! Incredible. I’ll have to find some to bring back to Edmonton. Good thing there is lots of opportunity to walk.

Haven’t seen Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn, or Anni-Frid yet, but I’ll keep looking. They’ve gotta be here somewhere. Probably most likely somewhere in Stockholm, where I am going next weekend. All in all, the first day of my pilgrimage has been awesome.

10:30 AM (2:30 AM in Edmonton)/6C

A final walk…for awhile.

What a beautiful day. My last walk (probably) in Edmonton for the next two weeks. My walking blog is about to transform into a travel blog. Ah well, it’s all walking, whether it’s in a museum, or on a river trail.

Maggie waits...

Really mild for a mid-November Thursday. Maggie and I did the Power Line-Whitemud Creek-Westbrook route under blue skies and a right in the eyeballs sun. Earlier today, it was raining, so I’m glad we were able to squeeze in a long walk. Since this is a work day, which I happen to have off, few people were on the trails, other than the requisite retirees. With no one around, Maggie got to romp in the bush off-leash, which makes both of us very happy. I can walk at a faster pace and she can stop and start when she likes, which is often. Usually, she’s ahead of me, but stays pretty close. Such a good doggie. Have I said that already? I will miss her for the two weeks I’m in Sweden.

3:20PM/11C

A new regime

Maggie in leaves

I thought it might happen. Moving away, even temporarily, from the river valley has adversely affected my walking. After 15 years, I have been knocked off the trails by a change of location. I thought I would be more insistent, and I am a little disappointed that I have succumbed to a certain amount of laziness. Of course, it’s not just laziness, or the absence of river, or even the distance from my current abode to Whitemud Ravine. It’s also a greater level of responsibility after work. With two nieces and a dog, there is not a lot of meandering time to be had. Everybody’s hungry, and I might as well just get home as quickly as possible and get things done. The walk can wait. And then it’s dark. I understand why ‘add-on’ fitness regimes fail; people have to leave to do it. It’s in addition to other activities, and it requires a level of commitment that is easily toppled by the comforts of home. Up to September, my walking regime was my commute, therefore it was not in addition to my life, but part of it. A great part, the best part of my day. I always walked on the weekends too, and on holidays, but the bulk of my walking was after work. And once I arrived home, I could stay home. Work done. Walk done. Nothing left to do but open a can of alphagetti and relax. Ah, the single life.

I did take the dog for a couple of long walks last weekend, and a short one on Wednesday, but this is far from my usual output. I’m used to 90 minutes a day. Every day, or most days. As the light dwindles and the days get colder, I can’t see things changing much until next spring. My routine is on hold, in a modified state, for five to six months. I guess this is OK, as long as I can regulate my moods (and donut consumption) in some other way. Maybe I’ll take up drinking. I am still walking, and Whitemud Ravine has yet to reveal all her secret monkey trails, I suppose. Also, it is unfailingly pleasant to walk with Maggie. I love watching her lope along through the grass, her snout hoovering up all the scents of the neighbourhood dogs and maybe a coyote or two. She’s so happy to be outside, in any weather.

Yes? No?

Kinda like me in Mill Creek, although I haven’t loped for years.

Nevertheless, it was a nice enough walk today. Very frosty, just -1C when Maggie and I left at 2:00. Whitemud Creek is frozen, but I could hear the water flowing beneath the ice. I bet there were ice pancakes on the North Saskatchewan this morning….

4:o7PM/2C

 

 

Bare trees and tiny bones

all quiet in Mill Creek

Took the opportunity yesterday to walk for a few hours in the river valley in and around Mill Creek. Like my walk this morning in Whitemud Ravine, the leaves are gone from the trees. Mostly. It’s extraordinary to watch the landscape explode into colour, but there is something so beautifully quiet and contemplative about the woods when the trees are bare, before the snow has fallen. At 5:30 in the afternoon in Mill Creek, the sky was metal grey and the branches disappeared into the clouds as if there was some sort of high mist. The paths have opened up after a summer’s worth of leafy congestion. No people, no dogs. I was completely alone. I saw a robin sitting in a tree, which is a little late in the year for those fairweather birds, and all around were the ubiquitous magpies and a blue jay, badgering me, I think, for taking my peanuts and moving to another part of town. Other than the birds, a solitary walk in the soft colours of mid-autumn. I understand why Andrew Wyeth was so compelled to paint this sort of landscape. Why I’m so compelled to take bad pictures of it, none of them even coming close to capturing the moodiness.

The morning walk in Whitemud was brighter and more lively. Only about an hour. Must have rained a bit last night; the ground was wet and smelled great…like, oh I don’t know, wet autumn leaves after a night of rain. In spite of the chill, Maggie still wanted to jump in the creek. I wouldn’t mind but the water is so still this time of year, I’m sure it’s full of beaver-born wee beasties. And beavers. Around the curve of the path where Maggie likes to make her move into the creek, I put her on the chain. She seemed a little hurt. Later, she got back at me by crunching down on a bone she picked up in the grass. I had to shove my hand in her mouth up to my elbow to remove it. I couldn’t bring myself to look hard at the thing…a quick glance registered some sort of skull shape, like a bird, or a tiny sasquatch. After the skullectomy, I didn’t know what to do with my hand…covered in gob and bird bones, so I just let it hang by side, dripping, until I got home. Gross. It’s always an adventure walking with a dog.

10:30AM/6C

Easy, Leonard

 

A very sparkly walk in the -2C temperature. The grass was stiff underfoot in the shady areas, diamond-tipped and dripping in places where bright beams of sunshine had melted the frost. A gleaming Autumn morning, in other words. One of the many nice things about walking with a dog is that every so often they stop to read their peemail, or write their own. On this crisp morning, these stoppages allowed me to hear the leaves falling, like fat raindrops hitting paper lanterns. The speed of their descent has ramped up with the colder temperatures, and it’s almost as if the leaves are hurling themselves to the ground. In spite of the suicidal overtones, the sound is lovely. On one of the trails in Whitemud Creek, I just stood there listening, long after Maggie’s mission has been completed, and she stood there with me quietly sniffing the air. We indulge each other’s ‘moments.’

Walked up to the little pond. The surface scum has receded, leaving very clear, glassy water. No ducks or other birds this morning. No muskrats, although Maggie and I did see one last week on the creek. Her attempts to catch it resulted in a wet dog and rather spectacular barfing episode along the bank. Not me, the dog. She jumps in with her mouth open, and almost always chokes a bit, or throws up. Today, no such episodes. Lots of running through the frosted, tall grasses along the trails. Not me, the dog. Passed a group of people walking their various pups, one of which was a tiny, samoyed-type dog. Very pretty. Very tethered to the owner, who kept saying, ‘Easy Leonard.’ Apparently Leonard doesn’t play well with others. Maggie just ignored him, but still…awesome name for a dog.

10:00AM/-2C