• Tui Snider
Current
  • Tui Snider

July 2022

Baltic Sea: Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia & more! Read more
  • Alesund Cemetery

    July 17, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    The church doors were locked today. Rather odd for a Sunday, but at least we were able to explore the churchyard.

    Many of the oldest graves are cast iron and flush to the ground. I enjoyed seeing a cast iron cherub peeking through wild strawberry blossoms.

    Nordic crows squawked high in the trees as swallows swooped low, snatching bugs from the air even during the steady drizzle. It smelled so fresh. We didn’t miss having an umbrella.

    One pair of bas reliefs feature his and her birds. (His seems to be a gull of some sort!)

    Another bas relief has a beautiful ouroboros (snake eating its tail) on top.

    I even took an accidental selfie! Black marble is so reflective. I just wanted to show that some of the battery powered candles are lit.

    One unusual cast iron marker features what appears to be a wasp emerging from a cocoon. Butterflies are often used to represent a soul’s transformation and resurrection, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a wasp!
    Read more

  • Alesund

    July 17, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Greetings from Alesund, Norway. It’s a bit drizzly & windy today, but we are still enjoying the town & the view!

  • More Fjording

    July 16, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    The seas were too rough to navigate into Haugesund today, so we took a scenic fjord cruise today.

  • Strolling

    July 15, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Kristiansand is a pretty little seaside town. Even the modern buildings are appealing to look at, which I find rare.

    Like so many places in Scandinavia, the town is clean and the buildings meticulously upkept.

    According to a friend on Facebook, Kristiansand is:
    “The “Santa Cruz of Norway” People from the far north like to come down there in the summer because it is so ‘warm and dark.’ (compared to the far north, it is!)”

    Meanwhile, Lar and I appreciate how cool and breezy it is compared to blazing hot Texas.
    Read more

  • Around town

    July 15, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Here are a few more shots from around town.

    The McDonald’s tucked in an old bank building amused me, while Burger Bordello gives a salacious twist to, “Would you like fries with that?”

    As you can see, I found another cool manhole cover for my collection, and Larry found a creative place to strike a pose.

    As for that crazed looking statue, doesn’t “Mystery of the Big-Eyed Monk” sound like an Agatha Christie book?
    Read more

  • Warm welcome

    July 14, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Not only did the locals in Fredericia, Denmark greet us with a brass band, chocolate candy, maps, and cannon fire, but they gave us quite a send off when we left town, as well.

  • Fredericia Cemetery

    July 14, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Here’s another gorgeous cemetery that looks more like a botanical garden than a burial ground!

    It rained during our visit, but Lar found a bench under a towering cedar that kept him dry.

  • Speaking of the Little Mermaid

    July 14, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Here’s a Little Mermaid replica that we saw in St Thomas, so I knew the original in Copenhagen would be small. What surprised me about her is her legs! The real Little Mermaid has flipper feet, but not the traditional “fish from the waist down” look we see these days. Interesting, eh?Read more

  • Danish Royal Guard?

    July 13, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    These guys are taking up a whole traffic lane in Copenhagen. (And those uniforms must be mighty hot today!)

  • Ronne

    July 11, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We’re hoofing it through the pretty little seaside town of Ronne, Denmark.

  • Ronne Cemetery

    July 11, 2022 in Denmark ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We found a nice trail to the cemetery in Ronne, Denmark. The burial ground is filled with so much lavender. Smells amazing!

    This island is known for its high quality granite, so the granite wall surrounding the burial ground and granite markets throughout makes sense.

    One of my favorite monuments is a pyramid with a bird on top. “Fred” means “peace.”
    Read more

  • Visby Cathedral

    July 10, 2022 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    You can’t have a cathedral without a cathedra, but the cherubs beneath the one in Visby’s walled city seem a little beleaguered to me.

  • Ruins & Roses

    July 10, 2022 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Visby, Sweden’s nickname is “the city of ruins and roses.” We also saw great big hollyhocks as we strolled the town.