Author Archives: lornaofarabia

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About lornaofarabia

I am a teacher from Medford, Oregon. I currently live and work in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jugendstil

Posted on 3 Jul 2013 by lornaofarabia

Today we are in the city of Alesund. This town’s fame is mainly due to it having burned down overnight on January 23, 1904. The 10,000 people left homeless rebuilt their town (this time in stone) with the financial help … Continue reading →

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This is as far as we go

Posted on 2 Jul 2013 by lornaofarabia

We took the train to Trondheim, a nice town with a far northern feel to it. The main attraction here is Nidaros cathedral. In 1030 Norway’s exiled king Olaf was killed near Trondheim in a battle to regain the throne. … Continue reading →

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Gamla Uppsala

Posted on 1 Jul 2013 by lornaofarabia

Today we took a side trip from Uppsala to the town of Gamla Uppsala, or Old Uppsala. This was the pre-Christian religious center of Sweden.  Saxo Grammaticus wrote that Odin, chief of the Norse gods, lived in this place. The … Continue reading →

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Vitrine

Posted on 30 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

We finally tore ourselves away from Stockholm but we didn’t get far. We took the train to Uppsala, a lovely old city that is home to the oldest university in Scandinavia. Both Carl Linnaeus and Anders Celsius taught there. We … Continue reading →

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Vasa

Posted on 29 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

It must have been a bummer for the sailmakers, smiths, carpenters, barrel-makers, and painters – not to mention the navy and the king – when the great Swedish warship Vasa went down in Stockholm’s harbor 20 minutes into her maiden … Continue reading →

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Gamla stan style

Posted on 28 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

Now that you’ve seen the pictures, I’m sure you’ll be packing your suitcase soon for a visit to Stockholm. Nobody would mistake me for a fashion maven (quite the opposite), but I am capable of recognizing style when I see … Continue reading →

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Stockholm syndrome

Posted on 27 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

It’s funny, but some of my impressions of places this time are entirely different from what I remember from 30 years ago. Could be that the place has changed, or that I have, or that the circumstances are different. It … Continue reading →

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Danish modern

Posted on 26 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

Restaurant food has changed radically in northern Europe since the 70s and 80s.  Globalization is usually a depressing thing, and if the spread of modern food culture only meant more Burger Kings, then I think that would be truly sad. … Continue reading →

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Friendly old girl of a town

Posted on 25 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

We left France on Sunday for Cologne, where we caught an overnight train to Copenhagen.  I love the train. Copenhagen is a beautiful city – it kinda makes me  feel like I should start singing. But I won’t. It might … Continue reading →

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England to France

Posted on 24 Jun 2013 by lornaofarabia

Yesterday we crossed the English channel by ferry, like we always do.  Andreas wanted to take the Chunnel train but I am not a fan of underwater travel. I seem to be in a small minority, because the port at … Continue reading →

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