Tag archives for Northern Sweden

Tracing roots in Norrbotten

Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

It’s currently raining today in Stockholm and I’m holed up at home all day, but I wanted to share a few pictures I took while visiting the in-laws in Northern Sweden. My husband and I took my father-in-law to the tiny village (population less than 240) where he was born to see if we could find the house he grew up in.

Not only did we find it, its new owners let us in to look around and it was quite cool to find out that they kept the old coal stove too – mostly for decorative purposes.

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Tracing roots in Norrbotten

Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

It’s currently raining today in Stockholm and I’m holed up at home all day, but I wanted to share a few pictures I took while visiting the in-laws in Northern Sweden. My husband and I took my father-in-law to the tiny village (population less than 240) where he was born (in the 1920s) to see if we could find the house he grew up in.

Not only did we find it, its new owners let us in to look around and it was quite cool to find out that they kept the old coal stove too – mostly for decorative purposes.

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Tracing roots in Norrbotten

Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Tracing roots in Norrland - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

It’s currently raining today in Stockholm and I’m holed up at home all day, but I wanted to share a few pictures I took while visiting the in-laws in Northern Sweden. My husband and I took my father-in-law to the tiny village (population less than 240) where he was born to see if we could find the house he grew up in.

Not only did we find it, its new owners let us in to look around and it was quite cool to find out that they kept the old coal stove too – mostly for decorative purposes.

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Weekly Car Meet in Gammelstads kyrkstad

Car meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmCar meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmCar meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmCar meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmCar meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmCar meetup in Gammelstads kyrkby - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

Every Wednesday evening during the summer, car enthusiasts in Norrbotten gather in Gammelstads kyrkstad where the UNESCO Heritage site – Nederluleå kyrka (Nederluleå Church) – is also located. They meet up to showcase their classic cars, catch up with friends, and fika.

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Summertime Chilling in Strömsund

Summertime chilling in Strömsund - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

Right about this time of the year (July through August), many residents retire to summer cottages (either their own or rented) all over the country and various archipelago islands to spend the peak of summer. One such area is Strömsund located along a small lake (Djupträsket) in Northern Sweden.

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Breeding Whippets In Älvsbyn

Breeding Whippets in Alvsbyn - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmBreeding Whippets in Alvsbyn - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmBreeding Whippets in Alvsbyn - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmBreeding Whippets in Alvsbyn - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmFor roughly 55 years, Walter has been raising, exhibiting, and competing pure breed racing dogs called Whippets. He got his first dog at 13 years old. He’s been spreading the sport of dog racing across Northern Sweden since the early 1950s.

Now 82 and part of Svenska Whippetklubben, he still owns whippets and greyhounds, and often  publishes a seasonal publication called Whippet Bladet (Whippet Paper).

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Sighting the Midnight Sun in Luleå

Sighting the Midnight Sun in Luleå - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmSighting the Midnight Sun in Luleå - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmThe first photo above was taken at around 12:43 am in the early hours of the morning in Luleå. Called the Midnight Sun, during the height of summer, the sun rarely sets when in Northern Sweden, and road sightings of moose and other animals are quite common.

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Village School Closing Ceremony in Northern Sweden

School closing ceremony in Norrbotten - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmSchool closing ceremony in Norrbotten - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmSchool closing ceremony in Norrbotten - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmSchool closing ceremony in Norrbotten - Photography by Lola Akinmade Åkerström

I also happened to attend a school closing ceremony (skolavslutning)  in a tiny village (population – 200) located in Northern Sweden where a bunch of kindergarteners along with their families gathered in a small church to sing summer songs and hymns. Skolavslutning is a Swedish tradition where, to prepare for the long summer holidays, students gather at the end of their Spring terms or semesters with their families to celebrate.

 

Meeting Viktor the Singing Farmer in Northern Sweden

Viktor Boman the Singing Farmer - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmViktor Boman the Singing Farmer - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmI met 26-year old Viktor Boman two weeks ago in a tiny village in Northern Sweden. He’d showed up to sing at an 80-year old birthday party. More intriguing than his classical voice is that fact that Viktor is a third generation farmer who is currently planning on launching an egg farm with 30,000 hens this summer.

While he works fulltime on the farm in addition to a side gig as a business developer for small companies, he also spends most weekends singing at funerals, birthday parties, weddings, and other small local events. Inspired by musicals acts like Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli, Viktor dreams of one day singing at a professional level, but in the meantime, he’s focusing on launching his egg farm.

I recorded Viktor singing to the 80-year old celebrant in a barn without a microphone.

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Hamburger Stop In Sundsvall

Getting Hamburgers At MAX - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmGetting Hamburgers At MAX - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmGetting Hamburgers At MAX - Photography by Lola Akinmade ÅkerströmFor me, roadtrips are an excuse to totally pig out on junk food while traveling. Our hamburger stop was at Max (Sweden’s oldest hamburger chain) in Sundsvall, where one of the longest and most patient queues known to man was waiting. Mostly because food is always cooked to order. Not microwaved. And people (myself included) seem to be willing to queue for freshly-made food.

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