September 2005, our trip began with a brief visit to old friend Lennart in Trelleborg. We arrived late in the evning after landing at Kastrup south of Copenhagen and renting a car to drive acoss the new bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö. Very impressive.

Sept 21 - We visited Ale stenar in Kåseberga (which has been called the Swedish Stonehenge), on a cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea, on a tour of the south-eastern part of southernmost Sweden (Skåne). This outstanding shiplike formation dates from the late Bronze Age, about 2,700 years ago. The function of these 59 stones (originally 60) in the shape of a huge ship (a ship setting) is most cetainly connected to mythology and the sun orbit.

Bob G. Lind, scientist and author of the book "The Sun ship and Ales Stenar" says at his web site:
"During three years I studied the astronomical functions of Ales stenar meticulously."[...]"The results are unambiguous and show that Ales stenar has been constructed after the Polar Star and the solar orbit, i.e. for the calendarical calculation of the 365 days of the sun year and the 24 hours of day and night." Lind also says: "With this mythological sunship and the solar orbit in mind, the use of the ship formation at Ales stenar must have been logical to its constructors." ... "When the stone construction was erected about 2,700 years ago it consisted of 60 stones (today 59). The length was then and still is 67 metres and the width 19 metres. The name Als means sanctuary in old Nordic."

Lennart and Siv holding up one of the two stemstones. The small keel stone is in front.	There are two stemstones to a ship setting like this one, John and Lennart being barely visible at the further one in this photo. This stemstone measures 3.5 m.

The next day, Sept 23, we went on to Kungälv where our friends, Sonja and Sven were wonderful hosts.

Marstrand
On the second day we drove out west to a paradise of my youth, a province called Bohuslän. It has a long coastline on the North Sea and millions of islands, small and large. The town we were about to visit, Marstrand, was one where I had never been before. The island is known as Marstrand and so is the town which does not nearly fill up the whole space of the island.

A first view of the town with the fortress of Marstrand in the background at the top of the Marstrand island.	A ferry takes you across to the island and no tourist cars are allowed on board the ferry.

	Right in front of the small harbor is one of the turn-of-the-century big houses that are typical of Marstrand.
We are still in the main street in front of the harbor when we pass by this beautiful house.
	We pass through the small town before we set out on our walk around the island. Here is one of the picturesque streets with colorful and typical Marstrand houses.

	View north from the beginning of our walk with the Bohuslän kind of  houses which in many cases are just used in the summer and for vacations.
A narrow strait to pass through at the outset of our walk.
	Another view north as we are about to climb some comfortable steps with a railing, provided by the city for tourists. A mess of sailboats and a few speed boats are out at sea on this beautiful Sunday.

Sitting down to admire the view, Sonja, Sven and John.	Looking out over the beautiful Bohuslän rocks and autumnal bushes and trees.  The sailboats are white dots on the horizon.

Looking westwards towards the lighthouse, which can just barely be seen against the horizon.	Here we have made our way to the western side of the island.

	Looking north-west with a closer look at the lighthouse and a heeling sailboat. The barren rocks of Bohuslän are quite different from the Stockholm archipelago, for instance. Quite unique for Sweden, in fact.
We are turning around the west side of the island, going back towards the town, past the fortress. The rocks vary greatly in color, from yellowish and light gray to darker gray.
	Looking west over more barren rocks.

	On our way back to the town we get a good view of Carlstens fästning, which is the correct name in Swedish for the Marstrand fortress. The construction of the fortress was begun in 1660, right after Bohuslän had become part of Sweden through the peace of Roskilde in 1658. It was named after the king, Carl X Gustav. See Marstrand and Carlsten's fortress
It's getting close to autumn and most of the heather is gone. There is some left however, reminding us vaguely of Scotland.
	This is just about all there is to the town of Marstrand, except numerous summer houses that are spattered over a larger area.

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