We began our day with Sunday Mass at Norra Strö kyrka, where Dad’s great-grandmother Nilla Svensdotter was baptized in 1836. The inside of the church was much like Marbäck, with lots of folk-painting on the ceiling. Our presence at the service doubled the attendance! We wonder if this is typical of church-going in Sweden these days.
We decided to spend the day touring the southeast coast of the country. Our first stop was Åhus for an ice cream cone for lunch (we’re on vacation…)
We drove through quite a bit of rain before arriving at Ales Stenar, sometimes known as the Swedish Stonehenge. It was made by the Vikings sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D. and is laid out in the shape of a ship.
The on to the Skivarp area to see where Dad’s great-grandfather, John Martinson (Nilla’s husband), was born and lived before moving to Skoglösa.
He was baptized at Östra Vemmenhög kyrka, where his parents were married as well. There were no caretakers out mowing on Sunday, so we were only able wo walk around the exterior and peek through the glass windows.
We also visited the Skivarp church and frankly, we’re getting burned out on churches.
We also attempted to sneak a peek at Dybäck, an estate where John Martinson’s mother was born. First of all, here she is:
Isn’t she adorable? She is Anna Jönsdotter and was born in 1807. She stayed behind in Sweden and probably sent the picture to John in the 1890’s. I like the little handkerchief in her hand. As I mentioned, she was born on the Dybäck estate, which is actually more like a castle. It even has a moat. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public and the lane was marked ‘private’. Here’s a bit of the moat.
Woo-hoo.
We ended the day with a tour of the Bockebodagården farm (where we are staying).
Tomorrow we explore the birthplace of Mom’s great-grandfather Christian Pearson before returning the car to the Volvo factory in Gothenburg.
