Category: Parks

Carolina Comments: Park, Drama, & Book

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OUT AND ABOUT:  POCKET PARK IN CARY

Kay Struffolino Park

The Meeting Place

Initially, this parklet on the edge of downtown was named “Meeting Place Park” for the sculpture in its center. Later it was renamed in honor of Kay Struffolino, a long-time Cary resident and active volunteer with the town’s parks and recreation and the cultural arts. 

The Meeting Place is a ceramic sculpture house by Danish artist Nina Hole (1941-2016) commissioned by the town.  Building and firing it involved 36 volunteers and 175 hours over three weeks from mid-October to early November 2012.  

From the town website: Her method of using slabs as modular building blocks enable her to make very larger sculptures which she raku fires in situ wrapping the structure in a blanket of high temperature refractory fabric that acts as the kiln during the firing. She uses a number of assistants and considers the process, including the stimulating communal experience of working with a group of people, as important as the final product. Fired through the night, the spectacular effect of the glowing form as it is unwrapped is the peak moment of the event. 

Kay Struffolino Park

VIEWING: A BROTHEL IN WARTIME

Madame K (Prime Video & PBS)

Mr. Metsla and Mrs. Kukk (rmpbs.org)

In this dramatic series, a group of young women with diverse backgrounds work in an elite brothel run by Mrs. Kukk aka Madame K.  The setting is an elegant villa in Tallinn, Estonia, beginning in October 1939.  Foreign Ministry Counselor, Mr. Metsla, friend and suitor to Mrs. K., is instrumental in moving the brothel to this house.  Their clients include Baltic Germans and then high-ranking Russians.  New girls are added, the war intensifies, dark secrets are revealed, and events at hand take on a deeper, somber tone.  

The 10-part series is in Estonian with subtitles and presents yet another facet and face of WWII. Recommended!

READING:  CARRYING ON AFTER A SUDDEN DEATH

Us, After:  A Memoir of Love and Suicide by Rachel Zimmerman

When Rachel Zimmerman’s 50-year-old husband, without any warning, jumped off a bridge, she was both devastated and worried for her two daughters, ages 8 and 11.  Seth was a noted and driven robotics professor; Zimmerman a seasoned reporter who worked for the Wall St. Journal at one time. 

Trained to be observant, Zimmerman becomes hyper focused on looking for answers to why he did it: contacting experts, raising many questions, and, along the way, excavating the layers of their courtship and their marriage.  Simultaneously, she embraces parenthood and seeks to be both mother and father to her girls.  

In part, the book is an exploration of one’s public persona versus one’s private self, Seth’s especially, but also her own.  A no-holds-barred discussion of their lives, it describes how she and her resilient girls re-surface and re-engage with the world.  It is raw reading at points, but ultimately uplifting as this threesome moves forward. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is a close-up of the sculpture in Kay Struffolino Park. All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Sweden: Stockholm & More

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AFTERNOON STROLL

Boats moored on Strandvagen

On our last afternoon in Stockholm, we strolled wide Strandvagen along the waterfront. This boulevard has trees in the middle and beyond them, views of elegant houses with fanciful turrets.

On the water side, large and small boats are moored, some for sale; floating restaurants entice diners during the short summer season, while sightseeing vessels and fancy charter boats for hire beckon one to take a cruise.

Waterside restaurant
More boats with the dome of a museum in background

Along this popular sidewalk on the other side is a series of pocket parks with benches and hammocks, an ice cream hut, and a French hot dog stand (what makes a hot dog French?)

Enjoying Sunday in the park
Even hammocks for a cuddle or a snooze

Interspersed are some lovely glassed-in cafes, seats facing toward the water, of course. On this pleasant Sunday, the boulevard was a lively scene of couples, families, and lots of strollers with little kids.

.

We walked to the end where the walk turns right, noting an old blue streetcar mid bikes, cars, scooters, and modern trams, and then crossed one of Stockholm’s many bridges to Djurgarden. This island is home to a sizable park and two museums, the Nordisk Museum and the Vasa Museum. The Vasa or “Wreck” Museum, which the Chief Penguin visited earlier, houses an intact 17th century warship that sank on her first voyage in 1628 and was later salvaged. We wandered a bit and then recrossed the bridge and headed back.


MARCHING FOR PALESTINE

Fervent demonstrators


Back on familiar turf, we decided to re-visit the King’s Garden Park. Not far along the way, we heard the sounds of chanting, yelling, and drumming. It was a large group of people of many ages marching in favor of Palestine. They waved flags, carried small signs, and led off with a banner, “The Struggle Continues to Free Palestine.”


LAST DINNER

Nybrogatan 38

Many restaurants are closed on Sundays, so finding a dinner venue took some online searching. Happily, we chose Nybrogatan 38, a little place a short distance from our hotel, but in the opposite direction from the water. Cozy with booths and wooden tables, it was serving families as well as couples. Between us, we ordered the salt-cured salmon with potatoes in cream sauce and a Caesar salad that had seared pieces of chicken thigh meat atop it. These items were billed as smaller dishes but were still sizable.

Salmon & potatoes with dill

I had contemplated the snails with garlic, so was sorely tempted when a dish of snails
in pretty shells arrived for the man at the next table. I shared my thoughts with him, and we had a pleasant conversation with him and his wife about how much they like this restaurant. We wished we had discovered it sooner and vowed to return if we’re back in Stockholm!

GRACIOUS SENDOFF

The friendly receptionist at Villa Dagmar went beyond when she provided us a fika at 6:30 am the next morning before we left for the airport. Strictly, fika means “coffee break” and often with something sweet. Ours was coffee for the CP and two lovely little pastries to tide us over. She then ushered us out to our waiting taxi and promptly gave me a goodbye hug! We were a bit sad to leave.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Sweden: Stockholm on Foot

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CAPITAL CITY

View toward the Grand Hotel, Stockholm

Stockholm is Sweden’s capital and largest city and is made up of numerous islands.  The city with a population of around one million is located at the juncture between a lake and an arm of the Baltic Sea.  Here, you are never far from water, and bridges and overpasses link some of the islands, making much of the city walkable.  Stockholm was founded in 1252 and officially recognized as the capital in 1436.  This was before Stockholm was fully liberated from the Danes in 1523. Today, Stockholm is a thriving center of commerce, industry, and culture, including the royal opera, philharmonic orchestra, and royal theater.

CITY PARKS

Berzelius Park

Berzelius with pigeon

As we wandered around exploring, we enjoyed several green spaces.  Berzelius Park is small with a statue of Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848), one of the fathers of modern chemistry, in the center.  Orange and yellow zinnias surround the statue while an outer ring of benches provides seating for contemplation.    

Enjoying the park

Kungstradgarden

Namaste Indian Festival booth

Kungstradgarden or King’s Garden is a large park in central Sweden.  Called by the locals, Kungsan, it is the site of friendly gatherings and festivals.  We admired the fountains, observed the locals, and wandered through the Indian cultural festival, Namaste Stkhlm.

Yoga in the park
Contemplating next move?

We were there as the festival was being set up and then again in the afternoon when it was a bustling scene of live music, colorful booths, and the tempting smells of Indian food.  We also watched a yoga class and noted a chess game in progress.

GAMLA STAN

Royal Place
Guard at his palace post
Nobel Prize Museum

Gamla Stan or Old Town was the original nucleus of the city of Stockholm.  It’s made up of three islands connected by bridges and overpasses.  Here one finds the Royal Palace, the Parliament building, and the German church among others. Also a museum devoted to the Nobel Prize. The Chief Penguin and I were fortunate to host a dinner in San Francisco for Nobel Prize winners from California several years ago; the head of this museum was in attendance.

Swedish Parliament

 Many of the buildings date from the 16th and 17th centuries and are impressive and large with colorful facades.

Lively square, Gamla Stan
Love these buildings!
In front of oldest bank building

 We walked up and down and around in this section taking lots of photos and then stopping for lunch at one of the many sidewalk cafes.  The Chief Penguin sampled the schnitzel with a local lager, while I ordered a Caesar salad with marinated chicken, a dish that seems to be on menus around the world.  This rendition had some bits of bacon and a few cherry tomatoes along with the requisite Parmesan and romaine lettuce.

Note: Header photo is of Storkyrkan, oldest church in Stockholm. All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)