THE LINNAEUS GARDEN
This morning was cool with bright sun to start. We headed for the garden with stops along the way to take photos of the cathedral and other sites under blue skies. It was cloudy and very windy later on.
A professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala University, Carl Linnaeus (1707-1748) created a new system of classification for plants and then later animals. His naming system is used all over the world, including at the California Academy of Sciences where I initially worked in its research library.
The Linnaeus Garden, known as the Uppsala University Botanical Garden, was originally planned in 1655 by Olof Rudbeck and even in that day was a noted botanical garden in Europe. A catastrophic fire in Uppsala in 1702 destroyed much of the garden, but when Linnaeus arrived as a young botanist, he had free rein to rehabilitate it and created his sexual classification system for plants.
The first garden became too small, and Linnaeus’ son and one of his fans convinced the king to donate the gardens of Uppsala Castle to the university. These grounds soon became a park and it wasn’t until 1917 that the Swedish Linnaeus Society, using Carl Linnaeus’ descriptions and lists of plants, recreated the garden mostly as it had been in 1745. Today it includes only the 1,000+ species cultivated in Linnaeus’ time and is once again part of the university.
Annuals and biennials in the Annual Parterre are arranged in 44 beds in narrow rows. They are not closely cropped or confined. Rather, many are very tall or spread out often overlapping with the next variety.
In his day, Linnaeus included some exotic animals in the garden: parrots, goldfish, a tame raccoon, and several monkeys. To accommodate the latter, there are a series of monkey houses or huts atop poles. Attached to each pole is an iron rod and while the monkeys were chained to the pole, they could exit their huts and scamper up and down the rod.
DINING IN UPPSALA—ETHNIC VARIETY
O’Neill’s Traditional Irish Pub
O’Neill’s is our friend’s favorite pub, and we enjoyed dinner here on our first night. The Chief Penguin and I ordered lightly, chicken club sandwich for me and seared king prawns for him, while Josh, who hadn’t eaten much all day, had the braised lamb shank with root vegetables. The guys enjoyed a local beer, while I sampled a local cider. All perfect for this long first day!
Ristorante Villa Romana
Lunch today was at a small Italian restaurant, Villa Romana. The menu has pizzas and the expected pasta dishes such as bucatini carbonara and lasagna, but each with a Swedish twist. This being Sweden, you can also order a classic dish of salmon with dill over white potatoes. You order at the counter and it’s delivered to your table. This menu item included bread, salad, and coffee. Having just arrived, we ordered the salmon and potatoes which was a hearty portion meant to easily carry us through the rest of the day!
Lindvall’s Kaffe
Given the plethora of bakeries, I thought I should include this neighborhood konditori where we purchased some filled cookies (citron and chocolate) and two berry tarts to take away. Lindvall’s cases were filled with lots of temptations for dessert or breakfast, and these were a tasty addition to our afternoon tea break.
Note: All photos including header photo of a sunflower variety ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)
