Ingmar Bergman’s Sweden: Fårö Island

by Jamie Rhein on

There was a political cartoon I came across of two people leaving the Simpson’s movie saying to each other “Who’s Ingmar Bergman.” The cartoon was prompted by the recent death of Ingmar Bergman, the prolific Swedish film director and the box-office success of The Simpson’s movie.

Bergman’s movies introduced me to Scandinavia–and deep thoughts, and later prompted my attraction to the college program I did at the University of Copenhagan in Denmark. (Okay, Denmark isn’t Sweden, but it’s close–just a ferry ride away.) Sometimes all it takes is a high school film class’s showing of the Seventh Seal to open up the world as a place worth exploring. I think this was the first movie I ever saw with subtitles. Being an avid film-goer, friends have called me Tom, one of the main characters in the Glass Menagerie, films have connected me to many places in the world. Some places I’ve been to–others I have not.

Hearing that he had died got me looking for places to see in Scandinavia with an Ingmar Bergman connection. One place you can go to is Fårö Island, the place where Bergman lived. Here’s a recent read “Sweden: The Director’s Cut” by Oliver Bennet who headed there on a pilgrammage to bask in the influences of Bergman’s world. There are wonderful descriptions and impressions that make me want to go here myself someday.

For a wonderful essay on Bergman’s influences, check out “Woody Allen Remembers.” Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman were long time friends. This photo is from Lifecruiser’s Fårö 2006 Summer set on Flickr. They’re all gorgeous. I had the hardest time picking one.

Photo of the Day (6/12/2007)

by Erik Olsen on

When I headed up to Norway recently, I was briefly excited about having the opportunity to see the Northern Lights. Then, of course, I remembered that it was the wrong season for that and rather than darkness, the skies would pretty much be light through the night. Sigh.

And so to get a taste of what the Northern lights actually look like, I have to turn instead to this photo by fiznatty. Taken in Sweden (though not recently…right?), it is actually a very professionally composed shot. But we expect nothing less from our Gadling Flickr site contributors.

Driving Directions from California to Sweden

by Justin Glow on

This is odd. I’d assume it’s some sort of clever Google Easter egg instead of an actual error, but it’s funny nonetheless.

If you use Google Maps to find driving directions from Standford, California, to Stockholm, Sweden, you’ll find some very interesting results. It starts off pretty normal, jump on I-80 and drive a couple thousand miles. Things get interesting when you hit the Atlantic, however, and Google tells you to get out of your car and swim across the Atlantic Ocean for 3,500 miles.

I hope you brought your swimsuit.

Update: This works with any U.S. city, if directions are requested to a city across the pond. For instance, Paris, TX to Paris, France.

Sleddog Vacations: A Winter Travel Adventure

by Jamie Rhein on

Sometimes when one is looking for information on one topic, another topic appears. Such is what happened when I came across sleddog vacations. I wasn’t actually looking for information on sleddog vacations. They hadn’t occurred to me, but somehow with a click of a mouse, there I was wandering through websites on a winter sport that welcomes participants.

Winterdance Dogsled Tours in Ontario, Canada offers two-hour to full-day excursion packages, as well as a moonlight tour. You can stay overnight at their cottage or at one of the nearby resorts. Even with the two-hour tour you can try your hand at driving the team with an experienced guide as an instructor.

Ontario, Canada also has several sleddog races, although according to the website of Ontario Federation of Sleddog Sports, the lack of snow has led to some postponements and cancellations. They are scheduled through the first week of March and there are contact numbers to find out what’s up with each. Ontario Dog Sleding Getaways website has a list of resorts that offer sleddog vacations.

For some hardcore sleddog travel adventure, head to Iceland, Finland, Lapland, Norway or Sweden. Each has sleddog trips that run from a few days to a little over a week. I found a list of several choices at Adventure Sport Holidays. Lest you think this is totally roughing it travel where you freeze at night curled up in a sleeping bag trying to create warmth with your body heat, lodge and cabin stays are the nightly fare. Some packages like Dog Sledding Along the Finnish-Russian Border include saunas, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and elk viewing.