Back in March, we visited Munsö church, near the end of the island. Of course, it was closed up tight so we didn’t get to see inside. Which was a real shame because it’s a round church and I really wanted to see how it worked. Then Mirinda read somewhere that it would be open today (May Day) so we thought we might just drive over and had a look.
It has to be said that just because something is supposed to be open does not necessarily mean it will be. Having been disappointed in the past, we never take these things for granted. However, miracle of miracles, the church was open.
And, as we were passing anyway, we popped into Rosehills for fika and a wander around the interesting and sometimes amusing facilities. It really is an amazing place.
It’s not often that you find a toilet with a chi ro on the door. At first I thought it was, maybe a confessional but, no, it’s an outside, drop toilet. The one on the right is also a toilet so, I assume, it’s one for the Christians and one for everyone else.
There’s also the nicotine addicted spot and, the title of this post comes from a sampler tied to a tree. As I said, it’s all very interesting. And unexpected. I reckon you could find something new every time you visited.
We weren’t the only people wandering around. Being a public holiday here in Sweden (and just about everywhere else in the world), meant more people were out and about.
International Workers’ Day has been around, in essence at least, since 1889 when the Marxist International Socialist Congress met in Paris. Following an Australian strike in 1851 and then one in Chicago in 1886, it was decided to celebrate the workers on May 1, every year. It’s very interesting that while a lot of workers are frightened by the word ‘socialist’ it doesn’t prevent them having a day off every year to celebrate and highlight the cause.
Incidentally, Sweden sent two delegates to the Congress of 1889, both representing Sweden and the Swedish Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna). And it was lovely to see a small but merry band of Swedish socialists outside the ICA at Ekerö centrum this morning, singing the official song and having speeches by local dignitaries.
But, back to the church.
As I said, back in March, the church is round and was built that way for protection against the Estonian heathens that invaded the island years ago. The church has had bits added on over the years (as well as having floors and arrow slits removed) and now looks like a normal church, albeit, round in the middle.
It’s very sweet inside with box pews, built in to allow for the curved walls and a pulpit that appears to have no point of entry. Perhaps the priest merely materializes every Sunday. The pulpit, while having no obvious entrance, does have an hourglass in order to keep any sermons to a manageable length.
As well as being round, another unusual thing about the church is the inclusion of a recorded history. And, brilliantly, it is in English as well as Swedish (and German and French). You just press your language button, take a comfy seat and listen as you are given a tour of the inside of the church. It was marvellous.
The day had been mostly overcast so it was no surprise when the rain started as we headed back to the house. And so it remained for the rest of the day. In fact, it grew quite cold. To the extent that Mirinda asked me to light a fire while she chatted with Sophie over Signal. Subsequently, the house grew far too hot for me.
Anyway, a lovely final full day at Ekerö for us. Tomorrow we head for Trosa.
