Caffe Avec

Falstad Prison Camp

@brittarnhild

Drive 1 1/2 hour north of Trondheim and you might find yourself in the small village of Ekne, a place with a dramatic history. Most of this history is connected to this building, which was used as a prison camp during WWII. Some Norwegian prisoners, but mostly prisoners from the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia.

Many of the Norwegian prisoners were Jews. Many years ago I was at Falstad, in the courtyard, listening to the Norwegian Jew Julius Paltiel who told about humiliation. With the guards and the other prisoners watching, the Jews were forced to crawl over the courtyard, taking one and one birch leave in their mouth, moving it over to one corner. When they had manage to move all the leaves, one of the guards kicked the bunch and the Jews had to carry them back to where they originally were found. Still by their mouth only.

 

I have been to Falstad many times. One thing which was new to me today was a visit to the prisoners´workshop, where you today can find an exhibition of items made during the war years - beautiful cigarette cases made from tin boxes, wooden toys, small intricate decorated wooden boxes. What caught my eyes though was this painting; Defeat Sanheribs by Ruben, made by the Soviet painter Sergej Grabovskij, a prisoner at Falstad from 1944-45. The painting was, according to the tale, ordered by the commander of the prison. I guess he never knew the original title of the painting.

Today they are in the process of restoring the commanders housing. Can you imagine what tale these walls can tell? I don´t want to imagine, but am I allowed not to?

 

A walk in the woods which surrounds Falstad takes you into an even darker story. A tale of the execution of war prisoners. Some graves have been found and the bodies removed. 

Many have found their eternal rest deep in the soil here.

 

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Here is the official Falstad Center web site

 

The arctic-alpine botanical garden in Tromsø

@brittarnhild

 

Far north of the Arctic Circle you find the city of Tromsø, and here, where the midnight sun shines 24/7 in the summer and the northern lights can be seen all through the winter, you find the most amazing botanical garden I know, The Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden. It is not a big garden, neither is it an old one, but in beauty, in charm and exotic plant collection the gardens must be the best there is.

Good luck for me I am able to visit Tromsø from time to time in connection to my job, and if it is the tiniest possibility to visit the gardens on these trips - that is what I do. This time I managed to take a later plane home, which gave me several hours in the garden.

One of many things I love about the garden is that they post regular highlights, "DON`T MISS" posts, on their website, on facebook and as information hung around in the garden. 

The main highlight this time was this spectacular flower from the Himalayas. I walked around, searching for the flower without finding it. Luckily I met one of the gardeners, he explained the way and I could go right there.  Later I passed the same gardener. This time he was in deep conversation with another person but when he saw me he looked up, smiled and said "I hope you found the flower" :-)

With its latitude, the summers are short and not specifically warm, the winters are cold and dark with a long period without sun. This means that not all plants can grow here. A lot more than you might believe though, and the garden has sections with plants from the Alps, Sibir, Himalaya, Caucasus and places like that.

There are plants I already have in my garden, plants I know from before, but also so many plans which are quite new to me. Like this one, looking like some kind of a dumpling.

My favorite section is always the rock garden with the unbelievable deep blue gentianas. 

It was here I found the Sea Hollies and the bumble bees, and ended up taking several dozens of photos of them.

I have no idea when I will come back next time, but meanwhile I keep the garden in my heart, and I have brought a few plants back to my own Akeleiehagen/ Columbine Garden. This time two small gentiana hexaphyllia.

 

 

Here is the website to the garden

 

and here you find them on facebook