Swedish American Institute

 Minneapolis, MN

Morning Walk

After our morning coffee we grabbed Francis and took him on a nice walk before it got too hot.  We headed back to the Lake of the Isles with binoculars this time.

It's a scenic byway for pedestrians as well as cars that connects many of the parks in Minneapolis.

Excellent advice, "Just do the best you can"

We sat on a bench for a while and everyone wanted to meet Francis.

There is a River Otter or Muskrat in this shot but you can't really see it.

A Mansion Museum

Later in the day we drove a short distance to the Swedish American Institute.  Minnesota is home to many people of Swedish and Nordic heritage.  The Swedish culture here is pretty strong with an Ikea on every corner kind of like Starbucks in Seattle (just kidding about the Ikea thing).  The Swedish American Institute hosts classes and cultural events throughout the year.  The first 2 people we heard talking as we entered (different groups) both had varying strengths of Nordic accents.  

The entrance is newer construction that attaches to the old mansion.

This is a yeast collector or yeast ring.  The yeast was used for home brewing and when home brewing went out of style they were repurposed at trivets.

These are children's skis.

This is a lunch box.  It looks weird because of the mirror beneath it to show off the craftmanship on the underside.

This is the transition from the new building to the mansion.  They had projectors showing videos on the different panels in the room that told the story of the owners.

This is a fireplace heater imported from Sweden.  They had like 6 of these throughout the house.

The heat is carried through pipes and looped back to get maximum heat to the tiles that then radiated that heat.

The Story of Shellac!

Woodland Stream - Charles Bergstrom

This piano bench had a very fancy way to raise and lower the seat.

The sun room was really pretty.

Birch and Pine -  Birger Sandzén

All of the Contemporary art was by Claes Larsson a Swedish Woodcraftsman and artist.

Must be Italian...

The sconces 

match the chandelier

The flashlight is in its correct place.

They had an Alice in Wonderland tiny door.

The gift shop sold these nice felted flowers.

She wasn't very talkative.

I thought this was alcohol at first but you have to provide your own vodka for the infusion.

I'll have ze Lingonberry lip balm. 

 After the museum I went to Up Down to work on my pinball game.  I had some good games and got this today!

It isn't the highest high score on Star Wars but it's my highest score and each time I have played I have gotten a better and better score.