February 2023 Program Information
February 2023 Program
Mike Pabst entertained us with a virtual trip to Sweden that he, Karen, and John enjoyed last summer. They flew into Copenhagen, then took a train to Stockholm. Along the way, they saw many farms that were in pristine condition, with no falling-down barns or overgrown with weeds & brush. Fortunately for them, Mike "got to" drive a rental car which enabled them to travel at their leisure and take their time at various sites. There was lots of red granite along the roads, but not many minerals to see or collect. They visited 4 main locations & Mike had many pictures to share (see link below). You can search these places online if you want to see photos or read more information about them.Goteborg Museum: This was a natural history museum with plants, skeletons, and dinosaur fossils. Mike was impressed with the handmade wooden cabinets that had drawers full of beautiful minerals. Many were in cardboard boxes with original labels. They visited Orebro Castle, a medieval fortification.
Stockholm: Haymarket Square was full of all types of foods to buy - mushrooms, salmon, etc. Stockholm City Hall is the site of the presentations of the Nobel prizes. The winners have to practice walking down the grand staircase - head held high, and not looking down. (This is not your typical town hall - it is a massive expanse of turrets, balconies, and statues.) The Swedish Academy of Science is the place where the Nobel Prize winners are chosen. They saw the Crown Jewels of Sweden - many different crowns with exquisite jewels such as emeralds, diamonds & pearls. In the Treasury room, septres & orbs were displayed. There were many, as each ruler gets his own. Ceremonial swords and ermine robes demonstrated royalty.
Uppsala: One of the oldest cities in Sweden has an enormous elaborate cathedral. The University had a beautiful botanical garden with blooming artichokes and many flowers. (The trees were beginning to turn colors which made for a lovely landscape.) The University also had a Natural History museum with many minerals to view. Examples included crocoite, sarkanite, manganberzeliite, rhodonite, calcite and pyrargyrite. Some are from Sweden, while others are from Russian and European countries. Mike was enthralled! An item that impressed the entire family was the Codex argenteus - one of the oldest & extensive examples of the Gothic language in the world. It contains the four gospels written in the Gothic language. The paper was very thin purple vellum, and the ink was actual gold and silver ink. It was from a Benedictine Monastery in the 16th century.
Mineral Show: Mike had to check out this to compare it to ours. (Ours beat theirs, hands down!) The show was held in the old Westinghouse Arena and there were many visitors. However, many of the items for sale were simply "boxes of rocks" with no real appeal. There were some nice demos of rock polishing. (They found out that the show only accepted cash, of which they had no Swedish currency. A US $20 bill got them in. Almost everywhere in Sweden credit cards or phone apps were used for purchases.) They discovered that Langban, Sweden is a world mineral site. Over 300 mineral types have been found there, with 11 new species. There are fluorescent minerals comparable to those found in New Jersey here in the US.
Sweden Minerals by Michael Pabst
