A Visit to Löfstad Castle

A Visit to Löfstad Castle

A while ago, I wrote about exploring Händelö, the first stop on Kerstin’s and my 4-day summer séjour.  What other places did we visit? Day1. Löfstad Castle Our second stop, after Händelö, is Löfstad Castle. This castle, built in the 1600s, has been privately owned until it was bequeathed by the last owner, Emilie Piper (1857-1926), to the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) and Östergötland’s Museum. […]

Read Me Leave comment

French Kashmir shawl from the 1830s

French Kashmir shawl from the 1830s

In July, I wrote about my antique “paisley shawl” that I bought in Edinburgh. I was trying to figure out when and where it was made? I had spent time in the library and read all I could find, and I had narrowed it down to a European-made shawl from the early 1800s. Who could shed some light on it? Any “paisley shawl” experts? I […]

Read Me Leave comment

Göta Canal: Day 3 – Motala to Sjötorp

Göta Canal: Day 3 – Motala to Sjötorp

Kerstin and I had talked about taking a very early morning walk in Motala. We didn’t realize that by 7 am we would already be out on Lake Vättern, Sweden’s second largest lake. When I opened the cabin door, the breeze caught my nightgown and the air was crisp. The view was beautiful, a cobalt-blue sky meeting the deep blue water at the horizon, and […]

Read Me 2 Comments

On the Hunt for Paisley Shawls

On the Hunt for Paisley Shawls

We really don’t know what kind of shawl Augusta, or her mother, used when travelling. Most likely, they had large, dark, wool shawls to keep warm. Where they locally produced or imported? In the 1800s, shawls with paisley pattern was the fashion. The shawls were large and multicolored. No artist can beat the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens (1823-1906) in rendering the beautiful Paisley shawls of […]

Read Me 4 Comments

Travel Advice and Hotel Etiquette for Ladies in the 1800s

Travel Advice and Hotel Etiquette for Ladies in the 1800s

Berlin, 3 July 1847 “In a couple of exquisitely decorated rooms in Hôtel de Rome on Boulevard Unter den Linden, yours truly is sitting with pen in hand to recall from memory the wonderments I have seen since my arrival in the great Prussian capital.” This is Augusta’s first description of a hotel on the European continent during her and her mother’s journey down to […]

Read Me 2 Comments
Translate »