LADONIA |
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Despite I have visited thirteen countries
within the last year, I can't help my self, but making the tiny
Ladonia number fourteen. It is only two hours away on good Danish and
Swedish roads.
Some facts about the country.
(Jump to diary) CLIMATE: It ought to be the dry time of year, but it could be warmer. Some days, it will rain. In the winter, it get cold and sometimes white. ANIMALS and PLANTS: Due to the rather populated area, most large animals only occurs at night. The average Scandinavian smaller mammals and insects can be found in the bushes, and here are plenty of birds, especially along the beach.
HISTORY: There was a legend of a garden in
the very far west where the dragon Ladon guarded the golden apples
of the Hesperides; apples that gave immortality. The myths tell us
that Ladon was eventually slain by Hercules, and thus immortality
was placed in the world and that event introduced tension between
mortal and immortal time.
The National Anthem of Ladonia is the sound of
throwing a stone into water. A second one is composed by the
Minister of Health and can be described as a tone poem on the
development of Ladonian freedom. The Ladonian Flag, also known as “the Glorious Green”, was standardised by Hendrik Lönngren in February of 2008. The flag is a green field with a green cross. The background and the cross have the same colour, which is expressed in sRGB: 0, 144, 0 (#x009000). The flag is 13 by 21 units in height and length, the cross arms 3 units. Horizontal parts is 5 : 3 : 13, vertical 5 : 3 : 5. Only fibonaccital have been used. As is the nature of the Fibonacci numbers, the flag proportion 21:13 is near the Golden Ratio 1.618.
MAJOR SIGHTS:
Arx MORE INFORMATION: http://www.ladonia.org
DIARY
11/9 A magnificent late
summer day, and I head towards the tunnel and bridge to
Sweden. The perfect highway lead all the way up to near
Kullaberga, and the narrow country roads leads further
on, out on the Swedish peninsula. Half way down the tree-covered cliffs, a portal marks the border. A sign tell the project was initiated back in 1980. I guess a few signs about the hazards ahead would be on its place. As the major sight in this micro country, the entrance and the way further down the real steep cliffs are made from driftwood, joined by rusty nails and good intentions. Some of the wood was most likely rotten back in 1980, and the years have not improved its quality! Further more, the constructions are clearly made by an artist, not a constructor. Just because I'm a big chicken, I refrain form mowing around in the construction. It would be a neat way to donate some blood by the rusty nails, but I value mine. And the photos are better from a distance. Though, I might get some good ones from the top of the towers, which can be climbed, but despite I have walked with tigers, elephants, lions, cobras, free-climbed, dived with sharks and much, much more, I don't dare! I spend some time walking - or rather climbing - around the large Nimis. Most of it is build on the huge boulders, falling down the mountain side. It does causes some problems catching the entire construction in one frame - well, at least without plunging into the sea. Quite close - in the other end of Ladonia - is another piece of art from the same artist; Lars Vilks. This one seem significantly more stabile. It is made up by concrete, rocks and it have a iron skeleton. Like the larger Nimis, it seems to be an interpretation over a fantasy castle. Due to the material, it is fare from as detailed, nor does it hold the same "fantasy"-charm. Further more, it probably will remain for near eternity, and I have ambivalent feelings towards something like this in the nature. I would have had significantly easier accepting it, had it not had the iron beams, giving it the straight "window frames". Arches, made from the rocks found on the beach would have added so much. Some loops around the wilder places reveals red and black berries. The heather do nicely in the cracks of the larger boulders, and the mulberry are only in its red stage. A few flowers are still flashing their colours like the Clematis. The heather and Thrift are on its last days, just as the Geranium. A few mushrooms starts to pop-up in the more moist areas, and I have to realist the summer are close to an end. The climb back to Sweden is even more breath-taking: Nothing to hold on to, slippery mud and bone-braking steep! It have been a special experience, visiting this micro state, and now I head back to Sweden to explore the surrounding Kullaberga. The expenses was limited: Diesel for 400 km; 85 DKK, Bridge; 318 DKK. |