Karlevi Stenkvarn |
Our trusty Garmin had allowed us to travel without worrying much about low bridges or roads that wouldn't accommodate our width and weight. So we don’t look closely at our route anymore, we just trust it to get us there. We travelled North from Copenhagen and arrived at what we thought was a toll booth for the bridge to Helsingborg, Sweden. The lady in the booth was surprised that we didn’t know we were heading for a ferry. Dermot asked if we could turn around and take the bridge instead and she said we’d have to return to Copenhagen to do that! Sure enough, Garmin’s route was over water but not over a bridge. Garmin obviously lacks communication skills. We paid up and had a quick and pleasant trip.
Sweden is 80% wilderness and there are many signs along the road warning of moose. I can’t wait to see a moose, this being Spring, I’m hoping for a mama and her calf. Of course, I want to see them while I’m safely inside a van but not in the middle of the road as we're speeding along.
Click here for our photos, "i" for information.
Växjö
Our Ojaby campsite outside the town was small, had quirky but acceptable facilities and bordered a small park on a large lake. We were welcome to swim, though wrapped in our warm jackets we couldn’t imagine doing that, but a few kids were.
This small town has a unique double spired church, a few museums and a nice little downtown area on another large lake. The Smålands Museum/Glass Museum had decent historical exhibits and gorgeous art glass exhibits. Between the two museums were several very intriguing historical structures. I lifted the following two descriptions using Google Translate and lightly edited them for brevity:
THE WINDMILL FROM ZIRKÖN: On many of the inhabited islands in lake Åsnen there were windmills during the 19th century. The farmers who had their own mills did not have to transport their grain long distances to have it ground. The windmill is in two parts, where the upper one can be turned to catch the wind from whichever direction it is blowing.
HIGH LOFT COTTAGE FROM SUNDRANÄS: The building originally stood in Sundranäs in Angelstad's parish and was a tenant farm under the lieutenant colonel's residence Sundranäs. Since the 1750s, the croft has been known under the name Skogstorp, but was called Fiskaretorpet when the former soldier of Kronoberg's regiment, Jonas Larsson Fiskare, moved in in 1815. Those who later lived in the croft made a living partly by fishing in Bolmen, which caused the name Fiskaretorpet to live on. High-loft cabins with one or two high lofts added to the side of the low residential part were common in mainly southwestern Småland and in the northern parts of Skåne and Blekinge. They are also called Southern Gothic houses.
The Emigrant Museum was also interesting because it mainly followed emigration from Sweden to America and what happened once they got there. There’s a very good app you can download called Kulterparken Småland if you’d like more information. They even have a research library for those tracing their ancestors.
One night Dermot spotted a hare in our campground at night. Biggest bunny I’ve ever seen! Looked like a dwarf kangaroo. We were too impressed to think to get a picture.
Glasriket: The kingdom of crystal.
The history of glass production goes back hundreds of years in the area between Växjö and Kalmar due to the abundance of trees to fuel the forges. Because we happened to travel here on a Monday, many of the "Glasbruks" were closed but we visited a Glass-blowing Museum and nearby shop. It explained the economic forces, as well as the evolving technology and tastes that shaped what was produced. There were many lovely pieces as well as art glass and art exhibitions.
Kalmar
Our Kalmar campground experience was comfortable with modern facilities, in a parklike setting and, best of all, we could bike to town and grocery stores. Birdsong surrounded us during the very long daylight hours, the weather was mostly sunny and we could even hike into forest right from our campsite. We biked into town and did the RS walk, popped into the Cathedral, and had lunch at an old house, the top floor of which included many small rooms filled with mismatched tables and chairs set on creaky floorboards and hung with various framed photos and paintings from a bygone era. While the place was interesting, our sandwichs were meh, so we splurged on their specialty cobbler which was also only okay. We both really enjoyed the not-too-big and not-too-small city.
We visited Kalmar castle. The recreated kitchen was enormous and the tables were laden with plastic food designed to show just how sophisticated and creative the chefs could get when they had to set their dishes before royalty - even enclosing live birds into pastry so that diners got a surprise when they cut into it and the birds flew around the dining hall. One wing of the castle had an art exhibition with music and video of Impressionistic paintings projected onto the castle walls. It was visually stunning.
Food
Though we've never made fine foods a priority in our travels, finding Swedish foods in the off-season has been disappointing. There are a plethora of restaurants that have pizza and kebab - they don't seem to distinguish between Italian and Middle Eastern cuisines. We found a restaurant categorized as BBQ within biking range, but on arrival, it was more Middle Eastern. Good, but still not Swedish. Trips to the grocery store haven't inspired us to cook in the van much either.
Öland
Lest you think our trip is always well-planned, the two days we spent on Öland was based on the advice of a random guy we met while filling up at a gas station. According to the helpful Haga Campground manager, this island only has a four week season and we were here in off season. That meant many activities weren't available or had restricted hours and many restaurants were closed. Fine with us, the less tourists the better. We choose to visit Eketorp Fort the day we arrived. This site had been a ring fort in the Iron age, abandoned then rebuilt bigger in the middle ages. We were given an interesting and detailed history by the cultural anthropologist in Iron age clothing. It was situated right near a marsh not only for the fresh water supply but also as a sacrificial site. Dermot enjoyed demonstrating his far superior bow and rubber-tipped arrow skills.
Millenia ago, glaciers scraped the top soil from the southern half of the island leaving very little covering the chalky limestone plain. This left an area that resembled one of Dermot's favorite places on earth, Ireland's burren. The bright sunshine and Spring wildflower bloom at Möckelmossen was a delight. Some plants exist here and nowhere else on earth. There are small orchids and ferns living near many species of succulents and lichens. Take a close look at the many species inhabiting the same tiny space.
We also drove North and climbed a lovingly preserved stone mill - Karlevi Stenkvarn. Then on to see the island's main town of Borgholm. The castle is a ruins we didn't tour but we did stroll the pedestrian area and took a few photos of picturesque houses.
Overall, we've really enjoyed the cool but mild weather and the very friendly and helpful people here in Sweden.