Sweden 2.0

Vasa

Stockholm

We chose a campsite within the city but the trade-off was that it was short on charm and amenities. In fact, we were surrounded by boat-building lumber and supplies, under a bridge and near a canal. Our first day we followed the Rick Steves walk in the modern part of the city. The park by the harbor was alive with people enjoying their sunny Sunday afternoon. Beyond the park, there was every kind of store you can imagine and an intriguing cultural center (though most of the exhibits were closed for the day). During this day and the following days we really enjoyed this biggest of Scandinavian cities. The public transportation system is clean and easy to navigate and even included a ferry but many people still opt for pedal power on the excellent bike paths. There are many museums and lots of things to do. Besides the more modern parts of the city, there's the historic Gamla Stan as well with cobblestone streets, antique shops and houses that date back hundreds of years. Patrons spill out of restaurants happy to be seated outdoors in the chilly wind while we seek out the warmth of the interior.  We saw no homeless people in this city, or anywhere else in Sweden. New parents in Sweden get a full year of paid leave they can split any way they want so we saw many more men pushing baby carriages than we're used to. They're called "latte Dads." The restaurants and bars are pretty expensive and part of the historic area feels overly burdened with tacky tourist shops though. 

Click here for our photos, "i" for information.

On our first night we went to The Auld Dub Irish pub and stayed for dinner so Dermot could watch Manchester United win another game. 

Vasa Museum

This ill-fated ship is huge and it's 98% original.  It sunk just minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628 due to poor design. The Dutch ship architect had never built a ship with two levels of cannons before, the king wanted an impressive war ship and approved the design. But when a pre-launch test revealed it was unstable and could not be fixed, nobody dared tell the king the truth due to his temperament. A lesson right out of Industrial Psychology textbooks. The architect died a year before it sank so the resulting inquest never held anyone else accountable.

The ship was preserved by the frigid, low-oxygen waters of the Baltic Sea. It gave me chills. Thirty people drowned and their remains were only recovered when the massive ship was raised in the 1961. I can't imagine how deeply the loss must have been felt by the hundreds of ship builders and the artists who carved and painted the 700 sculptures. Their loss became our gain because if it had been built just one meter wider, it would have sailed perfectly well and it would not have been preserved.  We couldn't even get the whole of it in one picture - so the scale model picture will have to do. Much was learned from this wreck and it's a must see in my book, especially if you love boats.

Later we roamed along the waterway and enjoyed relaxing in a park before heading to dinner. You'll notice there are still tulips in bloom here long after their season is over farther south. Throughout our whole trip we've enjoyed the sight and especially the scent of lilacs in bloom everywhere. After several nights of pub food, we splurged on a restaurant we couldn't quite peg. Aubergine (which sounds French) had a fish stew (I had this and it was delicious with fresh dill) but also Swedish meatballs and Iberian Pork (Dermot's choice). 

The next day we went to Skansen which is a huge open-air park with more than 150 historic buildings including homes, stores and school houses brought in from all over Sweden. Most were closed up but some are open and had people dressed in period costumes who explained how things worked or gave demonstrations. Our timing landed us in the village just as many demonstrators were on lunch break so we pushed on to see the animals. I finally got to see three moose, though it was a bit sad to see these majestic creatures penned in. They also preserve native species of domesticated animals and wild animals like arctic foxes and wolverines that live in Sweden as well as fish in an aquarium - none of which we stood a ghost of a chance of seeing in the wild. We spent hours there and didn't come close to seeing it all. That night we enjoyed a wonderful meal at an Ethiopian restaurant.

The following day we followed Rick Steves Gamla Stan walk and even caught the first part of the Military Parade and Changing of the Guard. With a marching band dressed in white a band dressed in black and the guards with different uniforms as well, it made for a stirring ceremony.

We took what we call a "down day" to plan our next few days, allow time for Dermot to take a yoga class and to get laundry done. When there seemed few options for the weekend to the North, we got nervous. Dermot tried but couldn't get into the yoga class. Rather than risk not being able to find a campground North, we chose one in the suburbs of Stockholm for the weekend and booked campgrounds onward and including Oslo.

Swedes’ love of the outdoors is evident. Even the suburbs have nature reserves threaded through with paths that circle lakes, traverse rocky outcropping and have peaceful picnic and grilling pits. We thought we’d have the place to ourselves on a Friday afternoon but were surprised at how many people we met as we "forest bathed." On Saturday, I visited the Swedish Museum of History while Dermot rounded out this week in Stockholm as he'd started it - watching a Manchester United soccer game. Only this time in O'Connell's Irish Pub and Man U lost.

Next stop: Norway!

Sweden, Part 1

 

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.