At the end of the trip we were still talking to each other. Can't ask for much more from a month long vacation. |
I didn't head for the coast as most Italians do but for Sweden and a month long road trip that covered both coasts and the lower third of the country. It's not like we set out to plan a trip like this, it just worked out that we had a car and friends insisted we come for a visit. We haven't been able to visit much on our other trips so this time we decided we'd do things right and visit as many people as possible while we were there.
I had the brilliant idea to take a picture of the city sign for each place we visited and for the most part I think I got it done, but there were times when I just couldn't remember. I blame Leif, not because he did anything but because I can't think of a good excuse for myself.
So without further ado, our trip in pictures and words. I hope either of them makes sense. I'm still feeling a little jet lagged, although I'm pretty sure that jet lag is impossible when travelling by car.
The trip started in Florence with a champagne breakfast. Hey, it was in the fridge and wouldn't keep till we got back. Not my fault. |
Leif's home town. Base camp, so to speak. |
We were actually able to go to the beach this year, unusual for a Swedish August and the best part is that it's only two blocks from the house. |
Hackefores
Sorry, no picture of the sign.
We watched Leif's nephew for the weekend. So kind of like work but more fun. |
Vikingstad
Again, no sign. There are probably supposed to be all kinds
of dots somewhere here. Besides over the i's.
A visit with Leif's Alpha Romeo friend Arne. I'm sure we talked about something besides cars, but I can't remember what. |
Motala
Yet another sign I missed. Hmmm.
Adventure golf with Leif's sister and nieces. I didn't totally suck and the sun was shining so a great day all around. |
I felt so great getting this hole in one shot, until Ingela told me that the ball doesn't actually go through the spiral. Totally surprised me there. |
The bonus hole, getting the ball into the chicken's mouth so it can "lay" the ball on the other end. |
And now the road trip begins in earnest. We visited no one in this city but it had to be included because... |
...they have an honest to gosh castle with a moat. A must see. |
Then a nice coffee stop on our way in the city that does candy canes the right way. FYI polkagris are little peppermints. |
Like Minnesota, lots of towns are on lakes. This one is on a BIG lake. (not the biggest) |
Our first stop. |
Off the next morning and stopped here... |
...for a coffee with Ola. We're lucky that people don't mind us calling out of the blue for coffee. |
Here we stayed for a few days. Well, not at the bus stop, of course. With friends. |
We ate sushi (my 3rd time) and wore multiple layers. Not as warm at the coast as inland. |
Met with Leif's Danish friend Martin. Again for coffee. We were adequately caffeinated the whole trip. |
Our host Peter. He was patience itself with us and we were lucky to stay with him. |
Linköping
You'd think I'd remember these signs,
especially since it's only 20k from home base.
Coffee (again) with our friend Fredrik who visited us recently in Florence. Somehow I missed getting him in the picture. Shy guy. |
This was a visit we wish we wouldn't have had to make. A former colleague of Leif's passed away. |
Next we traveled "up north". But not really, because Sweden is incredibly long and this town is only a third of the way up there. |
Grill master P-O at work. A cyclist friend of Leif's. I'm aware I say that alot, and he does have friends who aren't cyclists. Really. |
Several bottles of Italian wine were consumed in the quest for the perfect meal. Mission accomplished. |
Back to Skänninge and Leif's sister to share our anniversary dinner of hamburgers and prosecco with my father-in-law. He's a closet romantic, he brought me roses. |
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Then to Sturefores for coffee (!) with the neighbors. |
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As luck would have it there was a bike race in Linköping the night before we left for Stockholm. We even ran into old team mates of Leif's. Not literally of course. |
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Our home away from home (away from home) near Stockholm. Whose sign I never got a picture of, which is funny because they're everywhere. |
Stockholm
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Leif and Royne waiting for our steamship to board for the trip through the archipelago. Part of it, anyway. |
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Sitting at the rail so we don't miss anything. |
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The island we went to for lunch. I had fried Baltic herring with mashed potatoes and lingon berry sauce. My goal this trip was to try as many typical Swedish dishes as possible. |
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Sadly, I can't even remember the name of the town. But you guessed it, another cycling friend Magnus and his wife Greta. There's also a cat, but she was camera shy. |
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The main reason for staying so long, the wedding of dear friends Per and Helena on a beautiful day in Stockholm. Their happiness covered the city in sunshine. |
Sturefores
A quick one night stop and dinner with our priest, Leif's brother and family, childhood friend Gregor and his fiance Mona, and Fredrik. I totally forgot to take any pictures so imagine yet another bottle of prosecco being shared with dear friends and family. The next morning we packed up the car (with less discussion about what goes in and what stays than one might think) and headed down south for our last visit before leaving Sweden.
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A beautiful lake just north of Horn, where Leif's mother grew up. Reminds me of Minnesota. |
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Lunch at the Swedish version of McDonaald's called Scan. Probably not my brightest moment. It stuck with me far too long and made it's presence known rather unpleasantly. But the fries were great! |
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A beautiful little town, perfect for a final visit. |
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Our host Sten pouring one of his home brews. |
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He sort of looks like he's conquered the world, doesn't he? Wonderful day seeing the sights. |
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Coffee at the top of the cliff. A perfectly silent and beautiful spot. |
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Leif and Eva, a former colleague and friend.. Oh, also wife of Sten and our gracious hostess. |
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I have no pictures from this town, but Leif worked here for two years at Volvo. |
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On our way to the beach. They have thatched roofs! I made him stop numerous times. They just don't do thatch in MN. |
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The beautiful white sand beach at the Baltic Sea. |
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That black dot behind me is Leif. I swear. |
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Me doing my bit to thank Sweden for keeping its beaches free (take note, Italy) by cleaning up my section of beach. |
For me, this is where the trip became surreal. Like watching a movie 3/4 of the way through and then fast forwarding through the rest. It's a blur, other than my displeasure with Germany for charging more per liter for water than for gas.AND fixing all the taps in the bathroom so they only give warm/hot water. Something's wrong there. Also, the autobahn is definitely not the road to take if you want to enjoy the scenery. At 120kph everything you see is out of the corners of your eyes as you whiz by. But there are a few highlights.
Denmark
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The sign says "Last exit in Sweden" I suppose in case you really don't want to go to Denmark. |
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The first of three bridges connecting Denmark to itself and the rest of Europe. |
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Copenhagen. We never actually went into town. But now I can say I've driven by it. |
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The second bridge. I seem to have forgotten to include the third bridge. It's smaller. Denmark charges you to use these bridges. Kind of a bummer but at least they let me use my Swedish crowns. |
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As I said, the scenery goes by so fast it's impossible to sight see I got bored. Here we are traveling at the speed of light. At least it felt that way. |
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This isn't exciting till you know that the seat is twirling around. That's right, it's being sanitized for my protection as I stand there, totally amazed. |
Two days, four languages, five countries.I wouldn't recommend trying this if you're really interested in seeing the sights. But as experiences go, something that had to be done.
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