Kosta started with a trip to a Moose Park to see the moose up close and personal. The males are bloody huge beasts with huge antlers that would require some significant strength. We saw a few early on that were being rather elusive but we were patient and managed a few photos but it was as we were heading out we came across a couple of others that were not so camera shy and were happy to pose for some photos at close range. Every October they have an annual Moose cull to remove around 100,000 or 20% of the population and therefore try to manage their numbers. Nearly everywhere we drove you could see the warning signs to be careful and I reckon they would do some major damage if you hit one on the road. One of the locals said they are particularly skittish at this time of the year as they know it is October and time for the cull. At the gift shop on the way out we purchased some moose sausages for dinner and hence a return to eating exotic foods.
Next stop the glass factory to blow our own glass objects. Initially I had intended on a simple glass bauble for the Christmas tree but by the time I had checked in it had turned into a carafe for me and a bowl for Robyn. The blowing experience was fun and pretty straight forward as our instructor was by our side the whole time to assist with the process and manage the technical stuff that would mean the difference between success and disaster. The whole thing only took 30 minutes but we had to return 3 hours later after they had been slowly cooled and were ready for collection. Our time was easily filled by a wander through some of the galleries and a factory tour to see how the experts worked. Kosta Boda glass is extremely thick and heavy so getting stuff home was going to prove too much of a challenge and freight prices seemed to double what we might have purchased, we did however see some truly beautiful glass art that would have been purchased if we lived nearby. Capped off the afternoon with a drink at the art glass hotel where they housed some lovely glass art pieces.
Next stop for another two nights was Örebro. Our digs were probably some of the best we had experienced, slightly out of town but a very nice Air BnB with good hosts and some thoughtful touches. Other ones we have stayed at lack the little things like cooking oil or salt and pepper but this one had it all. On the recommendation of Birgitta and Klas we headed into the town and climbed (elevated up) the water tower for city views and then a bit of a drive around to get some food and wine from the “System Boligalet”. It had been a long and beautiful drive from Kosta to Örebro with plenty to see and some beautiful autumn colours. We were both a little tired by the end of the day (Actually most days we are pretty tired - i think we might need a holiday when we get home)
A full day in and around Örebro included a walk in the Skaramboda (Troll) Nature Reserviet, a walk around a nature park, a recovered former tip site among other things called Naturens Hus, lunch and a wander through Wadkoping, an open air museum of an old village made up of relocated houses, where people can live if they are artisans and display and sell their craft in small gallery shops and then a walk up a hill to follow a sculpture trail on top of an old oil shale heap that is still smouldering 45 years after it was abandoned.
Next stop Stockholm!
The drive was quite straight forward on once again good quality roads. We decided a trip to `Sweden would not be complete without a visit to Ikea so included a detour on the outskirts of Stockholm to visit an extremely huge “blue box” IKEA. An hour and a half later we re-emerged! Next task check in and drop off the car. Now the driving got interesting - we lost GPS signal inside the tunnel so hence missed our exit which added a bit of drama to the journey once we got out of the tunnel but Siri got us back on track and we found our hotel - checked in and dropped off our luggage. Now the car. We had been told in Malmö that we could drop the car at any of the Europcar offices in Stockholm so wanting to avoid any more driving in the city than was necessary we googled the closet Europcar office and headed there - only around 10 min away - great! Refuel on the way and done but NO when we get there there is no Europcar office to be found. So we select the next closest only to discover this takes us into the heart of the city and we are now heading towards peak hour traffic, also lots of road works, tunnels and confusing exits etc. Needless to say we got lost, seemed to be driving in circles. We finally parked in a Raddison Blu car park (I think illegally but the stress levels were through the roof and we didn’t care) and walked to central station to try and get some advice on where we could leave the car. Armed with more directions we set off again and encountered more road works, probably drove the wrong way down a street that had been made one way by the road works but success - we found the Europcar office but where to park! I went in to ask while Stu waited in the car - mmm - more driving - we needed to go back down the street the right way and navigate around a couple of city blocks, dodge some road works to finally turn down past the Europcar office to access their multi story car park. Now just give back the keys!!!!! It had only taken about an hour and a half to return the car! Walking and public transport from here on! Purchased some 72hour transport passes, a couple of bottles of wine and headed back to our very spacious, comfortable apartment (we had been upgraded to a larger apartment - very nice!) Dinner at a little local restaurant just down the road from our accommodation - very nice.
Day one - bus into the city and a self guided walking tour which started at the very impressive city hall, then a couple of churches and other significant old buildings, a meander through the cobbled streets of Gamla Stan which included a typical Swedish lunch of meatballs and finally the Palace and a look at the Crown Jewels.
Day two - off to one of the other islands that are part of Stockholm for a visit to the Vasa Museet to see the Vasa ship. It was a war ship commissioned by King Gustav Adolpheus built in the mid 1620’s meant to assist in the fighting in the 30 year war. It sank on it’s maiden voyage only about one and a half kilometres from where it was launched. It was truely impressive with hundreds of elaborate carvings and 64 cannons (designed for 72) all of which unfortunately added to its instability. It was too heavy, too high and too narrow with not enough ballast. A gust of wind caused it too wobble and water to come in through the cannon portholes which were all open for the great fanfare and ceremony that was too accompany the launch of this impressive ship. There were two cannon decks and the lower one was not far from the water line. Around 30 lives were lost. It was a major disaster in all respects and the king was not told for a couple of weeks! It lay on the bottom for 300 years. Several attempts were made to recover it but technology was not capable. Most of the cannons were recovered and sold around the world. It was raised in the mid 1960’s and restored over the following 30 odd years, including the building of a prup[ose built museum. It is remarkably well preserved and is 98% original. This was due to the brackish water, lack of oxygen and silt covering it. They have even been able to recover and reconstruct parts of some of the sails. An impressive and amazing sight. We spent two and a half hours which included 7 floors to see the ship from top to bottom and a 30min guided talk about the commissioning and sinking of the ship. Then on to find some lunch and a ferry ride to Sodermalm for a wander around a few streets and a visit to a photography museum (which included a “zillion” stairs to get down to the waterfront and the location of the exhibition.) enough walking - time for some rest (after we walk back up the “zillion” stairs) before we head to the airport at 7am and a two hour flight to Edinburgh.
In summary we have loved our few weeks in Scandinavia and are so pleased that we made the decision. Yes it was expensive but the scenery, the history, the Viking museums ,the people and the experiences that we have had have been well worth the effort. It has definitely been a highlight. One we would highly recommend. We 9or maybe our government) could certainly learn a lot if we had the will or the interest in doing things more efficiently and effectively for everyone.
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