A month? In Sweden? Whatever did you do?

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 should have put up a sign here, chiuso per ferie, or closed for vacation since that what all the businesses in Italy do for the month of August.

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.

Stayed with Leif's sister and family in
Skänninge. No matter how you say it,
I'll bet you're getting the pronunciation wrong.
And sometimes the signs are in the old
spelling. Yeah, learning Swedish ain't gonna be easy.

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.

We were lucky to stay with cycling friends Glenn and Lena
in a beautiful little town. They gave us the most
perfect Italian dinner. Made me homesick.
Also I've sort of agreed to do a bike race in Sweden
next year. More on that another time.

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.

After days of cold and almost rain we headed back, stopping
once again in Gränna for coffee and the tastiest
little pastries. Candied almonds around
pear butter dipped in dark chocolate.
I wish I had bought a million of them.

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.

The service was in a lovely church.
FYI, when they say that there will be sweets
and cake with the coffee, there will probably be
another cake besides the one you see on the table.
Totally surprised me...I was filling up on the
goodies I could see.

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.

We stopped in Motala on the way back.
Swedes love candy. It's no secret or generalization.
The sign on the door says 500 different kinds of goodies.
The sign on the building boasts 600. I didn't count them.
These stores are everywhere.

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.

Then to Sturefores for coffee (!) with the neighbors.

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.

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

Leif and Royne waiting for our steamship to board for the
trip through the archipelago. Part of it, anyway.

Sitting at the rail so we don't miss anything.

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.

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.

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.

Leaving the reception. We have yet to perfect taking our own pictures
in a way to show off my carefully considered wardrobe.
I mean really, there was no mirror so Leif had to take a picture
of me in each outfit till I found what I wanted.

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.

A beautiful lake just north of Horn, where Leif's mother grew up.
Reminds me of Minnesota.

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!

A beautiful little town, perfect for a final visit.

Our host Sten pouring one of his home brews.

He sort of looks like he's conquered the world, doesn't he?
Wonderful day seeing the sights.

Coffee at the top of the cliff. A perfectly silent and beautiful spot.

Leif and Eva, a former colleague and friend.. Oh, also wife
of Sten and our gracious hostess.

I have no pictures from this town, but Leif worked here
for two years at Volvo.

On our way to the beach. They have thatched roofs! I made him
stop numerous times. They just don't do thatch in MN.

The beautiful white sand beach at the Baltic Sea.

That black dot behind me is Leif. I swear.

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

The sign says "Last exit in Sweden" I suppose in case you really
don't want to go to Denmark.

The first of three bridges connecting Denmark
to itself and the rest of Europe.

Copenhagen. We never actually went into town. But now I can
say I've driven by it.

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.

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.

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.

We went through Innsbruck. Quite a trip. There aren't those
big signs like in the US "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING MINNESOTA"
Just discreet little signs with writing too small to read inside
a circle of stars. Impossible to photograph.

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.