In an attempt to make the absolute most of an annoying situation, I found a place to drop off Nina and Number 3 while I would hang out at the world’s most uninteresting petrol station waiting for Puru Hiko to get her buzz on. Emporia megamall – glitzy new addition to Malmö’s outskirts! We made it off the campground in record time at 9.15 am and 15 minutes later, the Agent of Entropy was fast asleep and the other two got dropped off in search for a replacement camping chair and some groceries.
The Ionity charger worked fine (there are tons of them, as they have partnered with a large petrol brand and outfitted many a K-station with 350 ampere HPCs), so I had at least only 40 minutes to kill. I did some trip research and planning while a very strange and peculiar story unfolded via WhatsApp with Nina. Turns out, almost everything in the mall, with the exception of the supermarket, would only open at 10am. So there were no visible signs, no people and even the electronic info panels would only show “open” shops – so Nina had no idea where to go. They decided on the sensible thing and headed for the only lit place: the ICA supermarket …
I outfitted myself with incredibly bad Burger King coffee and we met up just about an hour after leaving the camp. No good chairs had been found, but we had bread and milk to be prepared for eventual free camping …
But first – south to the small town of Höllviken to visit real Vikings of Fotevikens! Well, at least a neatly reconstructed village with a sort of re-enactment group of living there full-time while doubling as guides at the museum. Let’s get right to it – it was pretty awesome. I am a big history nerd and both of us have been to medieval style fairs in Germany before. The guides were really open and friendly – my sincere respect for pulling this off, living there full-time. I got into a few really cool conversations. It was quite delightful to see how they lit when it was clear we could skip the basic stuff about when Christianity arrived and that Viking helmets had no horns (Romanticists invention) and dig into the weird stuff. Talking to them, I could not shake the thoughts of comparison with other lower tech cultures we encountered in our travels. The village had the same vibe as one on Flores, Indonesia and the culture reminded me a lot of another seafaring warrior culture we have learned to love …
Number 3 had a blast, too. Going into houses, checking out stuff and trying to find the chickens belonging to the empty coop of the merchant’s household.
Rather than getting back in the car to look for a good lunch spot or getting our whole kit out, we decided to take the easy route and drop into the resident bar “Smokies” for some fast food. The burger, fries and baked potato were pretty decent and I learned to like the low alcohol cider that apparently is a thing around here.
After all that sun and excitement, and well and truly stuffed, there was only one more hour of driving on the menu. I found a nature reserve from one of the local councils with marked tenting spots. Now, we do have a tent, but it is also bolted to our car – so I was a bit apprehensive about the rules and if they applied to us. The good thing was that we were both early and there would be an alternative proper campsite close by. I just really hoped that we could escape the wall of white whales for at least one night.
As it turned out, this was the jackpot. A beautiful grassy area, with parking areas big and close enough that we could pop the tent without annoying everyone and it even had proper toilets and drinkable water just around the corner (in a converted farm now serving as a rentable venue for “nights in the countryside” for the locals). Everything was very beautiful, quiet and all in all amazing. Number 3 immediately took off into the forest and had the biggest, most joyous laughter ready for us as he paced through the pines and over logs.
We arrived at 3.30 pm. Enough time to soak in the sight and really feel like we made it to Sweden for the first time. This right here is what we were looking for. Let’s just really hope for more to come! I even got a bit of campfire company for a good chat arriving later that evening. A family of four in a two-roof-tent Jeep and trailer combination. Good times!
She slept through the whole re-charge. Oh, and she loves the Dragon. We named it Roary … 
This is a modern runestone, errected by the people living here. 
The gate in earthen rampart reminded me of a Maori Pa. 
The traders house, with the chicken coop in the back. So exiting for Number 3 
The volunteers make most of their own gear on site 
Lookout tower 
“Enemies approaching from the north! get you bows!” 
The view from the tower, with the Longhouse, and dwellings in the center and gardens to the left. 
not for cooking, but for dying wool 
reconstruction of a travelling missionaries tent – plus happy hobbit allowed to check it out 
the ladies baking bread, the men (and boys) making tools 
rough cutting a spoon 
whittle knife to finish the spoon 
this could be in Indonesia, or a thousand other places 
The spot for sacrifices 
small boat – he insisted we should pull him to the water (200m away) to sail off … 
Goofing around with provided props rather than disturbing the village. Much approve. 
improving something every day 
full and happy … look at them 
the road to the nature reserve, past old estates and mannor houses of the nobility. 
Southern Sweden still has a very central European landscape, just with fewer people. 
first time in a Swedish forrest – mind blown 
That pure joy – so infectious. Forrest was his highlight of the day. 
Back in again, this time with Papa 
This is Number 3’s finger. Look how tiny this thing is 
All that energy needs to go … 
… somewhere. Elegant one legged hop. 
what a brilliant place – forrest on three sides, pastures on the fourth. 
oh, grashoppers! 
Finally she was getting over her teething … and exploring as well 
they look so innocent … parents know better 😀 
without the awning, our setup looks low key enough for a tentsite, right?
