Category Archives: Sweden

Day 18 – Full throttle … to a halt

Time to leave Sweden. It will take us a couple of days to get back to Frankfurt as we choose not to drive that long with the kids in the car. Gothenburg is about 2-2.5 hours from Malmö so that’s doable. In Malmö, we cross over the Öresund bridge into Denmark, get around Copenhagen and find a nice campground. That’s the plan.

The kids were allowed to play for a bit…I mean, a long day in the car is just punishment for little kids

Rain was forecast for today but only later in the morning. Number 3 and I bought bread rolls in the shop on the campground which made our breakfast quick and easy. Looking at the sky, we decided to pack up quickly while it was still dry. With no awning, the tent was packed up super fast, thus we decided to take advantage of the kids’ bathroom. Everybody got a shower or bath. There was even time left to explore the playground a little.

As soon as it started drizzling, we hit the road. Both kids were tired out from bathing and then playing and fell asleep right away. Flo and I got to listen to our audio book, look at conveniently placed charge point and even discuss if we’d manage to find a restaurant that serves köttbullar for lunch time.

Critical gaze…yeah, nah…it’s not working

About 24 minutes before our lunch break, we heard a loud noise. It certainly startled me, Flo probably too. We couldn’t see anything straight away but it just sounded as if a tire blew. The car, however, was still running without any swerving. Flo checked the tire pressure and we were losing air fast in one of them. Time to get over to the shoulder of the road and stop. Warning light came one, warning vests came out and both our kids were still asleep. By the time Flo had emptied out the trunk to get to the repair stuff, the Agent woke up and complained that it was cold. And it was cold. Freezing in the chill wind, Flo tried to fix the tire with spray but it didn’t do any good (no more spare tires in new cars).

A road side assistance car stopped behind us and from there on, things sped up again. The tow truck would be there in 20 minutes to take the car to the workshop. Once it arrived, we all went into the assistance car and drove after our poor Puru Hiko. Number 3 was very excited about the tow truck but also anxious that we were grounded for now. The Agent simply screamed for the most part: It was cold and different and strange men were handling her car seat and wtf was going on?!?

They closed off one lane to make it a bit safer for us to tranfer into the assistence car. Number 3 was…not sure how to feel

The workshop had a matching tire available so we could have it changed right there. In no time, we were ready to be on the road again. I didn’t do anything in all that time other than look after the kids. By this point, they were also quite hungry. Number 3 had asked to have his dragon plushie with him which we thankfully managed to take. The workshop also managed to produce two plushies called “Blinky” so every kid had something to cuddle with. In the meantime, Flo had called around. ADAC, our insurance or mobility guaranty with Kia…who would make sure that we could go on now? He’d managed to get someone on the line who guaranteed that the costs for the repair would be paid but Flo should NOT pay upfront. They wanted to deal with the workshop themselves. The guys from the workshop were unhappy about it because in their experience, that just took time. In the end, they were right. It took until 3pm to get the e-mail saying “We will definitely cover the costs” to the right hands. Lucky for us, the car dealer had a restaurant so at least we had proper lunch. *le sigh*

The broken automatic tire pressure thingy that we weren’t told about but the workshop left on our dashboard

It will still haunt us in Germany though as the workshop broke one of the automatic tire pressure thingies on the tire they changed (Flo: TPMS). BUT we could continue back home! With only 2-3 hours lost!

When we finally, finally got to Malmö, I seriously suggested that we could camp here for another night. But we had to cover more distance. So we crossed over the Öresund bridge. By bye Sweden, you are such a lovely country! Thank you for our holiday!

Headfirst into Denmark, the first thing you encounter is Copenhagen right on the other side of the bridge. Trying to get around it, we hit a bit of a traffic jam and then the problem that there were no campgrounds in the city. Our originally picked one was probably still our best chance. I looked at the website, saw that they had their own bakery next to the campground and said “go!”. If everything failed, we’d probably still be able to get food at the campground. We arrived there at 6.15pm, about 15 minutes before the kids’ bedtime.

Asking for bread rolls, Flo was given four bread rolls from this morning for free. We chose our site, set up the tent in record time, ate the bread rolls and put the exhausted kids to bed. Man, what a day! Our poor kids. And poor Flo. This was not how we had envisioned this day at all. But we’ve made it. In Denmark now with a full belly and another looooong day in the car ahead tomorrow.

Day 17 – Goth Burger

We got greeted by a delightfully sunny morning on our little ställplats out in the middle of nowhere. It was not as cold as the last two nights close to the lake and a bit further north, so breakfast was a pleasant and rather quick affair. Today was marked fully as a city day, but we had a little bit to go before we could get to that.

About 100km and an extremely confusing ride through a cratered landscape of urban re-development later, we found ourselves at the desired parking garage as close to the old town as we needed. We had to be a bit cheeky to grab one of the last four available chargers (out of 50+, mind you!) but around 10:30am we were ready to explore.

After a quick glance at the Lonely Planet map, we decided to start at the northernmost point for the day and get ourselves a bit of an overview from there. Quite literally, actually – since the first stop was the harbor high-rise called “the lipstick”. It had a dedicated viewing platform accessible to the public. 13 € and an elevator ride later, we were treated to a spectacular 360° view of Gothenburg. We could see the moored sailing vessel Number 3 took a liking to on our way here, the massive redevelopment happening in the east that almost tripped our google maps navigation and much more.

Of particular interest to Number 3 were all the construction sites with interesting machinery in operation all around. That was, until a ship approached to pass the new bridge and it lifted the whole central bit up, tram tracks and all. The old bridge, in the process of being torn down, was locked in open position anyways. Perfect timing – even Nina dared to approach the windows for a view. Otherwise, she preferred the seats closer to the core 😀

Next up was lunch. I had picked a vegetarian place a bit further south and we made the track across town. What I should have done is some COVID due diligence and check if the place actually made it through 2020 (which it had not) – nothing outdates a guidebook (2019 edition!) faster than a global pandemic, eh? With that disappointment fresh and already well into lunch time, we had to revert to emergency mode and settle for “anything, hopefully fast”. The vegetarian buffet lunch we ended up with was alright, but nothing to write home about.

After lunch, some more exploration on foot, via the oldest stone building in the old town (Kronhuset, 1654). The slightly younger service buildings around it have been converted into artisan workshops and cafés. And so, our quest to visit a chocolate manufactory on every continent continued with some gifts and snacks for the way on our way out.

We decided on a change of pace and for two more stops for the day. Four, if you choose to see it from Number 3’s perspective: City museum for some brain food, tram ride, Haga for city vibes and coffee time, tram ride and then home.

Haga, an “area of interest” according to the guide book

The museum was pretty cool and held the kids’ attention for a good hour and a half, topped off with an amazing playroom they had basically to themselves for a while. The tram ride would most likely be the real highlight of the day, in Number 3’s opinion.

Haga was a very good way to round out the day. A different, more neighborhood-y vibe than the old town it reminded us of Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt. We shared a humongous kanelbullar and enjoyed the atmosphere. In terms of excitement factor for our eldest, all this paled in comparison though to being allowed to pull the string (very old school) to signal the tram driver for our stop.

So off we went, after a good, enjoyable day to our beachside campground just out of town. I think it was a good way to say goodbye to Sweden. Tomorrow, the road …

Day 16 – Almost Norway – Off to the west coast

We’ve had a great time here in Högsbyns with our extended stay. However, our holiday is almost over as we can count down the days on one hand now. We made fast progress with packing and were almost ready to hit the road…when Flo managed to talk up our neighbours again. Our kids had briefly played with Oskar yesterday so today, he had no qualms about hanging out. At some point his father came by and Flo got into a serious conversation about travelling. It’s always good to meet fellow travellers’ and, due to the pandemic, none of our usual meet-ups had happened. So we were quite starved for this kind of conversation.

Number 3 checking out the jumpstart cables on our car

Once we were completely packed up, we stayed maybe another 20 minutes. I took the garbage out and when I returned, Flo already looked embarrassed and a little stressed. From far away, he called “Don’t hurry, the tiny battery is flat again”. Oh right, I had completely forgotten about this as it hasn’t happened on this trip so far. Once we camp somewhere for more than a night, we have to deliberately recharge our tiny 12 volt battery through having our car “running” or risk a flat battery. Obviously, Flo had forgotten that this is a problem (and might have left an interior light on). So it took us another, I don’t know, 45 minutes (?) to first ask our neighbours, then try a motorbike battery and then have Jan, the owner of the campground, drive his ancient Passat to our car to give us a jump start. Of course, we were somewhere on the hillside where no regular campervan would could go to help out. Oh well. Apart from the time loss and me trying to keep calm, this flat battery didn’t do any harm.

Today, we had planned a visit to one of the Unesco World Heritage Sites to look at Bronze Age stone carvings. Since we started the day so late, we got to the place and raided the cafe “Bronze” first to satiate our hunger. The lunch menu included fika aka coffee/tea and cookies which I found extremely satisfying. The little museum explaining things about Bronze Age culture here and the carvings and also the connectedness of the European world at that time was really cool. It had great gimmicks to keep the kids engaged and occupied before we took a hike to see carvings. Well, you pass the playground first so we had to pretend to be on an ocean voyage for a bit. 🙂

Unesco World Heritage listed rock carvings from the Bronze Age

The hike was pleasant but overshadowed by a little pain. I had gotten many mosquito bites on my ankle and it turned out that I am also allergic to Swedish mosquitoes as well, so they all swelled up to ridiculous size and made walking itchy and painful. Plus, Number 3 was tired and not up for a lot of walking. Once we got to the site, it was cool to see the carvings but they also looked incredible fake to me. As if someone had painted them here yesterday. It’s a disputed restoration choice that the carvings have been painted in a deep red tone. It makes them incredibly visible but also looks as if they’d been done recently. All the wear and age of the place seems gone.

We hiked up to a cairn, which was as far as Number 3 was willing to go. Up there, he started to complain a lot and even fell down unfortunately. With a scratch on his palm, he started crying. Our saviours came in the form of a cookie monster plushy. A boy and his family hiked up as well and he had his cookie monster in the hood of his sweater. He then even entertained Number 3 and the Agent with a little cookie monster impersonation and shared his cookies with our kids! Munching happily even the walk back to our car was doable.

Another short ride later, we stopped in a village on the west coast called Fjällbacka. It’s only 80km from here to Oslo and somehow, it also starts to look Norwegian already. The village is famous for Ingrid Bergman having spend her summers here in retreat. It’s a cute place with wooden houses, right at the sea – a little bit of a resort feeling but them we didn’t stand out too much in our outdoor gear either. We got here just in time for our second fika in a cafe. The Agent was naughty, again, as she now started to pour out every drink in her cup right onto herself or the ground to see what happens. It was only water but it still is annoying. Especially when she then started complaining that it’s getting cold.

We strolled down the main road but then decided we were better off buying some things for dinner in the supermarket and start driving towards Göteborg. Tomorrow, for our last real day in Sweden, we want to spend another day in the city.

Fully stocked up, we drove along the coast, checking out potential free camps. At some point, we came across a basic “ställplats” which had everything except for drinking water. It even offered electricity so we put up the tent and stayed for the night.

Day 15 – Boat, a kingdom for a boat!

Given that Number 3 has been on our case about riding a boat for most of the trip, and our spectacular fail in Malmö, there was no more delaying it. The option of boat rentals was one of the reasons we came here in the first place after all. A boat we had to rent. What kind we would leave open to some consultation with the campground owner, but it would likely come down between canoe or row boat. Kayaks (which we would have preferred) were out due to the lack of AoE restraint options and out boarder seemed to be a bit against the spirit of it.

So we had a long, leisurely breakfast and enjoyed the comforting knowledge that there would be no packing today. Jan, the owner, is an extremely kind and laid-back kind of guy, so Number 3 almost burst from excitement when the reception was finally opened at 9am. In the end, he advised for the canoe as the nicer way to get around and we agreed, even though I was a bit apprehensive about the twisty kind of paddling. After all, my diagnosis of a broken rib was less than 5 weeks ago, and I can still feel it and not lay down on that side.

Everyone got kitted out with life vests, we packed some snacks and water and off we went. Nina had only kayak experience so far, so we quickly decided that maybe me in the back would have been the smarter move all along and swapped places. A lifetime ago, I did a two week-long trip down a local river in a canoe and to my surprise, the right motions were still there. That also meant that I, blessed with dad reflexes, could have an eye out for the Agent of Entropy. She insisted quite from the get go that the only way to enjoy the trip was to tippy toe over one side with one hand in the water.

We did a decent loop – maybe a bit too ambitions for the amount of food we took, as lunchtime sort of crept up on us. The Agent at some point refused to go on any further without the loudest of protestations. So Nina and I gave it one last big push and moored at a fallen log to give her at least a feed. Meanwhile, Number 3 and I went mushroom hunting again but got ourselves almost knocked out cold when I tried to use a decent sized (but rotten) tree as a handhold climbing the bank. It fell with a decent thud, luckily in the right direction for us. Oops …

Even with a feed, the Agent would refuse to part with mama for the rest of the way home, and so I did the last third of the way paddling alone from the back. Not ideal, but to my relieved surprise it went pain free. And so we arrived back for a late lunch, with big smiles all around (after the food, for the most part).

The afternoon flew by, with some exploration, cooking and Number 3 making friends with the 2 ½ year old neighbor. I really enjoyed seeing him as the tutor for once. The two of them played for almost an hour. His parents were really relaxed about it, enjoying the freedom that comes with those team ups (more on them tomorrow).

After all of that, bed time went pretty well and Nina and I had a good evening just for us, blogging, planning and talking in these beautiful surroundings we found ourselves in.

Day 14 – Holidaying

Early morning on the ställplats was quite pretty. Number 3 and I even got a shower in and then Flo and I got to pack the tent without interruption as the kids watched the entertainment programme. Nah, life starts early on a farm so the tractor was already out and about but the first horse was led in the riding area under the watchful eyes of all the kids staying today.

It was good to get moving even though it was such a lovely place. No shade meant that it quickly got too hot for me. Both kids were tired out and fell asleep as soon as they were in the car seats. Haverud with its aqueduct was the first destination for today and a good drive away from where we stayed. About 45min into the drive, we stopped at a supermarket for a quick grab of things to eat during lunch today. By the time Flo was back, it was time to look for a good place already.

We tried to find a rest area with a view over the lake but failed and ended up in one of those giant campgrounds instead. Realizing our error, we retreated and stopped at a forest parking spot. The area was full of hiking trails so there was some space and a garbage bin for this break.

Number 3 was even quick enough with his lunch that he was allowed to explore the forest a little before we went back.

The Haverud aqueduct was another hour away. Getting there was a bit of an adventure as Google brought us to the wrong side of the canal first and then, there were many “Drive careful, bike race” signs along the way. We made it to the parking lot before the bulk of bicyclists arrived though. Flo would probably be the better person to write about the engineering of it all but you only bet what I gathered: There’s an actual aqueduct as in an iron bridge for water from one lake to the next one, further down. It is part of a contraption with four (!) locks which are all automated by now but used to be manual mechanical locks. The cool thing is: You can walk over the aqueduct and along the canal and locks for a bit. Which is exactly what we did. The Agent was not amused that I wouldn’t let her walk while Number 3 was running and jumping around. I was just way too scared that she wouldn’t listen and accidentally fall into the canal. That’s just me though. 🙂

Number 3 was lobbying for having coffee time (or a second lunch really) right next to the canal. We had bought treats at the supermarket earlier though and they were waiting for us in the car. Plus, the campground was just another 30 minutes away and Flo and I were looking forward to arriving at a camp early for once. So, request denied. Onward, we pushed.

The last maybe 8km to the campground were much fun for Flo and the kids, not so much for me. Whoever engineered this road would have been better suited for designing roller coasters. Up and down, left and right…I felt thoroughly shaken, not stirred (Flo: Nono, for real. Like, 0G perfect parabpolic kind of hops and 2G turns – I had so much fun!).

The destination was worth it. We arrived to a serene lake with a trampoline in the water, grassy areas to camp and two lovely picnic bench-table-combinations right next to the playground. The reception was closed until 4pm (we’d later find out that the owner had to walk his dogs) so we had coffee at the benches. Afterwards, Flo checked us in and we set up at the hillside, overlooking the lake. At this point, Flo and I had agreed on staying here for two nights to just chill and relax…and well, enjoy our holidays. Number 3 and Flo went swimming for a bit. The Agent seemed keen at first but changed her mind as soon as her feet were in the water. Instead, she just wanted to walk alongside the lake as close to the water as possible but not IN it. No swimming for me then. It still seemed really cold so I didn’t mind too much.

Flo even cooked dinner before two tired kids went to bed. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the hill it got chilly, so we only blogged a little before retiring to the tent ourselves.

Day 13 – Back to Nature

We had thought about staying here for two nights and using Tivendentorp as a base for some hiking in the Tiveden National Park. And even though the day started much to Nina’s delight with a full breakfast buffet, it was not enough to keep us here – mostly because of the spot, a bit discarded, off to the side of an otherwise stunning site.

We used our time before the 8am start of the breakfast well with pre-packing and washing up, so that we could be on the road pretty quickly once the leisurely breakfast time was over. We did leave really early in fact and were at the main entrance of the park early enough to manage to get a parking spot.

With some fresh well water in our bladders and Number 3’s chat with the park ranger to find out what kind of animals he can expect today (very proud of him to have asked on his own, in English! Also very cool to have a ranger on-site). The answer was birds 😀

We chose the shortest of the four loops – with a bit of a better feeling about this after the ranger told us this was their “crown jewel” and the reason the park was created in the first place. 2,5 km set for a 1-2 hrs walk promised quite a lot of up and down on the way.

Any hike that starts like this will likely be our cup of tea

I will let the pictures (of which we have selected way too many) do most of the talking, but I want to state how proud we both were of Number 3 walking the whole thing with little complaint. He made up a game of “absorbing” the track markers to recharge. Just my kind of kid! The walk was stunning and just what we were hoping for: Mildly challenging to do with the carrier and a 3 year old and with lots of different undergrounds and little obstacles. At the risk of sounding very esoteric, but hiking with barefoot or minimal shoes is just a whole extra layer to the experience for us. Sensing the moss, the soft earth and grippy rock face with the soles of your feet is very … ah, I’ll say it: grounding!

We had a good lunch of prepared sandwiches at the view-point and were ready for an early camp to get the chance for a pitch in time for afternoon tea by the time we arrived back at the car around 12:30pm. A few snacks and a fireside chat with other hikers and we were ready to say farewell to Tiveden for this time. What a lovely place.

But now it was off into the unknown. My research last night did not produce any great options for tonight, but we wanted to see if we can find a place to free camp along the way. The drive was relaxing as always in Sweden, real meditative road-trip feeling. The hunt for a good place worked out less in our favour. There were a few good spots too early for our liking and by the time we wanted to settle we were in this (stunning, nonetheless) rural landscape with few “out of sight” spots in between. I had a look at a bathing spot and a hiking area, but both were not really what we were looking for. Coming out from the last one, we passed a “ställplats” sign pointing to a farm. It was a lovely sight, with no one else here and power available, around the cute red barn. But alas, they did not have a toilet for guests, and we don’t carry one, so off again we had to drive.

Ready to settle I checked google and spotted a tiny place just 15 minutes down the road – Nina checked ahead and all was well. It was another “ställplats” on a farm, but a bit more involved. The owner was the kindest person, managing to be super kind and helpful even in the middle of running a farm and stable during harvest season. She even took plenty of time to explain the whole process of bringing in wheat, siloing it and sending it off again to the mill to the curious Number 3. He was so happy to tell me all about it when he and Nina came back from an exploration round. We had a good grassy patch with electricity, there were horses around and even the weather held for a picture perfect sunset …

the Agent did not like the cold in the morning

Day 12 – The flavour of Sweden is Pear

I was happy with the campsite for one night even if it got cold in the evening and thus also in the morning. During breakfast, Number 3 was adamant that he wanted to go swimming in the lake. Flo and I both didn’t take him seriously as it was really quite too cold to consider swimming. We decided to take advantage of the facilities and all shower before we leave. As an out, Flo offered that Number 3 could undress at the tent and then see if it would be too cold to go swimming. Our child undressed and declared that it was not too cold. He wanted his togs and floaties now, please. Flabbergasted, we gave them to him and he seriously went swimming in the lake. My jaw dropped. I mean, he swam as well as a 3 year old does: Lots of running around and splashing and stuff but he was IN the water.

Afterwards, he was rather blue-faced and we were off to a hot shower. The sun came out and packing went smoothly. We even managed to booking a time for laundry at 9am, complete with drying our clothes in the dryer and dryer cupboard (very Swedish). Keeping in mind our adventures this morning, we left at an okay time at 12.30pm. At the reception, we decided that we’d skip lunch. The Agent was asleep in the car already, Number 3 also looked very sleepy and we had an hour to drive to Nora. Thus, Flo came back with a bag of crisps which substituted our meal. Off we went.

Nora turned out to be a charming little town. We stopped right at the ice cream parlour, woke the kids and had ice cream. Nora Glass has three flavours per day. Today it was pear, hazelnut and vanilla. Number 3 opted for hazelnut with sprinkles; he looked very happy with his choice and didn’t want to waste ANY of his sprinkles. Flo and I shared a large cone which automatically comes with a scoop of all three flavours. We each chose a topping: Flo went for crushed hazelnuts and I chose chocolate sprinkles. 😀 The Agent helped us finish our ice cream with some gusto. This was the decidedly better of our two Swedish ice cream experiences, for sure.

Afterwards, we wandered through the streets, got to the lake where we strolled along docks to stumble upon…trains! Number 3 was so excited that he did a little happy dance. 😀

It was time to get back into the car to continue driving to Örebro. This was the only town with a castle that we’d visit this trip. As we realized in Malmö, we were more for the outdoors in these holidays so we skipped all of the old castles and ruins along the way. Örebro Slottet would only be looked at from afar, as you can only go inside with a guided tour.

We arrived and plugged into the charger, then walked half way around the castle. It started pouring. Meh. Luckily, the cafe that I had picked was right there. We stepped into Hälls Konditori, sat down on the couch and plushy chairs and had cake. Originally, the plan had been to share some Princess Cake with Number 3…alas, Princess Cake was already out when we arrived. So we all had cake in the same style but with different flavour combinations from the original. Number 3 went for blueberry and chocolate, I had raspberry and white chocolate and Flo pear and dark chocolate. It was…way too much! After all our fika treats made out of yeast dough, like kanelbullar and the like, real cake with lots of cream just seemed way too sweet and rich. Number 3 couldn’t finish his. I ate mine but couldn’t finfish his and Flo struggled as well. It was long enough of a break that the sun was back out when we left, though.

Back into the car and onto the last stretch for today: We wanted to reach Tiveden National park. Flo had picked a campsite almost in the National park which read like a lovely place. The drive (in sunshine) was very nice and the forests around here looked lovely.

We sat up, unfortunately we had to stay with the campervans as there was just no level area for us to park on at the tent spot. Still, it was quiet and Flo and I managed to sneak off to the bar in the evening to blog and have a drink. I was also looking forward to the morning. We decided to cook this night instead of eating out in the restaurant to feel justified in having the breakfast buffet in the morning instead. I love breakfasts. 😀

Day 11 – Lucky Lake

What a difference 24 hours can make. For one, the weather can change completely. Ok, it did not, but the forecast was promising. Moreover though, a day is enough time to get some weary and tiredness out of your bones. Whatever it was, I was very energetic and motivated to get back into it again after our break with kindness.

With a kitchen at hand, breakfast came and went in record time. Packing went pretty good as well, even though the rain still was not quite ready to release its wet hold on us. I did most of the packing, while Nina used the opportunity to talk a little bit more with her old friend Emma. We left with little fanfare, with a final pet for Sigge from Number 3 and that warm fuzzy swell in the chest after encountering good people.

The Ica in Uppsala had a performing monkey entertainment at the bananas. Both kids were fascinated

A quick shopping break and a free banana for the Agent of Entropy later, we were on the road again. The rain was slowly left behind for impressive clouds and soon even some glimpses of blue ahead. Even though we were very early, we decided to stop over on our way to the Engelsberg ironworks in the old silver mining town of Sala. The old town grid had just enough to offer to keep us curious on a brief stroll waiting for the chosen lunch places opening time of 11am. Of course, we had to stock up on coffee time treats for later …

Mat & Prat turned out to be a decent choice. Not so much for the food on the lunch menu, which was fairly good, but for the complementary desserts provided on this “Pancake Thursday”. How can one not be of improved spirit after having been offered free pancakes with cream and strawberry jam?

Ironworks in Engelsberg, only from the outside

Next up was one of my picks: The Engelsberg ironworks, one of the oldest ironworks in Europe. Very early industrial era stuff. To our disappointment, we had missed to check the opening times and the place was already shut down for the winter. We missed the last tour by a week. The grounds were pretty cool nonetheless, but we decided not to wake up the kids and only go for a quick photo walk. Ah well, at least the sun has come out behind the clouds.

Such a cool play-pretend kiosk for kids!

As we had decided to take our time, we set the course for a campground early to have a nice tea time there. Or so we though – but out of the corner of my eye, only a few kilometres on I spotted a cool looking site on the roadside and so we stopped to investigate. As it turned out, I stumbled onto my share of old industrial architecture anyway: “Fagersta Västanfors hembygdsgård” is a kind of heritage village crossed with a cafe and park. We took a good hour to walk around, show Number 3 how manual locks (the watery kind) work and look at various curiosities. If not for the infuriating fact that I did not manage to charge at the extremely conveniently placed Vattenfall fast charger (a curse upon all your houses, dear energy suppliers), it would have been perfect.

The camp ground later on was also right up our ally. It was pretty big, but seemed almost completely devoid of other guests at the same time. So we were free to pick prime real estate right next to the playground with plenty of space and privacy from any neighbours. And it offered fast washing machines. With a last shower just around our tea, coffee and cookies time the rain bid its farewell and we had a brilliant, long evening at the lake. All topped off by a stunning red and purple sunset right over the lake. What a difference a day can make!

Day 9 – Give me shelter …

Everything is already so wet. It rained through the night. We decided for once against our pride and to make use of the facilities we are paying for. So instead of huddling under our awning, we packed everything up and got ourselves comfortable in the camp kitchen. A dry breakfast helped in getting the spirits up.

We actually used the kitchen to stay dry during breakfast

In the end, we were the only ones we saw all morning. Exploring the service building a bit more, we thought this really cool family bathroom was worth taking advantage off and added a family scrub to the list of things to do before facing the rain to take down the tent.

While we wrapped up our kids in full battle regalia, they did not last through the entire packing without complaining bitterly. We had to drop everything and head down to the playground at the lake for some cooling of tempers. So we were now pushing on lunch time before getting on the road – something that will become relevant to how our day would go …

Stopping at a random roadside cafe called Emma Grön

It was only two hours to our destination of the day: Visiting Emma, an old friend of Nina and myself. Well, actually not only Emma anymore, since she had found a companion since last we met and we were looking forward to be meeting Johan for the first time as well. The original plan was to have the lunch stop half way and arrive leisurely in the early afternoon. Now we were merely on the road and had already missed lunchtime.

Not much we could do about that, so I set course for the first restaurant Google suggested along the road. What an incredible luck we have sometimes. It turned out that Emma Grön could hardly have been more up our alley. We had a wonderful and tasty lunch in a little witches’ hut of a dining room. Oh, and the sweet treats looked so appetizing that we already knew that we would stay for dessert. What a great way to lift the spirits!

The rest of the way was uneventful – apart from some last minute COVID tests to keep our hosts and potential humans to be as safe as possible. With slight delay we arrived and triggered all of the burglar alarms around the house while waiting for Emma to return from her shopping run. We had initially intended to stay nearby somewhere with a good camp spot. But the relentless rain with no respite in sight had lead us to jump at the offer of some “urban camping” in our friends’ driveway.

The evening had much sharing of love and old tales, while we were spoilt by a great home-cooked lasagne from Johan. The kids slept as well as anywhere – why wouldn’t they? It is the same tent wherever it is parked.

Thank you Emma and Johan, for the shelter we needed …

Day 10 – … Shelter From the Storm

We woke up and it was still gushing down, as it had the whole night. Flo and Number 3 hopped into the house to prepare breakfast, the Agent and I took a little longer. It was not only wet, it was cold as well.

our kids win in the gear department, for sure. We have some things to add to our list …

We had breakfast with Emma (I completely missed Johan that morning) and then both of them were off. Our blog needed quite a bit of love and care and the weather was still miserable so we decided to stay on the porch next to the heating lamp and blog. When the rain stopped, the kids started exploring the garden and grounds around Emma’s and Johan’s house. This short pause in the rainfall fooled us and we prepared to go out to the lake in Länna. Right before we left, it started pouring down again so Flo and I threw on ponchos in the hopes to stay somewhat dry. Except for the core, it failed.

first you feed me the blue jummy, then you take a photo – you for real?

Back at the house, it was lunch time already and decision time was getting close. What would we do next? All this rain was wearing us down. Flo dreaded taking down the tent soaking wet and I just. didn’t. want. to. have. cold. wet. feet. anymore.

So Emma gave us shelter. Johan and her both let us stay in their driveway for one more night. Giving us shelter from the dreadful weather. With the urban camping came access to a house, complete with roof. It was dry and warm, had tea and coffee and cookies, a cat, a couch to lounge and everything else that one could want in a house. Shelter. Thank you so much guys to keep our lousy wet selves around.

Number 3 was quite smitten with Emma’s cat and managed to pat him in the afternoon. As Sigge is a rather old cat, he usually hides a lot but Number 3 was quiet and careful (for once) so he got cat pats as a reward. I’m actually quite proud of him.