We took our time in the morning so that the kids got a chance to experience the lake before we headed off again. Number 3 was quite interested in the other kids there: A couple were catching tiny fish and putting them in a bucket while a couple of girls were flying kites.

Flo and I managed to blog before we packed and when I looked up again, one of the older girls was letting Number 3 use her kite. She was really good at explaining what Number 3 needed to do. He was a little distracted by all the things that were going on though.

We left a little after 11am, but it was only a very short while to get to Karlskrona. Sunday limited our options for lunch a bit, but we were quite happy with the 3G cafe we ended up in. The big ticket item though was the world famous in Sweden ice cream parlour “Glassiären“. Famous unfortunately not for the quality of their product but for the insane portion sizes they serve. They have to bake custom waffle cones in-house that are actually large enough to hold the equivalent to 10 scoops for the three flavour option. The surprisingly low price of 5.50€ should have been the last warning sign, but as might have been suspected already: The quantity comes at the complete and utter sacrifice of quality. We had genuine trouble making out the difference between pistachio and pear, other than a taste of “sickly sweet bubblegum”.

With the sun melting the lot down faster than we could eat it, we begged Number 3 to put an end to our misery and throw it out, but he insisted that no bit of ice cream shall ever be wasted before him and we forced our way through the entire thing. Now we at least have a benchmark for worst gelato as well …

Off we went north, for a really enjoyable bit of road-trippy cruising. We decided to take another short break, if only to keep Number 3 from sleeping the whole two hours. That random stop following a sign for a picnic area and campsite turned out to be an absolute amazing hit for us: A perfectly manicured, municipal campsite sitting adjacent to a spotless bathing spot. We were immediately sold. The kids invaded the (otherwise empty) playground.

The icing on the cake (almost literally) came in form of an ultra-cute kiosk selling coffee and waffles to be enjoyed in a little windproof pavilion with lake views. With no one around, we were worried that we might not be served, but the ladies at the place were quite charming. It had the vibe of a charity bake – we did not need to be asked twice and tucked in, waffles with whipped cream and strawberry jam. Hmm … what an insanely cool thing for a random road side stop.

On we went then – after a moment of consideration to decide whether we wanted to camp right here and now – to press on a bit further towards Uppsala and to our designated camp for the night. And what a great pick that was as well. It only had very basic facilities, but that also meant we were among the cool kids now of small vans, pick-up cabins and the like. Much better than the white wall.

We immediately got into a friendly conversation with our neighbours, taking on the challenge of making an uneven spot work that did not yield for their larger van. I did, and almost as soon as we were settled, Number 3 clicked with the youngest of the three girls off with their mom. So off they went into the forest right in front of us – he the eager pupil to her 9 year old joy of teaching and guiding. What a peaceful setup we had 😀

Dinner was further improved by their find of an abundant supply of blueberries. The new guide was even cool enough to check in with us first before just munching on the things, but when I checked and gave the OK, more girls were summoned and the hunt was on. Cereals with fresh fruit – only slightly marred by the Agent of Entropy`s return to form: She flipped my full bowl, spilling the contents over herself and the ground.

Number 3 had many inquisitive questions about the pit toilets, but went to bed without too much of a fight after that. That meant we both had enough time to be invited over to a spot on our neighbours’ campfire before calling it a night. They were mildly disconcerted by learning our usual getting-up time of 6.30am … 😀

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