Uppsala

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Thursday 27th July. Uppsala today.....we left about 10am and drove north on the E4 to Uppsala. It is a very historical city and a popular university city. First stop was the castle on the hill, overlooking the city and surrounds - buiilt initially as a fortress in the 1500s, and now is the official residence of the City Governor. We walked down the steps to the west to the Botannical Gardens - they were the castle gardens and were given to the University by King Gustav 111 in 1787. They are formal, with box hedges around the grassed and planted areas, and conifers shaped to look like pyramids. The orangerie was fairly empty as the large potted phoenix palms etc were all outside for the summer. There was an interesting section with cacti. Across the street was a large greenhouse filled with tropical plants and an amazing kitchen garden outside. We had lunch (shrimp sandwich) at the adjoining cafe. We continued walking through the university to the cathedral - an enormous brick building with very tall spires. Many of the early kings are buried here, as well as the botanist Carl Linnaeus.

Across the street was the University Museum, called the Gustavianum, named after King Gustav Adolf 11 and was built in the 1620s - the oldest university building which was erected to educate public officials during Sweden's Age of Greatness. It contains many treasures - Egyptian artefacts, scientific objects, The Augsburg Art Cabinet, Viking artefacts. The science room really interested Lee as there were displays on Swedish scientists such as Celsius, Carl Linnaeus, and Angstrom. There was a circular theatre where people would stand and watch dissections !!!

We then wandered back along the river to the carpark, stopping on the way for an icecream. It was a very hot day (around 25 degrees +) but no humidity. From there we drove 10kms north to Gamla Uppsala - Old Uppsala - where the settlement first started, but was moved closer to the lake for easier transportation. There is an old church, a recreated old village, and burial mounds - where ancient royalty was buried. Amazing views from the top.

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