Blogs from Västernorrland County, Sweden, Europe

Signs en masse One thing we find a bit fascinating is that once you go about two hours by car north or northwest from Stockholm the shop signs start to change in style. The best way we can describe them is that the shop signs look antique. Similar signs further south in Sweden are more likely to look more modern. It seems to be a north of Stockholm thing. Or possibly, it is more of rural thing? We like these signs so much that we have decided to dedicate an entire blog entry to them. We have not posted all the photos we took, only the best ones. We have like a dozen more pictures of antique style signs that did not come out any good for various reasons. If we had really tried we guess ... read more

Getting ready for Sunday The lovely chileana whose place I stayed at last night reminded me that it was unusual for shops to open on Sundays, so I would need to make any food purchases before leaving Fränsta. This meant waiting for the ICA down the road to open at 0900. So it was another late start, and by the time I had done a couple of circuits of the aisles, etc trying to find things, it was really getting on. A pleasant river walk For much of the morning, the path stayed close to the river. Trail conditions varied from level path well padded with pine needles and leaf litter, to ankle and knee threatening bare rocks and twisted exposed trre roots. Later in the morning it was a return to the gris àvagen - ... read more

Getting an Earlier Start My morning routine clearly needs some work, because I still wasn't away until 0925, with just as far to walk as yesterday. Most of the day was spent on a gravel road through forest next to a lake with occasional small farms or farming hamlets. If there was a highlight, it was find a lunch spot in front of a farmhouse with a great view over Stodesjon, the lake beside which I had been walking. My only company was to have a chat with a family group out cycling. We passed each other three times, only because I passed them picnicking at a sandy spot they had found at the side of the road. And then the rain came Sometime near Gålviken, it started to rain. Not heavily, but enough to put ... read more

Po rušné noci na kopci nad Sundsvall jsme se vydali zpět na nádraží, kde jsme si nechali batohy v úschovném boxu. Před samotnou prohlídkou města jsme si na odpoledne koupili lístky do Härnösand. Na nadrazi to docela smrdelo a behem nakupovani nas poprosil jisty african o pohlidani jeho kufru, ze si potrebuje něco zaridit. Z domluvenych 20 minut se stalo cca 40 minut. Prisel presne ve chvili, kdy nam uz dosla trpelivost a premysleli jsme, co s temi jeho kufry provedeme. Do odjezdu jsme měli asi tři hodiny, ale nejdrive jsme zaridili ruzne potrebnosti, a pak se teprve courali po meste. Tou první byl nakup repelentu - z domova jsme zadny nebrali, protože pry stejne nefunguji na mistni komary. A jelikoz uz pomalu mirime na sever a zítra budeme v narodnim parku, kde bychom je mohli ... read more

Die Zeit rast wirklich, bald sind die 2 Wochen hier schon wieder rum, wie schnell das geht... Gestern war der Plan, mal in nen schwedischen Club zu gehen. Unser lieber Timur hatte schon einen rausgesucht der auch Mittwochs auf hat. Also nachm Sprachkurs zum Systembolaget (Alkoholladen, in Schweden alles über 3,5% muss da verkauft werden). Hatte ich schonmal erwähnt dass hier alles SAU teuer ist? Hm ich glaube schon, naja die günstigsten Bierdosen haben ca. 1,20€ gekostet. Naja jedenfalls ein bisschen eingedeckt, zu Hause dann schön gegessen und vorgetrunken, weil wenns im Laden schon so teuer ist, wie ists dann wohl erst im Club. Gegen 11 dann zum Club, schön hingelaufen, alle hübsch gemacht (soweit möglich) und was war... Club war zu, toll Timur :D Aber zu seiner Verteidigung, es stand wirklich an der Tür dass ... read more