Blogs from Sweden, Europe - page 11

Spent the morning wandering around Copenhagen before a 1 hr train trip to Malmo. The line is a combined road/rail link via an 8 km Oresund Bridge that partly spans the strait separating Denmark and the Scandinavian Peninsula. The link then descends a further 4 km by tunnel to reach Sweden’s 3rd city. Unfortunately the spectacular above ground look of the bridge is completely unseen from the train deck below. After a brief wander around the cobbled Old Town streets of Malmo its was back to the train station & a 3 hr trip to Gothenburg & a 3 night stay at the Le Mat B&B. The bridge has spurred a tremendous revival of Malmo from an industrial economy to a service economy dominated by IT & education whilst Gothenburg has prospered by retaining its traditional ... read more

W czwartek 27 czerwca wybrałem się na 4 dni do Vålådalen, pięknej doliny w najbliższych Uppsali górach. Ponieważ Szwecja jest duża i płaska, ażeby dojechać do najbliższych gór trzeba jechać z Uppsali około 6 godzin (ok. 500km). Dlatego pierwszą noc spędziłem w bardzo przyjemnych górskim hostelu w Vålådalen (łazienka w pokoju była sporym zaskoczeniem). Jeszcze w czwartek wieczorem zaczął padać deszcz i nie przestawał przez kolejne 4 dni. Pogoda była beznadziejna, chmury zawisły bardzo nisko i nie było widać praktycznie nic. A widoki powinny być wspaniałe. W ciągu czterech kolejnych dni zrobiłem pętelkę, nocując w trzech górskich chatkach. Wszystko wygląda bardzo podobnie jak w Norwegii. Niemniej jednak powiedziałbym, że rzeczy są dużo bardziej zorganizowane w Szwecji. Być może dlatego, że Szwedzi mają jedynie szczątki prawdziwych gór (jeśli nie liczyć dalekiej północy), więc zapewne ba... read more

When your contracts run out at work and you are to be unemployed for the next 3.5 months, perhaps choose somewhere cheap to celebrate no longer receiving a salary. Or, go to Scandinavia. And live off falafel. Sharing a single beer in four days. The flights were cheap. Edinburgh to Copenhagen return costing about £50. We could pop straight over to Sweden for a couple of days then have the second couple of days in Copenhagen. But why there? I may have previously mentioned parkrun in these blogs (https://www.parkrun.com/). This free weekly 5 km run/walk/jog is great but can become a bit of an obsession. We are not even close to the levels of obsession some people have though we do choose to wake up at 7am on Saturday mornings – we get up ... read more

Not a good night’s sleep. The hotel has my pet hate; the flimsy bed/mattress topper combo. Every time the old man turns over, it’s like riding a small tsunami. And don’t get me started on the ripple effects from his farts. And there’s no a/c so we have our own personal Swedish sauna. Today is Swedish National day, which means parkrun on a Thursday. The start is 2 miles away, so first I have to work out how to get there when walking is such a chore. Google maps suggests an electric scooter. I consider it, but can’t work out whether to lead with my good or bad leg. So opt for a good old fashioned bus. I leave in plenty of time in case anything goes wrong, which it does. My card is declined and ... read more

I was snoozing away at full speed this morning when it was abruptly interrupted by some rather loud thunder, has the American People yet again made a revolution and are they now manning the barricades? Nope it was a a normal run of the mill thunder storm with some rather heavy rain, what a way to start a day, well it finished after an hour or son. I did not have any pressing engagements with nubile wenches clad in shimmering semite anyway so I sat it out together with all the other guys riding bikes in this heavenly part of the world. Yesterday I went over to the Mexican restaurant across the road for dinner, I got an American portion that was far too large so I got a doggy bag. Almost all the hotels and ... read more