Karlstad to Uppsala

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Geo: 59.8564, 17.6399

Heavy rains as we left Karlstad but soon the weather cleared and we have had sunshine since.

Uppsala is across Sweden and close to Stockholm. It is situated on the river Fyrisan which separates the historical part of the city from the commercial part.

First stop was the cathedral which is the biggest and tallest church in Scandinavia. It is the seat of the archbishop and was built between 1270 and 1435. The pulpit is baroque. Many notables are buried in the church. The Church was originally Catholic until taken over by one of the Swedish kings. Since the it has evolved as a more ecumenical and evangelical type of Lutheran church and inclusive in nature. Currently there is a large exhibition of church art and vestments as well as the chalices, etc.

From there we walked to the Uppsala castle. It was built in the 1540's and is the site of many key events in Swedish history. The House of Peace is here along with an exhibition about the former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold and his achievements. There seems to be a big emphasis in Sweden on discouraging any signs of racism or prejudice.

There are many very nice city parks including those on the castle grounds. Like many Scandinavian cities there is minimal car traffic. Mostly a lot of pedestrian walking streets and lots of bicycles.

The city is home to Uppsala University. And there are 13 "nation" house which are somewhat like fraternities which house students from different areas of Sweden. Each area has a different "nation" house.

On our travels we have noted that many of the vehicles are station wagons and hatchbacks. Some SUV's but not too many sedans. Also, it seems the majority of the vehicles are diesel.

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Comments

[Carla]

Your hotel was very pretty and also at the restaurant.