One of the first things we noticed on our bus ride from Lillehammer to Vikarbyn was that in Sweden 90% of the houses are wood and most are painted this particular red/brown color. Our guide Gundega explained to us that this color and type of house has always been considered high status. Most people don’t want to have a different look although there were always a few rebels who built some other style or painted their home a radical color: gray, white, or even blue.
On our way east from Lillehammer the bus driver pulled into a parking lot that seemed to be not any place special. We were there to admire the world’s tallest laminated wood building. (18 stories/ 280ft.) Later we stopped for snacks at a Circle K service station. I never imagined Circle K was international. Final stop on our way to Vikarbyn was the Dala wooden horse factory. No horses were being carved because it was Sunday but the gift shop is always open.
The bus ride was several hours. The northern forests of Norway and Sweden looked managed by which I mean, the trees were usually about the same size and spaced apart with little undergrowth. I was disappointed. I was expecting a fairy tale forest.
We finally arrived at our Bed & Breakfast in Vikarbyn mid-afternoon. We had the option of going for a walk to explore town, but first it was time for Fika. It had been explained to us that in Sweden it is your right, in fact you must, have a coffee break. We made pot of coffee and tea in our common kitchen. We sat in the sun on our B&B balcony with a view of Lake Siljan in the distance.
The owners of the B & B cooked our dinner the 2 nights we were there. We weren’t expecting much because days before Gundega informed us that the Swedes are champions in recycling. Nothing is wasted. Then she reminded us to order and pay for our dinners in Vikarbyn. via text message. Someone asked: “What will we have for dinner?” Gundega said “There was no way to know what our dinner will be ahead of time.” Our thrifty hostess would- make our dinner out of “whatever leftovers were available.” The dinners were quite good.
The following day we were to be loaded into vans and driven around the surrounding rural area known as Dalarna to see the sites. It didn’t sound very exciting but our other choice would have been to hang around Vikarbyn on a cool, cloudy day.
Our tour led by two young local lady guides/van drivers, was surprisingly interesting and fun. Most unbelievable to me was one Dalhalla a quarry that has been turned into an huge international music venue. Unfortunately we could only look down through the fence. Popular musicians you’ve heard of fill the arena in this remote spot.
Along the way we saw several Maypoles in parks and towns used for Midsummer celebrations. We spent quite a bit of time at the historic Rattvik Church located at one end of Lake Siljan. Before there were roads parishioners rowed boats to church. Other families came long distances on horseback and slept in cabins with their horses.
Gustav Vasa leader of the Swedish revolution against Denmark organized rebels and hid out in this area. There is a beautiful memorial column near the church dedicated to Vasa and the Swedish revolutionaries who fought the Danish King Christian II with him.
We ate lunch in a large remote park that was once a quarry and mining area. There were displays identifying plants, a beautiful quarry lake, and a picnic area.
Our tour did end in a gift shop. We returned to our B & B where we had a chance to do our laundry and go to the grocery to buy snacks for our trip to Stockholm.
I should mention we did have a couple of challenges at our B & B. We were again issued sheets and duvets for our bed. We seem to be getting better at wrestling with the duvets. As we left our hostess told us we didn’t need to remove our bedding. We did it anyway just to show we could.
The laundry was another matter. Eleven people and 2 European size washing machines is a challenge. When I couldn’t get the washer door to open to get my clothes out. Gundega was sure I’d tried to force the door mid-cycle and broken the washer. It was the only time she panicked the entire trip. The washer was fine. The hanging dryers were something else. I don’t think any of us understood them. We all jammed our clothes in the dryers and left them running overnight. Still, Dennis had to wear his pants a little damp the next morning.
After our breakfast buffet we were driven in vans to the bus station, there we took a local bus which once stopped to let someone off at his driveway. The bus trip reminded me of riding the school bus only our Swedish bus was more comfortable. Our last bus stop was a small train station. From there we took the train to Stockholm then we all boarded a city bus to our hotel. Whew!
It was mid-afternoon so again after we all checked in at our hotel it was time for Fika. Our group sat outside on the busy pedestrian street Drottninggatan and people watched.
Gundega suggested we identify which people were tourists. The tourists quite outnumbered the native Stockholmers. We identified them by their backpacks and/or they stopped to consult maps or phones. Natives might have backpacks but they all wear sensible shoes and are in a hurry.
After our coffee we had a whirlwind walking tour Stockholm’s castle district, old town, and ferry dock. The place I remember best is Stortorget Square the place where Christian II staged a blood bath which caused Gustav Vasa to gather a gang of rebels to oust the Danes.
The following day our group took the ferry to the Vasa Museum. The history of this special Swedish war ship which sank near the harbor in 1628 shortly after launch, and its careful recovery and restoration beginning in 1961, is amazing.
Fantastic sculptures decorate the ship some designed to frighten enemy others to entertain the sailors
We spent the rest of our day in the nearby Nordiska Museet. The museum explained 500 years of Nordic Life got us hooked. There were kiosks with showing short films with actors reading from letters or diaries of ordinary people. Some of them were very moving. Also there were objects and tools of everyday life in displayed. The stories and displays on early Sami indiginous culture and the culture clashes that came with the arrival of Christian Scandinavians from the south were especially memorable.
The folk history was what we came to see but it’s a huge museum. We ended up seeing a collections of china and table settings from the 1600’s to 1950. A table set as it was when Queen Elizabeth visited and the evolution of utensils for eating. We couldn’t not explore the reconstructed “typical Swedish 1947 apartment” Compact but comfortable. I took some pictures but the website above is much better.
These were not things we planned to see but …. We tried to do it all. We took a tram off the island and then decided to walk to the hotel from the central station. We were exhausted.
Last Day Stockholm
Our boat to Helsinki left in the afternoon. It was sunny and we decided we wanted to spend most of the time outside. Dennis planned a walk to a couple of parks and then if we had time end up at the Culture House which has a theater, exhibits, several libraries and one or two restaurants every floor.
We saw several people heading into a church so we went in to. It was pretty nice.
View from the Culture House & what might have been an interesting photography exhibit. We didn’t have time.
We were off for our cruise across the Baltic to Helsinki. The best part of the cruise was sitting on the sun deck waiting for the boat to leave. Due to mechanical difficulties our departure was a couple of hours late.
