Swedish journey part 5

 

Before we left for Sweden Juliet said to me it would be great if being there triggered some forgotten memories and how right she was.  While at Kalmar we cycled out to the next peninsula, Revsudden, through the forests and along the cycle tracks some of which were hard to find.  By following the map we found ourselves in a deep overgrown area which didn't seem right but we carried on, swatting mosquitoes and pushing our bikes over the rough ground till we reached a road, fortunately the right one.  As we cycled along I spotted this arrangement at the side of the road used as a house number marker and the memories came flooding back!  I photographed it to draw later.

 

 

At the end of the peninsula we found a tiny harbour with a few assorted boats tied up next to these old cottages.  We had hoped there might be a cafe of some sort where we could get a drink and maybe a sandwich but it was too small so we drank some water and sat in the sun while I drew this on one of my pre-coloured pages.

 

 

We cycled back to camp for a late lunch but chose to take the longer way along the road instead as we didn't want to get lost in the forest again!

 

 

 

 

We found juniper bushes along the shore as well as all the pretty wild flowers.  These here came from Oland during a walk through the woods after lunch.

 

 

Another day we drove across the bridge to Oland  and travelled south a bit and then north to the capital, Borgholm. This is where the Swedish royal family has it's summer residence.  The harbour is full of yachts and the town itself is very laid back with the typical wooden buildings and interesting shops and cafes.  We had a delicious lunch overlooking the water which only cost us £10 a head. Everyone thinks Sweden is very expensive, but if you eat where the locals eat and have a simple meal, it's good value for money.  Drink costs more, but at lunchtime we didn't need more than a beer.

Oland is famous for it's windmills dotted along the length of the island which is about 130 kms long.

 

 

One my memories of my Dad is him having his tea with Mum watching the news, they always had Ryvita with ham or cheese and only when we arrived in Sweden and saw the amazing selection of crispbreads could I understand his liking for it.  It comes in all shapes and sizes up to pizza size sold whole or in triangles.  Of course I went crazy and bought as many different ones we could carry and we only finished the last one a couple of weeks ago.  Wish I could have squeezed in a few more!