We have to say thank you for three weeks without trouble and a lot of incredible moments!
What we’ve learnt about Sweden, Finland and Norway?
I hope our blog wasn’t boring ;-).
Now, we are in Frösakull near Halmstad on the Kattegat! The Swedish People called the place bathtub of Sweden. A wonderful place to swim and to take a sunbathe. We were swim first time in our vacation and after that we enjoyed the sun. In the evening, we saw the first sunset after the last two weeks!
In the morning, we bought the most purchased souvenir from Sweden – the Dalahäst. It’s a red horse that the Swedish People has carved during the long dark nights in the swedish winter. Each of this red horses is hand-painted and therefore unique.
In the old days, the Dalecarlian horse was mostly used as a toy for children. It’s long, long time ago …
More information about the Dalahäst you can find on wikipedia.
Notice: If you want to know what the story behind the policeman is – ask me ;-)!
We arrived in Åmål in the evening. Åmål is beautifully located on the Vänern lake. The Vänern lake is the largest lake in Sweden. You can’t see the other side of the lake.
In the evening we were at the local stadion and watched the soccer game IFK Åmål vs. Stenungsunds IF (the leader in the Div 2 Norra Götaland, herrar). Stenungsunds played in red color. For that reason, we supportet the red team with our red/white RBL flag ;-).
For outsiders: Emil Forsberg is a famous soccer by RBL and comes from Sweden.
It was a good fight with a lot of interesting moves on both sides and one yellow/red card. Our supported team won 2:5. Information about the game you find on the website svenskfotboll.se.
While travelling through Sweden, I’m speculating about, what living in Sweden is like? The life seems to be easier and the pace of life might be much slower and calmer than what we are used to. Otherwise, when you live in the countryside in Germany, I think you don’t have stress too ;-).
Anyways, now we have seen Östersund, Älvros and Mora. Take a look at the new pictures:
Yesterday, we drove across the Arctic circle in Norway. Now, we are back in the south zone, called the Northern Temperate Zone. The Arctic circle was not so spectacular – you can buy souvenirs and take photos of a wooden cross. Now we are on the way to Southern Sweden. We’ll drive one day and sleep on the E12 among the Swedish forest. We hoped that we get a visit from an elk or a reindeer.
Supplement: Unfortunately in vain …
The weather is very unsettled in Norway. We had two sunny days and it’s rainy now. If it is sunny, you have 24 hours sunshine. It’s crazy, when you lie in your Bulli at midnight and the sun is shining.
Our ferry had a technical fail yesterday, and we had to sleep in a small harbour in Brensholmen. Unfortunately, the ferry won’t cast off next morning, so we have to turn back. Anyways, the landscape is incredible, pictures like from a postcard. Nice villages between rocks and fjords. If you round the next corner, you see a new stunning scene.
In the evening, we asked a friendly norwegian women: “When will the weather be better?!?”. She answered: “This is the summer in North Norway! We have ten sunny days in the summer.” ;-).
After two rainy days, we cancelled the plan to drive to the Lofoten and we’ll drive back to Sweden. Goodbye Norway!
Tomorrow, it’s Midsommar in Norway and Sweden … an important weekend in Scandinavia.
After the North Cape we are going to drive to a group of islands called Lofoten. The way leads through beautiful fjords and villages. Sometimes we went by ferry to save time.
On the way, we’ve seen amazing mountains, wrapped in clouds and rests of snow.
We arrived Tromsø in the evening and slept on the caravan park in the near of Krokelvdalen.
Tromsø is a nice town and the largest urban area in Northern Norway. The town is wonderfully located between mountains and rivers. In the centre you’ll find a lot of old wooden houses mixed with modern architecture.
We visited the Arctic Cathedral (a modern church built in 1965) and took a walk trough the town center. Tromsø is a living town with small pubs and restaurant. The brewery “Macks Ølbryggeri” is located in Tromsø, formerly the northest brewery in the world.
Yeah, we are on the North Cape! We needed one week to drive.
The way to the North Cape was not so difficult as assumed. A long, long street, built in 1956, across a stinted landscape. A lot of camper and motorcyclists are on the way to the North Cape. Between camper and motorcyclists drove individual cyclists … dangerous.
We’ll sleep at the parking lot one night and visit the North Cape Visitors Center tomorrow. We hope the weather will be better than today …
Today, we passed the border to norway and left the EU in direction North Cape. We were a little bit nervous, we thought we had to much alcohol in our cars. But we didn’t see a border control … It was easy to pass the border.
The next stop: North Cape!
The weather is so nice in Finland, we decided to stay in Inari/Finland one more day. We washed our clothes and enjoyed the landscape 😉 …
After that, we were in the Sami Museum and Nature Center Siida. Located in center of Inari, the museum offers visitors knowledge of the Sami culture and the Arctic countryside. The museum is an archivement of the spiritual and material culture of the Finnish Sami people. One message of the Sami people is: Do not take more, that you need …
More Information about the SIIDA: inarisaariselka.fi
