Catching up with friends

We left Visby and took the ferry north.

This time to Nynäshamn, to visit our friends Ed and Frida in Stockholm. The ferry on this route was more adult-friendly, with a rooftop bar but no cartoons room and only a small play area.

The drive took us along the ring road around Stockholm, which is a rather complex underground tunnel system, including various junctions that we had to navigate. Luckily we managed to follow the satnav correctly and arrived safely in Täby.

Having visited Stockholm a couple of times before, we were happy to spend some time out in the suburbs. H was really excited to be around other children again and enjoyed colouring and playing board games.

The day we arrived, 6th June, is the National Day of Sweden, celebrating Gustav Vasa becoming King of Sweden in 1523 and the adoption of the constitutions of 1809 and 1974. It is a public holiday and we enjoyed a lovely bbq with our friends, who had decorated the table with Swedish flags and napkins. It felt a bit like My World Kitchen, a children’s television show where children cook meals from around the world for their friends and decorate the table with things related to their country.

After the girls had gone to bed, we watched the National Day festivities on the television. Unfortunately it was raining hard so everyone attending was getting very wet, so much so that when the Prime Minister stood up to speak, he couldn’t see properly through the rain on his glasses! It was interesting to see how another country celebrates its heritage, even if we didn’t understand a word of what was being said!

It was lovely sleeping in a proper bed after five nights of camping and we all slept very well! The next morning we took one of our friends’ daughters to her basketball class and Lou and H had a great time playing with some spare basketballs during the class. We then drove to a local farm, Rönninge By, where we met up with some more friends, Matt and Terese and their children. It was a lovely little place and H even went for her first horse ride, which she loved!

We had some lunch (really tasty broccoli and cheese soup) in the cafe before heading to the playground and watching the children sit on a log and play with sticks over a lake - it felt very wholesome and Scandinavian!

We said goodbye to Matt and Terese and headed to the Westfield shopping centre in Täby Central to pick up some food for dinner. In Sweden, you can only buy full strength alcohol from dedicated government-run off-licences (Systembolaget) so we went there first to stock up on some beer ahead of travelling on to Norway. We then treated H to some pick and mix in the ICA supermarket (you just don’t see it as much at home as when we were kids!) before heading back to Täby for home-made pizzas. After dinner the girls watched part of Frozen 2 before bed then the adults played Ticket to Ride Asia, which was good fun.

After another good night’s sleep, we had a relaxed morning watching the rest of Frozen 2 before saying goodbye to our friends. Although we were only in Stockholm for less than 48 hours, it was really nice being in a proper homely environment and helped to recharge the batteries for the next leg of our trip. Thanks to Ed and Frida for looking after us so well!

In the spirit of Frozen 2, we were truly heading “into the unknown” for our next stop. For the first time on our trip, we hadn’t actually booked any accommodation, although we had called ahead to a campsite just outside of Karlstad on the edge of Lake Vänern, Sweden’s largest lake.

We stopped en route at Örebro, Sweden’s seventh largest city. Although it was a Sunday it was surprisingly quiet. We headed to Örebro Ölhall for lunch, mainly so James could sample the craft beer, but we also had fun showing H how to play Ticket to Ride and chess. We had a quick wander round the centre of the town, the highlight being a big green bench that did a very good job of making people look tiny!

There was also an interesting tree, named Cybertotem, with an air conditioning unit, CCTV camera and a fire extinguisher carved into it. After a quick look at the city’s Slott and another obligatory ice cream, we got back in the car and continued west towards Karlstad.

Despite not booking ahead, there was plenty of space at Bomstadbaden Camping, which turned out to be a great find. Not only did it have heated toilet cubicles, it also had a fully equipped kitchen block, with an industrial style dishwasher which meant no washing up!

We pitched our tent and set out to explore the campsite, heading down to the nearby beach and the big playground. We cooked our staple dinner of pesto pasta with mixed beans in the kitchen area, speaking to a nice German couple who gave some good tips for places to visit in Norway, before heading to bed.

Unfortunately my sleeping bag is very old and not very thick, so I was pretty cold overnight and didn’t sleep well. However we had planned a lazy day on the campsite, which was just what was needed! After asking at reception, we found a quiz trail around the campsite, with adult and child questions to answer. Unfortunately all the questions were in Swedish but with the help of Google Translate, we managed to work most of them out. The route also took us past an obstacle course which we all enjoyed having a go at.

After a leisurely lunch, we headed back to the beach for a paddle in the lake. Paddling was all that was possible as the lake was only about an inch deep for quite a long way out! The water was lovely and warm though and we enjoyed skimming and throwing stones into the water.

Despite Karlstad being known as the Swedish Riviera, the weather wasn’t that favourable, so to avoid the rain showers and address my thin sleeping bag, we took a trip to the local IKEA to buy a blanket - when in Sweden…! It felt pleasantly familiar, although we were sad we couldn’t buy any meatballs as we had no way of keeping them refrigerated. We had dinner at the campsite’s restaurant, including some very tasty curry sauce to go with my fish and chips, before heading to bed, thankfully much warmer this time!

We had a leisurely morning, including a run for me and a game of giant chess for James and H, before packing up the tent and heading to Norway. We really enjoyed our time in Sweden, seeing friends and enjoying the outdoors. It is a lovely country and we’re looking forward to exploring the west coast on our way home.