Wednesday 11 September 2013

Holiday Scavenging - The Swedish Grand Finale

As promised, part two of my attempt to complete Rinda's Summer 2013 Scavenger Hunt whilst on holiday in Scandinavia.  This summer I was attending a reunion with friends and colleagues from my first job abroad in Västerås, Sweden.  To make it more interesting for Hubby we combined it with a road trip from Copenhagen (see my earlier post) to Stockholm for our first holiday without children for many a year.  We travelled from Denmark to Sweden across the Øresund Bridge by bus (only 50SEK each) and grabbed an Earthcache before collecting our hire car in Malmö and driving northwest across Sweden.  Along the way we spotted a traditional windmill ... and a modern one:

Jimjams - Scavenger Hunt 2013 #16 - Windmill
#16 - A Windmill
We stopped overnight in Jönköping.  Why there?  Because I remembered it from geography lessons when I was about 13/14: we learnt that this was the centre of the matchstick universe!  The matchstick museum there was absolutely brilliant - with a lovely mosaic pattern outside and fascinating machines, artefacts and art pieces inside:

#14 - A Mosaic
On the way there we spotted some doubtful advertising :-)

#7 - A Funny Sign
All too soon it was time to drive on towards my old stomping ground.  I took Hubby to Anundshög, an ancient site just outside Västerås where we admired some ancient stone ships and spotted a seahorse:

#12 - A Cloud In The Shape Of ...
Västerås hadn't altered too much in the last thirty years: yes, there were new office blocks, larger suburbs and the names on some of the shops had changed, but much of the centre was just the same, including the Town Hall:

#2 - Västerås Town Hall
I have no recollection of the theatre standing opposite, but then I was rather more interested in films than plays in my twenties.

#2 - A Theatre
The next day saw a visit to the local Open Air Museum at Välby (completely FREE!) to give Hubby a taste of Swedish historical buildings.  They had plenty of fences:

#13 - A Fence... and another one
After a very enjoyable morning, admiring the gardens, buildings, furniture and tools along with interesting explanations from the costumed guides, we set of for the reunion itself.  Our accommodation could easily have been on display at Välby - we stayed in loft bedrooms above a museum room and the communal kitchen was an old soldier's house - with little benches by the front door:
#10 - An Outside Bench
The reunion took place at Sandvik Music Festival, right on Lockvattnet lake where we saw some glorious sunsets and an amazing thunderstorm:

#5 - A Sunset
The festival bar was very relaxed:

#18 - Our "Local" Bar
And we didn't feel too old and out of place amongst the younger music lovers:


Though some of us couldn't take the late nights and early alcohol:

#6 - A Napper
After a happy weekend in good company we headed off for a couple of days in Stockholm to round off the trip.  Skansen scored us loads of animals (and more historical architecture) but the highlight amongst elks, reindeer, and brown bears were the baby lynxes (lynx?) playing on the rocks of their enclosure:

#11 - An Animal In A Zoo
Sergel's Torget was inaccesible due to roadworks and renovations (a shame as this iconic attraction is beautifully illuminated at night) but a nearby statue was well protected :-)

Jimjams - #8 Tower
#8 - A Tower#9 - Something Out Of Place
The Stockholm metro yielded more mosaics and other decorations:

#14 - Another Mosaic
Despite travelling through two capital ports, across a sea bridge and past dozens of lakes, the ONE item I had yet to find was a fisherman.  Then I spotted this and just about gave up:

NOT A Fisherman In Sight :-(
So it was back to the airport to spot a final plane:

#4 - An Aeroplane
Killing time in the airport shops, I was overjoyed to complete my hunt with an appropriate:

#19 - A FLY Fisherman
Many thanks to Rinda for adding some extra fun to our Scandinavian adventures with the Summer 2013 Scavenger Hunt.  Now to complete my English hunt before September 21st!

10 comments:

Lesley G said...

Fabulous photos Jemma. The storm and sunset are terrific and I love the town hall photo with the reflection.
Well done on completing you holiday scavenge :)

helena said...

love how you used the items to tell the story of your trip - you inspired me to create a hunt list for 2 city trips I'm taking later this year

Missus Wookie said...

I enjoyed a romp through your holiday snaps and scavenger hunt! :)

Sian said...

What an exciting trip! Your photos conjure up so many of the things I love about Sweden. We had but the one day in Stockholm this year, but we'll be going back, for sure.

And great finds.. you have inspired me to try to get finished up at the weekend too

Susanne said...

Wow, amazing holiday snaps. Looks like it was a fantastic trip.

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

That stormy sky is amazing! Great selection of takes on the prompts.
If you wanted to see the Gromits (albeit without the thrill of the hunt) there is going to be a 'Dog Show' in Bristol next weekend. They'll all be on display in one place before they get auctioned off for charity :o)

alexa said...

Brilliant clutch of photos! You have told the whole story of the trip this way ... So glad you spotted that elusive fisherman - a very creative solution!

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a great time. I have to hop to it and try to finish my hunt items in the next few days. I am catching up on my blog reading and won't have time to comment on all of your posts but I will scroll back and see what I have missed.

Maria Ontiveros said...

So many great photos here! I particularly like the tower and seahorse cloud (plus the House of Pain!).
Sorry to be so late getting round. I've been swamped lately. Don't forget to stop by this weekend for the final Scavenger Hunt check-in and link-up.
Rinda

Sandie said...

What a wonderful holiday and collection of photos. It must have been lovely to recall so many memories and it must have been added fun with your scavenger list.