Thank God!

Thank god for different interests otherwise I’d be out fishing instead of horse-riding :-) And it all began on Saturday when I was picked up by my friend Kiina where we decided that before dinner and Peter joining us we needed some hair adjustments.

Off to the salon and my hair got some irritating bits taken care off and then we swopped favours and Kiinas hair was given the chop as well. Dinner was enjoyed with some local beer and then all of the sudden Peter was gone off fishing and us girls just sat and talked and gossiped until 2.15 am when I decided it was time to take the ½ hr. walk home for some sleep.

I walked through the town taking some pictures as proof as it was light and really beautiful but slightly chilly. The walk was not a lonely one as all the clubs and pubs closed at 2 am and I was joined by many intoxicated crowds of the younger generations. Our three, Louise, Isaac and Anna would probably have had a good time if they had been here.

After some fast sleeping it was time to go our separate ways for the day. Yes one went fishing! And I went for a drive to see my father again and afterwards joined Kerstin (Louise, Kerstin’s mother was your day-care mum when you were little) and Kiina at the stable where Kerstin had generously lent me her horse. Beatrice (the horse) was a lovely Swedish warmblood but oh so tall compared to my Arabian gelding at home. In the end Beatrice’s size didn’t matter and we rode out in the bush for hours, so long I missed the dinner date at home, but it was sure nice. So nice that I’m off again tomorrow with Kerstin who’s’ on holidays and this time I’ll be borrowing another horse, and it sure beats fishing that’s for sure.

As I’m writing this the fisherman has not returned and I am eagerly waiting for some decent fish but from past experiences the fish are usually few and far between, but maybe this time there’ll be one big enough to bring home and maybe they won’t all get away so we can enjoy one for dinner tomorrow.

I've been out fishing

My good friend Lars and I went out last night to have a go at some fly fishing in a small Tarn just west of Hudiksvall.

A lovely evening with clear blue skies. The wind made it a bit chilly but on the other hand it kept the mozzies and midgies away, most of the time.

Lars caught a couple of trout, none big enough to keep but still a beautifully coloured fish. The colour of the trout refelects the dark marshy colour of the water in the tarn.

No need to say anymore, a great evening! :-)

Day 20 - Midsummer

Midsummer is one of the most important holidays for the whole year in Sweden. This holiday dates back to ancient times and was linked to the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. There’s also a winter solstice but who want to celebrate this? Anyway, in ancient times it was celebrated as a sacrifice time to fertility but these days I don’t think fertility has much importance in the celebrations. Nowadays the tradition is generally raising a maypole covered in leaves and flowers and traditional folk music is played together with dancing and games for both young and old.

Many Swedes spends their midsummer weekend in their summer houses or on their boats somewhere in the Swedish archipelago or just at home with friends and family. Traditional Swedish food is served such as the marinated herrings, smoked salmon, the very first potatoes for the year as well as the first strawberries for the year.

“Snaps” (aquavit spiced with different kind of herbs) and beer is usually plenty full and as always the snaps cannot be inhaled without some kind of drinking song proceeding the drinking.

In my younger days, back in the 70’s & 80’s midsummer was always a huge weekend. The amount of beer and alcohol consumed during this weekend usually added up to about 3 months of normal consumption and a hangover on midsummers day was usually an indication of a good time the night before. The partying usually lasted the whole night since the sun pretty much never goes down and there’s daylight all night long.

But long gone are the days of all night partying and hangovers and these days I do stick to the more family oriented way of celebrating. We head out to a place called “Fränö forngård”, and old farmstead which is heritage listed these days.

The weather is reasonable but a few storm clouds looms threatening in the distance. Lots of people are there, many young families as well as the older generation. The maypole is carried under accompaniment of music to its mounting place and is raised while children wrap leaves and flowers around the pole.

Once the pole is secured the children’s games start and dancing around the pole. Every Swede over 2 years of age probably knows “Little Frogs”, “Virgin Pink?” and last but not least “The Rocket”. After this even there’s more dancing from a children’s folkdance group, all nicely dressed up in the old traditional folk attire.

By now the storm clouds have ventured closer and as the first drops if rain start to fall we make it a day and head back home.

Back at mum and dads house we are treated to some lovely Swedish food as well as the traditional midsummer drinks as mentioned earlier.

We eat, drink and sing for a couple hours until before we’re all full of food and drink and a little tired and decide to make it a day and go to bed.

Day 19 - Out and About

The last few days we have just been taking things slow and have been enjoying taking things easy, like catching up on some sleep been able unpack the suitcase. As great as it is travelling it is a good feeling being able to be in one place for more than a few days and this little town of Hudiksvall on the coastline only a few hours north of Stockholm is where we lived, worked got married and where Louise was born before moving to Australia so there is a lot of history here. Little things like knowing your way around not needing our beloved life and marriage saver, TomTom(GPS) to get around. Hudiksvall hasn’t changed much at all and it’s so quiet compared to our life in Australia and yet this is the busy time with lots of tourists around as this weekend is the biggest weekend of the year. The Midsummer weekend is being celebrated and this is the biggest weekend of the year and also the lightest day of the year and is always enjoyed by all young and old with lots of traditional midsummer celebration of dance, food and drink. But more of that later!

After catching up with Gunnar and Agneta we have also started to catch up with friends. Peter has been spending some time with his fishing buddy Lars planning fishing getaways for sure whereas I got dragged out of bed the other day by my friend Kiina, who is an old work college and a fellow horse fanatic. It was rush rush to get to the stable for a weekly riding lesson only to find out after the horse was dragged from it’s very lush paddock brushed and saddled that Kiina had forgotten the lessons had been changed for the afternoon. Talk about everyone having hysterics at the stable when it all became apparent of the mishap. We still enjoyed a cuppa with some other horse friends where we shared 3 years of catch up.

As Peter described earlier it is so beautiful here at the moment and it is hard to paint a correct picture of the lush foliage everywhere and these amazing light nights. It doesn’t matter what time you wake up during the night it is just light outside and even though you know that this is how it is, it is still incredible! Bring on daylight-saving I say or even better send the Qld politicians over here to visit and see how the curtains and cows cope!!

On Thursday Peter and I decided to go bushwalking inland and to climb and conquer a mountain top. A 3.5 km walk uphill, with markers along the way to guide people in winter when the snow is metre deep or more, to finally end up at the top of the cliff where we could enjoy the breathtaking views.

A wind/weather shield had been built with a good open fire place and this is not a place where you’d want to be at all a little bit intoxicated as the cliffs end is something like a scene from the movie Cliffhanger and not for the faint hearted.

A 150 metre vertical drop and not a fence in sight and pretty scary for anyone not being fond of heights.

In the evening we joined Lars who was overseeing an old flax/grain mill making sure it was working for the midsummer celebrations the next day giving it a test run and of course it worked beautifully.

With only running water as the only power source flax could be swingled and grain could be grinded into flour.

An ingenious construction. Dating back to the 18th century the mill has been restored to working order by volunteers from the local community.

Just some thoughts...

Even though I’ve spent more years of my life in Sweden that in Australia and I should be used to it, the dramatic change of the landscape with every change of season never ceases to amaze me. To think that only a couple of months ago this landscape was all white with mountains of snow covering every piece of bare ground, with temperatures well below -25 at times, with not even a dead leaf on any tree and with daylight for only a few a hours each day. The ocean and the lakes covered with a metre thick layer of ice and wildlife struggling to find anything to eat. Most birds have migrated south and only a few species are strong enough to stay and survive the long and cold winter months.

In the middle of the month of June I can paint a totally different picture. The trees and grass is all green and it’s a green that is so green it almost hurts your eyes or eye… ;-) The fields are covered in lush grass and a multitude of wildflowers in all the rainbows colours fills the meadows and paddocks and the scents from all the flowers is the scent of summer.

The ocean and the lakes are ice free and white and purple water lilies covers the dark waters while a multitude of wildlife and insects thrives in the forests, on shores and in the water. The birds have returned from southern continents and when they are not singing their little hearts out they are nesting in trees and bushes all over the countryside.

While it’s still coolish in Australian standards the days are as long as you want them to be. The sun just drops below the horizon at 11.30pm and it never gets dark and by 2am it’s shining again. The daylight saving opponents in Australia who argues about 1 hour would have a real struggle on their hands here but to their surprise they would find people still get their full quota of sleep every night.

The summer is short but very intense in all aspects. In a few short months everything comes to life again to breed, to grow, to flower and to seed. And when autumn comes to die and to hibernate only to be repeated again in 6-7 months’ time.

I can imagine it could be hard to appreciate this intense feeling of life if you haven’t lived here and if you come from somewhere where seasons are not as dramatic as they are here but if you ever decide to travel to the northern parts of Europe I assure you won’t be disappointed and you will have an experience to be remembered for a life time.

Day 16 & 17- Heading North

Monday morning and it’s time to pack the suitcases again and get ready to drive the last 300 km north to Hudiksvall. At lunchtime we say goodbye to Lisa and her family for this time. As always it’s been a great stay with the Gustafsson family and we are very grateful for their hospitality and generosity. We hope that someday we will be able to host Lisa her family again in our house and enjoy their company for more than just a couple of days.

On our way north we stop at the Arlanda airport just north of Stockholm where we see Salme board her flight to Helsinki, Finland where she will spend some quality time with members of her family and friends.
The trip to Hudiksvall is only interrupted by a fuel stop at the halfway mark. We’re somewhat novices when it comes to the unmanned service stations but still manage to get 600 Swedish crowns worth of diesel into our little Citroen without triggering any security alarms.
Just after 5pm we arrive at Hudiksvall and Mum & Dad is there to greet us with a warm welcome. After pre dinner champagne we have a lovely dinner while catching up on many of the events that has happened in the 3 years since we last saw them.

Waking up on Tuesday morning and the sun is shining from a clear blue sky. The temperature is around 15 degrees but the sitting outside the sunshine makes it quite a pleasant experience. After breakfast we take the 15 minute walk town to the city centre to explore what has happened since we were here last. I can report that it pretty much looks the same as it did 3 years ago. After some strolling around in shops we head back home. We take lunch with my friend Lars at a local lunch restaurant and enjoy a yummy “ Pytt I Panna”. Pytt I Panna is a traditional Swedish dish where you raid the fridge for any leftovers from the last two weeks, chop it up in small pieces with some potatoes and throw it all into a frying pan. Together with a fried egg and some sliced beetroots it makes the perfect lunch!

Afternoon is spent helping out with some gardening and an excursion out into the countryside to enjoy the local scenery.

Dinner and World Cup soccer is enjoyed in the evening before it’s time to hit the sack.

Day 15 - Golf & Fish

At 2.32 in the morning we wake up to the sound of someone’s mobile ringing in our room. Being in half zombie mode at that time in the morning it does take some serious searching in our room to find where the phone is hiding. Despite considering myself a semi expert on mobile phones it takes me more than 10 minutes to figure out how to turn the thing of and whoever it who’s calling they are certainly persistent. 10 missed calls later and the phone being extremely close to being drowned in a glass of water the silence is finally back in the room and going to from half zombie to full blown zombie does not take long.

A couple of hours later and it’s time to get up. Sun is shining, birds are singing and the golf course is eagerly awaiting a VIP visitor from Australia. Me, Lennart and Lisa head off to the Troxhammar Golf course only a 5 minute drive from where we’re staying. The 18 hole course is too busy so we opt for the 12 hole course. A challenging course with water and sand all over the place and lots of trees where the ball no doubt will be lost.

After the first couple of holes all 3 of us seriously consider retiring to the bar and get drunk for the day. If there’s water we will find it and if there’s thick grass and scrub we’ll find it too. But slowly but surely things start to improve and we’re all managing to use just one ball per hole with Lennart as the shining beacon scoring a couple of pars. And icy cold shower doesn’t damp our now high spirits and after some 3 hours and a bit we have finished with hopes that the next time we play it can only get better.

Back at Lennart's and Lisa’s house again we’re pleased to see Salme is back again, full of energy as usual, and not wasting this opportunity me, Lennart and Salme decide to go for some fishing in Lennart’s boat.

We spend the afternoon trolling the lake of Mälaren and all of us get fish. 5 Pikes of different sizes get their day with the camera and released back to the lake to live and swim another day.

With rain clouds starting to build we decide to make it a day and head back to shore.

The 3 of us plus the Gustafsson family including boyfriends and girlfriends have dinner at a nice local restaurant and on the way home we stock up on much sought after Swedish sweets and lollies of which the Australian and Swedish Dentist Associations approve of 100% since it will to doubt raise their revenues for years to come.

Day 14 - The Royal Wedding

Saturday the 19th of June 2010 is “the day”. Today is the day when Crown princess Victoria of Sweden is getting married to her prince and the whole country is in wedding mode. Royalties and dignitaries from around the world are gathered and last but not least the three of us all the way from Australia to watch and enjoy the whole thing. The King of Sweden Karl Gustaf XVI got married in 1976 to Sylvia Sommerlath, now Queen Silvia, and we were all here in three different places enjoying that wedding as well.

On the morning of the wedding we had a little fright as Salme who woke up with chest pains and the decision was made to take the safe option and a visit to the local hospital was made where she was quickly admitted for observation for 24 hours. This somewhat changed our plans for the day but after the doctors assured us that Salme was in good hands and after her insisting for us to go and watch the Royal wedding we left somewhat deflated towards home for a quick shower and change.

Lisa, Lennart, Peter and Yvonne jumped on the subway which was free rides for everyone for the whole weekend of the wedding and let me tell you we were not alone for the trip into central Stockholm.

Total rush hours with standing room only, people everywhere and moving either forward or backwards was not an easy task, but with stamina determination we made it to our very privileged position for the afternoon with Lisa and Yvonne quickly decided they needed a Swedish flag and managed to buy the most expensive one in town I’m sure.

It was super special though as it had a gold colour tip making it one of the better looking flags around.

Once we were positioned on our balcony and Peters camera gear was set up we then realised we had forgotten the most important item at home! We had remembered to bring our water bottles but managed to forget the chilled bottle of Champagne and glasses.

As there were many a bottles being popped around us we made do with the aromas of everyone else’s bubbly wine and cheered on with our water instead eagerly waiting for the wedding to begin.

Our view was spectacular and not only did we see the Royal Castle but also the huge TV monitor pretty well so the whole ceremony could be watched in style.

The amount of people was astonishing in the hundreds of thousands around everywhere you looked, waving flags with an atmosphere of celebration.

It was an afternoon to be remembered and after an equally crowded trip back home we finished the evening with our forgotten Champagne and some very tasty Thai dinner prepared by the local Thai take away restaurant.