Ystad
Today we woke up in sunshine in Kalmar and ended the day in rain. I guess that it had to happen sometime. We really have had absolutely gorgeous weather. We can't complain.
After breakfast, we headed back to Kosta to shop the Kosta Boda and Orrefors factory stores with better shopping ideas after our initial foray yesterday. Most everything is expensive in Sweden; except electronics, we are told. We are prepared to walk into Macy's after we get back and see that we could have purchased the same item at home at a lower price. We'll see. We did save the 20% Swedish VAT which almost offset the shipping and insurance. Still, it is fun to pick out something and have it show up back home later.
Then, upon further consideration, we decided to continue our initially planned excursion to Ystad after all. Our drive started in the forests and ended in "Sweden's breadbasket" with the richest soil in Sweden. It looks very much like Iowa but without all of those ugly black and gold Hawk things.
Ystad is a charming, southern coastal town located on about the southernmost point of Sweden. It is probably most famous as being the home of Henning Mankell, a crime novelist whose protagonist is detective Kurt Wallander. Bev thinks that it's funny that I am blogging about authors.
Ystad is also near Ales Stenar (Ale's Stones), a megalithic stone ship which is called the Stonehenge of Sweden. I find Stonehenge fascinating and hence the visit here. This is only one of the many pictures that I snapped after a long walk in the rain.
To get a place to stay this evening, we called the B&B with whom we had just canceled two days earlier and asked for our room back. No problem. It is the "off season" in Sweden and apparently "off season" is really "OFF season." So we are at the Kulturstallet B&B, a converted and added onto farmhouse set in the middle of farmers' fields about 13Km from the village of Ystad.
This is our room.
In every direction are farm fields, just like in Iowa. Bev says that the pictures don't convey the actual charm of the place.
We strolled the cobblestone streets in Ystad in the rain and chose the Store Tor (Big Thor) Restaurant for dinner.
(That is a horrible picture. Oh well, it is the only one that I have of the restaurant.) And when in Sweden ... eat like an American. While Bev continued the Swedish traditional shrimp salad sandwich, I chose Big Thor's hamburger and fries. Notice that it is Swedish, however. It is served open face. But to make sure that they didn't miss the American part, it has on it: lettuce, tomato, ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayo, aioli sauce and a pickle. Yes, all of the above. They apparently have never heard of Wisconsin: no cheese.
While there we struck up a conversation with an Australian traveling by himself by train and obviously missing adult English conversation.
It certainly is quiet here in the fields. Goodnight.
BTW, we filled up with petrol in Ystad this evening: US$123.
After breakfast, we headed back to Kosta to shop the Kosta Boda and Orrefors factory stores with better shopping ideas after our initial foray yesterday. Most everything is expensive in Sweden; except electronics, we are told. We are prepared to walk into Macy's after we get back and see that we could have purchased the same item at home at a lower price. We'll see. We did save the 20% Swedish VAT which almost offset the shipping and insurance. Still, it is fun to pick out something and have it show up back home later.
Then, upon further consideration, we decided to continue our initially planned excursion to Ystad after all. Our drive started in the forests and ended in "Sweden's breadbasket" with the richest soil in Sweden. It looks very much like Iowa but without all of those ugly black and gold Hawk things.
Ystad is a charming, southern coastal town located on about the southernmost point of Sweden. It is probably most famous as being the home of Henning Mankell, a crime novelist whose protagonist is detective Kurt Wallander. Bev thinks that it's funny that I am blogging about authors.
Ystad is also near Ales Stenar (Ale's Stones), a megalithic stone ship which is called the Stonehenge of Sweden. I find Stonehenge fascinating and hence the visit here. This is only one of the many pictures that I snapped after a long walk in the rain.
We strolled the cobblestone streets in Ystad in the rain and chose the Store Tor (Big Thor) Restaurant for dinner.
It certainly is quiet here in the fields. Goodnight.
BTW, we filled up with petrol in Ystad this evening: US$123.
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