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SWEDEN |
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SWEDEN |
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We get up at around 5.30am and after a
some breakfast we leave home around six. We take the underground to the Central
Railway station, where our train to the Amsterdam Airport is already
waiting at the platform. We arrive at the airport at a quarter past seven.
We have already checked in for our KLM
flight to Stockholm and only have to
drop off our baggage. After that we drink a coffee at Starbucks 
The
flight works out fine and we arrive on time at Stockholm’s airport Arlanda.
There we take the transfer bus to the Avis
car rental.
We get an Audi6 combi. A very spacious car. We drive in a northerly direction on
the E4. At Uppsala we take an exit from the motorway and go for lunch in
the town centre. It is a national holiday today and we see some campaigning for
Sunday's European elections. We have lunch at a nice restaurant by the river
bank. After that we head on for Falun. We leave the motorways at Gävle
because we are warned for traffic jams ahead. This the reason we drive pas
beautiful lakes and tiny villages with lots of red painted cottages. Many have
the national flag in top on the national day. We arrive in Falun
a little after 4pm, where we have booked a room in the First
Hotel Grand. It is a good , yet a bit boring hotel. We walk to the town
centre where all kinds of festivities are taking place in connectionw with the
national day. We have a beer at the sidewalk terrace of Banken restaurant and
are confronted with the Swedish liquor policy: it costs over 5 euros.
At night we eat yet again at Banken. Like the name suggests it is located in a former bank builiding. We get a table in front of the door to the bank vault. After dinner we walk to the big square where a music festival is in full swing. There are many people watching. We return to our hotel and see some of the Worlcup qualifier between Sweden and Denmark. Sweden looses 1-0 to Denmark. But Netherlands win 2-1 against Iceland and is certain of taking part in the Worldcup tournament in South Africa next year.
We turn in early, because we are dead beat.
Weather: sunny, around 13º C / 23º F
We sleep the sleep of the innocent and
are complete fresh and relaxed the next morning. After breakfast we stroll along
the empty streets towards the old copper mine, Falu
Gruva. Copper was mined here until 1992. Mining of copper started here
already in the 8th century, when Sweden was still in the Iron Age. 
Maybe
the mine is even older than that. The first written mention of the copper mining
dates back to 1288. According to legend the first copper ore was discovered by a
goat rubbing its horn on a stone. For Sweden copper was a big source of income
during the 16th and 17th centuries and one of the reasons the country became a
major power in Europe. Sweden produced two thirds of the total European copper
demand.
We are in good time because the museum does not open until 11am on Sundays. We walk around the big pit, which was formed on a Sunday in 1687 when the mine collapsed and a large whole was left of what used to be a shaft system. From the 18th century onwards copper production declined. In 1881 some gold was found which unleashed a short lived gold rush. In total 5 tons of gold were dug up. In the 20th century copper became a side show to pyrite and zinc. In 1992 the mine was closed down and the company Stora Kopparberg specialised in forestry instead.
At 11am the information centre opens its
doors. We buy tickets for the first english tour that start at noon. We first
visit the mine's hospital. It houses an exhibition on the 
first
company hospital (1578) in Sweden. At noon our takes us down into the
mine. We get a cape to wear against the red fluid dripping from the ceilings and
a hard hat to protect our head. We follow the guide through the long
tunnels and shafts into large rooms. Here underground there no organic life. The
wood supporting the shafts is centuries old and does not decay. The is a 4 year
old dead Christmas tree on show that is perfectly in tact. We are told the
famous tale of Fat Mats, who met with a fatal accident in the mine and was found
49 years later. His body was in perfect condition and had not aged at all. He
could only be recognised by his erstwhile fiancée who had become 69 years old
by that time. The mine also holds a special type of royal guest book: a wall
with gold painted signatures of royal visitors to the mine. After an hour the
tour is over. We eat a sandwich in the cafeteria and visit the mine museum, that
give a good overview of copper mining through the centuries. We walk back to the
centre and have coffee near the market square.
In the afternoon we drive to Sundborn
to visit the country home of the Swedish painter Carl
Larsson . 
The house is situated quite nicely on the banks of a lake. It was decorated by
Larsson's wife Karin in bright colours and modern designs. This set the tone for
interior decorating in Sweden for the next decades. Karin Larsson died in 1928
and the house has been kept the same since. The artist lived from 1853 until
1919. In 1877 he moved to Paris and in 1881 to the Swedish art colony in France
in Grèz-sur-Loing. In 1888 he moved to Sundborn, which his wife had inherited
from her father. Larsson started with aquarel paintings during his stay in Grèz,
which made in very succesful. Larsson had 8 children, who, together with his
wife were his favourite models. You see their pictures all over the house.
Domestic life here must have been very regulated. There are rules and mottos
painted on most of the walls. After the obligatory tour (in Swedish; an English
text is handed out) we drive to Lugnet, the National Ski Stadium in Falun. We
walk uphill to the jumping platform and take the elevator to the top of the ski
jump from there is a breathtaking view over Falun and around.
At night we have dinner at a simple Thais diner for almost nothing. It is a bit of a problem to find a place to have a coffee after the meal. The town seems deserted on a Sunday evening. We find some coffee in a pub and after even a beer. The bar in our hotel is closed on a Sunday.
Weer: cloudy, some light rain in the morning. Clearer later and 13chte regen en een frisse start. Later op de dag opklaringen en 13º C / 23º F.
Erik’s eye has become infected. It
started yesterday evening, but it has grown worse now. The search for a
physician is not simple. The phone number the hotel gives us leads to a voice 
responce
system, that promises to call us back at 20 minutes past ten. We do not want to
wait for that, so we head for the emergency unit of the local hospital. But they
send us to the eye ward. There they do not want to help us without a referral by
a general practioner. Then we go to the local health care centre. First we meet
a nurse and finally a doctor. He writes a prescription for the medication Erik
had earlier from our own GP at home. Both the doctor and the medication were
very cheap: 125 and 98 kroner respectively (€11
en €9).
We drinken a coffee and then drive to
Leksand. That town is beautifully situation on the banks of the large Lake
Silja.
We have reserved at hotel Moskogen,
where we arrive around one o clock. We join the buffet lunch that is going on
right then. It is not very special. In the afternoon we make a walk along the
shore of the lake and visit the big church. We drink coffee in the centre and
look out for a restaurant for dinner later tonight. Lots of restaurants are
closed on Mondays and some even on Tuesdays through Thursdays as well.
In the end we find the Bosporen
restaurant , a Turkish
affair, also serving Italian pizzas and Swedish fare. It is very busy, but we
manage to get a table. After dinner we get back to the hotel. We watch some TV.
The European elections are the main item in the news. The environmentalists, the
Liberals and the new Pirate party have won. In fact parties with the most
unequivocal pro-Europeans stand have prevailed. The pirates are in favour of
abolishing copyright on filesharing, but also in favour of privacy
protection and against censorship on the Internet. Especially young voters
gave their support to them.
Weather: sunny. Up to 17ºC / 63ºF. Cold night.
We first drive to Rättvik. We have coffee in café and walk to the church, nicely situated at the shore of Lake Silja. We then continue to the open air museum, but that is still very deserted. The maypole is ready to be decorated and raised during the midsummer festivities in 10 days time. We walk back to the village. From there we drive to Dalhalla. This is giant theatre hacked out in an old lime stone quarry. Unfortunately it is closed this time of year and open to visitor at weekends only. With help of Erik I climb over the fence and take some clandestine pictures. In summer concerts and operas can be heard here.
We drive back to Rättvik and
on toNusnäs. That is where the handpainted wooden Dala Horses are
made. Nils
and Janne Olsson started this tradition. The workshop is open for
visitors and you can watch how a log turns
into a red or blue painted horse. In the end you inevitably end up in the gift
shop, where you can buy these very Swedish souvenirs.
We carry on to Mora and
have a very cheap lunch in a restaurant on Vasagatan. As so often the
Swedish lunch is fixed price buffet affair. You pay up front and go for it.
It is usually never much more than 100 kroner per person including a soft
drink. After lunch we visit the Zorn museum,
dedicated to the painter of that name (1860-1920). Zorn 
was
born as an illegitimate child on a farm near Mora and made a career as a
celebrated artist and a wealthy man. After a stay in Paris and the US he had
a villa built here of 600m2 (6400 sq ft) and 17 rooms. He entertained
numerous guests here, like Carl Larsson (who we know from his house at Sandborn)
and Prince Eugen, the painting brother of king Gustav V.
We have a look at the museum with lots of work of Zorn himself. Both water
colours and oil paintings. Besides the permanent exhibition there is also a
temporary one with paintings he made on his trips to Spain. After that I
visit Zorn's villa on the obligatory tour. The house is fitted with all mod
cons of the era like refrigerator, warm tap water and a phone.
After the visit we drive back to Leksand via the other side of Lake Silja.
At night we eat at the local Chinese, Lucky House. Not too special, but decent enough. We buy our desert at de super market and eat in our hotel room.
Weather: sunny. Up to 18,5ºC / 65ºF.
We drive to Orsa via Rättvik
and Mora. About 13 km beyond Orsa is the Grönklitt
bear park. Around 40 bears are kept here in large, which you can walk
around. There serveral types of bears in the park, like the ordinary Swedish
bears, which are common in the wild around here, but also a couple of
Kamsjatkaberen, who are much bigger. There also two polar bears. 
Strangely enough these keep walking to and fro on a very small part of their
enourmous habitat. According to the man in the hot dog stand the animals were
kept in smal cages before they came here. That is where they adopted this
behaviour. At11am it is feeding time for the lynxes, but these cats are so
shy they hardly show themselves. Not much different from their natural attitude.
They do love the meat thrown towards them, but as soon as the get hold of a
chunk they run off into the bushes, away from the visitors' glares. Around 1pm
the bears get fed and that is more of a spectacle. On cue of the sound of the
trolley with the food the start to assemble at the food dropping zone, waiting
for their lunch. They get bread loafs and fruit which they devour within
minutes.
Around 1.30 it starts to rain and by this time we have seen all there is to it and we drive to the town of Orsa for lunch. We continue to drive through ever heavier rain to Mora. By the time we get there it has become dry. We have coffee in the Kaffestugan and stroll along the main shopping street. Then it is already 5pm and time to drive back to our hotel. We take the other side of Lake Silja for our drive back.
At night we eat at the Leksand bistro, that opens from Wednesday through Saturday at this time of year. The food is Mexican, and tastes well.
Later we watch Sweden against Malta on tv. Sweden wins 4-0.
Weather: cloudy with some rain. Cold 8-11°C / 46-51°F.
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