Uppsala, Birka, Gripsholm and a football match

Saturday, July 21st, 2007. Friends from Ottawa - Ben and Amelie are up visiting us.

Gripsholms Slott is located in Mariefred on Lake Mälaren, about 60 kms west of Stockholm. It was first built in the 1500's by King Gustav Vasa (on the site of a fortress from the 1300's with which he used as building materials) and later expanded in the 17oo's by King Gustav III. With almost 100 rooms that you can walk through in the castle that contain original furniture and decor, it was one of the most amazing things I (Robin) have seen! It even has a dungeon. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, but some pics are here of the outside.

At 6pm, Djurgården vs Elfsborg football match started at Stockholm Olympic stadium. Djurgården had a thrilling come from behind win. I own a Djurgården jersey and looked like one of their biggest fans! I also tried to sing along with all the songs too. It was fun! There was a lot of energy in this crowd of 12,000.





July 16-19th, 2007: On Monday, my sister Maryrose and her husband Mauro arrived in Stockholm off the heels of their France trip. They saw the sights in Stockholm, and being inspired from their travels in France they cooked up a delicious 'coq au vin' one evening. Maryrose and Mauro were tired of palaces and opted for the unique viking experience of Birka, possibly the oldest town in Sweden. We had a great tour of the island and the grave mounds. There are something like 3000 grave mounds on this little island. I was a bit unprepared and didn't charge my batteries for the camera, and it died mid trip, as a result I didn't take that many pictures. What pictures I took are here.

July 14th, 2007. A forty minute commuter train from Stockholm and you are in Uppsala. This was a Saturday destination for us. Uppsala is a quaint little university town, with a canal that cuts through it. Ok, it isn't that small it's the fourth largest city in Sweden and home of some famous people. Most notable are, Carl Linnaeus and Anders Celsius, not to mention there is a Slott's factory (they make mustard) here as well. Speaking of slotts (i.e. castles), Uppsala has a fairly nice one, with a fantastic garden around the corner. Interestingly enough, the King of that castle had some canons pointed at the Domkyrka (Scandinavia's largest church) as he didn't trust powerful bishops of the time. It was a religious, economic and political centre. When I say religion I mean Norse paganism, human sacrifice, the worship of gods like Thor, Odin and Freyr. Just outside of town is Gamla Uppsala, or old Uppsala in English. It is here you can find the site of the Royal burial mound from the 5th and 6th century. Historians believe that this site may have been used as early as the 3rd century. We closed this day with a nice dinner at a restaurant down by the canal, see pics here.

Gotland - Visby

Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic Sea and home to Visby the city of "roses and ruins", was our destination for Canada Day. While there was a lack of partying Canadians, there was no shortage of partying Swedes. Visby is probably the best preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and a vacation destination for many Swedes during July and August.

Our mini vacation, one night in Visby started on Saturday at 04:30am, good thing the sun was up. We headed to the central station to catch our bus to Nynäshamn where we caught the first departing ferry for Visby. The bus ride was about an hour long, and the ferry three. The weather was crappy, it was overcast and about to rain. Sure enough, it started to rain while we made our crossing. We arrived in Visby, the rain stopped, the clouds break, and the remainder of the weekend was fantastic.

Gamla Wisby, or old Visby has a ringwall built around it that began in the 13th century. It was a flourishing city in that time thanks to to membership in the Hanseatic League between the 13th and 17th century. This town is rich with history, and abandoned churches. We spent a large part of our Saturday strolling along the wall and checking out the churches and other points of interest. We capped the day off with a great dinner at some restaurant with a fantastic view of the sea and the old city streets. This gave us the perfect opportunity to witness all the young (and some not so young) people coming out to party it up in the many bars and restaurants in the city core. Image a pub or club in a building that is perhaps 700 years olds, welcome to Visby.

Day two, Canada Day, we rented a pair of bikes and headed south along the coast to Högklint. We arrived to tremendous views atop of a cliff. We soaked in the views, the sun, and some hairy perches atop of a rock about 150M over the sea. We enjoyed a saffron pancake at a small cafe by the sea before heading back to town. When we return we strolled through town, had a drink and a bite to eat before hopped aboard the last ferry out. Little did we know, pug lady (a woman whose face reminded us of a pug), took the same trip from Stockholm and back. we saw her everywhere in the ferry terminal on the way out, at our hotel, and again on the ferry ride back, and again in Stockholm!

For more crazy and fun pictures check this out