Unexpected Pleasures

It only takes three hours to drive non-stop from Göteborg, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark, but we took all day to do it. We like the roads less traveled so we stayed close to the sea as we headed south out of Göteborg this morning. Within minutes we saw a recreational sign pointing toward Tjolöholm Castle (see photo), so we turned off the highway to go see what it looked like. It wasn’t really a castle, by my standards, it was more like an estate, built to look a bit like a castle. Some rich guy in the late 1800s designed the place but died of blood poisoning (from lead) before it could be built. His wife saw to its construction but only lived there two years before she had an accident and died. Their daughter inherited the place and when she died, the Kommune bought it in the 1960s and rents it out for weddings and gatherings. It’s all rather palatial but we weren’t inspired enough to take a tour of the inside. We just walked around the grounds, enjoyed the views of the sea and tried yet another new flavor of popcicle before heading back to the car. We were thankful it wasn’t raining, as it rained hard all night last night and this morning in Göteborg.

We kept on the side roads going through quaint little villages and towns along the way. We got hungry around two o’clock so we headed for the next big city to find some lunch. Turns out the city, Varberg, is a destination city for tourists, unbeknownst to us. There were many good restaurants to choose from and we chose well. After a yummy lunch we walked around downtown and asked someone why there were so many tourists and we were told there was a castle out by the sea. We went for a little walk to the water’s edge and then saw the mighty fortress. Again, it wasn’t a castle like we think of a castle, but at one time it had been the home of the King of Sweden (for hundreds of years, actually). It was first built in the 1300s and has had many different uses over the years – it’s last one as a prison – but now the government of Sweden owns it and it’s a national treasure. It was all free to meander around on the grounds and go into the buildings. The whole fortress was built up on a huge dirt mound and it’s said that the King of Sweden had the locals pay their taxes in dirt, as they were required to bring it in by the wagons full to build up the walls and grounds. (Perhaps this is where the expression “dirt cheap” comes from?) The employees were dressed in period costumes from the early 1600s and were doing demonstrations of the different trades from that time. Kaleb enjoyed writing his name with a feather pen, watching the blacksmith at work, and learning how to braid four strands together. He could have stayed all day, but we still had two hours to drive before we reached our destination for the night and it was getting late. We took the freeway south to pick up the pace.

The freeways in Sweden are just like they are in America – two lanes with a divider and on/off ramps. They are pretty boring to drive but at least we went fast. The thickest lines on a map in Norway look like they might be a freeway but they are often just a one lane road with no centerline. The drive south on the freeway in Sweden today seemed like many other places I’ve seen – with lots of flat farmland, McDonalds on every exit, and nothing unique about the landscape – except that many of the houses have the same barn-shape as our house in Mount Vernon and the barns are enormous.

We planned to spend the next three nights in Copenhagen, at a campground no less, but the forecast for rain changed all that (thankfully). Kory and I agreed we could stay in hotels on this trip if we could find them for under a hundred dollars a night, but that just wasn’t possible in Copenhagen. The other problem was the car – none of the hotels have any kind of parking. Most large European towns were built long before cars were invented so they really do struggle with what to do with automobiles. The roads are narrow and all the land is taken up by beautiful buildings, so there aren’t many places to park. We noticed in Göteborg yesterday that there was no street parking anywhere for blocks on end so I’m sure most of the people that live in the city don’t even own vehicles. I feel so American driving around in a mini-van, and it makes it a challenge finding a hotel. I finally got lucky and found a screamin’ last minute deal at the Hilton across from Copenhagen in the city of Malmö, Sweden, so here we sit for the next three nights. I am so thankful we don’t have to pitch a tent! I was a little worried about that part of our plan, but it was something Kory was pushing because he thought Kaleb should “experience it all.” I’m not sure camping in a city park is really a full-on camping experience, but somehow sleeping in a tent was supposed to balance things out. Again, I’m thanking God he knew my heart’s desire and now we have the Hilton instead. As we walked into our room tonight on the 9th floor with a sweeping view of the city, Kaleb said, “Hey, why don’t we stay in the Hilton’s all the time – this is a nice place!” No kidding.