Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The Älgpark at Målilla, Sweden is a special one: it is run by a family and is therefore also very family-friendly and you cannot drive through by car or be driven through in a bus. Instead you walk on a path along and around the habitats of three elk families. It is therefore a bit harder to get in direct touch with the animals – but therefore you can also see them swimming. Continue reading “Swimming elk”
There are lots of things you can bring home as a souvenir from holidays. This year I decided to get a new windshield in Sweden. A small stone must have hit the glass directly next to the frame so we didn’t see it – until from one moment to the other a 50 centimeters long crack appeared in front of the steering wheel. I never had that before. Continue reading “Vindruta”
If you go to the long-stretched island Öland via the long bridge connecting it to the mainland at Kalmar, Sweden you might want to see how people were living there in the past and get to know something about their culture. One of the best places for that is the Ölands Museum Himmelsberga at Borgholm. Continue reading “Ölands Museum”
The castle of Kalmar, Sweden is beautifully located on an island in front of the city. It was started in 1180 as a tower and is today one of the best preserved renaissance style castles. As it was located near the former border to Denmark it played an important role in Swedish history. Continue reading “Kalmar Slott”
The Kleva Gruva is a former copper and nickel mine in the region of Alseda / Vetlanda / Holsbybrunn, Sweden. It was opened in 1691 after a ringer made a walk in the forest and found a stone that he believed to be gold. The mine was operated until 1920 with a lot of interruptions. In 1991 the mine was opened for visitors and is now operated by a family from Germany. Continue reading “Kleva Gruva”
Before Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 the food prices were so high in comparison that families on holiday loaded their cars with everything that could be taken there without cooling it permanently. Cereals, sausages and juice was simply taken from home.
Continue reading “Food prices”
A unique opportunity to explore Småland is to take a narrow-gauge train from Hultsfred to Västervik, Sweden. The track is 71 kilometers long, was officially in use from 1879 to 1984 and it has a width of 891 mm. At Hultsfred the tracks are located next to the normal railway tracks and at Västervik you can see combined tracks with three rails. Continue reading “Rälsbus”
The Naturum and the Västerviks Museum at Västervik, Sweden were a very positive surprise. We went by narrow-gauge train from Hultsfred to Västervik – but what to do there? Then I found these two museums on the Internet and decided to give them a try. They are located 20 minutes on foot away from the railway station on a rock called Kulbacken. It is located on the other side of the bay but there is a road and a path leading there. Continue reading “Naturum & Västerviks Museum”
The contrast couldn’t be bigger: Germany is a country where people love to pay with cash – Sweden is a country that consistently gets rid of cash and card payments are possible nearly everywhere. One could discuss the effects on society if cash payments aren’t possible anymore – and there are positive and negative ones – but what does this situation mean for a traveler? Continue reading “Cash or card?”
In Sweden and Finland they love to paint their buildings red using a color called Falun red – named after the place in Dalarna where the ingredients are gained from copper mines: Falun. In the mid of the 18th century most copper in Europe came from that region. And when they tried to use the remains from copper production it soon became clear that they could be used as dye. Continue reading “Faluröd”