We crossed into Sweden on the train and arrived in Linkoping (Linshawping) around 16:00. Neil and his daughter, Isabel were at the station waiting for us. We remember Isabel when she was a baby living across the street from us. If we were in the yard, we would sometimes hear her calling to us from her bedroom window when she was supposed to be sleeping. Theresa and Margot were waiting for us when we arrived at their lovely home about 15 minutes later. Isabel and Margot just loved Kendra who was happy to bounce on the trampoline with them as well as pick raspberries in the forest and more.... They were delighted to show us around. We all helped make a delicious pizza dinner with blueberry crumble for dessert. Margot was great at the crocodile game. And we had a flower making workshop with Isabel and Margot! Both girls are delightful and fun.
As expected Linkoping is very environmentally friendly. The house of Neil and Theresa is heated when necessary by warm water being piped through under the floors. The water is heated by burning burnable garbage. The city even keeps bike paths clear of snow using a similar method. They can and do use Bio fuel to power their car. The car will also run on gas. The Bio-fuel is made by treating household waste that we would put into our green bins. They receive green bags to use for saving this garbage. City buses run on biogas. The city is working on a state of the art development which may be completed in 2017 and will use all of the above and it will include a garbage chute to move the garbage to where it is treated or burned. There are bike paths everywhere. Sweden has many months of darkness in the winter so there are programs that encourage people to participate in hikes, walks and activities to keep fit and stay healthy. We were very impressed with what we learned about living in Sweden.
Saturday, we visited the "old town" which is a large area that was moved from the centre of Linkoping--it is sort of like Upper Canada Village. Kendra and Isabel and Margo rode bikes there and we others walked. The girls helped make a rope in the fashion that would have been used in the old days. A young employee showed us how they used to do the washing with a wash board and of course, it was easy to see the dryer! We visited the school room and all practiced our cursive writing using straight pens and ink. It was fun but we realized that cursive writing doesn't happen much anymore. There was a chocolate shop which we visited and bought some yummy chocolate. Neil told us later that it is tradition for children to be allowed to shop for sweets on Saturday and then eat it while watching TV later. Usually Swedish children are not allowed to have many sweets. We had a lovely picnic and then walked home--in all we walked 14,000 steps that trip.
Our Thai dinner out was very tasty. We viewed a large cathedral and then walked in the downtown squares. It is a happening place. One of the highlights was super delicious ice cream cones. In one square there was a huge medal bicycle that was also a plant stand. Margot climbed to the top of it, as did Isabel. Linkoping seems like a great place to live. We had such a grand time here, it was hard to leave the next morning.
Stockholm - while walking and dragging out suitcases to our new place, Kendra read a graffiti sign quite loudly, that said, "Be Careful! Jesus is coming very, very soon.". George who was ahead of her, startled and looked back, then Kendra said it was some graffiti. George said, " Oh, I thought you were warning me that he was on a bicycle behind us". We had become accustomed to getting out of the way of bikes while walking in Denmark. Our place is fine, has a good location and lots of space. We will likely have a quiet evening as we are all weary and ready to relax. We visited the grocery store and our tummies are full.
We hit the jackpot with tours today--City Hall, Parliament and the Nobel Museum. City Hall seems to have had a strange architect. According to our guide, he changed his mind about things very often and one result was that Saint Eric didn't get a head. We really had excellent guides everywhere. Sweden's Parliament is 43% women and there is a women's room which contains paintings and photos of the first woman MP, speaker and two other firsts, as well as some satirical comics. Also there is a mirror that has the subscription, "This could be the next prime minister". Sweden has not yet had a women PM. The Nobel Museum was great. I especially enjoyed listening to former winners in one exhibit when they were asked about what they hoped for the future.
Oh, I wanted to talk about our lunches today: I ordered a herring plate which was great, There were three kinds of herring-one was just plain, another had mustard sauce and the third had a garlic sauce. I think the only other herring I have ever eaten was pickled herring. George ordered Swedish meatballs which were quite a bit better than the ones at IKEA. Kendra had a potato/chicken/curry dish.
Stockholm is a city of bridges and water. There is a cultural festival on until the weekend. We enjoyed a juggling act, were not so impressed with a gospel choir and stumbled on a DJ where lots of young Swedes were dancing. Today, our last here, we had a boat cruise through the archipelago. There are many islands around Stockholm. We also visited the Vasa museum which houses a huge warship from the 1600s. It sank during its first appearance in the harbour because it was too tall and too narrow. It filled with water and went down and it took until 1959 before they had the tools to bring it up out of the water. Very interesting. We walked and walked in Stockholm--a cool city.
Tomorrow we are off to Helsinki. yay.
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