My friend Amy and her daughter Rielle were our summer visitors in mid-June. Amy was a fellow sufferer of grad school with me, and as such, we are bonded for life having survived and knighted doctors :) After sightseeing the local attractions, we loaded up our rental car and set off for Glasriket or the Kingdom of Crystal in the southern Swedish municipality of Småland.
Glasriket is an area of Sweden known for its glassblowing dating back to the 1700s. There are currently 15 different glassblowing companies operating there of various sizes, all with their special flare and style. We choose a few - Sea and Kosta - to visit and purchased some great pieces. Amy even blew her own glass ornament!
On the way to Glasriket, we stopped in Kalmar to visit the Kalmar Slott (castle), which was built in the 12th century. We didn't make it in time for the tour (traveling with a baby...) but it was a lovely picturesque spot on the Baltic Sea.
We spent the night at Teleborgs Slott, thanks to Amy's research. It was amazing to spend the night in this beautiful castle! We had a personal tour of the castle the night we arrived and then spent time the next morning taking pictures of the gorgeous exterior of one of the newest castles in Sweden, even though it is over 100 years old. Definitely the highlight of the trip for us!
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The rest of our summer was spent enjoying the abundant sunlight and warm weather. We celebrated Midsommar out at Gamla Uppsala with the hordes of people and saw the traditional singing and dancing around the maypole. We took a short train ride with neighbors for their son's birthday. We enjoyed many walks in blooming City Park.
Our last summer outing was a quest to see the Baltic Sea. We rented a car for the weekend in mid-August and went north about an hour. On Saturday, we ended up in a small village called Norrsundet, which consisted of vacation cottages along the sea. We meandered through several other areas of vacation cottages on the way back to Uppsala, and just really enjoyed exploring a new area of Sweden.
Then on Sunday we headed south about 40 minutes to Skoklosters Slott, which is another beautiful castle along the large Mälaren Lake that extends from Uppsala to Stockholm. We took the guided tour of the castle, which is now on the list of places to take visitors. It was amazing! Then we went to Sigtuna, one of the oldest cities in Sweden. For those fellow Illinoisans, it's a lot like Bishop Hill, but bigger, better and more authentic ;-) Again, it's definitely a place to take visitors, and we look forward to returning there for their Christmas fair in November.
Here's a link to all our summer and fall pictures! Enjoy!
https://picasaweb.google.com/101852905683847445633/Sweden13?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOut-fn82oKYCg&feat=directlink
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