Saturday 28 May 2011

This morning I headed towards where the craft shop should be that Gavin mentioned. Unfortunately none of the locals seemed to know anything about it so I went to the Tourist Information at Mellerud who also didn't seem to know but then finally they realised what it might be and gave me the directions. It ended up being very close to where I had originally asked but a far more beautiful setting. The building itself is not a thing of beauty on the outside, being an old flour mill I think, but inside it is filled with a huge selection of Swedish crafts and gifts. 




Fluffy finds friends wherever he goes.



The building sits at the edge of a lake which has several small islands and later I sat overlooking this lake with my coffee and warm cinnamon bun. It was incredibly peaceful with the only movement being the swallows occasionally flying by. Not even the slight drizzle could upset the scene, in fact it seemed to enhance it. 





I think I could happily have sat there for hours (as long as there was regular coffee and cinnamon buns) but my time was limited so I drove to the town of Åmål about 25 miles away. The road was a bit more of a test to the campervan as it was fairly narrow and twisted and turned through beautiful birch forests, never on the level and in fact there were signs that it would be gradients of 1 in 5 both up and down at times. Although on the sharpest bends with the steepest slopes I did have to drop down to second gear a couple of times, the van didn't feel as though it was ever going to give up. The scenery was fabulous with openings in the forest showing stunning views across lakes. 

Thank you Gavin for suggesting the area.

Friday 27 May 2011

The campsite I am at now does not have internet so I don't know when this will be posted, I'm here for two nights as well.

I forgot to mention that as I entered the Roskilde camp site there was a red squirrel leisurely crossing the road, very pretty with a big bushy tail.

I really must check times, I got back to the library soon after 9.00 am to discover it didn't open until 10.00. The car park near by was virtually empty probably because most of the shops also did not open until 10.00 however I had a nice stroll along the main shopping street window shopping then going into a supermarket that was open to get some provisions. As this was the last day in Denmark on this part of the trip I thought I ought to buy some bacon. I returned to the library for opening time, finished the blog, transferred some photos to my home computer and up[loaded a few to Flickr. Finally left Roskilde at 11.00 heading for the ferry at Helsingør that would take me to Sweden. Hamlet's castle was based on the one at Helsingør.




The ferry was even called Hamlet, one of many ferries criss crossing the short distance between Denmark and Sweden.






From Helsingborg I headed north. I was due at Brit's house on Saturday morning, Brit is Sarah's uncle's, brother's daughter and she is kindly going to put up with me for a couple of days. Now I was in Sweden I could more easily assess the situation and after rereading the email from Gavin (Sarah's cousin) I decided to head another 200 miles further to Mellerud which is on the shores of a lake. I think the lake might be called Vänern however my map seems to give it three different names. Gavin said that there was a very good craft shop nearby and that the area is gorgeous. I can stay for two nights and then it should only be a 50 mile drive on Saturday morning to Halden.



Some things about the drive to Mellerud.  

I do not wish to go anywhere near Göteborg again, leastways not until they have sorted out their traffic management. It took about 45 minutes to go about 8 miles on a dual carriageway. The other carriageway was also stop-start and every road we crossed I could see was nose to tail traffic. I remember that when we were here over 20 years ago it was very bad.


The sign above the road said not to exceed 30 kph, oh to reach those heady heights!

As I came over a hill the view looked familiar, I stopped to take a couple of pictures of Fluffy posing. Remember this Sarah?




It was not long before I saw the first road sign warning me of low flying elk, well something like that, but I have yet to see one. I am hoping to some time during this trip and not just ones in captivity.

I noticed that the power lines hung very low between pylons, I guess that is because their winters are colder and they will contract that much more…well I thought it was interesting, feel happy I didn't take a picture of some random wires!

Once off the motorway I lost track of the number of speed cameras. many more than in most areas of the UK but these were much less obtrusive, no garish yellow boxes but just slim poles. The sat nav warned me of every one but the campervan rarely made the speeds they were checking any way.

In the countries so far visited the terrain has been fairly level but the camper had its first small tests today. On the motorway my usual speed of 50-55 mph dropped down to about 42 mph on one long haul but I managed to overtake a couple of lorries that had previously overtaken me. I think these were the first overtakings I had done since Holland! Later on a more minor road and a steeper hill the speed dropped to 26 mph however I didn't need to drop down a gear as it was still pulling fine and as the slope eased we accelerated away again. I have no doubt that there will be some much steeper hills to cope with later.

Made it to the campsite which looks very quiet, a farm house, a few buildings and some well spaced out camping plots most of which are empty. Almost time for bed and it has started to drizzle but I don't mind.


Friday 27th May 2011

This morning I headed towards where the craft shop should be that Gavin mentioned. Unfortunately none of the locals seemed to know anything about it so I went to the Tourist Information at Mellerud who also didn't seem to know but then finally they realised what it might be and gave me the directions. It ended up being very close to where I had originally asked but a far more beautiful setting. The building itself is not a thing of beauty on the outside, being an old flour mill I think, but inside it is filled with a huge selection of Swedish crafts and gifts. 



It sits at the edge of a lake which has several small islands and later I sat overlooking this lake with my coffee and warm cinnamon bun. It was incredibly peaceful with the only movement being the swallows occasionally flying by. Not even the slight drizzle could upset the scene, in fact it seemed to enhance it. I think I could happily have sat there for hours (as long as there was regular coffee and cinnamon buns) but my time was limited so I drove to the town of Åmål about 25 miles away. The road was a bit more of a test to the campervan as it was fairly narrow and twisted and turned through beautiful birch forests, never on the level and in fact there were signs that it would be gradients of 1 in 5 both up and down at times. Although on the sharpest bends with the steepest slopes I did have to drop down to second gear a couple of times, the van didn't feel as though it was ever going to give up. The scenery was fabulous with openings in the forest showing stunning views across lakes. Thank you Gavin for suggesting the area.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Wednesday 25th - part 2 -Roskilde cathedral

Most of this posting will be photos. Although there had been previous churches on the site, the building of the present brick one was started in the 1170s but this was altered in the following century and the main body completed in 1280. Since then there have been many additions of porches, chapels and other structures each in the style of their particular age.

The first pictures will be of the outside.






Since the Reformation all the Danish kings and some of the queens have been buried here, some having their own burial chapel.












We all have to go sometime and they have even designed the final resting place for the present queen.






I haven't shown all the photos but will upload them to the Flickr site which is linked to at the bottom of the blog. Hopefully I will be able to add details about each one when time permits but I have to keep moving!

Did I mention that I thought the cathedral was absolutely wonderful? A truly beautiful and awe inspiring building, if you ever have the chance to visit then do so.

For this who like to be ahead with technology it might come as a surprise to know that Bluetooth has been around for over 1000 years. In this case it was Harald Bluetooth who died in 986 and is also buried here.

There was also more to the Viking culture than we first thought.



Wednesday 25 May 2011

Wednesday 25th May

This morning I headed for Roskilde and went first to the campsite I was hoping to stay at last night. During the booking in I found out that have no internet access available so I went for the cheaper option without electric hook up however this was the view from where I will be parked for the night.




On the skyline towards the left is the cathedral and just below it beside the water is the Roskilde Viking museum to where I then headed. We have been before but it must be over 20 years ago however I remember it as being a great favourite of mine. More has been added since our last visit and although I didn't go in to the main museum building there was much to see in the area nearby including the museum's boatyard.


Moored here was the Sea Stallion, a replica of one of the Viking boats within the museum. It had been found that the original in the museum had actually been built in Ireland and so the replica was sailed back there in 2007 and was the subject of a documentary.





The museum's boatyard has made many replicas.








I think this one was Fluffy's favourite.








Here is one in the process of being built.




And here is one that was being rowed into harbour.




Some other photos taken at the museum.






In the middle photo they are making rope. The lower picture is the main museum building and the one we went to on our first visit.


Afterwards I walked through a very nice park to the cathedral but that needs a bit more time to deal with so I will call it a day. I have found wifi at the Roskilde library and they are about to close but maybe I will return in the morning before setting off for yet another country, Sweden.

Tuesday 24th May

This morning I had to sadly take my leave of my Danish friends, the three of us again Skyped Sarah back in Norfolk to say hellos and goodbyes.


The next leg of the journey was to head south again and then east over the new bridge however in the last couple of days the wind has been increasing and the campervan seems to be very susceptible. It wasn't even a steady strong wind but constant gusting which meant that my speed had to be reduced from the fairly moderate usual pace and I had to keep gripping the wheel to keep it straight and on the road. I quickly decided that unless the weather changed very much for the better and soon then I would be taking the longer even more southern route which involved a ferry. This decision was made an absolute after a chat with some lorry drivers at a service station. It seemed the bridge was closed to everything except cars and I would not be allowed to cross anyway.


We made it down to the ferry at Spodsbjerg and took the 45 minute crossing to Tårs. The water was choppy but I was fine.




Here is Fluffy attempting to find his sea legs.



Arriving and about to dock at Tårs.


Due to the long detour, the slower speed and the wait for the ferry I thought I had better check that the camp at Roskilde would still be taking people in during the evening. There was no answer on the phone so decided to go for a nearer site and found one at Tappernoje. A much more basic one than previous sites but much cheaper and perfectly acceptable however no internet.