Hej from Sweden!
Sweden is unlike the countries of western or central Europe. Unlike many of its southern neighbours, Sweden has not developed every acre of land. After having travelled over 700km on train and bicycle in this country over the past two days, I have seen some of the most beautiful forests that I have ever seen – as if they were something out of a Tolkien fantasy novel. Great big, tall fir trees run dense across the entire region, occasionally broken up by the odd field, farmhouse or small town. It is very much like what continental Europe would have looked like many centuries ago before it was completely developed. The Swedes however, have no such intentions of turning their country into an urban sprawl, and are content to leave it just the way it is… perfect.
Last time I was in this magnificent country, it was October. The wind cold and trees were ablaze with red, yellow and orange as the autumn set in. This time however, the contrast is profound. Visiting Scandinavia during the Midsommar (mid-summer) period is an amazing experience. The weather has been a wonderful 20-22 degrees, the skies have been blue and trees a deep green.
Looking at a Dulux color chart in Sweden, one might assume there are however only two colours – falu red (like maroon), and white. Every single building – whether it be a holiday home, warehouse, garden shed, barn, farmhouse, train station, outdoor dunny, you name it – every building is the same two colours. And you never forget you are in Sweden, because all the time it is a constant reminder of where you are, and the colours blend so perfectly into the scenery of blue skies, and green fields and forests.
I caught three separate trains on regional lines, in order to get to within 130km of Stockholm, to a place called Eskilstuna. The national rail operator, SJ, is unfortunately not as capable of carrying bikes as are rail operators in other countries. But with careful research and plenty of Google-translating on some private Swedish railway operators, I’ve managed to cart my bike all the way up here without either saying goodbye to it, or disassembling it. Perfect!
But why Eskilstuna? I have several Swedish friends whom I met back in August 2008 at the World Lifesaving Championships in Germany. They have invited me up for a Midsommar party. Do your research on this, and you’ll find that as well as the traditional Swedish aspects of picking flowers, building maypoles and eating herring, there is also plenty of beer, schnapps and shenanigans. I have a feeling that this is going to be a mammoth two-day party and I’ll be interested to see just how hard the Swedes hit it. More on this after the event!
Meanwhile, I’m sitting in an ‘English Ale House’ in the middle of Eskilstuna as I type this. Walking by are a mix of your typical Swedish looking citizens –stylishly dressed blokes named Christian, Henrickson or Andreas, and also our blond haired, big titted girls named Maria, Sarah or Caroline. Strangely enough though, sitting with me in the bar is a mix of Italians and Slovaks (supporting their teams in the World Cup match which is on screen right now). Yes, the ethnic population of Sweden has surprised me; there are a lot of immigrants – largely muslim families from ‘stan’ countries, and specifically Iraq and Iran. I’m not entirely sure the Swedes like the level of immigration to their country, and there is possibly a perceived, underlying level of racism here that echoes that of Australia. (Just as I write this, I’m distracted by a scuffle in the goal nets, and the Slovakian goal keeper has been yellow carded. Interesting match!) Anyway, where was I… there are plenty of familiar English ales and European beers here to keep be occupied whilst I sort out where I’m going to camp tonight.
Oh yeah, the camping! Well I had my first wild night camping last night – picked a lovely spot about 50m from a minor road, up a rarely used track. My hammock tent did well I must say, and the only annoyance was the bloody mozzies! They’d caused me to move on from two other locations I was planning to camp, simply because there were so many of them, I couldn’t even get my tent up without getting dozens of bites. But when I finally did get my tent up, they were a hassle no more. I should have figured, it being summer and Sweden being full of lakes. It’s just for some reason I always associated mozzies with Australia, but apparently other nations are afflicted with these hell-pests also.
Besids all that, I’ve had plenty of interested Swedes swing by for a chat, interested in my bike and where I’m from, where I’m going. I had a really good chat with one lady who was the ticket inspector on the train between Alvesta and Jönköping, a lovely lakeside town which, if I had not been leaving on a connecting train, I would totally have stopped by to go for a swim. When I was on the next train towards Tranas, the ticket inspector came up to me and said “A colleague of mine told me that you are going on a massive trip…” and so the first train inspector lady had told the entire network that there was this Aussie bloke with a big bike onboard… make sure you help him get to his destination!
The train guards were not the only helpful factor. I have been on my bike twice in Sweden so far, the first time cycling a 50km distance between train stations, and the second, a larger leg of 85km between the town of Örebro to Eskilstuna. And I’m happy to report that I’ve finally broken the headwind curse! Yesterday I had a lovely southerly blowing me all the way up north. It was fantastic and it made the ride so much easier and enjoyable! Here’s to many more tail-winds like that!
So, that sums up Sweden so far. I love this place, and I’d always be happy to come back. It’s not cheap, but so far it’s only been the train fares that have blown my budget. I would have loved to have cycled the whole distance from Malmö to Stockholm, but that was never going to happen if I wanted to experience an authentic Swedish midsommar party, which I’ve been looking forward to for a couple of years now.
Hej da, will write again soon, and update on how the party goes 🙂
