Sweden 2010-Day 3-Monday,June 21

Today is our first full day in Sweden.   We awoke to French toast and good, strong coffee.   Tina had sheets, towels and picnic supplies already packed for our week in Rattvik, in the Siljan Lake region of Dalerna.   People come from all over Sweden and many other countries to spend Midsummer in this area.


Before our 3 hour drive to Rattvik, we had a chance to spend the morning exploring Uppsala.   We got to see Uppsala University, the first Nordic university, founded in 1477.   I was amused by the "scandle building",

so named because it caused a huge uproar at the time it was built for being taller than the famous Universitetshuset, or main building.  

Here's a slideshow of the Neo-Renaissance Universitetshuset (University Main Building), which was designed by Herman Teodor Holmgren and completed in 1887).



Then we were off to Uppsala Cathedral, a short walk away.   

It's historically and architecturally amazing!

   

Here's the full window, we posted about earlier, that remarkably resembles Neil Fallon, lead singer for the metal band, Clutch.


Here's our slideshow of the cathedral.

We were especially excited to see the actual ancient rune stones at Uppsala, that we've so often seen pictured in books.   The kids and I have learned the meanings of many of the runes and especially connect to them, since our last name is the rune of fire, passion and creativity.

We ended our time in Uppsala with a tasty lunch at Lingon. It's common here for restaurants to offer a one price lunch that includes beverage, choice of a few main courses and dessert.  This one had picturesque patio seating that even included red blankets for those chilly nordic breezes.

It was fun to shoot scenic shots around town and get a feel for the place.  

The royal wedding of Princess Victoria happened the day before we came, so the country is still buzzing about it.  

We stopped for a hand full of giant Swedish Marabou chocolate bars and a prepaid phone card and were good to go.


Our last stop, before the van, was one of the older cemeteries in the area. We were intriqued by the weathered tombstones, the zen garden like stones raked into patterns, and the odd, artful little touches people left on the graves.

We drove an hour out of town and made a quick stop to see an old friend, Birgit, whom my parents met in Sweden in 1965 and stayed in touch with.  

She was a gracious host and fed us coffee and homemade blueberry tort and ice cream, traditional chocolate iced yellow cake and Swedish chocolate. My Mother and sister hadn't seen her in 17 years. I had met her last 30 years ago, and my Dad hadn't seen her in 45, so everyone enjoyed catching up.

Then we finished off the final 2 hours to Rattvik, and arrived at our sweet, red cottage on Lake Siljan--home away from home till Sunday. Here's a final slideshow of the afternoon.