A Swedish day in the North

We got an early start our first day. After breakfast we headed to the North mountain. Sundsvall is located in a valley between the North and South mountains. At the top of the North mountain there is an observation tower, a restaurant, and a museum. We took lots of pictures while walking around the outdoor museum.

One thing that Magnus and I noticed were that the doors of the cottages seemed small for vikings. So we asked one of the guides and he explained that the daughters and wives lived in these cottages during the warmer months and raised crops and cattle. They took care of making cheese, butter, and milking the cows for the village and their families. The guide had actually made some cheese and offered us some. It was salty and and tasted like a mozzarella.

After spending some time walking around outside, we ventured into the gift shop to investigate the Skvader. Story has it that a hunter shot the Skvader a few hundred years ago. It is said to be a rabbit in the front and have a grouse tail. Still to this day some of the locals claim to see it for time to time.

Sorry about the quality. This is a picture of a picture.

We left the North mountain and headed to Sweden's Midpoint. It is approximately an hour west of Sundsvall. When we arrived we crossed a cool bridge and then headed up a mountain. At the top of the mountain there was a look out tower with some really good views of the valleys below.

On our way back down I snapped a shot of a tree stand used for hunting moose. I thought some of my friends and family back in Knoxville might get a kick out of this.

We then headed back to Sundsvall to meet up with Magnus' mom who was taking us chanterelle mushroom hunting. One thing I learned before moving to Sweden was that every good Swede has their own favorite spot for mushrooms and berries. We found lots of chanterelles, blueberries, and raspberries.

A couple of other things of interest were thee giant ant hills. They were the biggest ant hills I'd ever seen. Also this was as close as I got to seeing any moose... tracks and poop. Oh well maybe next time.

While we hunted for goodies I ran across some giant ant hills. They were huge!!!

After hunting for mushrooms and berries we cooked some burgers and sausages for dinner. We then headed to a nearby lake that adjoins the Baltic sea. We fired up the boat and cruised around for about an hour. We made it back to the dock and then headed back to the house. It was a busy day! I saw a lot of the town and was definitely ready for a good night sleep.

Trip to the North - On our way

Michelle and I traveled to several places in Skåne during her vacation this summer. We had a blast! We got to see lots of cool things and places all over southern Sweden. But when my friend Magnus asked if I would be interested in joining him and the kids on a road trip to Sundsvall, I couldn't help but take the opportunity to see even more of this beautiful country. I was also really excited about immersing myself into some Swedish culture and food for a week.  

Sundsvall is located about 4 hours north of Stockholm, on the east coast of Sweden. Even though Sundsvall is located in the Norrland (North land) of Sweden, it is only about half way to the very top of Sweden. From Staffanstorp to Sundsvall it is approximately 1,000 kilometers. The trip takes about 12 hours but we planned to break it up with some cool stops along the way. 

Our first stop was Grenna. Grenna is famous for their polkagriser. Polkagriser is Swedish hard candy (think of candy canes) that is still made by hand. There are several shops along the main street in Grenna that make the polkagriser and other tasty treats. We stopped in a few and grabbed some knäckerbröd (Swedish crispy bread) and candy for our trip. We even got to watch a candy maker make some polkagriser, it was pretty cool.

After our stop in Grenna we had lunch and traveled to the Cloetta Factory. Cloetta is Sweden's number 1 chocolate and candy manufacturer. I don't know who was more excited to visit, me or the kids. Here are a few pics of the the on site candy store.

Our next stop was FIKA with Magnus' friend Jim. We stopped at Jim's house and had FIKA with his wife and their 3 daughters on the south side of Stockholm. Yes, even more sweets. 

 After traveling through Stockholm (and by that I mean sitting in Stockholm traffic for over an hour) we arrived and Magnus' brother Adreaus' apartment. It was Andreaus' birthday and we were invited to stop by for dinner. They had prepared Swedish meatballs and potatoes. That's right, I have now had homemade Swedish meatballs cooked by real Swedish people in Sweden, take that IKEA! Dinner was fabulous and yes... there were more sweets. 

We arrived in Sundsvall after midnight and I was ready to hit the bed as soon as we landed. I don't know if it was the 16+ hours in the car that made me so tired or the sugar coma I was trying so hard to recover from. All I do know is that I slept great and the adventure was just beginning.