quidnovis61

Yes, Sweden....... ...it really is a lot more than Bofors, blondes, ABBA, Björn Borg, Uppsala University , Olof Palme et al.

For those interested in statistics of this tiny country let me, as a layman in this field tell you:
It is the size of Madhya Pradesh
Its entire population is less than Kolkata
Someone has worked out that 7½ "Swedens' will fit into one India
There are statistics on how many cows there are in the country
People don't honk their cars unless in greeting (tut-tut-tut) or the Swedish version of road-rage (a long tooooooot-tooooooot). That is how far these taciturn Swedes go when really angry in traffic quite defying their boisterous, raging looting ancestors The Vikings. And oh yes, five cars and three motorbikes standing still constitutes a traffic jam. Might even be a picture in the newspaper the next day.
The water in all the lakes, streams, rivers are safe, so much so that a walk from the Old Town to the city centre in Stockholm will find anglers sitting on the many bridges that join the islands of Stockholm....enjoying a quiet meditative moment of fishing and yes, catching fish as well.

There are any number of such pleasant and important statistics ...!

But let me take you with me to my favourite town.....

Everyone I have met has heard of Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmö and so on. Beautiful big cities, well laid out, clean like the rest of the country, museums and culture galore, well maintained architecture from the middle ages and so on and so forth. So...I am not taking you to these big cities but rather to a small beautiful town called Skara.
(Yup! You guessed right....I live there...)

No casual visitor has heard of this charming town, I am sure. It is located between Stockholm and Gothenburg and sandwiched between the two enormous lakes of Sweden: The Vänern and The Vättern (just "below" the town Mariestad on this map) . In the flatlands of this agricultural part of Sweden with fertile fields, enchanting countryside, white birches, blue lakes and golden corn fields (in the summer of course) ...it is a treat for sore eyes.

Skara celebrated its 1000^th birthday in 1988. But compared to Rome, Bonn etc which celebrated their 2000^th birthday around the same time, Skara is just a baby of course! The main landmark is the Cathedral in the centre of the town. Sweden has thirteen dioceses and Skara is one of them - hence the cathedral. (of which I will tell you more some other day) A beautiful High Gothic church built in the 11^th century with natural acoustics in the high vaulted space that beats any Bose, Bang Olufsen or Philips.

But this sort of historical stuff isn't really what I want to tell you about. I would rather tell you about the things that most tourists miss. A visit - of all places - to the pharmacy is really worth it...built in the turn of the century; it has the most amazing teak carpentry, medicinal bottles with old labels and astonishingly, a turquoise tiled sink with a lion's head that spouts water. The kind I have seen all over Italy and while one waits for ones electronic number to come up with a soft "pling' it is worth looking around to marvel at the influence of Italian art in Europe - even as far away as this tiny northern town of Skara.

For those of you silently wondering about my clothes size ...let me tell you  the reason....Cafés and bakeries (yummmmy!) abound. In Skara alone there are six of them!! The cafés all range from the traditional to the modern Barista like cafeterias, selling coffee and breads with Italian names that is all the rage.

The traditional ones however are an experience in themselves. Swedes drink enormous amounts of coffee - I cannot tell you the exact stats on that but sufficeth to know that in Europe they consume the maximum amount of rich strong dark coffee (South American brands) and they also hold the European record on.... bananas. (These kinds of useless facts are what make Sweden Swedish). A traditional cafeteria is really beautiful - with velvet upholstery on Gustavian furniture, old style structured wall paper and art (that one actually understands) hanging on the walls, pastries and cakes (like one would recognise from books and magazines) generously feeding the Swedes' penchant for whipped cream. They say it is because of the sub zero climate. I leave such judgements out...they are delicious no matter the climate - especially creamy vanilla sponge cakes topped with fresh strawberries.  A delight to the taste buds. The bakeries have breads and other goodies that one can smell when parking the car! A Swedish meatball sandwich with beetroot mayonnaise, salad and boiled eggs on rye bread may not be something for the very figure conscious but is well worth the SEK 40 . (Yes, Sweden is part of the EU but has retained its currency)

What one should really do is invest in a good pair of walking shoes (no need to go overboard with Gore-Tex...just simple jogging shoes will do...)  and walk the cobbled stoned roads, alleys, side lanes. There are the most amazing discoveries to be made. Take "the time to stand and stare" at the street lights that once ran on lamp oil and on warm summer evenings when the sun sets long after midnight, I promise you, you will hear the clip clop of horse hooves and the clattering of carriages as they round the bend to where the church is and the beautiful Gothic school built in the mid 1800s. You will hear the gentle hiss of the light as the town watchman lights street-lamps. A Dickensian sight conjured up in all its beauty. The side lanes are dotted with houses a few hundred years old, wrought iron gates and gardens well laid out with the heady perfume of roses, lilacs and honeysuckle - like a Chopin Nocturne for the olfactory senses, the library with its musty smell of books from the early 1500s is a pleasure, the old chestnut trees that tell you of the changing seasons by their very colours, the ruins of the old wall...all are worth taking in on a slow unhurried walk.

One should however take the time to have a break at the tiny shop next to the Town Hall and the fountain selling the most divine tasting ice cream you have ever eaten...well, it is Italian of course...and the chocolate is superb!!!

 Sit in the mild Scandinavian sun on benches in the square, listen to the fountain, the church bells, the quiet sounds of the town weaving through its day at its own unhurried pace. And actually enjoy the sight and sound of traffic sans blaring honks....the sound of a robust V8 engine, the superb design of an unusual Maserati, the sight of a maroon MX5 Miata cruising gently past, roof down, a V70 Volvo full of dogs and children.

The museum has a collection of 3000 year old bronze Viking shields that is amazing. They were found in a nearby field by the farmer when ploughing. Just imagine sitting on your tractor and ploughing and finding something glinting in the sun....!! Archaeologists swarmed his fields and made the most astounding discovery from the Viking Age. The shields and ornaments are minutely restored; a film about the find is beautifully made with Viking music and history spun in between the bee-hive diggings of archaeologists. It is stunning and worth the time spent there. Behind the museum is the Open Air museum where an entire village has been reconstructed with houses, barns, a herbarium, live farmyard animals of that time, a shop and a church that has been brought in from villages around Skara so one may see what a village looked like in the mid 1800s. It is a pleasure to walk there and dream away to another world...another time.....

The lake and botanical gardens is a part of any visit of course.The flora and fauna are of course very Nordic and it is pleasant to sit on the clean green grass and rest awhile. I could go on....but let this be a short introduction to a future self discovery of an old world charm that does not exist in the big cities.

And oh, yes, I quite forgot! Skara boasts of three delightful things:
1.Free parking - no P-meters or meter maids.
2. A delicious Pancake festival when you can eat any amount of it with strawberry jam (and naturally whipped cream!) and
3. The most exotic of all things -. a competition with great prizes on "Cherry-Pips-Spitting"....try and beat that!

Of course there are "worse" ones in Sweden - like Axe Throwing on Tree Trunks competitions.

Is that how the English came up with the (comparatively...) sedate art of playing darts - from the Vikings....
I wonder.

So.......When are you coming for a visit? I will fetch you in Gothenburg...book your ticket and send a mail....

Signing off fo now!
CS