Among camels and caramels on Öland

We are now halfway on our trip to Öland and one day we jumped on the bikes to pedal into Borgholm. You can read more about our first days on Öland here.
Borgholm is perhaps best known for its castle ruins and for the Royal Family's summer residence Solliden. The castle and the castle ruins are located next to each other, so it is ideal to visit these two at the same time. Strategically placed, there is also a cafe and shop right between the castles. Kaffetorpet is a nice garden cafe with both light lunches and coffee. Solliden had to step on its feet this day, but is otherwise a beautiful park and inspiring for those interested in gardening. As the history nerds we are, it was instead a long time at the castle ruins. We unfortunately missed the guided tours, but there is a digital tour where you can walk around at your own pace and read and listen to guided tours of the castle. Unlike many other old castles and ruins, large parts of the castle are well preserved because it is only about 200 years since the castle burned down, which can still be considered recent from a "ruin perspective". Here you can really imagine what the castle might have looked like once upon a time.

As Henrik loves pancakes, galettes and crêpes of all kinds, we usually always try to find a crêperie when we are out on a trip. Unfortunately, we don't have a crêperie at home in Karlstad. Inside Borgholm, however, there is an excellent one, namely Norring's Crêperie. Here you can eat galettes and crêpes as a starter, main course and dessert. As a bit of a curiosity, we also read that the buckwheat for the galettes comes from Värmland. We can really recommend Norrings, both for their good food where the menu has thought a little outside the box, as well as for the pleasant environment.

Since a few days earlier we had visited Långe Erik in the north, it was now time to steer the boat south and visit Långe Jan, which is the larger of the two lighthouses. In addition to the lighthouse, which is interesting in itself, there is also the Ottenby bird station and nice natural areas to roam around in. At the bird station, for example, you can see when birds are ringed and even though we did not participate in any viewing this time, I have a fond memory from childhood about how exciting it was to see when the birds were caught in nets and marked and then released back into the open.

We had received a tip from a friend about the nature reserve Ottenby Lund, which is part of the large nature reserve Ottenby. Before moving on, we therefore took a trip here. The whole of Ottenby is also the Kalmar region's largest nature reserve, so here you can certainly spend days hiking and experiencing the beautiful nature.

On the way back to Köpingsvik we visited Eketorp's ancient castle which is reportedly Sweden's only rebuilt ancient castle. The castle dates back to the 4th century, was abandoned sometime in the 7th century but was used again in the 12th century and finally abandoned again in the 13th century. The castle mainly functioned as protection for the families who lived there and was therefore not a military facility, although the purpose was of course to be able to guard against attack.

It must be said that it was mostly families with children who visited Eketorp, but it is still an interesting place for both adults and children. On the one hand, the place is so well reconstructed that it is easy to imagine what life in the castle was like, but then there are also a number of different activities and things to do. You can shoot with a bow or participate in other historical games, visit a museum or bake ancient bread. The bread will probably be both tastier and prettier when I bake it at home, but still fun. 🙂

In the previous post about our Öland trip, I wrote that, where you least expect it, you can find unique experiences and that it is therefore important to pay attention along the roads. At one point I had to look at everything a couple of extra times when I suddenly saw a group of camels walking in a row along the road. What was in my breakfast juice anyway? However, it soon became apparent that we had just passed Snake-eyed Camel Ranch. In addition to camels, the ranch has some llamas and a mini zoo with pigs and goats. I'm actually a bit skeptical about tour riding and worry about the animals' well-being, but here you could really see how the animals enjoyed themselves. During the ride, we learned a little more about camels and what smart animals they are. They are incredibly energy efficient and can, for example, raise their body temperature to cope with the heat better. You can see in the pictures below that they do not behave unnecessarily. One of the camels looks like he has fallen over, but he has actually just laid down to bask in the heat. The fact that he is in the middle of the road does not particularly concern him.

Camel riding and castle visits made us very sweet, so what could be better than a visit to Öland's caramel cookery. The brewery is located in Bredsättra just a few kilometers from Köpingsvik, how could we have missed this neighbor? On our last day on Öland, we therefore went to the cookery to watch caramel production and to buy a big bag to take home. After all, caramels are an excellent car treat, they don't melt in the heat and they are just the right size to munch on.

Since 2009, three Germans have been running the caramel factory and producing caramels according to traditional methods. It was cool to see how they handled the big and hot doughs. In the pictures below, the doughs have gone down to around 120 degrees, so no time to taste the dough. In addition to the ever-sweet Rendahls, the children lined up along the counter to watch with wide eyes as the bakers made caramels, so it was delicious. The highlight was probably when everyone got to taste freshly made caramels that had just cooled to the right temperature.

This is where our trip to Öland ends and it was now time to leave the island and head home, of course not without a few stops along the way, including in Old Linköping, which you can read more about in the next post.

We have had a fantastic week on Öland full of exciting experiences, good food and coffee. Öland is just big enough for you to get around and see a lot in a week. There is a relaxed atmosphere and no one seems to be in a hurry, which suited us perfectly after a rather intense year. Perhaps tourism hasn't really recovered after the pandemic, but there was still life and movement in most places without us experiencing any congestion. We will certainly come back to Öland, if nothing else to find even more good coffee places. 🙂