Vodka in Åhus and one fork too few in Simrishamn?

Åhus is known for the production of Absolut vodka and of course we had booked a tour and dinner at Absolute Home.

We spent a few hours strolling around Åhus and also took the opportunity to taste an ice cream from Otto & Glassfabriken, also an Åhus speciality. The ice cream parlour is nicely located at one end of the promenade. There was quite a long queue and while we were waiting for our turn, we saw how people walked from the kiosk with some real monsters for ice cream. Wow, three scoops of ice cream dipped in chocolate will probably be enough, we thought, it's just right for sugar rats like us. At the kiosk we counted up the flavours we wanted and waited. I looked at the guy scooping up the ice cream and probably lost count at seven or eight. And then chocolate on it. In retrospect, I have learnt that it is apparently Otto-glass's thing to serve monstrous ice creams. We ate like crazy and the ice cream was fantastic but we had to throw away the last of it. I saw that we were not the only ones who threw away the last of the ice cream and even though it is a little fun with such spectacular ice cream, it is not very waste-smart now that we should actually all help to not throw away so much food. A tip for the ice cream factory, your ice cream is super good and sells itself even in normal portions.

Then it was time for Absolut Home and an exciting tour. We were treated to a professional tour and an interesting story about the founder Lars Olsson Smith. Did you know, for example, that he himself was a teetotaller? He saw how citizens were getting sick from bad spirits and decided to develop a spirit that was free of toxins. In addition to the story of L.O. Smith, we also got to see the production process and participate in a tasting session that ended with the opportunity to make your own Cosmopolitan. An interesting tour that is recommended if you visit Åhus. Read more about Absolute Home here.

Absolute Home also includes a restaurant with excellent food and a lovely outdoor terrace.

After four nights in tents at Degeberga camping we packed up our things and headed down to Simrishamn where we had booked accommodation and dinner at the A fork short on maritime. We had a fantastic four course dinner in a nice environment. When we saw the menu we quickly realised that this is a place to our taste, two of the dishes were desserts.

In Simrishamn we had also booked a tour and wine tasting at Nordic Sea Winery. In addition to wine production, the winery also has a nice restaurant and wine bar. It is an impressive facility but perhaps nothing for real wine connoisseurs, they produce more what you would call everyday wines than the really exclusive ones. However, we appreciated the tour and wine tasting, fun that wine is produced in Sweden and for a while it felt like we were at more southern latitudes.

For lunch, the Skåne speciality of rib steak was served, not to be confused with Rib Eye Steak. It is something completely different, as several of the guests learnt. However, everyone ate with good appetite after the initial scepticism subsided.

We had a couple of very nice days in Åhus and Simrishamn. Both cities are nice to stroll around in but our favourite was probably still Simrishamn. Clearly a highlight of our Österlentur!