When it's your birthday, well, you get to decide. It's probably a custom from ancient times, I would guess. 🙂 I must say, however, that this year I was somewhat sceptical about the plans made. Visits to Stockholm and no less than two dress exhibitions had to be done. I might have chosen something else, but what can you do for love? However, it was a very interesting trip that gave me at least as much as the birthday boy.
We got away a little late and decided to make a first overnight stay in Karlskoga. It may seem a bit funny to spend the night an hour away from home but it is still nice to get away. We found a nice place down by the lake and mother nature also gave us a fantastic sunrise.
Read our post about the car park here.
For those who know us, you know that there are a lot of stops when Rendahls are on a road trip and we had not even arrived in Örebro before we found a nice rest area that you just could not help but take a coffee stop.
After a few more stops, we finally made it to the main destination of the day, Artipelag. Wow, what a place! I don't know if it was the location, the architecture, the weather, the mood or all of it, but I was incredibly impressed by the whole experience. You can read more about our experience here.
We had actually planned to stay overnight in their car park but it turned out that they had problems with EPA kids at night, which has resulted in barriers and guards keeping everyone away. A bit sad not to spend more time in the beautiful place but we managed to find a new car park in little Älta.
You can read our post about the car park here.
As we were a couple of hours behind schedule, there was full focus on getting the barbecue stuff out before the sun went down. It was therefore a somewhat simpler birthday dinner than planned, but at least the birthday boy did not look too dissatisfied.
The next day we headed into the "mud" to visit Hallwylska Palatset. I must have walked past it a hundred times but you almost have to know what's in there to enter the seemingly unassuming building. However, the inside is anything but unassuming and its history is incredibly interesting.
You can read our post about the palace here.
Then it was off to Nyköping, but on the way we found Saltå Kvarn factory shop. It was very nice and in addition to their own range, they had a variety of other brands from smaller producers as well as a small sourdough bakery. We can't comment on their sourdough but the Viennese breads were excellent!
Once in Nyköping, there was a historical tour and lunch at EO.
Next stop was Trosa, which is a bit of a favourite with us. Cosy little wooden town by the water with lots of nice restaurants. On this particular day it was terribly cold but we still took a little tour around the beautiful city.
The pub for the evening was Trosa Food Studio that we had not tried before. They are recommended by Munskänkarna, among others, as it has a wine selection that is a bit out of the ordinary. We got really excellent wines, but also the food and service were very good.
Even at night Trosa is a beautiful town and on the way home we passed another nice place that we have on the list for the next visit. The place is called Two Little Pigs and has a very cosy courtyard and a menu that goes well with strong drinks like schnapps and brandy. In addition to the restaurant, they also have a hotel and a distillery.
To fricamp or not to fricamp, well that is the constant question. The answer is probably quite simple, out in the woods it is very nice to be alone with nature but if you try to fricampa in a city, it is easy to end up in a place where you should not stand ...
When we left Bobo (yes, that's what we call the motorhome), we were all alone in a large car park with a beautiful view of the harbour and the river that runs through the city. The only problem was that even the EPA kids thought this was a great car park overlooking the harbour and river. In other words, there were maybe twenty EPA tractors around our little campervan and as it got closer to midnight it filled up both figuratively and literally. Happy in the hat turned into drunk in the lounge followed by a number of other states with less flattering names. Suddenly there was a sudden silence and then we got really worried as children who are quiet are generally up to no good. However, it turned out that our concerns were unwarranted as the young rebels were not allowed to stay out any longer, but instead went home to mum and dad in a group.
The next day we turned home but in a little slow pace and it resulted in, among other things, a stop at Vingåker Outlet and overnight stay at Båsenberga slalom club. What funny places you dive in our oblong country.
You can read our post about it here.
I think it's fair to say that this trip had two themes, one planned and one given to us.
The first one, dresses, was something I was perhaps not looking forward to but turned out to be an unexpectedly interesting experience. Not only did we get to see incredibly cool creations, but we also got to learn about incredible lives and exciting stories.
The second, epa tractors, was perhaps not as rewarding, but I still find it fascinating how this culture has survived in parallel with the internet, smartphones, social media, gaming, etc. Yes, survived is probably not even the right word as it has rather had a revival in recent years with epa-dunk and all that. Even though I may sound critical in the text, I am still very happy that there are kids who are involved in something other than TikTok and gang shootings.
Anyway, this was a great first trip and a fun birthday.
