July 14 – July 18, 2007, Sweden : We drove into Sweden from Copenhagen across the 8km long Oresund Bridge, barely visible through the drizzle. It cleared as we drove cross the green forests and fields of Southern Sweden to Kalmar. Kalmar Castle, the largest in the country, was built initially in the 12th century and was briefly a royal residence in the 16th. Sierra found it a bit spooky in places – we had trouble getting her to look down into the dungeon (covered by a grate in the floor), or the woman’s prison housed in one wing. Laura did not like the battlements 25 foot drops in places with no railings, though the dropoffs drew Kade like a magnet.
After one night in a Stockholm hotel, we headed out to the cottage we rented in the outlying archipelago. In some sense, this was a vacation from our vacation – we caught up on laundry, played on the trampoline, and watched boats pass by in the adjacent shipping channel. We did summon the energy to drive into Stockholm a few times, visiting the Vasa ship museum and taking a harbor cruise. The Vasa is a tribute to poor engineering- a 64-gun galleon so top heavy that it sank within an hour of being launched. Preserved in the cold waters of Stockholm’s harbor, it was recovered nearly intact in 1961 and put on display.
On the 18th, we reluctantly said goodbye to the rental car- after three countries and 3000 kilometers in as many weeks, it had a comfortable feel (and a bit of a smell). From here, it’s just boat, train, and airplane.