Friday 27th May 2022

Time to head to Sweden! I don’t remember the last time we travelled to another country we had never set foot in! It’s nice for a change and we have wanted to spend some time in Scandinavia for awhile. Our flight was from Standsted on Ryanair which is pretty easy from our place with trains leaving from Liverpool Street. It’s likely one of our last weekends flying our beloved Ryanair (I’m very unlikely to shed a year because of this! It’s not exactly been our favourite airline). We flew into the small city of Vaxjo which was the only flight that was less that £100 ($200 NZD) per person when we were looking at booking. We figured it was a sign from the universe that we needed to see Sweden. The other more favourable spring destinations like Malta were far too expensive as for the first time since the pandemic there is zero rules on travelling and zero tests needed to get into and out of a lot of counties in Europe. Sweden was one of them. FINALLY.

Flying into Sweden was gorgeous and I felt this total relaxation as I spotted endless lakes and trees. Vaxjo airport was beyond tiny and the line for customs was like nothing we have ever experienced. The customs officer wanted to see proof of our flight leaving Sweden and where we would be staying in our Airbnb’s. No wonder the line took so long as everyone was unprepared to show this information as they reached the customs officer. I have never ever had to show this proof in any other country. Thankfully the rental car place stayed open for us after I rung explaining the situation. 

We got a little car and hopped on the road to Gothenburg which was just under 3 hours. We decided this was the best plan as it had already been a travel day so we may as well push on to one of our destinations. On the way we grabbed some snacks and dinner options from one of the small towns grocery stores. They had a big Oatly fridge and we remembered how fun it is to shop in a foreign country having to google translate everything and to find cool brands we don’t have in London. The complete culture shock of a new country and language is fabulous.

Everyone says Scandinavia is expensive but honestly we spent about the same on groceries as we would have in London, cooking at home certainly makes it much more affordable and is one of the biggest tips I could tell you for travelling these countries.

We arrived just before 9pm into our gorgeous little loft accommodation. It was a pretty nice drive on some seriously well looked after safe roads so wasn’t actually that hard to make it as far as we had gone. Our place was behind the family house and was a little old cabin that had been renovated with lovely wooden floors, underfloor heating, a little kitchen and bed up in the loft. The sun goes down so late here that once we had unpacked we ate the potato salad I had made this morning in London and then went for a walk around the local swimming lake down the road in the twilight. It felt like it was finally time to slow down and leave our London life behind for a bit.

Saturday 28th May 2022

We had a chilled out start to the morning as we usually do on out first day of travel. We wandered down the road to a cute place called Aladdin Providore which was on the side of Lake Aspen and sold delicious sourdough bread and Knäckebröd. The best snack with hummus! I always mean to make it at home as its better than normal crackers.

Because we were staying close to the commuter line into central Gothenburg we decided to leave our car at the Airbnb and take the train/bus in. We presumed the commuter train line usually takes people straight into the city on a week day but on the weekend you have to connect to a bus. Overall it took about 45 minutes and saved us the hassle of finding a car park. We purchased a single ticket each for 140 Krona one way (£11.35, $21.90 NZD) and hopped on. 

What to see in Gothenburg?

Slottsskogen

This was out first stop of the day when we arrived into the city since our public transport ticket allowed us to move around for 180 minutes. ( London you should do this!) So it made sense to take one of the gorgeous old trams all the was out to one of the stops along side the park. Slottsskogen was way more impressive that I thought it was going to be as it was an open zoo with all sorts of Nordic animals like penguins, moose, ducks and sheep. I don’t think we have ever gotten so close to penguins or a moose before! Its a great place to bring a picnic or just wander back through it towards town.

Haga District

This is Gothenburgs oldest suburb dating back to 1648 with gorgeous cobblestone streets and adorable coloured wooden buildings. I love poking my nose into the many little shops that line the streets or do as the locals do and stop for a fika. Fika purely being a drink + something sweet and people watching for a bit. We didn’t eat here as we brought plenty of snacks to have but one place that was recommended was Cafe Husaren which is famous for their gigantic cinnamon buns called “The Haga bun”. There was quite a lot of cool second hand and antique stores to check out if your looking for something obscure to add into your house! Two of the cute shops I went into were called Haga ETT (cute clothing) and Rum (meaning room in English) for inspiration (got some very cool book marks here). If you wanting to stretch your legs a bit more you can walk up to the Skansen Kronan which is an old fortress with panoramic views over the city. It will sure help you work up the appetite for the cinnamon bun. If you are looking for some affordable food thats off the beaten track in this area we can highly recommend the Indonesian restaurant out the back of Haga called Sayur. It was such a decent price for the amount of food that we got and all plant based Indonesian. The tofu and tempeh was so well done you wouldn’t even miss meat!

Central Gothenburg - Inom Vallgraven

This area is mostly best if you just wander aimlessly. There is loads of familiar big brands and also brands you have never heard of. Like Beccasin Store which is a women shop filled with all sorts of pretty dresses and tops. I don’t think iv ever seen a place quite like it! I am always mindful of shopping since a lot of things I look at I know I can make in better fabric for much cheaper and can also get it to fit my figure a lot more than what the standard sized shop clothing can. But I did find this cute skirt which is well out of my comfort zone being long and flowy but I thought it would be fun for summer in London! I think the last long dress/skirt I wore was my wedding dress!

The gorgeous Victoriapassagen is another thing to make sure you visit which is full of fun shops and places to eat at through a narrow alleyway of some very well preserved old buildings. It is worth a walk through as it connects you to more mainstream shopping streets. 

Your close to the central market hall in this area which is worth a walk around the inside or you can stop for some appetisers or a drink. Its high arched ceiling with exposed red beams which is quite spectacular. Can you spot a photograph of the area in 1890 with all the market traders gathered around with their horse and carts to bring their produce in? Its a very stark contrast to the well manicured market hall that stands here today!

Make sure that during your visit to this city you notice the gorgeous old trams running through the city connecting a lot of neighbourhoods. It is worth hopping on one and giving your legs a rest and watching the city go by. Its almost fun getting on any old one and not actually knowing where your going! We have found some of the coolest shops and neighbourhoods by doing this in numerous cities along our travel. 

By this stage we had walked over 20,000 steps and majority of the shops were beginning to close with it being 6pm so we got back on the bus and train home. Dinner was the super tasty eggplant and sun-dried tomato pasta!

Sunday 29th May 2022

We woke up to sun streaming through the apartment windows from 4am and knew it was a good day for exploring! Many people had said the Gotheborg archipelago was worth a visit and I had the small fishing village of Smogen saved on my list. It was a good 2 hours drive north of where we were staying but the roads in Sweden so far have been insanely pleasant and easy to drive. Smogen is a place where a lot of Sweds come and visit in the summer months - especially July since the days are long and the weather is warm. In fact iv heard the main cities are like a ghost town with everyone flocking to the water. The number of inhabitants in this small place goes from 2,000 to 30,000 which makes the spring a nice time to visit because everyone comes here from June onwards. 

We parked on a little peninsular called Sadons Nature Reserve parking where you can walk out to the end. We used it purely for the free parking and the fact that there was a toilet here for free also. Wandering into the town it became quite clear that there was a requirement to have a certain coloured house and red roof in this city as they all match. It was still a very sleepy town as we walked along the wooden boardwalk of the inlet admiring the boats and the endless amounts of discounted stores within the small boathouses. Smogen is well known for its shrimp and other seafood so its a great place to pick up some of the local delicacy for lunch. Right down the end of the boardwalk is the famous Smögenbryggan which is a collection of these boathouses all together. Make sure you peak down the side of them and check out what’s actually holding them up. Rock trusses and stones balanced on top of other stones. This little town is mentioned in writing since 1594 so its been around for awhile and was a little fishing hub like most of the coastline of Sweden.

Some other things mentioned to do in the area that we didn’t get a chance to do. You can take a ferry to the island of Hallo to see Bohuslän’s oldest lighthouse, take a swim or a hike. Or to the island of Kleven which is connected by road to Smogen. Swim at Vallevik, Flojten, Makrillsviken, or sandon.

On our way back from this area we decided to stop by at Marstrand which is apparently another cute fishing village with hikes around it. We didn’t actually stop as we parked the car and were about to walk away thinking the parking was free after 6pm but the parking warden turned up and said this wasn’t the case. Probably the rudest Swedish person we have met so far and plus why is there a parking warden after 6pm in a tiny town on a Sunday night?? It was about time for us to head back to our Airbnb and make some dinner before heading to bed. It was a big day of driving for Lew and tomorrow would be even bigger. 

Monday 30th May

Off to Stockholm! Today was mostly a very long driving day with it being 5 hours 30 minutes to Stockholm from where we were. We had to go across the country and up! We packed up our airbnb and made our way onto the highway. Sadly it was a beautiful morning and we wished we had managed to do some hikes within the nature reserves close to Gothenburg but when your trying to see as much as possible you run out of time to do it all. We stopped halfway at a place called Oland just away from the side of Lake Vattern. I realised once we got to this tiny area with a gravel road that I had indeed saved the wrong Oland and it was clearly meant to be the island of Oland but we managed to carry onto a nearby nature reserve called Vastana which had some picnic tables and a toilet. Post lunch we went for a quick circular walk down to the lakes edge and around through some of the small houses in the area. All painted red or yellow of course. We even spotted a snake and had to quickly google snakes in Sweden and turns out majority of them arnt venomous. It certainly gave me a fright as my leg brushed past something on the path and this thing appeared out of nowhere! Gosh we are oblvious New Zealanders. I hope someday we dont just stumble across something much bigger like a bear! We made it into our new accommodation by 7pm which was out of the city and on one of the islands in the archipelago. Although you would never actually know your on an island as its all well connected with highways still. Once again it was like a little tiny home with a mezzanine low ceiling floor where you sleep but this place had a much better outdoor area, bbq and washing machine. It was still light out so after driving for this long Lew put his feet up in the sun and read his book whilst I cooked plant based nachoes for dinner before we went for a walk in our new area. There is a small marina with boats tied up and it was fun to see a couple of saunas attached to the marina and also the side of peoples houses! We wandered through the woods in a loop back to our house. The sun of course was still up at 9pm when we got back to the house and we snuggled in with some Oatly mint chocolate ice cream. 

Tuesday 31st May

Todays adventure was to head into Stockholm central. It was another rainy cold day which seems to be normal for Sweden at this time of year. We booked the airbnb on the Archipelago close to public transport thinking we would use that to travel into town like we did in Gothenburg. However, it was saying 70 minutes by two buses so we decided to drive to the end of one of their tube lines and then take their version of the underground into town. This actually worked out perfectly as the cost of parking was only 50 Krona (£4, $7.85 nzd) for 24 hours. Lew had found a parking garage for us to use but when we arrived we could not work out how to get into the garage nor pay for it. We drove up to it, tapped on the door, tried an app online to book it. Nothing. So we moved to parking outside which was totally fine in the end. 

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the largest city in the country built across multiple islands. It was first mentioned as a town in 1252 and the oldest part of the city is Gamla Stan (old town) which is situated on three islands - Stads island, Helgeands island an Riddar Island. Because of the number of old bridges and modern overpasses you don’t even realise how many islands you are hopping! Stockholm/ Sweden in general is a hotspot for a lot of brands that are well known all around the world. Think H&M (Hennes & Mauritz), & Other Stories, Thule, Ikea (obviously!), Volvo, Elextrolux, Spotify, Fjällräven, Hestra, Monki, Arket, Baby Bjorn, Happy Socks, Oatly and Skanska just to name a few! Impressive huh?!

Stockholms undergrounds are well known for their beautiful artwork and its a fun challenge to try and locate all 14 of them! We made our way in on the T-bana to the central station to see one of the artworks located on the blue line which is the work of Per Olof Ultvedt. The artwork is stylised flowers and leaves which are of course blue but it was intended to be relaxing as commuters are rushing around. It is intended for passengers to have a chance to pause and clear their minds. The only other one we spotted was the gorgeous deep red colour of Rådhuset Station. But you could absolutely spend all day hunting for these stations! The best thing about this is when you buy a single ticket for the underground you have 70 minutes before it expires so you should have plenty of time to see all or some of these artwork pieces. 

Check out these links to do some research yourself 

https://www.visitstockholm.com/see-do/attractions/art-in-the-subway/

https://handluggageonly.co.uk/2018/05/22/8-of-the-best-metro-stations-to-find-stockholms-metro-art/

One thing we did notice at rush hour riding on the underground was that no one really looked like your “typical Swedish” person. It wasn’t a sea of blue eyed blonde haired people like you are lead to believe is the case in this country! 

After we visited the main train station we went to a couple of shops in the area so I could knuckle down some of the items I have saved searches for on Ebay. So Thule to look at the Urban Glide 2 running buggy and another baby shop to see the Stokke chair and other items in store. Finally I understand all the colours available and all the different attachments! It is rather overwhelming. The plan is to buy some of these but before we go back to NZ as its harder, more expensive or impossible to get some of this at home when we do actually decide to have a family. 

Gamla Stan

The best thing to do here is get lost in the narrow cobblestone streets. Also a side note is that there is an app to help you find a toilet for free called ToaSverige which is worth downloading. This is always an issue for Europe and there is a free toilet close to Gamla Stan, although I would recommend carrying some toilet paper on you. I did scream as I opened the door of the first toilet as a homeless lady was sheltered in there from the rain. So don’t expect anything high quality lol.

Some things to look out for on Gamla Stan

• Iris Hantverk - very cute homeware store which also makes their own wooden brushes. Think every for of a brush you could ever need. I found my mum the most adorable hand towel from here!

• Old Town Polkagriskokeri AB - An old fashioned candy store where you can see them hand roll it. Loads of different flavours to choose from

• Swedish Hasbeens - The coolest shoe shop that sells wooden clogs. Iv had a pair of their heels for a few years and adore them. The soles are made from the wood of lime trees so they are actually far more light weight that you would expect. I wanted another pair but they were closed (my bank account will thank me later for this)

Lunch was at the amazing Falafel Barn which I highly highly recommend! A local even stopped us to tell us its the best in Stockholm and we loitered around the entrance way trying to decide if we went or not. But it sure lived up to the recommendation. It cost us 190 Swedish Krona (£15.50, $29.77 nzd) for two falafel wraps with eggplant and it definitely filled a gap and warmed us up a little after the constant drizzle outside.

Post lunch we had done enough shopping for me and Lew wanted to see some bike shops. We took a train back up to Chain of Wheels who stock the awesome Copehagen brand Larry vs Harry. Lew had been looking at these bullitt bikes which have been used as messenger bikes for years. The plan is that something like this will become our run around with kids instead of owning a car. We love the idea of them being able to enjoy getting around and seeing things vs being in a car. Plus a bike is always a good idea, especially since the cost of owning, driving and having a car is becoming more and more expensive. We don’t see this ever changing. The owner Andreas was fantastic and let Lew try out the electric and non electric versions. They had all the colours and we were drawn to this cool colour that was a warm red. The name of this bike is called Major Tom. Its easy to see and was just a fun colour! They even had these gorgeous race seats with a 3 point harness for kids and a waterproof cover and safety cover to go over them. We were pretty sold! It’s likely we will purchase this in NZ though instead of trying to take it back with us at the end of the year. Lew and Andreas chatted for ages, it was like listening to a different language as they were both so knowledgable about bikes.

After this it was about time we headed back home. The underground train system is just a tad confusing and a couple of times we got on a train only to jump off when we realised it was going the wrong way. However, Lew got off and I didn’t at one point and I watched as the train left the platform only to find out that his phone was also dead. Thankfully we managed to meet up at the stop where our car is parked but I did have to wait a little bit. Turns out he waited at the station for a few trains just incase I decided to come back to him. Nope! I made my own way back. 

Stockholm to fo list

• Visit the underground Artwork

• Wander the small old streets of Gamla Stan

• Get Falafel at Falafel Barn in Sodermalm

• If your into Bikes check our Chain of Wheels which stock the awesome Larry vs Harry bikes

• Wander around Gamla Stan poking your head into the cute shops and admiring the old buildings

Wednesday 1st June

Happy June! Can you even believe we are half way through the year already? It was a stunning sunny day today. We thought it was about time we chilled out and didn’t go anywhere. We chatted to my parents in the morning but spent most of the day curled up on our outdoor seating getting some Vitamin D and rest. In the evening we borrowed the bikes from our airbnb hosts and cycles out around the archipelago. We found this fantastic gravel bike track well away from traffic which wound around some of the lakes and through the forest. The birds were chirping loudly and when we were protected from the wind the sun was lovely and warm. Sweden has a car problem like most other countries and we felt we put the Nordic countries on a a pedal stool being better and more reliant on active forms of transport or public transport, but this wasn’t the case. Although we did notice that cars were much more accepting and respectful of cyclists and often stopped on main roads for us to cross when there wasn’t even a crossing. We had a chilled night and ate falafel again with quinoa, avocado and cherry tomatoes, homemade this time. We had biked past a stall on the side of the road selling fresh red strawberries and these very ripe perfect avocado and had to grab some! We spent the evening chatting to Pat & Joe about their upcoming trip to London and then called it a night. 

Thursday June 2nd 

Another day of incessant rain. I no longer wonder why this country is so green. I just know. Thankfully our Airbnb is pleasant enough for us to be happy just hanging out. We have been doing a lot of research into passive houses and what our ideal future house would be like. The conversation was sparked looking at what the standard house here in Sweden have - triple glazing and all! Why isn’t this a standard in NZ? It’s certainly cold enough. 

The entertainment of the day was when this large seagull turned up with his friends and poached the shells sitting outside and carried them off to his nest. We had to bring the rest of them in as he came back for more. He was so large you could hear him stomping around on the roof! 

At 4pm we decided despite the constant rain we should go for a run. Lew had found a place by Drottningholm Place for us to run around but as I plugged it into google maps on the way out the drive we realised it would take 2.5 hours to drive there plus we had to pay a toll! 

The motorway was chocka blocked with rush hour traffic and the rain was still pouring down. We diverted ourselves to a nature reserve closer by which would normally take 30 minutes to get to but with the traffic it was more like over an hour! The rain had thankfully stopped by the time we arrived and we got lost in the poorly marked trails though the forest and around the different lakes. It ended up being about 11km but we felt refreshed by the time we finished jist before 8pm!

On the way home we grabbed some bits for plant based burgers for dinner and sweet potato fries. We filled up the car with fuel ready for our big drive back south again tomorrow. It was a super later dinner but it was our fault for leaving the run so late in the evening! 

Friday June 3rd 

Today we head south to the Kalmar area which is close to where we flew into in Vaxjo. We are staying on this adorable little island just 15 minutes from the Center of town! It was a good 5.5 hours driving from Stockholm all the way south but we stopped off at another nature reserve close by the main highway and made some burgers for lunch to keep us going.  We arrived in our new little Airbnb about 4pm and the sun was of course still very high in the sky. Our Airbnb was once again very cute and was a small wooden place with a bright orange door. It has huge windows with a view of the water and trees out of it. A large steel ladder folded down off the wall for you to reach the loft bed above. This was the smaller one yet and I had to crawl around on my knees to make the bed and it would certainly feel a little claustrophobic up there! If you sit up too fast you will knock yourself out on the ceiling.

Having not done much today except drive we decided to have a wander around town. It was pretty small and quiet at 6pm at night. But the cute little streets had some people outside enjoying the local food and long summer daylight hours. 

Dinner tonight was tofu with a peanut sauce and fresh veggies. Perfect with a side of rice. It was pretty watching the sun setting on the Kalmar strait out the large window in the living room of our tiny home. 

Saturday 4th June 

The sun streamed through the windows from 4am and it was clearly going to be a gorgeous sunny day. Finally. Our little Airbnb some chairs outside that we were able to relax in when we woke up. Having breakfast with a view of the water and the sun beating down on you is quite the luxury. My normal view in the morning is often our neighbour in her bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head or someone watering their plants on a balcony. That doesn’t scream paradise like our current location. When it got too hot to handle outside we decided we should probably get out and explore the new area we have found ourselves in. Just off the coast of the main lane connected by a large bridge just North of Kalmar is the island of Oland. That was where we were headed today. I let Lew plan the adventure for the day whilst I packed some snacks. The bridge felt ever so long and gave us a great view of the Kalmar strait and the large island we were driving to. It’s a hot spot for tourists and the Swedish royal family also have a holiday home here in Oland. It’s apparently got gorgeous sandy beaches, loads of walks and has the signature cute red buildings like the rest of Sweden. We drove to an area just south of Borgholm called Halltorps Hage for a walk through the nature reserve along side a pretty sandy beach of a camp ground with many Swedes playing in the shallow water or sunning themselves like lizards as though they hadn’t felt this heat in awhile. 

The city of Borgholm was a quick drive further up the coast. Here you can visit Solliden Palace the Swedish royal residence in the summer and Borgholm Castle just outside the city borders. Borgholm itself was a cute city lined with flags from different countries, market stalls, cobblestones and flower baskets overflowing with pretty pansies. 

We wandered the streets admiring the wooden buildings and wondering why there was a massive amount of Harley Davidson riders here of all places. Everyone was wearing their patches from wherever they had come from. They had the typical leather, tattoos, piercing, beer in one hand and cigarette in another look. We walked up and down the street trying to find the restaurant that had some vegan food on the menu that Lew had found. Turns out they are only open for summer so we were out of luck. Lew was getting desperate but thankfully coming off the main street we found a little place called Cafe Varanbakgard.

It was clearly a family run business with tables and chairs set up on their back lawn. The cabinet was full of goodies and we were pleased to find out that they did indeed make a vegan chilli. How exciting! We took two. It was absolutely devine. We were both fully blown away by how tasty it was. Unreal. I noticed she didn’t have many reviews on google so when I went to thank her I mention it. Turns out they only opened 3 weeks ago, she makes all the food herself and she also doesn’t eat meat. Win, win, win! I got quite excited because I had taken a lot of photos to make a detailed review for her on Google and hopefully bring her some new customers over the summer months. One of my fav things to do! Word of mouth advertising is so crucial for small businesses.

Post lunch we had a smile ear to ear about our food discovery and figured we would drive south further along the other coast line. We saw so many cute villages with red houses plus a lot of farms. There was even a couple of girls who looked to be in their teens driving a massive tractor of hay. We sat behind them at ease taking it all in and appreciating where we are right now. Im excited to put some new pins in my map as Sweden is pretty untouched. We stopped off at a small camp site with a harbour and got the feel that you come to this island to just relax and be one with nature. There wasn’t much else happening. 

We made our way back to the house grabbing some things for dinner on the way home. When we were travelling like this I allow us to get those easy ready made plant based options that I would never buy us in London. It’s easy and when you don’t have oodles of spices and other bits and pieces it’s just much cheaper and faster. So for the first time ever we branched away from the falafel and got some soy nuggets to make into a wrap with fresh avo and salad. It was actually perfect when we got home as a quick meal as we sat outside and finished off our books. We chased the sun across the lawn and finally gave up when we were basically in the neighbours driveway across the road with our chairs and books. This was about 8pm and we felt well and truly rested. Whilst we have been here Lew has been teaching me the ropes of EBay. It’s been something he’s got really into since we got to the UK. Why buy something brand new and add more stuff to the world when actually you can spend half the money and reuse something else out there that still has loads of life left. You feel so much better when you get a win! So that’s what we have been doing on our evenings. That or researching passive homes or items we want to take back home. Last week we nailed one big item and that’s the Ooni pizza oven! It’s waiting for us at home too. 

Sunday 5th June 

Todays the day we fly back to London! It feels Like we have been away for quite a while. But also feels like just yesterday we left the chaos and hustle and bustle of our daily lives. But I think it’s time. We didn’t have to be out of our Airbnb until before midday so we relaxed in the sunshine as it was going to be even hotter today! 25 degrees in-fact. I had already prepped lunch which was wraps again with some sundried tomato balls and salad. The house was quick to pack up but we sat outside reading until we decided on a plan for the day.

Glass

The area of Sweden we are in called Smaland is known for its glass blowing and glass products. It made sense of course for us to head to one of these factories on the way to Vaxjo which is where we will fly out or. This place was called Kosta Boda and was the outlet store for a lot of the glass companies. Honestly if your in the market for any sort of glassware this is your place. We ended up finding a lovely carafe we thought would be perfect to take home. Lew had analysed all of them and determined the one on the top shelf was different and that’s the one. We asked the older lady running the shop whether she could get it down for us. Her and I both thought it was the same as the others on the reachable level. Lew remains adamant it wasn’t. It took the lady awhile to find something to step up on to grab it but when we finally got it in our hands Lew was indeed correct and the handle was much more sturdy and thick then the others. Probably ideal seeing as it has to get itself all the way back to NZ soon! It was also considered a second so was much cheaper at only about £35 ($68 NZD). Ideal! 

Lunch was the next thing on the list and I drove us into a nature reserve hoping for a picnic table. 30 minutes later and a lot of gravel, nothing. Thankfully getting us on the road to Vaxjo mean we drove past a small town with yet another camping ground on the side of this tea colour lake. We easily found a picnic table here and made our wraps with cheeky birds coming to visit us. 

We were very close to Vaxjo at this point and found a park in the main square. It was stinking hot and the city was pretty dead other than a small food truck market happening around the car park: our time spent in Vaxjo was purely wandering around the lake on the shady path passing time before we went to the airport. We reflected on our time in Sweden and the things we would perhaps do differently next time. 

The airport is absolutely tiny, like a small NZ airport that usually doesn’t even have any security. We were very very early and it was clear that unlike the big airports we didn’t need to leave this much time. We had grabbed some sushi in Vaxjo however so we sat outside in the sunshine. Hands down the nicest outside of an airport we had ever been at. When we came back in for security there was a line and they hadn’t opened it yet for our flight. The lady at security came out and said “I have not forgotten you your all in my heart”. Now that is something I haven’t ever heard someone in London airport security say when they hold people up.

Our flight was of course delayed. Ryanair flights late in the evening always are. It meant we were getting back into London around 11pm. When we finally arrived in Stansted we rushed to the train only to find they had all been cancelled as someone had died on the tracks. Sigh. It feels awful to be angry at that person but when its been a long day and its getting later and later at night its just the last thing you need. It was complete chaos. The only way we could get back into Central London was bus - like everyone else! We lined up in a massive queue (the British love a queue!) and waited about an hour before we had the chance to purchase tickets and take the hour long bus ride to Stratford. We were going to walk from here but it would be about 40 minutes so we jumped on a bus instead getting home at 1am. Work tomorrow is certainly going to be interesting! 

Things we noticed about Sweden/overall view

• Every window has a lamp which is a nice touch in those long dark winter months

• Sweden is very like NZ - lots of agriculture and the locals eat lots of meat and dairy 

• The Swedes like compact homes for holidays, kinda like a permanent caravan

• They have great triple glazing 

• Very car focused, no trains away from cities unlike the UK

• No big tourist things to go to, you come for the nature and the peacefulness

• Swedes are stand-off ish and not massively friendly. They don’t come help you in shops 

• There is not as much smoking as mainland Europe 

• Visiting met our expectations for Sweden, we wernt blown away 

• On a while we prefer Norway - the landscape prettier and more different/diverse 

• Expensive? You pay London prices but your not in London but rather in the middle of nowhere. You will find the prices normal if you come from a big city 

• If you eat out lots then its expensive. We ate our 3 times for about 200 krona total (£25/$50 nzd)

• Biggest tip - have your own kitchen to prep breakfast and dinner!