280 days and 11 hours to go!...

Back to the 3rd of June... Well, that was the day we were supposed to head up to Södertälje, in order to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. It was settled that we were supposed to be there in time for dinner at 19:00 and my newly acquired optimistic self was not a little bit worried with either the length or the time the trip would take. Old Carly was on top of the world! :-)

We started off in the morning, not as early as Mr. B. was wanting, but then again, we thought it to be a good idea to give a clean to the house before setting off. So, there I was at it, dusting and vacuum cleaning, and even refilling the wood logs on the heavy iron cauldron by the fireplace, when everyone was up. I guess the most marking part of all that cleaning was the one when I slipped and threw myself on the floor, making a ghastly mess of wood bits and soil all over the newly clean surfaces. Yay me! :-S

To compensate myself from my newly acquired injury to both knees, I was treated to a cappuccino at the gas station, which wasn't so bad and had the cleanest and best taken care of WC I have ever seen in a gas station. It even had fresh flowers by the sink! Amazing! :-)

So, out on the road we go and, after a bit of convincing, I got Mr. B. to take a picture to every sign we passed, which was both a fun and challenging thing. :-) The most challenging part was that I had to wake him up every time!... He really sucks at being a proper co-pilot, with his car fits of narcolepsy. :-P And so, that first picture was taken when we were entering Vaggeryds kommun. :-)

And then... Jönköpings kommun. As for the city of Jönköping, we didn't get an opportunity to get much visiting done - just passing through. But we did stop there for lunch and seemingly there's much to tell about the city. :-) It's located in the South of Sweden's second biggest lake - Vättern - and seems to be the 9th biggest city in Sweden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jönköping). As its name indicates, it used to be one of the old trading centers of the country.

As for the lake Vättern, you can read more about it in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vättern, but the thing I'd really want to point out is that, allegedly, it also has its own monster. :-) There are some recorded sightings of the frightening beast and you can read about it in this link - http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2010/04/creature-in-lake-vattern.html. Unfortunately, the poor "little" thing doesn't have a name, which is certainly not something suitable for a lake monster that has been about for over 200 years, so I decided to name her (because I'm almost sure it's a "she"...) Gunilla! :-)

We weren't so lucky as to see Gunilla out and about, but there's a very cute sculpture of her, by the side of the road, that we just managed to take a quick picture to as we were driving by. :-)

After a quick pit stop for lunch, with Pytt i Panna in the menu, and a stroll through the gift shop of the restaurant, we were refilled and ready to face all those kilometers that were still missing... or so we thought. :-S

Just a bit up North, we decided to make another quick stop to visit the ruins of Brahehus, in Gränna, that was built in the 1640's for Count Per Brahe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahehus).

From there, you have the most magnificent view of the lake, but also a clear view of the lake's island, Visingsö. The interesting about this island, is that it also comes with a tale. Apparently, it's said that it was created by a giant, that threw a bit of soil into the lake, so his wife could step on it while crossing the lake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visingsö) And as you drive by, right after Gunilla :-), you can see a big sculpture of the giant Vist, that did the deed. :-) Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get a good picture of him.

Miss B., always wide-eyed at these tales, decided that she knew better than the fragmented story her father was produced and stated that what really happened was that this giant ripped off the top of Brahehus, with a princess in it, and threw it in the lake, creating the island and a beautiful one story palace, where the princess was happy and safe from all the mean guys that seemingly wanted to marry her... :-S Hmm... So, this trip of ours wasn't only a trip through Sweden, but more of a trip in which we reinvented Sweden's traditional history. :-)

And soon enough we were back on the road... and the trouble started. There just seemed to be something wrong with the car, as it started kind of hick-cupping and threatening not to work. And that was also when Carla, the realist, struck her inner panic button! We'd be stranded in mid-Sweden, 280 kms from "home". :-S Not to mention that, all of a sudden, the "speaking to the car" mode was turned up in full volume and so there I was, convincing the car to take us to our destination, with the promise that if he did that good deed we'd pay him a spa stay at the mechanic. :-S

And that's how we entered Östergötlands län and Ödeshögs kommun - in sheer panic. And with a car threatening to die on us, we entered Linköpings kommun, only to face 45 minutes of traffic lines, in which we managed to occasionally drive at 10 kms per hour. Pain pain pain!

But, at least, we had time to photograph the planes... :-P

Linköping is the 5th biggest Swedish city and a important mark in the country since medieval times. The planes you can see by the side of the road are SAAB productions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linköping)

Then, the traffic started flowing and we could happily be upset at the workers that were gladly putting asphalt on the road and had cost us 45 minutes! And, soon enough, we were entering Norrköpings kommun.

Then we entered a new län, Södermanland and the kommun of Nyköping.

Closing in on our destination, we passed the kommun of Trosa...

Until we entered Stockholms län and the kommun of Södertälje, much to everyone's relief... :-)

And there would be plenty I could tell you about Södertälje, I guess - or maybe not... :-) I'll leave you with a Wikipedia link on the city and maybe I'll be able to later on have someone do a post on it... ;-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Södertälje

Safe and sound... with a problematic car... I step out of it, give it a pat (such a good boy managing to take us home!) and hand over the keys to my mother-in-law with a not so excited "Happy Birthday! Here... and as a present, you've got your car to be fixed!"...