Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Provinces: Halland, Skåne
Municipalities: Varberg, Falkenberg, Halmstad, Laholm, Båstad, Ängelholm, Höganäs, Helsingborg
Wednesday 22nd of July
08.20 Christer and myself, the text writer Peter, have woken up in the room Livet at Anna's Bed and Kitchen (http://annasbedandkitchen.se) in the village of Vare just south of Varberg. The accommodation has a small shower space but it is always nice with a shower in the morning.
09.00 Today we will eat our breakfast outdoors. The weather is good and to vary we have gone out with the food to a table out in the large garden. It's getting a bit monotonous with our purchased breakfasts consisting of bread, yogurt and juice but the most important thing is to get energy before every day.
09.36 The thing about breakfast outdoors in the open green is perfectly OK. We wish we could start every summer day like this. It has now become time to finish the last things before our departure. The program today says we´ll first take a look at Varberg before we continue further south through Halland.
10.18 Christer cleans the car from things that have fallen from the linden tree he parked beneath. Everything's packed. It's time to start today's escapades.
10.25 Before he started the car, Christer got a phone call. No, the missing wallet hasn't been found. The call was from Sundsvall. Mitthem wanted to confirm that they had the right information before they change the lock on Christer's apartment door today.
10.45 There was slow traffic towards Varberg. The roundabouts were many but eventually we arrived. Now we stand still in the parking lot at the Kärleksparken near the beach Djupa Dräkt. Now we will examine Varberg. We will look both at the city centre and the famous fortress by the sea.
10.56 Finally, we are seriously back by the sea. It's almost a month since we were last by the sea on foot. It was outside Haparanda. We are now heading along the sea towards the central parts of Varberg. We just walked past an information sign about Käringhålet, a nude beach for women. However, we did not see any naked ladies.
11.08 Sometimes it is good to improvise but usually it is better to find out the facts first. We started by walking around Varberg fortress and then found a path up a slope. However, there was no path into the Fortress area, just a shortcut up to a closed restaurant, Fästningsterrassen. At least we got a good view to photograph from.
13.16 The journey towards Falkenberg continues. We have opted out of the faster E6 and travel at a calmer pace closer to the sea along a smaller road. On both sides of the road runs a yellow line. I can't help but wonder what the yellow lines mean. Here in Halland we have also seen a newer variant of the Swedish blue distance signs. Is it a local version or will the whole of Sweden have such soon?
16.39 It took a while to penetrate the city centre of Halmstad. We found a free parking on a large gravel pitch between Styrmansgatan and Stuvaregatan. The address of our next overnight stay is also Stuvaregatan. Let's go.
Thursday 23rd of July
Breakfast outdoors, a perfect way to start a new day.
We start this day with a visit to Varberg Fortress.
Käringhålan, a nude beach for ladies.
The open air bath-house in Varberg.
Two cannons on Varberg Fortress.
The walls of Varbergs Fortress.
Views from Varberg Fortress.
Christer on his way to Brunnsparken.
Varberg church.
One of the sculptures in the art project Vattenbärare in Brunnsparken, Varberg.
The beautiful stone church in Falkenberg.
The intersection Brogatan/Storgatan in central Falkenberg.
Fishing in Ätran.
Tullbron (Toll bridge) takes you into Falkenberg´s centre.
Peter is resting along the Doktorspromenaden trail.
On the E6 road heading to Halmstad.
Halmstad Hotell & Vandrarhem.
Halmstad Castle.
Nissan is running through Halmstad.
Europa och tjuren is the name of this Carl Milles-fountain from 1926.
Local characters on Stora Torg.
S:t Nikolai church, Halmstad.
Peter is having dinner at Indian Kitchen.
08.15 Seven years ago we were in Bali. It is not as exotic here in Halmstad but the sun shines anyway. Before we travel further, we will walk into the centre to do some errands and drink coffee. We also say congratulations to our friend Roberth who has his birthday today. It's been over two weeks since we were at his house. We've seen and done a lot since then.
09.35 Once again we are in that time between breakfast and departure. Once again we have thought about whether we had time to do and see everything. Later today we´ll travel on towards the next region on the trip. 10.03 Most things except our small backpacks are loaded into the car. It has also been reparked because we only get to park for a certain hours for free. We are now sitting on a bench down at Nissan. A stop on our walk towards the centre has been made. 10.45 After reaching the main square with Europa och tjuren I saw that the singing man from yesterday was in place today as well. After that I bought a bottle for Christer. Now we are at Espresso House for coffee. Christer is daring and tasting organic brew coffee. I am faithful to my triple espresso. The bottle I bought for Christer contains contact lens fluid. We'll have to buy things like this from now on. I buy and Christer pays me with Swish. We were first to an optician but did not want to wait half the morning in queue for a simple purchase. We went to a pharmacy instead. 11.09 It's nice to have coffee outdoors in the sun but we have other things that must be done today too. 12.05 Using Google Maps, we found a smart solution to smoothly get out of town. We leave Halmstad via an industrial area, the District Anderstorp and then road 15, Laholmsvägen. 12.29 We have stepped out of the car in the parking lot Gröningen in Laholm. I sit on some kind of stand overlooking the river Lagan. The seating area seems to be a bit broken. A scent of manure is in the air and nearby there are people who have gathered to fish in the river. We'll spend a few hours here in Laholm before we say goodbye to Halland.
Österbro, Halmstad.
Peter is using the WiFi at Espresso House, Halmstad.
By the river Lagan in Laholm.
Hästbrunnen, Laholm.
Stortorget (Main Square) in Laholm.
Interesting plants outside these buildings along Kyrkogatan.
12.44 Our walk through Laholm began uphill along the street Bagareliden up to the town centre. At Hästtorget (Horse Square) by the town hotel we have passed the fountain Hästbrunnen by the sculptor and cartoonist Stig Blomberg and are now sitting on a bench at Stortorget. The scent of manure remains.
12.58 We walked past some low, older, beautiful wooden houses with flowers outside. Then we saw the town church, which was hopelessly difficult to photograph. Now we take a bench break a bit from a bust of Mayor Axel Malmquist. He was the last mayor of Laholm. He lived between 1895-1980. He was mayor between 1926-1948. Between 1933 and 1968 he bought no less than 16 sculptures to the town, a real art friend. We have also considered where Laholm's celebrity Björn Hellberg lives. The crime novel author and tennis expert is supposed to have a street named after himself here in Laholm. 13.18 Now we are at the sculpture Kungadrabbningen of just mentioned Stig Blomberg. It depicts a battle between the Danish king Sven Estridsson and the Norwegian King Harald Hårdråde. The battle is supposed to have taken place in the Bay of Laholm in 1062. The sculpture depicts the kings who collide in a Viking ship each. Laholm is named after the old fortress Lagaholm, which was active until the 16th century. Today there are 6 982 inhabitants in Halland's southernmost town. 13.30 We left Lagan behind us and walked again inward to the centre. There is something about Laholm that makes it not feel like a Swedish town. It is more compact, historical and cozy. It has though been Danish once upon a time. Speaking abroad, we have passed both the Danska vägen, Danish Road and Ryssgatan, Russian Street. Now we are looking for somewhere to have coffee. 13.46 We have just ordered coffee and pancakes with jam and cream at Conditori Cecil (https://conditoricecil.se). It is a really cozy café located centrally at Stortorget. 14.30 Imagine that something as simple, almost childish, like pancakes with jam and cream can be so tasty. Most importantly, it's something new. There have been many similar coffee stops at Espresso House. Now that we're about to leave Laholm, it suddenly hit us. We should refuel the car. 14.39 We refuelled the car for 487 SEK at Ingo. Now we continue on Ängelholmsvägen. Skåne is approaching. 14.51 Just as we arrived in the province Skåne (Scania) we have switched to road 115. The time has come to pass a car from Belgium. To the left rises Hallandsåsen, a horst on the border between Skåne and Halland.
Laholm boat harbour along Lagan.
Stortorget with Lagafontänen is the heart of this town.
We are visiting Conditori Cecil.
More words of wisdom about coffee.
Really tasty pancakes at Conditori Cecil.
We parked the car for free outside the small football stadium of the division 3-team Vejby IF.
15.09 Sometimes things don't turn out as planned. We are all but alone here in Båstad. Traffic is completely unbelievable, a single long traffic queue in both directions barely moving. There are also no realistic possibilities to turn onto any other sensible road. We will not as planned stay here, we´ll continue towards an unknown goal. There is simply too much people and too little space.
15.16 Since our plans were abruptly changed, we do not know where we are going. The roads are narrow here on the Bjäre Peninsula, the traffic dense and we need to stop somewhere to make a plan. At least we have turned into a somewhat calmer road now. 15.21 Hurrah, we have found a parking lot along road 105. Now we stand somewhere between the villages Västra Karup and Grevie. We are most likely heading to Vejbystrand by the sea. It feels like the smoothest solution. Now a man with a shirtless body was jogging by. He was followed by two cyclists. 15.36 Via various small roads in the countryside, at the moment Norrevångsvägen, we are now in Vejby heading towards Vejbystrand. 15.46 Before us is Vejbystrand Sports Ground. It's a football ground with stands. Wonder how good Vejbystrand are in football? We can at least park here for free and we have drunk the last of our breakfast juice. 16.19 We have walked down to the beach. It blows fresh from the sea. In the playground there is a slide and a rocking goose. The local football team, by the way, plays in division 3 South-West Götaland. Let's take it easy before we have dinner. 16.50 I sit on an extremely low bench standing among the dunes here by the sea. To be able to sit comfortably, I have to stretch my legs. 17.10 Now we have found more "normal" benches with associated tables. On the table there is a plaque with the text "to everyone's joy Vejbyföreningen". It's time for a relaxing reading session.
A trail to the sea.
Beaches along Skälderviken.
A carpet of thyme among the sand.
This bench was not for the long-legged.
Peter is reading in a Skåne beach environment.
Vejby Restaurang & Pizzeria in Vejbystrand.
17.43 Vejby Restaurant & Pizzeria (https://www.vejbyrestaurang.com) will arrange with today's dinner pizzas. We sit comfortably on their outdoor terrace. There are few who eat here. Cars and customers come and go. Is it the corona pandemic or common Swedish behaviour that makes no one want to eat on the spot?
18.46 Satisfied we then shopped here in Vejbystrand on ICA Nära Vågen. Vejbystrand is a strange place. Here you will find the beach, lots of villas and plenty of space. It feels like a part of a bigger city but it's not. Crown Princess Victoria's coastal sanatorium used to be here. It has not received its name from today's crown princess but from Victoria of Baden who was married to King Gustaf V. Now we will carry on towards the end of the evening's final destination and overnight place. 19.31 We were happily accepted by our hostess Sandra and her little son Charlie who tried to be an assistant. We stay in room 5 at the family-owned Östra Kvarn (Eastern Mill) in Errarp, Ängelholm. This may be the 500th place of residence on our trips. As you can hear from the name, there has been a mill here and behind the house runs a small river, Rössjöholmsån. The house was built in 1810 and flour was produced here before. 20.32 We have been drinking coffee and eating muffins in the sofas. There are spacious two-level common areas here. During the coffee time, other guests also joined. It's international here. A car from Romania is available in the guest car park. 21.44 We have been effective and booked ferry round trip to the island Ven on the 26th of July and also reserved a bike each. Then we checked the weather and now know that almost a torrential rain is expected just that day. Isn't that typical? Let's hope the meteorologists made a mistake. 23.20 Now we lie mostly and read though I think it's time for me to finish. I feel tired. Tomorrow we will see more of Ängelholm than this old mill.
We have parked the car outside Östra Kvarn.
Peter is exploring our floor at Östra Kvarn.
In room 5 with the car seen through our window.
Friday 24th of July
08.43 After that I had immediately fallen asleep last night, Christer had problems with insects that had entered the room. At least we both managed to get some sleep. Now a new day is waiting but it is unfortunately raining right now. Let's hope for improvement.
09.16 Our breakfast was served downstairs here at Östra Kvarn. It was really good quality and range given that we are not in a hotel, just a family run Bed & Breakfast. After eating, we arranged all the practical things about payment and check-out. The rain seems to have parked over north-western Skåne. We will probably experience a wet Ängelholm today. 10.36 Today's first parking place will be on Vaktgatan in Ängelholm. As usual, we look for parking places that are easy to get to and from and that also have so many places that we dare to trust that there is also room for us. Most often it works fine. 10.48 There is still rain in the air but not so much so that it interferes. We have walked towards Ängelholm centre and have just photographed an interesting sculpture. "Where are you?" A bronze sculpture depicting a teenage girl in a time-typical position, bent over the phone with the headphones on. According to the sculptor Jonas Högström's own data, it is his own 18-year-old daughter who has been the model for the artwork. 11.15 After having immortalized an interesting street and murals, Rönne å, the craft museum and the city church we are now on the main square. From a half-timbered house, the Old Town Hall what we think is a newly married couple just came out. It's not quite the same glamour surrounding a civil marriage. The wedding attendant quickly locked the door to the venue and headed on. 11.30 "Dont stop believin" with Journey is heard in the speakers. Now we are inside the warmth of the city's Espresso House. We have made our regular coffee orders. Here we are now waiting for better and more pleasant weather. Ängelholm has 28 381 inhabitants and the name probably has nothing to do with angels. Various theories exist about the origin of the name.
We have spent a night in this big building.
The sculpture "Where are you?" in Ängelholm.
A canoeist on Rönne å.
Hantverksmuséet (Handicraft Museum), Ängelholm.
The different characteristics of Ängelholm.
Another example of art in Ängelholm.
12.37 After the purchase of snacks/lunch at ICA Supermarket we are now driving on Kristian II Road, the main road south through the city.
12.48 In the southern outskirts of the city, about where Ängelholm ends, we have turned off onto Kulltorpsvägen and now move out to the sea. 13.00 We have arrived in Sibirien (Siberia), an open air area along the sea just southwest of Ängelholm. We have parked and will now walk in nature for a while to come. Fortunately, the rain has stopped. We don't have sun, but at least it's a stop in the rain. The area here consists of dunes that in the 1800s were planted with pine forest and a sandy beach along the water. The area is part of Kronoskogen, which began to be planted in the 1700s to protect Ängelholm from the sand and it serves as a barrier between the sea and the city. 13.23 We have just walked for a while on a seashell covered beach here along Skälderviken and now we have entered the windswept beach forest. We are looking for a suitable fallen log to sit on. The one I found and sit on is not a suitable candidate. The trees are severely tormented by wind and are crooked in every conceivable direction. A little further in, the forest is more straight and peaceful. 13.40 Now that a suitable comfortable seat has been found, we will read a little in our books. It is an old tradition on our travels to now and then move us to a fictional world by reading detective stories and other books. However, we have come to realize that we do not have much time for reading now when we go by car. It is usually mostly during trips in buses and trains we usually read.
Interesting objects on Tingstorget, Ängelholm.
Rönne å at Sockerbruksbron in Ängelholm.
Ängelholm church.
Stortorget, Ängelholm. To the left a couple has just got married.
“Bicycle helmet, knee pads and life jacket… but what does it help against loneliness?”
Christer has discovered another sculpture from Jonas Högström.
A painting made by Ebba Kristina Wingårdh.
14.27 The log in the forest is now switched to a bench with table on the beach down by the sea. The reading of books is also exchanged for a light lunch consisting of baguettes, fruits and beverages. We were lucky to find really cheap baguettes on ICA. From our table we look over the sea and think about what is there on the other side. Somewhere there is the artist Lars Vilk's artwork of driftwood, Nimis.
14.55 After our lunch by the sea we are now going back into the forest. Possibly we will treat ourselves a moment of reading again if we find a nice place. There were not so many pages read on the log before. 15.04 It is a nice forest with cozy little glades but we found nowhere to sit. Instead, we will now try to cut short through the forest to the last attraction we will look at here in the area of Ängelholm. 15.21 After a walk in the forest we are now at the monument in memory of the UFO sighted here on May 18, 1946. The monument was erected by the man who saw the craft, Gösta "pollen king" Carlsson. He had a company in the nature pharmaceuticals industry and also financed Rögle's ice hockey team. Gösta thought that many of his ideas were inspired by the meeting he had in the forest here. In the autumn of 1971 he went public with the fact that he in 1946 he saw and met human-like aliens. The meeting in the forest should have given him the knowledge how to extract pollen from pollen grains. He also found a ring and a stake that he claims the visitors left behind. In 1972 Gösta Carlsson erected this monument on the site. Except a model of the craft is here an excellent tree that is alleged to have been damaged at the moment as well as a begun tomb where the aliens intended to bury dead crewmen. You can read more about this case in UFO Sweden's investigation of it (https://www.ufo.se/index.php/gosta-carlsson). 16.04 We walked a little more before we managed to get out on Sibirienvägen again near a shooting range. Let's go towards the car. Time to move on. 16.29 Now we are ready to travel towards new goals. Ängelholm and its surroundings have had enough of our precious time. 16.55 Now we have arrived at City Gross parking area in Höganäs. Here we can leave our car for free. It is relatively close to the centre from here.
We have reached Sibirien beach.
Dark clouds above our heads.
Peter in the beach forest in Kronoskogen, Ängelholm.
The trees are more happy further away from the sea and the wind.
We are walking along trails that hopefully lead us to the right place.
Gösta Carlsson´s UFO monument.
17.10 It's time for a bench break in central Höganäs. Here along Storgatan and with The Ascension Church behind us we see some small pigs in statue shape. I think we should give up on the weather today. We don't have any rain, but it's really windy and not very pleasant.
17.40 There is a lot of wind down by the sea near Höganäs harbour. On the other side of the sea we can see Denmark, the coast of northern Själland (Zealand). For the third time on the trip we see a neighbouring country without being able to visit it. Höganäs was originally a fishing village but then developed a mining industry for mining coal and clays needed for the production of refractory ceramics (Höganäs mug) that the town is famous for. Here there is a population of 15 795 inhabitants. 18.04 We do not know if it is the unpleasant weather or wrong expectations but Höganäs feels a bit like a disappointment. It is nice here but also quite boring and without direct sights. In any case, it is always nice to have visited yet another new Swedish place. 18.44 On the way from the cold winds by the sea we looked into the restaurant "Eld och lågor" that would have a varied choice. So it appeared even on the signage. However, they had mostly pizzas. We proceeded instead towards the car. Almost at the car, the hotel in Helsingborg called Christer. They wanted new card details because Christer's card is blocked. Now as they have it, our room is confirmed and we aim for a restaurant here near City Gross. 19.02 Icelandic is spoken at the neighbouring table. A young guy is here eating with his Icelandic parents. Tonight will be dinner at Linnea and Basil (https://www.linneabasilika.se), a restaurant chain with food from Southeast Asia, mainly Thailand and Vietnam. It's worth costing us sometimes. Tonight I just couldn't eat pizza. 20.10 It was clearly the trip's best meal so far. It was tasty, satisfying and pleasant. Afterwards, we shopped at City Gross. There is a wall to wall with the restaurant. Various food chains have provided us with food during the trip. Earlier on the trip, it has among other things become ICA, COOP, Hemköp and Handlarn.
Peter is resting along Storgatan in Höganäs.
Himmelsfärdskyrkan (Ascension Church) in Höganäs.
We have seen stone otters in Ludvika and Uddevalla. Höganäs has stone pigs.
By the sea in Höganäs. At the horizon we can see Denmark.
Höganäs harbour.
A man interested in coffee is visiting Höganäs.
20.43 We're late today. It's getting dark and we're still in motion. Once again we are moving towards accommodation, rooms, and who knows what? At least we're going to end the day in Helsingborg a few kilometres south of here.
20.52 It is road 111 that applies on this short journey through the increasingly dark summer evening. 21.03 Helsingborg welcomed us with thunder and a violent rain. It was difficult to see something through the car windows and when we reached the free parking lot at Södergatsviadukten we saw that we had driven into the parking lot through the exit instead of the entrance. Well, there are no others on the move than us right now in this weather and in this place. 21.14 The car was parked and left. We went to the City Hotel (https://city-helsingborg.worhot.com), a hotel that received a lot of negative reviews online. Right away we got vibes from accommodations in Eastern Europe on our early train journeys. It's the kind of hotel where everything works but still doesn't feel on top. Reception, corridor and room, everything breathes past times. At least now I will soon do something classic that I have longed for. 21.27 The bath tub is small but I've been down in it. It feels like a tradition for me to have a bath. The hour is late and we've barely seen anythiong of this big city. We will stay in Helsingborg until tomorrow afternoon to be able to see it properly. 22.25 After coffee we are ready to prepare for the night. We started the day in an old mill, have walked in forests, seen a landing site for a UFO and now ended up in this hotel. There are varied, rich days for us and this Swedish reserve trip is so far above all expectations.
Peter is having dinner at Linnea & Basilika in Höganäs.
Our room at City Hotel, Helsingborg.
You can see 95 photos from July 22 in this photoalbum.
You can see 68 photos from July 23 in this photoalbum.
You can see 69 photos from July 24 in this photoalbum.