Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Provinces: Medelpad, Ångermanland, Lappland
Municipalities: Sundsvall, Timrå, Härnösand, Kramfors, Sollefteå, Åsele
Sunday 27th of June
07.45 It's morning in Sundsvall. Christer and myself are once again heading out on a summer trip in Sweden, a Sweden that awaits the result of the vote of no confidence against the government. I arrived by train in Sundsvall last night. Christer packed the last things and some things were carried out in the car. The European football championship is going on and yesterday we watched the game Italy vs Austria (2-1 after extra time) during the evening.
08.42 After a hearty breakfast we are beginning to get ready to load the packed belongings. It will be fun to see more of Sweden but I would rather have been out in the world. As long as Corona/Covid 19 have its grip on the world, we have to stick to another home holiday. This summer we will fill in the gaps and mainly travel in the areas we did not visit last year. There might be some return visits though.
09.33 I've put on my seat belt and Christer sits behind the wheel of his car. We're in the starting position, the meter at the moment stands at 133320. During last year's trip we travelled over 8000 kilometres. I don't think it'll be as far this year, but how far will it be? There is a light rain over Sundsvall now that we roll away.
09.55 The first stop of the year is done. We are at the Y, a huge sculpture made by Bengt Lindström. It is located in Timrå municipality near the road E4 where it passes Sundsvall-Timrå Airport. The monument was inaugurated on the 3rd of September, 1995 and depicts the letter Y, which is the county letter for Västernorrland County. It is 30.5 meters high and weighs 700 tons. For a few years the tourist office of Timrå was housed in the sculpture. A renovation of the sculpture was completed in autumn 2019. A re-inauguration was scheduled in 2020 (set due to the Corona pandemic). The delta of Indalsälvens is here in the area was large already in the 1700s but grew further after the involuntary emptying of Lake Ragundasjön 1796, one of Sweden's biggest natural disasters. It's still a light rain out there.
10.26 The first city visit of the year has begun. We are in the city of Härnösand. We've parked outside McDonald's. It's raining a little less now. In addition to morning coffee, we will take a walk and document a little about Härnösand, a city with 18 502 inhabitants which is the county seat of Västernorrland County.
10.42 The restaurant Skeppet here in Härnösand claims that they broadcast all matches from the UEFA European Football Championship. They may have some unsuspected resources, but we think that they'll only show you all the matches in the restaurant on a screen. We will now look around here in the city. It is calm and still, almost nothing is open and few people are in motion.
14.37 We travel in beautiful hilly areas. We have passed Nordingråvallen and Häggvik village. The morning drizzle has been replaced by sun and lovely weather with blue sky.
19.42 It looks bad for the Netherlands. The Czech Republic is currently expanding their lead to 2-0. The scorer's name is Patrik Schick. It is his fourth goal in the tournament.
Monday 28th of June
Peter takes notes before leaving Sundsvall.
The sculpture Y in Timrå municipality.
We have arrived in Härnösand on a cloudy morning.
The old post and telegraph house in Härnösand.
Christer in front of Härnösand cathedral.
Peter is visiting Espresso House in Härnösand.
Stora Torget, Härnösand.
The 1,867 meter long High Coast Bridge was inaugurated in 1997.
A stop at Nora church.
Anders Åberg's artwork at Järesta rest area.
Skutskepparn B&B in Barsta will be our first accomodation this trip.
Peter in our room at Skutskepparn.
The view from Room 1 at Skutskepparn B&B.
Barsta chapel has stood here since the 17th century.
Barsta in Nordingrå parish.
Typical landscape along the High coast.
Barsta harbour.
Tonight's dinner, Captain's Double Up.
07.45 A week ago, 181 of the parliament´s 349 members voted for the historic motion of no confidence against the Social Democratic Prime minister Stefan Löfven. He was then given a week to announce an extra election or to resign. If he resigns, the speaker of the Riksdag will have four attempts to find a new government document, a new or the same prime minister as before. If none of these work, it will be an extra election. However it goes, we will travel further today.
09.15 The breakfasts here at Skutskepparn B&B were ordered on a note which then was submitted in the kitchen. Quickly and smoothly the ordered was carried out to us on a tray. 09.51 Now it's time to leave the first of our accommodations this year. Here everything has been fine. The slanted roof and banged heads to spite. 10.20 The first stop of the day is done. We took the same road as yesterday (but in the other direction) and are now at Nordingrå new church and the church ruin that is the remains of the older church. Here the mountains rise above the water, just as it is here on the High Coast. Christer's maternal grandmother Siri was from these parts and her relatives rest somewhere here in the cemetery. If possible, Christer will try to find the graves before we leave. 10.34 We've been down by the beautiful Vågsfjärden, a lake that has previously been a sea bay. There are also Nordingrå's famous church stables. There are 12 of them but it is believed that initially there were 60-70 stables here. They were used in the past by those church visitors who went to church by horse. Many had a long way to go and in cold and bad weather the horses needed to get under cover. 10.50 We gave up hope to find Christer's relatives. There were simply too many tombstones to examine and also two different cemeteries. Christer strengthens himself with some water. A gentleman at a road sign tells another gentleman that some things are broken and those that are ok are also broken. 11.01 We are heading west towards the next milestones and the prime minister has made his most difficult political decision. He chooses to resign to govern an interim government for the time being. Now it will be up to the speaker to find alternatives.
Nordingrå church.
The church stables in Nordingrå.
Christer at Vågsfjärden.
We take a walk up on the Sandö bridge.
Peter on the Sandö bridge.
View of the Ångermanälven river.
11.23 After driving across the Sandö Bridge, we are now in Lunde at the western part of the bridge. Things have happened here throughout history. On the 31st of August, 1939, the Sandö Bridge, which was then under construction, collapsed and 18 people died. This event was overshadowed the day after as Germany attacked Poland and World War II began. An even bigger event was the shots in Ådalen 1931 but I will get back to that later.
11.41 Now we stand on the bridge and look beyond and above Ångermanälven. Turning around, we see the pylons from the High Coast Bridge in the distance. It is a lovely sunny weather today and the view from the bridge is absolutely fantastic. 12.01 It is now time for coffee breaks at the renowned Wästerlund Pastry Shop (http://www.wasterlundskonditori.se) here in Lunde. Coffee is good when you are travelling. 12.16 It is a lovely interior in this pastry shop and coffee is good. The pastry shop was opened in the 1940s and there is still 50s environment in here. 12.23 Now I have sat down at the Ådalen monument, thus, the mark/statue of the shots in Ådalen 1931. It was erected on the occasion of the 50 years after the shooting. The sculptor was Lenny Clarhäll. Then what happened here? On the 14th of May, 1931, the military opened fire on a people that were demonstrating, and five people died on the site. The background was that there was a conflict about pay cuts at a sulphate factory at Marmaverken in Hälsingland in the summer of 1930. There, the management had announced that the current wages would be reduced. In addition, other working conditions would deteriorate. The workers protested but it gave no result. Since there was no change, sympathy strikes erupted in various places in the spring of 1931, including here in Ådalen. To load paper pulp, employers now acquired about 60 strike breakers. The arrival of the breakers aroused tremendous anger. The striking workers organized a protest meeting in Kramfors on the same day after which they marched to Sandviken. On Thursday the 14th of May, the Transport Workers ' Union held a protest meeting against the strikers. Representatives of almost the entire trade union movement were present in the area Ådalen. A decision was made there on immediate and general closure at all sawmills and pulp mills in Ådalen. Before the meeting ended, those gathered in and around the community house, 3 000 to 4 000 people, marched to the strike breakers in Lund. When they arrived in Lunde, the military commander of the scene, captain Nils Mesterton, believed to see weapons in the hands of the demonstrators and hear shots fired from the crowd, something that neither the investigation commission nor the police could later find evidence of. A patrol trying to stop the demonstrators had fired shots, and when the demonstrators were less than 100 meters away from the strike-breaker barracks, captain Mesterton commanded fire. With rifles and machine guns, the soldiers opened fire. The five killed were 20-year-old factory worker Eira Söderberg, Erik Bergström, 31-year-old factory worker, Evert Nygren, 22 years old and worker, Sture Larsson 18 years old and Viktor Eriksson, 35 years old. Eira Söderberg was not part of the demonstration, but was a bystander when she was hit by a ricochet. In addition to these, five people were wounded. A trumpeter in the workers 'music Corps blew the signal "cease fire", thereby causing the military to stop firing. 12.42 Our imaginary friend Ruth in Google Maps is consulted on further choices. Soon we'll go on of her as a co-driver. The female voice in Google Maps is a safe support when driving in new places although sometimes there may be some strange suggestions on how we should drive. 12.51 Via road 90 we are now heading for another city in the country. 13.12 One of Postnord's light blue vehicles passes in front of us. We are in Central Kramfors. Opposite it is signposted that the clothing store there ceases and that there are reduced prices. However, this does not apply to Norrland. It is rather a clothing brand than the part of the country, the one we are in to which it refers. Kramfors is one of the few cities named after a person who was not royal. The name is from the sawmill that Christoffer Kramm built nearby, Kramm's sawmill. Kramfors currently has 6,881 inhabitants.
Wästerlunds Konditori in Lunde.
Inside the patisserie, the 1950s prevail.
The Ådalen 1931 monument in Lunde.
Kramfors.
The Kramfors Crow outside Christoffer mall.
Near Kramfors railway station.
13.35 We've walked around a bit in the centre of Kramfors. Right now the sun is shining on us during our bench break in Babelsbergstrappan near Kramfors station. Babelsberg is a mountain located in the centre of Kramfors. The original staircase to the mountain was legendary, not least because the writer Birger Norman mentioned the staircase in one of his poems. The staircase was demolished in connection with the construction of the travel centre now a new staircase has been fixed.
13.58 Inside the Intersport store in the Christoffer Mall Christer has found a T-shirt and shorts for half price. In the end, a sales assistant had found to the cashier so that the purchase could be completed. 14.03 As soon as Christer has packed down the purchased, he will text the parking company Parkster, this to check out and finish the parking time here in Kramfors. Now the journey goes on. The final stage of the day is to be grazed. 14.45 We finally found a parking place along road 90. Here at the municipality border with Sollefteå municipality we have had a fruit session. We might once more ask our assistant Ruth to support us before we continue into the appropriate parking place in Sollefteå. 15.01 The car is placed and parked in a parking lot at Hantverkaregatan in Sollefteå, Christer is away to check regarding parking time and price. 15.37 Nothing new about a new Swedish government. The new thing for us is that we sit in room 15 at Hotel Sollefteå (https://hotelsolleftea.se), a hotel also called City Hotel. Regarding the parking, it works well with a P-disc. Last year we didn't have one and had to relinquish some car parks. This year Christer has one with him. A bonus with the accommodation is that we've discounts on food at some of the city's restaurants. The man at the reception has also suggested a little about what to see and do here in Sollefteå. We might perhaps look at some salmon fishing along the river. 16.10 For a while we have stood on one of the city's bridges over Ångermanälven. We've seen the sculpture Timmerflottare, timber rafter in the middle of the river and also a nipa, so typical of Sollefteå with surroundings. A nipa is simply a steep sandy slope down towards a watercourse. Sollefteå is also called the city of nipor. In addition to nipor, Sollefteå was formerly known as a garrison town with several military regiments. This ended in 2000. Today Sollefteå has a population of 8 527 inhabitants. 17.10 Now that we have walked through Sollefteå City Park and checked how we should drive from here tomorrow we are now at the restaurant Grill House for an early dinner. Before we came to the restaurant, we walked through the city centre and were amazed at how many rooms are completely empty. It's sad to see city centres slowly fall asleep. 18.08 It was good food that we also had discounts on. Now that we're back in the hotel room, it's time for another game. This time it is the game between Croatia and Spain to be decided. 18.21 A failed, misunderstood Spanish pass to one's own goal leads to an own goal. It is 1-0 to Croatia. The own goaler, his name is Pedro González López but is better known by the name Pedri, is apparently the youngest own goaler in European football championship history. I can't believe there's statistics on that, too.
A beautiful summer atnosphere in Sollefteå.
We stay in a central location and have a view of the square from Hotel Sollefteå.
The statue Timmerflottare in Ångermanälven.
A nipa, typical landscape around Sollefteå.
Sollefteå Stadspark.
Mallards in the Ångermanälven river.
18.38 Spain scores their and the game's second goal. This time, the ball is kicked in the" right" goal. It's 1-1. Goal scorer is Pablo Sarabia.
19.14 A bit into the second half makes Spain 2-1. This time it is César Azpilicueta who scored. 19.34 A quick free kick makes it 3-1 for Spain. Ferran Torres is the scorer. 19.43 In a tangled situation the Croatian players reduces to 3-2. Mislav Oršić is what the scorer is called. 19.51 Yet it is neither finished nor settled. Now it became 3-3 through Mario Pašalić. 20.10 Such an eventful match that we are watching. Now, during extra time, those who speak Spanish are cheering for a new goal, 4-3. Álvaro Morata has scored. 20.12 According to one of the commentators on TV it was now 4-2 but according to us and most others it says 5-3 to Spain after Mikel Oyarzabal scored. After continued buzzing about both 3-2 and 3-3 he now means that it is actually 5-3. 20.34 It became a Spanish victory. Now we will put together a breakfast order as well as drink coffee from the coffee machine out in the common kitchen before the next match begins. 21.01 After a cup of good coffee I will now sit back to watch and tell you about the match Switzerland-France. The referees are from Argentina. There has been an exchange. Spanish referees decide in the Copa América that goes on at the same time in South America. 21.15 The French audience has been disappointed. Switzerland has just made 1-0. Haris Seferović is a scorer. 21.54 It is still just one goal in the match. Now we and many others are waiting for the second half to begin. 22.14 After a VAR-check, Switzerland gets an absolutely correct penalty, but it does not become a goal. Ricardo Rodríguez misses.
Storgatan, Sollefteå.
Christer is having dinner at Grill House.
Football night with two exciting European Championship matches.
22.19 I got up to go and leave our completed breakfast order at the reception and pick up two cups of hot chocolate. Then France equalized through Karim Benzema. Before I was back, they had also had time to do 2-1. It was the same scorer at the second goal.
22.33 Paul Pogba with long sleeve right sleeve and short left sleeve makes a beautiful 3-1 to France. 22.40 The tension rises in this eighth final. Switzerland has made 2-3. Will they make a comeback just like Croatia? It is again Haris Seferović who found the net. 22.48 They sure do like Croatia. After a due to offside cancelled goal, Switzerland equates to 3-3. Mario Gavranović scores the goal. 23.00 It's a little unexpected time for an extension even in this match. 23.33 Since none of the teams have succeeded in scoring any more goals, it is time for the first penalty kick decision of the European Championship Tournament. 23.46 After nine straight goals there were no more. Switzerland is moving on. Around half of the penalties were shown from a camera behind the penalty shooter. It was the big star Kylian Mbappé who missed the penalty that brought the French world champions out of the tournament. Switzerland is now facing Spain in the quarterfinals.
Tuesday 29th of June
08.32 It's morning again and I look out over a cloudy Sollefteå. A new day of travelling is here. We look forward to a new journey to a new accommodation with events and stops along the way. We also look forward to the breakfast that we ordered through a completed form.
09.49 Here in the breakfast room one of the other guests, an elderly lady, has complained about the damage at the campsite in Junsele. She just read about this in the local newspaper. It is in two ways with pre-orders of breakfast. On the plus side, everything is neatly served. On the minus side, you do not know how big the slices of bread, cheese and cold cuts are. No matter what, we will soon travel further from this comfortable hotel. 10.08 After checking out, or at least leaving the key at the reception, we are once again back inside the green Golf. This applies to both the belongings and us. 10.26 Christer and I are again on the road 90. We're heading north towards new views. 11.08 It squeaks from an excavator, digger. We've arrived in Näsåker village and sit at Ingela's Café on Storgatan. We had a motorized wheelchair in front of us as we got to Näsåker. A tractor is passing out on the street. They are building a walking and cycling path here outside our coffee place. In addition to drinking coffee, we eat delicious sandwiches here at our outside table. Näsåker is a village or tiny urban area with 509 inhabitants. Here usually the World Music Festival Urkult is arranged under normal virus free years. 11.39 An elderly gentleman just came out of the cafe and noted that it was out of electricity. "They've dug off the power cable," he mumbled before disappearing towards a for us unknown place. 12.05 After leaving the cafe we are now heading for old messages from the past. 12.18 Ångermanälven river roars below the trees. Above the trees a bird sings. What about us? Well, we just sit and take it easy at some wooden tables. We're almost there.
Breakfast at Hotel Sollefteå.
Näsåker is this day´s first destination.
Christer at Ingelas Café.
The Urkult festival and a goddess museum. Small Näsåker offer different attractions.
Peter takes notes on the side of the road.
Beautiful views of the Ångermanälven river.
12.51 We are at Nämforsen (https://namforsen.com). Here is a hydroelectric power station and here we will look at rock carvings that are up to 6000 years old.
13.14 It is fascinating to walk around and look at these ancient carvings in the rocks. Time for some serious facts about these. About 6000 years ago, during the Stone Age, when it became possible to make the rock carvings, Nämforsen was the first rapids in Ångermanälven at the end of an about 60 km long bay. Here at Nämforsen sweet and salty water as well as inland and coast met. Since then, uplift and erosion have changed the landscape picture. In our time, the water level of the river is about 70 meters above sea level. On both sides of the rapids there are remains of settlements from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. There are 2595 images depicting moose, boats, people, birds, fish and objects, but also hard-to-understand lines. Nämforsen is one of Europe's largest rock carvings sites with rock carvings that are assumed to be about 6 000-3 800 years old, in other words from about 4 000-1 800 BC. 13.44 We've temporarily left the Ångermanälven and more permanently left the fascinating rock carvings. Now we take a bench break between Ådals-Liden church and a fountain. We will get some air and cool down before continuing today's journey. 14.02 The time has come to air out the heat in the car. When it's done, we'll continue the escapade. 14.25 Tonight Sweden plays against Ukraine in the European football championship. On the radio, the voices are positive and the player Emil Forsberg's grandmother Ulla-Britt promises victory for Sweden. 14.30 Now it is not far to Junsele. We've temporarily stopped in a parking lot and are going to plan what we´ll do, see and buy. Regarding the parking lot in Junsele, it looks unusually promising. The weather is not as promising. It's starting to rain. 14.43 It rains on arrival in Junsele and just as we arrived here we had a motorized wheelchair in front of us again in traffic. What is the probability of driving behind two wheelchairs during the same day? Now we are going to buy food for the evening and tomorrow morning at ICA Nära supermarket. After that, it will be a late lunch or early dinner, in any case, a meal. Junsele in northern Ångermanland has 779 inhabitants and is well known for the small zoo located here. 15.27 After the purchase at ICA, including cheap strawberries and breakfast for tomorrow, we will now go for some sightseeing and food. Inside the ICA there were some Finnish bikers. 16.03 Outside Pizzeria Gomoran was a Bulgarian man who sold fresh strawberries. Inside Gomoran we've eaten our early dinner, not quite unexpected pizza. Some reviews on the internet hailed the pizzas as fantastic but we thought they were neither worse nor better than many other pizzas. We took a short walk around the Junsele before returning to the car but we did not find much worth seeing. Now we aim for new goals.
We have walked to the rock carving area at Nämforsen.
Some of all the rock carvings found at Nämforsen.
The hydropower plant at Nämforsen.
Peter at Nämforsen.
We have found even more traces from the past.
Christer points out even more pictures.
16.25 No other cars or people have been seen in a while but two reindeer.
16.36 Now we go on Sagavägen, a road we drove on also last year. The goal for today is getting closer. 16.50 We are in Lappland and Västerbotten County. Soon we will reach today's final destination. 17.01 We are now in the Väst-Gafsele village and Gafsele Lapland Hostel (https://www.gafselehostel.nl), an accommodation to which we already made a partial payment. It is housed in an old school building from the 1950s. The school has a history as missionary school for Sami children and was founded in 1842. Here we are all alone. To remedy this, we have called for the owners, the Dutch couple Ronald and Carolina Nooteboom. They're on their way. The one who gets the first attempt to form a new government will be the leader for the conservative party, Ulf Kristersson. He now has three days to tell. 17.30 A car appeared and with it the hostess Carolina. She has just received the accommodation money. Christer and I will now come to terms before the next match from the European Championship tournament begins. 17.42 Now we are ready to see the next game, England will face Germany. We sit in a large room (old teacher room?) with a connecting kitchen. 18.22 It is an undulating game in the match and several decent chances. Looks like there's going to be another guest here at the property, Emanuel. He has a bag in his room and the key sits in the room door. In the fridge stands unbaptized food, that is, without name patches. He himself shines with his absence. 18.47 In the last quivering seconds of the first half, England gets a sharp chance but does not manage to get the ball in. 19.13 To liven up the match we will eat the strawberries we bought at ICA in Junsele. 19.30 The strawberries are unlike the goal drought finished. Is it going towards another extra time? 19.33 Should there be extra time Germany must do what England just did and score a goal. Raheem Sterling put the ball in the net. 19.44 Harry Kane doubles the English goals. It now says 2-0 19.52 England is into the quarterfinals. Within an hour, the match will begin which yellow and blue team will face England. 21.02 The European Championship game Ukraine against Sweden is on the way. Emanuel has also appeared, eaten a quick dinner and disappeared to his room. He seems to be here at some construction job if you're going to draw conclusions from his vehicle and work clothes.
The road to Junsele.
Peter outside ICA Nära supermarket in Junsele.
Two rooms are occupied at Gafsele Lappland Hostel.
We are staying in an old school building.
Strawberries and football.
We are staying in room 5 at Gafsele Lappland Hostel.
21.28 It is not wrong to sit in soft, comfortable sofas and watch football on a light summer evening. In the match we are guarding, Ukraine scored just 1-0 by Oleksandr Zintjenko.
21.43 Emil Forsberg equalizes to 1-1 after a moment's Swedish pressure. Just like in World Cup 2018, he scores goals by shooting via an opponent's leg. 22.23 There are good chances from both teams. Sweden has hit both post and cross bar. Will it be more than ninety minutes in this match? Will there be more game goals? 22.48 There is a draw at full time. Now it's time for extra time. 23.03 After a VAR check Swedish central defender Marcus Danielson get a red card. He put his foot in the knee of an opponent. The victim was Artem Besedin who now left the match with injured knee . 23.32 In the final minutes of the second quarter of the extra time, Ukraine heads in a new goal. It's been-reviewed if it was offside but it wasn't. The scorer is the substitute Artem Dovbyk. 23.38 There will be a European Championship gold medal this year, but not to Sweden. Ukraine won the match, thus meeting England in the quarterfinals. For our part, it has become time to walk towards the beds in room 5.
You can see 81 photos from June 27 in this photoalbum.
You can see 101 photos from June 28 in this photoalbum.
You can see 82 photos from June 29 in this photoalbum.