Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Provinces: Uppland, Gästrikland, Hälsingland
Municipalities: Norrtälje, Östhammar, Tierp, Älvkarleby, Gävle, Söderhamn, Bollnäs, Ovanåker
Thursday 5th of August
08.34 It is the second and also last morning at Kapellskärs Camping (https://kapellskarscamping.se). Tears of joy and of sadness seem to have been shed in the Tokyo Olympics while we slept. Here no tears fall. We are busy getting ready to enter Roslagen.
09.07 Some zapping between different P4 channels on the radio has taught us that dead Swedes have the longest waiting time for burial, Stockholm Pride is on the go and that there is something called animal widowers. It is thus animals which owners died, animals that need new masters and mistresses. These include among others cats and goldfish.
10.11 Finally we are on our way again. Sure, camping is fun but not for many days. We didn't have much choice. Most other options here in Roslagen were well above our budget.
10.22 Initially, the road is familiar. It will be E18 back to Norrtälje before new views are expected.
10.52 The Olympics in Tokyo continue. The Swedish athlete Perseus Karlström finished on ninth place in the men's 20 kilometres race walking. The winner, Massimo Stano from Italy walked the 20 kilometres at 1:21.05. I don't run the same distance that fast. We continue on road 76 north from Norrtälje. Right now a green insect is walking on my left thigh.
11.09 Goodbye road 76. Hello Norra Uppsalavägen. We'll stop soon.
11.16 We enjoy a bench break outside the restaurant Källan, Hallstavik Amusement Palace. Here is also a square, a fountain, an ICA supermarket, a COOP supermarket and more than that. A woman who passed by was just talking about the fact that you can get sick from ticks. Hallstavik has 4,784 inhabitants and is known for its paper mill and the successful Speedway team Rospiggarna.
11.27 It's time for coffee and sandwich at Blixtens Café (https://www.blixtenscafe.se) or is it Blirrens Cafe as it says on the newer sign here. It's +22 C today.
14.49 It was fortunate that we put the car where we did. In the centre there is not much space to park. One report says that Öregrund multiply the population by ten in summer time compared to other times of the year. The normal amount of residents is 1,597 inhabitants. Öregrund is located about 16 kilometres by car northeast of Östhammar.
17.05 We found a better parking place to rest at. Not ideal right away but it is good for coffee, pastries and literature.
18.33 Now we have moved within Älvkarleby and found a new place for the car near the bus stop at Brobacken. Let's go out and walk some more.
Friday 6th of August
Hallsta Rondell, Hallstavik.
Hallstavik is known for its speedway club.
Blixtens Café in Hallstavik.
Christer is visiting Blixtens Café.
The old water tower in Östhammar.
What is going on in Raggarön?
Östhammar church.
The flag of Roslagen on Drottninggatan, Östhammar.
Rådhustorget, Östhammar.
Sculptures on Rådhustorget.
Östhammar harbour.
It´s time to visit Öregrund.
The belfry in Öregrund.
Traditional architecture in central Öregrund.
Interesting vehicles in motion in Öregrund.
Car ferries between Öregrund and Gräsö.
Christer is resting near Öregrund harbour.
Strandgatan, Öregrund.
Information about Forsmark.
A stop somewhere in Uppland.
Älvkarleby church.
Stig Dagerman´s grave in Älvkarleby.
Älvkarleby power plant in Dalälven.
Christer is eating a pizza at La Fornetto.
We parked safely and securely near the Gevalia coffee roastery.
The fire station in Gävle was built in the 1890s.
Sjömanskyrkan, Gävle.
Järnvägshotellet, Gävle.
08.15 We have slept well here at Järnvägshotellet. During the last two summers we have slept in all Swedish counties and almost all Swedish provinces. The only ones we haven't slept in are Öland and Hälsingland, but the journey is not over yet. Both Christer and I woke up before the alarm. I turned it off and went to shower. Once back, the alarm played cheerfully. Mysteriously.
09.00 The mystery thickens. At the breakfast table, Christer got a spoon from somewhere, someone. By the way the breakfast was certainly good but lacked space. In some hotels it has been pandemic-proof with distributed breakfast sometimes, staff with masks and hand sanitizer. Here it is all and all at once. Ok, a smaller room but no distancing. 10.36 In the semifinal of the Olympic handball, the French women lead over the Swedes with 15-14 in halftime. Let's go out and see Gävle. We have visited the city before, but now we will spend a whole day in it. 10.42 We start by strolling around the centre until lunch time. 10.56 Karolina Sjölander, founder or is it founderess of Gefle higher girls' school, has a bust next to us here on Rådhusesplanaden. It's another sunny and lovely summer day. 11.39 The Swedish handball ladies will play for bronze. France won the semi final. We are at Stortorget with, among other things, the artworks "pylons" by Erik Höglund. It is four pylons of pink colour with reliefs. The square itself is not a beauty. 12.03 Our Gävle walk continues here in the centre. We have seen the statue Vallpojken, a fountain with a woman called Goddess by the Hyperborean sea. In addition, we have seen another town hall. Now we take a bench break down at Gavleån. We are at another one of our homeland's waterways.
We have time to watch some sports from the Olympics this morning.
Drottninggatan, Gävle.
Bicycle path along Nygatan.
Rådhusesplanaden, Gävle.
Gävle Theatre.
Stortorget, Gävle.
12.08 On Börsplan near the railway station we found yet another fountain with a woman, Najaden. Christer is calling right now and congratulating his sister Carina who celebrates her birthday today. She has also lived here in Gävle when she studied to become a preschool teacher at the education seat here in the city. It was in the late 1990s.
12.30 We are thinking and planning. We wander and speculate. Right now we have a good lunch buffet at Indian Palace (https://www.indianpalacegavle.se) on Nygatan. 13.18 A walking man with a hat, shorts and sandals walks past us. I don't know if we are so much wiser when it comes to how we plan the day. One thought we had was to go to the cinema tonight but we can't match it with other things we planned to do. We are right now at the Slottstorget where the Gävle goat usually stands. The history of the Gävle goat begins in 1966. Then idea of a huge Christmas goat made out of straw that would be erected on Slottstorget to attract visitors to the district Söder. Since then, the Gävle goat adorns Slottstorget in Gävle every year from the first of advent. Unfortunately, it has also become a tradition to set the goat on fire. 13.30 We have passed Islandskällan, a fountain in memory of the spring that was once there. Now let's see a bit of the oldest part of the city, Gamla Gefle. 13.46 Our walk has taken us past the house where Joe Hill grew up. Behind us is a house where one of the first Swedish missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in short the Mormons, John Erik Forsgren lived. Both men were born in Gavle and died in Salt Lake City. 13.56 The Al Rashideen Mosque is housed in the house we just passed on Södra Rådmansgatan. Nearby Christer's sister Carina, who celebrated her birthday today, lived when she had her home here in Gävle. When Christer was in her apartment in the summer of 2000 to take care of her cat, he was awakened by a crazy neighbour who loudly shouted that it was he who murdered Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. What if it's true?
The sculpture Vallpojken at Drottninggatan.
The difficult-to-photograph Gävle Castle.
Nice tribute to the city.
Christer at Gavleån.
Lunch at Indian Palace.
Gävlebocken usually stands here each winter.
14.02 In Navigationparken another battle between children and pigeons is fought. A small guy makes effort to try to scare away the pigeons with screams and waving arms. The birds fear/respect of the young warrior came to an end. The father pulled down the pants of the kid. Maybe the diaper should be checked. In another fight, Sweden vs Canada, women's football, Olympic final, it is 0-0.
14.29 It is still 0-0 in the football final. We arrive at the last castle of the trip, unsurprisingly it is Gävle Castle. It has mostly been the residence of county governors and does not really look like a castle. It has been here since the 1500s. 15.15 We are back in the hotel room. Upon returning home, we saw the couple Ekman check in at the reception. Sweden is currently leading the Olympic final against Canada with 1-0. It is Stina Blackstenius who has scored the goal. 15.22 Now Canada received a penalty. 15.23 Jessie Fleming is not doing any mistakes from the 11-meter dot and equalize to 1-1. 15.50 It will be for the football ladies, as for the men of the European Championship, extra time. I hope it doesn't end in the same way. 16.13 There are no goals after the first quarter of extra time. Because of the uncertain drama, we have been stuck here in the room longer than we had planned. 16.31 There were also no goals scored in the second half of extra time. There will be penalties to decide it. 16.46 The score is 2-2 after five rounds of penalties.
Old Gefle with buildings from the 18th century.
The fountain Islandskällan in Gamla Gefle.
Joe Hill-gården in Old Gefle.
Christer's sister Carina lived here while she was studying in the city.
Musician angels, a sculpture group created by Carl Milles.
All cities need parks like this.
16.48 It became another round, only Canada scored. Silver will be awarded to Sweden in the Olympic tournament.
17.55 Enough with Olympics and enough with sports. Gävle is waiting for us. We have more to see and do. 18.17 Sirens are heard in the distance. We are in Slottsträdgården. It is a beautiful park area. Here we see Carl Milles sculpture Group "Fem musicerande genier" who are also called "Musicerande änglar". On the other side of the river is Gävle Concert Hall. 18.26 It crackles, creaks and more in the bench when I sit on. We make another stop in a peaceful green park environment. 18.59 Stadsträdgården has become Boulognerskogen. It is a beautiful forest with various activities. Now we will not move further away from home. Soon we will return. 19.11 We went as farthest to Sommargläntans open air stage and Strömdalen power station. 19.33 We have passed the sports ground Strömvallen and Gävle Concert Hall. We are on our way back to the centre and to the hotel. Outside the wall stands the statue Löparen (the runner) by Olof Ahlberg. It was the athlete Gunder Hägg who was the model for it. 19.48 Treenighetskyrkan (Trinity Church) was passed on the way home. Now we sit down for a while along the pedestrian street. We have heard a young woman who was sceptical about paying a lot of money in admission and then also having to pay for a beer. It's unclear what place she was referring to. 20.09 We have been past our possible dinner restaurant. It looked promising. Now we are home for a while. A troubadour is heard from Järnvägskrogen in the railway station building. Right now he is performing his interpretation of The Beatles Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. John Lennon is crying in his heaven. 20.24 No matter which song is interpreted by the troubadour, he has the same melody and tone of voice. More classic songs have been butchered and now it's time for "Whiskey in the jar". The worst part is that he gets paid for it. Now I'm going to beat the neck of him or the guitar.
Greenery in Stadsträdgården.
Gavleån by Boulognerskogen, a forest in the middle of the city.
Peter has dinner at Tennstopet.
Tonight's good burgers.
On the way home from dinner we found familiar items.
The corridor inside Järnvägshotellet.
21.00 Good news. Someone, not me, took care of the troubadour or did he realise the lack of talent. At least he's been quiet now. In addition, we are heading out to eat tonight's dinner it will not be so far to walk.
21.21 We went to the restaurant/pub Tennstopet (http://www.tennstopetgavle.se) to have dinner. They claim to be one of Gävle's most historic restaurants but it was almost completely empty when we arrived. Eventually we found a waitress who sat and ate herself. Damn, the troubadour has begun again! It is difficult to focus on the menu when he is trying to perform. 21.35 We had time to order before the kitchen closed for evening. There will be good beer and home-made chuck steak burgers to it. 22.06 The restaurant was left and we saw some signed works by the cartoonist Jan Stenmark in the display window of a photo and frame shop. Christer collects his photos on his personal website. The link there is http://resedagboken.one/CHRISTER/Christer/stenmark.html 22.22 We are home again, satisfied with our choice of restaurant and dishes. Unfortunately, the restaurant was almost empty of people so the atmosphere was well off. We had planned this as a closing dinner on this summer's trip. We do not dare to hope too much for the outcome of the coming days.
Saturday 7th of August
08.19 From outside we hear the ticking from a pedestrian crossing. Its red man/don't walk. A new surprise filled day has come to us. Today we will leave Gävle.
10.02 No surprises have met us yet. Most of it runs as it should. 10.43 Before the departure from Gävle we stop at Espresso House at the railway station. We take a vegetarian coffee each. In addition to the two of us, there is a group of Polish ladies of varying ages here. This will be the summer's last visit to Espresso House. How many were there in total? 11.13 We are back at the Culinarparkeringen at Gevalia. After a car-free Friday, the Golf is again loaded and ready for departure. Hey, hey, hey, let's go...soon. 11.42 We travel north but have opted out of boring E4. Now we pass Katrineholm. It is a village, not to be confused with the town in south of Sweden that we visited last year. Soon we will be in Hamrånge. 11.50 Sport, the latest from Olympics in Tokyo is heard on the car radio. Hagsta is around us in reality. Look, a sign to Wiksjö. A Swedish village spelt with a W! 11.54 Our route along the coast in Gästrikland and southern Hälsingland is called Jungfrukustvägen. In Tokyo, the final of the women's high jump will soon begin. 12.09 At a stop near Axmarby we have found two wild strawberries, a raspberry and five red shoes left behind.
Oscarsborg, lookout tower built in 1895.
A view of Söderhamn.
Peter is writing in his travel journal on Östra berget in Söderhamn.
Stadsparken, Söderhamn.
Köpmangatan, Söderhamn.
Beautiful flowers in Strykjärnsparken.
12.28 Horse show jumper Henrik von Eckermann is without faults over the obstacles of the Tokyo Olympics. We are without faults over Ljusnan. We are now in Hälsingland and approaching Söderhamn.
12.46 Christer's green car stands still and we have walked a little bit to look out over another Swedish town. It is windy here on Östra berget. The town Söderhamn has 12,213 inhabitants. It was founded in 1620. 12.52 In addition to a view of Söderhamn, we have here on the mountain photographed the lookout tower Oscarsborg. The tower is 23 meters high and was inaugurated in 1895. 13.02 It has been done and written before. Bench breaks is great stuff. We can catch our breath and see everything clearer. This bench break is done in a park environment in the centre of Söderhamn. It splashes from a fountain and whizzes in the trees. We are in Stadsparken. 13.23 At TeWes Konditori (https://www.teweskonditori.se) we get what we need. We bought ham and cheese baguettes and coffee. There is a good chance for the Swedish show jumping team medal in the Olympics. There are a lot of people in the mood for coffee and more this Saturday. It is a well-attended café. 13.47 There will be a Swedish show jump medal. It will be a jump-off for gold between Sweden and the United States. 13.58 We enjoy the sights of the town. First we have seen the beautiful Ulrika Eleonora church and then Birger Forells park with facts about and a statue of theologian and Archbishop Nathan Söderblom. Nathan was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1921 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930 for his ecumenical peace work. We ourselves are now in Rådhusparken and the US leads on time after the first jump-off round. 14.04 Now it is Sweden leading on time after round 2 but the US rider is fast and flawless in the third round.
Ulrika Eleonora church, Söderhamn.
Rådhusparken, Söderhamn.
Nathan Söderblom is standing in Rådhusparken.
In memory of the founding of Söderhamn town.
Söderhamn town hall.
ICAnder and MonICA are still relevant in Söderhamn.
14.06 Sweden's team win Olympic gold in show jump. We covered the drama from a bench in Rådhusparken.
14.55 The last of Söderhamn has been seen. We took a closer look at the town hall and a pillar commemorating the founding of the town. New directives have been given to Google Maps. Today's final stage begins. We will now travel due west. 14.59 We leave Söderhamn via route 50. We travel towards Bollnäs. 15.17 It is rural around us on the Bergslagsdiagonalen. 15.31 In Bollnäs we have entered on route 83. Here we also passed last year heading north towards Ljusdal. In the Olympic final in handball, the French men have beaten Denmark. 15.55 We have for the third time in a short time passed over Voxnan river. Is it the river or the road which bends? Had we just turned to the right, we would have reached Knåda. 16.07 The Golf is now parked at the Svenska Fönster Arena. It is in Edsbyn and is home to Edsbyn IF Bandy. Outside it is a big bandy stick. I sit on a barrier and write this. The weather is getting gray and the forecast says that there will be large amounts of rain tonight. 16.43 We have walked through a deserted Edsbyn. First down at ICA Supermarket we started to see a little more human activity. It's time for dinner at 1921 Restaurant & Pizzeria. We're going to try something called pizza. I have never ordered or eaten that before in Edsbyn. 17.54 The pizzas are finished and so is our stay in Edsbyn, which is the main town in the municipality of Ovanåker. It has 4,336 inhabitants. After the pizza dinner we also bought some necessary groceries at ICA Supermarket. 18.03 We are on the outskirts of the small town and the two of us are now standing on what is said to be the world's largest wooden chair. Last year there was a long bench and a high bench. You can't sit on this, there is a fence blocking. The total height of the chair is 7,8 meters, and the seat height is 4,1 meters. There are also a pair of skis that are 10 meters long. All this wants to showcase products once manufactured here in Edsbyn.
A huge bandy stick is the first thing we see when we come to Edsbyn.
Svenska Fönster Arena. The arena where Edsbyns IF play their bandy.
Voxnan, the river going through Edsbyn.
It is calm and quiet in Edsbyn this Saturday afternoon.
1921 Restaurang & Pizzeria. Today´s dinner restaurant.
The world's largest wooden chair and a pair of skis of considerable size.
18.18 On the way out of Edsbyn we saw that there were queues both in our lane and in the oncoming. Then a small, black dog came happily running. After came the less happy owner family. Christer first saw how the black dog running crisscross over the road and hindered traffic.
18.58 We are for a while checked in at STF Hostel Edsbyn (https://www.sites.google.com/site/stfvandrarhemedsbyn/) in the village Höjen. Lotten Andersson received us and gave us all the necessary information. This will be one of the last accomodations this summer. It will also be the first time we are going to sleep in Hälsingland, at least on the trips. Christer has actually lived three years in Hälsingland. I guess he slept sometimes. 20.09 Christer is currently calling Magnus Söderfalk in Ljusdal. He is the man we borrowed house from last year in Suijavaara and also visited on the way home. It will be scheduled for tomorrow when we visit him again. 21.16 We are soon out of coffee and almond pastry. We are glad that the journey is over soon. It's raining outside, something nature needs. 22.05 Now we will consume our evening snacks in the form of cheese rolls from Svempa's sandwiches in Kilafors. Mmmm, it was a good sandwich. 22.15 We have found facts about our accommodation. It has been a farmhouse for hundreds of years, a retirement home for thirty years and a hostel since 1972 when Lotten Andersson and Svante Törngren bought the property. The estate Doma or Höjen 2 existed already in the 1400s. The Kreuger crash of 1932 caused the farmer to go bankrupt. In the house there is a letter from 1672 written by the priest Peter Nerbelius to Archbishop Laurentius Stigzelius. In the letter, the priest says that he had 8 women executed on the account of witchcraft and 30 more were expected to die. 23.19 One of our last travel days is about to end. Outside, the rain falls heavily. Good that it comes when we are indoors and should devote ourselves to sleep.
Christer in Edsbyn.
Peter in the room at STF Hostel Edsbyn in Höjen.
You van see 90 photos from August 5 in this photoalbum.
You van see 134 photos from August 6 in this photoalbum.
You van see 69 photos from August 7 in this photoalbum.