Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Provinces: Jämtland, Härjedalen, Dalarna, Värmland
Municipalities: Östersund, Berg, Härjedalen, Ljusdal, Orsa, Mora, Rättvik, Leksand, Gagnef, Vansbro, Malung-Sälen, Torsby, Sunne
Tuesday 6th of July
08.30 Our time here at Pensionat Svea in Östersund is almost over. What remains is to have breakfast at Hotel Jämteborg and then move out of the room and leave the key.
09.02 Yet another good hotel breakfast is consumed. We have to enjoy this now. It's going to be a while before we eat a hotel breakfast again.
09.41 We and our belongings are back in the green car again. It has patiently been waiting for us near the railway station. Yesterday it also had a rest day when we got around on foot. Today it is cloudy and cooler. It should be prime travel weather but rain is expected further south.
10.17 We have left Östersund and are now travelling along the road E45. We initially took the road via Frösön and the Vallsund Bridge. We'll figure out when and where to make a first stop today.
10.48 We have come a bit further and travel along the same route as our friend Roberth went with his bike in June. The clouds encamp over Svenstavik. On the radio, a polyfamily just told us and other listeners that they camped around Sweden. As I understood it, a polyfamily is simply more than two adults with children. In this case, it is two men and one woman who live together. It never runs out of different versions of family constellations.
11.15 Road E45 has been left and we are now heading for Klövsjö along road 316. Before arriving there we will take a short break. Now, unfortunately, it has begun to rain. Weather forecast turned out to be correct. I do not want rain during my coffee break, the coffee becomes weak if it rains in it.
11.46 The rain continues and we drive on road 316. It's a long, flat uphill. The trucks we've caught up with are struggling to make their way. For us it goes a little easier.
12.00 We have made a photo stop in what is said to be Sweden's most beautiful village, Klövsjö in southern Jämtland. We have parked at Preem's automatic filling station outside ICA Klövsjö. It is beautiful here, perhaps even most beautiful. It is difficult to know when you have not visited all the villages in Sweden. If it had been sun instead of rain, we would probably have stayed a little longer. Here in Klövsjö we are 535 meters above sea level and there are 343 inhabitants here.
12.20 Our journey continues into Härjedalen, the journey's sixth visited province. Inside Vemdalsskalet village we have seen reindeer walking around in the middle of the village. In these areas, most of it is about ski tourism. There are ski slopes, cottages and hotels everywhere.
15.42 A car stopped at our parking lot and disappeared just as quickly. The reading time was nice but it was not the biting little insects that began to torment us. It is sneaky with these little bloodsuckers that are neither visible nor audible. We are ready to continue.
20.55 After a dinner in the cottage we get ready for sports. It is soon kick off in the first semi-final of the European football championship, Spain against Italy.
Wednesday 7th of July
It´s time to leave Pensionat Svea.
We have stopped at ICA supermarket in Klövsjö.
Klövsjö claims to be the most beautiful village in Sweden.
We have arrived to Vemdalen.
Vemdalen church.
The sculpture Nybyggarna (Pioneers) has been here in Vemdalen since 1990.
Hede offers a bit of everything but no good weather.
The mountain Sonfjället is painted on this house.
Hede church.
Pizzeria Mama Rosa, today´s lunch restaurant.
Timber transport at Hede hembygdsgård.
The kindergarten Kongron (Spider), Hede.
We have stopped at Stavsjön.
Coffee stop south of Hede.
This small cottage will be our home at Svegs Camping.
The bridge to Lillön (Small island).
Sveg church is near our camping ground.
The wooden bear in Sveg is not feeling well.
07.57 The sky cries for our upcoming departure from Sveg. Or maybe it's just raining. For us waits breakfast in the cottage, the packing of our various possessions and the final cleaning that is required when renting a camping cottage.
09.43 We're starting to feel ready for departure. Today we will take a great step south in our country. 10.06 Goodbye Sveg, thank you for the visit and thank you for tonight. However, I prefer hotel rooms where you do not have to make your bed and clean on departure. 10.40 Buildings and signs of civilization are scarce along this section of the E45 road. We are about to leave Härjedalen to enter Orsa finnmark in northern Dalarna. In a few hours it is time for politicians in the Swedish parliament to vote whether Stefan Löfven may form a government or not. 11.13 There are some numbers on a road sign. They are 45, 259 and 73. It is the road number and distance in kilometres to Östersund and Sveg. We pause and have coffee at a slow pace. Next to the sign there is a speed camera. We are near a marshland near Noppikoski. Next to the parking lot there are plenty of cloudberries. 11.56 It was a nice stop even though it was overcast and windy. The number of flying bloodsuckers was limited. Now we continue the journey south. 12.14 Two dramatic piece of news reaches us via the car radio. Haiti's president, Jovenel Moise has been murdered, shot dead in his home. His wife is hurt. The school Vittra Kungshagen in Nyköping where Christer's sister works has burned down. 12.34 A rain of doomsday proportions has caused Christer to go to the side of the road with the car and stopped in a parking spot. There was simply no way to see the road. The thunder rumbles in the background. We still have a bit left until we reach Orsa. Since we were there last year, we will pass the resort without any new visit. The same applies to Mora. 12.41 The rain eased a little and we are back on the move. In Hässleholm one or more people have been run over by a train. We were at that rail during the Easter trip this spring.
Breakfast in the cottage.
A stop in Orsa finnmark.
Lots of cloudberries north of Noppikoski.
Sammilsdal in Leksand, a place for traditional midsummer celebrations.
The parish home, S:t Persgården in Leksand.
Norsgatan, Leksand.
13.01 In Mora we have left the E45 road and turned into road 70. In the well-travelled roundabouts here, the principle of zipper merge, that is, every second car, applies. One in the roundabout, one from outside, one inside, one from outside.
13.36 The tank is filled with new petrol at Preem in Rättvik, another place we visited last summer. This time we filled with 39 litres of petrol. It's a good thing we're both sharing these expenses. The only consolation is that other means of transport would have been even more expensive. Roberth with his bicycle may have objections to this way of thinking possibly. 13.41 Road 70 was left south of Rättvik for Siljansvägen, a much smaller and calmer country road. 13.53 The planned stop in beautiful Tällberg did not happen. We had planned to stop to photograph the view of the lake Siljan but the parking lot we found on Google Maps was not there in reality. We found no other suitable parking in the village either and we were soon out of Tällberg. We didn't have the energy to turn around to look. We're moving on now, but it's beautiful in Tällberg. 14.12 After some spinning from us and buzzing from the helper Rut in Google Maps we are then in Leksand. On the way here we passed among other things Leksand Sommarland. On the other side of the hedge at the parking place Kyrkallén is Riddarleksparken, a playground with a slide, climbing frame and sand. 14.30 Before further walking and sightseeing we take a bench break near the parking lot. In one blue barrack, some mobile Corona testing is going on, a sort of drive-through. It's a bit unclear how it actually works. Leksand at the southern part of Siljan is known for ice hockey, crisp bread and certainly much else too. It has a population of 6,401 people. 15.03 Some things have happened in the last few minutes. We have ordered a late lunch at Leksands Kebab and Pizzeria, a chime has played a classic Swedish spring hymn and Stefan Löfven has been elected by the parliament as prime minister again. There were 173 No, 116 yes and 60 abstained. It would have taken 175 or more no for him not to become prime minister. 15.37 We are now on Z-square. In a house next door Johan Daniel Grönstedt, the man behind the cognac bearing his name was born. There is also a plaque that informs you that here in Leksand the time always goes right. This is because the 15th Meridian, the longitudinal line, goes exactly through the city and Z-square. The zones of the Earth's time follow the meridians. Simply put, it can be said that each time zone is 15 meridians wide.
Leksandsbron (Leksand bridge) acoss Österdalälven.
Leksandsvägen in central Leksand.
Z-torget, Leksand.
In Leksand the time is always correct.
Torget (The square) in Leksand.
Tegera Arena. Here is where Leksands IF play their icehockey.
16.04 Our long walk through central Leksand has ended out at Tegera Arena. Here Leksands IF plays their ice hockey matches in the Swedish Hockey League. The modern arena was inaugurated in 2005. We've seen parking spaces reserved for our main newspapers and have looked at the venue from slightly different angles. From the beginning it was called Ejendals Arena after the main sponsor Ejendals but from 2010 it was called Tegera. Ejendals is a company that develops, manufactures and markets safety shoes and gloves. Tegera is one of their brands.
16.21 We now have a bench break in front of Leksand's beautiful church. This will probably be the last thing we see here in Leksand. We should soon move on. 16.34 Our stay in Leksand ends with looking out over Lake Siljan's outflow to Österdalälven. On a stone pillar it says Hugo Alfvén. On the stone pillar stands a bust depicting mentioned man. Someone/some people have put flowers next to the pillar. Hugo Alfvén, the famous composer lived here in the Leksand area after his retirement in 1939. He died in 1960 and is buried here at Leksand cemetery. 17.03 It's time to leave Leksand. We have a waiting home further south in Dalarna. 17.31 We just passed a car that was towed here on the E16. Since last we have passed Insjön, Gagnef and Djurås. A visit to the original Clas Ohlson store in Insjön we did not have time for. 17.57 In a parking lot with an information sign about Björbo we are now. A quick look at it has taught me that Björbo has 850 inhabitants, an ice hockey team, Dagnys dolls and Holmen's life. Björbo IF belongs in Icehockey Division 3 Dalarna. 18.18 We are now ready to go the last kilometres on the road E16/66. Oh, here come two motorcycles. 18.31 We have now reached Nås. This is the homeland of the Jerusalem travellers. On July 23, 1896, 37 people broke up from reachable parish here in Dalarna to travel to Jerusalem and await the return of Christ. Included on the trip were among others Olof Henrik Larsson, a sailor who has become a revival preacher. In Jerusalem, Anna Spafford and her colony were waiting. Herr Larsson came to Näs (his wife's home) from Chicago in 1889 and began to gather people around him. It was in Chicago that Olof Henrik Larsson in the autumn of 1895 came into contact with Anna Spafford. He was greatly seized by her "divine message." In February 1896, a letter from Larsson came to the parish in reachable, with a call to travel to Jerusalem and, together with the Chicago congregation, join the Spafford colony. Those who chose to travel sold everything they owned to the common cashier. Larsson returned to reachable from Jerusalem along with Anna Spafford's foster son Jacob to retrieve the reachable peasants. 19.08 We are now once again checked into a hotel. We have reached Dala-Järna and checked in at the restaurant at Dala-Järna Hotel (https://www.dalajarnahotell.se). Here it will be one night´s stay in room 4. In the accident on the rails in Hässleholm earlier today, an adult and two children were killed. It's classified as murder. 20.03 Dala-Järna is named as it does so that between the years 1907 to 1977 not mixed up with Järna in Södermanland. Now it's just called Järna but the rest of Sweden has probably not understood that yet. There is still talk of Dala-Järna when this locality is mentioned. It has 1,624 inhabitants and is well known for its ski club. The most famous athletes are Gunde Svan and Sven-Erik Danielsson. The hotel we stay in was built in the 1940s and the building used to house a little of each. Here there were shops, a hairdresser and a post office. The man who built it all was called Bäck Daniel Danielsson. An information board about him is out in the hallway. It was rationing on the linseed oil he needed for painting when he built the hotel during World War II. Therefore, he lined the walls with blue-green bathroom tiles instead. It is still there in parts of the hotel.
Leksand church.
Hugo Alfvén has received some flowers.
View of Lake Siljan from Leksand church.
Peter is drinking coffee outside Björbo.
Room 4 will be our temporary home.
Dala-Järna Hotell.
20.20 At tonight's purchase we have neither benefited COOP nor ICA but instead Hemköp. It's not a fair think or so but simply the only option. Now we are preparing for the semi finals of the European football championship, the game England against Denmark.
20.57 Our coverage of the football is having some issues, problems. Sound and picture, hacks, blips and acts on the room TV. We hope that Christer's tablet can offer what the TV fails to do. 21.31 A Danish free kick by Mikkel Damsgaard leads to England let in their first goal in the tournament. However, it is a record zero. The match we follow on the tablet. 21.40 Now Denmark does what England just did, let in a ball. An own goal of the defender Simon Kjaer makes that it now says 1-1. 22.58 There were no more goals during regular match time. There will be extra time again. We´d better open the evening beer. 23.13 England gets a penalty at the end of the extra time that goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel rescues but the return goes in the net. Harry Kane's wrapping it up. 23.44 The referee has blown the whistle at the end of the game. In the final on Sunday, England will play against Italy. It could be a great match. Hope we have access to a TV so we can watch it
Thursday 8th of July
07.46 Only the sounds of nature reach us through the open window here at Dala-Järna Hotell. It is the wind and the birds that are heard. Now everything was broken by the sound of a car.
08.31 A decision has been made for new dives to the wreck of the Estonia ferry. In the United States, my former student Victor Hedman and his ice hockey team Tampa Bay Lightning have defended the Stanley Cup title. For Christer's and my part, it has been time to pick up the promised breakfast bags in the basement of the hotel. 09.42 It sounded easy to pick up the bag marked with the number 4 on but it was not. All that was in the refrigerator was a bag marked with the number 8. A phone call to the hotel owner gave us the green light to take that bag. The guest/guests in room 8 had probably taken our bag. Coffee is good, but don't do what I just did. Do not use coffee meant for brewing as instant coffee, the result is more similar to old engine oil. 10.21 It takes its little time to get started today. Where do we lose time? 10.29 We have left Dala-Järna behind us and are out on E16 again. Just now you could turn into the village of Skamhed. The former skier Gunde Svan lives there. 10.45 We are now in Vansbro, the resort that takes credit for the celebrities Björn Skifs, Gunde Svan and the Vansbro swimming competition. The latter is done in the Västerdalälven River that I sit by right now. We have a little illegally parked in the guest car park at the hotel Flottaren to take a look at the most worthwhile in this locality. Vansbro urban area has 1,724 inhabitants. 10.56 What we have looked at here in Vansbro is the river where Vansbrosimningen takes place, some stones where the swim winner's name is immortalized and also the beautiful homestead. 11.10 As we leave Vansbro, dance band music is played,"Can you love someone from a distance" with Vikingarna on the radio. It is well to say the least Covid adapted and actually quite appropriate considering where we are going next.
Vansbro hembygdsgård.
Countdown to the Vansbro swim. Unfortunately the numbers are not visible in the photo.
The Vansbro swimming's previous winners are documented.
Malung.
We are heading into Grönland.
Peter is having a sandwich at Fresans konditori.
12.04 We believe that we are legally parked here in Malung. The car was left on a large parking area outside Sankt Olof Hotell & Krog. We know more for sure that we are bench resting in front of the library in Malung. Malung is the resort in western Dalarna, which is known for its dance band week every summer. Malung is the first locality in Dalarna mentioned in written sources. Already 1177 King Sverre Sigurdsson from Norway has travelled here. Then the people were pagans and had never seen a king before. Today Malung is an urban area with 5 014 inhabitants.
12.19 We are now sitting on the outdoor terrace to Fresan's Café. We are having coffee and sandwiches. At the neighbouring table, a local reporter has talked to and even photographed some ladies about Malung. Among other things, there was talk of police strategies against drugs and crime. We should get by from the interview because the ones he asks apparently must be from Malung. 12.40 We see traces of Malung's celebrities. We have gone past it in the market context legendary "Vild-Hasses "small barn "(https://www.vildhasse.se). Vild-Hasse is actually named Hans Bengtsson and has had an exciting life. Having cancelled the plans to become a priest, he became a sailor. He made his way into the world and was in Cuba during the revolution and has been a soldier in the Middle East and Congo. Then he became a seller of sausage on fairs across Sweden. At Vild-Hasse's barn there was also a tribute to Guld-Stina, the biathlete and former cross-country skier Stina Nilsson who is from Malung. Now we sit in Greenland Park. Here in the park usually dance band week is held. A sign says it will happen week 29. 12.59 The time has come for us to leave Malung to move on. It is time for us to say goodbye to Dalarna for this time. 13.31 It was neither swimming nor dancing for us today. All we got is a coffee stop and sunshine on each body. It blows nicely from the passing cars and we avoid the insects. We are in a parking place somewhere near the border between Dalarna and Värmland. 14.10 Now we are in Värmland again. It's almost a year since we last were in this region. There's sunshine here too. Last year it was mostly rain.
Peter at Vild-Hasse´s small kiosk in Malung.
Malung´s Stina Nilsson is celebrated by Vild-Hasse.
Week 29 is the yearly dance band week in Malung.
Grönlandsparken, Malung.
Christer is taking a break before entering Värmland province.
Järnvägsgatan, Torsby.
14.22 Just now we passed over Klarälven near the small village of Stöllet. The road we're going on is still E16. We've been following it for a while now.
14.34 Our car journey continues and we listen again to one of the summer hits on the radio, "Det tystnar i luren" by Miriam Bryant and Victor Leksell. 14.57 We have parked the car in a parking lot between Mekonomen workshop and the railway tracks in Torsby. We are at Södra Industrigatan. Here we stretch out the limbs before the final car trip. Torsby in northern Värmland has 4 440 inhabitants and has raised a lot of sports profiles. In football we have the coach Sven-Göran Eriksson and player Marcus Berg. In the field of athletics there is the javelin thrower Patrik Bodén and in winter sports the biathlete Mikael Löfgren, ice hockey coach Conny Evensson, bandy player Bengt "Pinnen" Ramström and cross country skier Toini Gustafsson. 15.26 It is a shadow bench by the water that becomes our rest place here in Torsby. We feel we cannot be careless with the diet. Snacking is as we have seen so many times before as throwing cones in a large oven, it works for a while but does not give long-lasting energy. The newly purchased ice creams can hardly be counted as a meal. We are currently at Torsby Fordonsmuseum in the green area Västanvik by the river Röjdan. 16.10 There will be one last bench break at the railway where I sit and write this. Soon we continue on towards Sunne. There awaits food and accommodation. 16.26 The main road (E16) to Sunne has been ditched in favour of a more beautiful smaller road on the other side of Lake upper Fryken. The road winds beautifully along the lake through beautiful countryside. We just passed the villages of Oleby and Bada. 17.07 Finally we are at today's final destination. We're at Gylleby Hostel (https://www.gylleby.se) just outside Sunne. Here we will only be a short while before we head into the centre of Sunne for dinner, breakfast purchases and sightseeing. Right now, Room 11 on the second floor is our home. There are plenty of guests here. The question is whether not all rooms are booked. The hostel is located in an old mansion, Gylleby Herrgård. The mansion is actually mentioned in author Selma Lagerlöf's Gösta Berling's saga but is then called Munkeby.
Four streets meet in Torsby.
Torsby Fordonsmuseum.
Some last notes written in Torsby.
Gylleby Hostel.
It is beautiful inside the former mansion.
The author Selma Lagerlöf is always a part of Sunne.
17.57 Now we relax outside the beautiful building. The car we have available parked out in the courtyard. Soon we'll go by car into Sunne. As I said, we need to have a dinner, see Sunne and buy tomorrow's breakfast.
18.09 Our vehicle has rolled down to Sunne and we have set ourselves on a strangely designed parking in the Railway Park near Sunne Travel Center. 18.30 Now we are in the centre of Sunne. Here we have seen ICA Supermarket BBB. We have also seen the church and a beautiful park. Here at the Asian restaurant Eurasia (https://www.restaurangeurasia.se) I tried to open a door to access the drinks. The only problem was that there was no door. My actions and moves were appreciated by a member of the staff who laughed. We have also seen a statue and signs with quotes by Selma Lagerlöf, the author from Östra Ämtervik just south of Sunne. There were similarities between this statue and the one we saw in Karlstad last year. 19.10 We sat outdoors and ate four small dishes. It was good with some other type of food. There will be plenty of visits to simple restaurants with pizza and kebabs when travelling by car through Sweden. At the neighbouring table sat a Swedish woman and conversed with an older British gentleman. Now we sit on a small square and are about to pick up the grocery bag we usually use when purchasing. We're going to COOP to buy what we need. We have also seen various beautiful murals on different houses here in the centre. Sunne is located at Frykensundet between the lakes Övre Fryken and Mellan-Fryken. It has a population of 5,106. 20.11 Finding baguettes inside the COOP was easy. Getting to them was all the more difficult. In the end, we managed to open so that we could access the desired goods. 20.39 We're back in our room. It was not easy to find a free parking but somehow we managed to make room for the car. Here, according to Google Maps, there is a Muslim centre. Are they possibly Sunne Muslims? We have not seen any trace of such a thing in reality anyway. At Örebro airport, a smaller plane with a pilot and eight passengers/paratroopers has crashed. Almost on the same date, July 14, 2019, a plane crashed in Umeå and a pilot and eight passengers/paratroopers perished. It's an eerie replay.
Badhusgatan, Sunne.
Sagolika Sunne - a nice entrance to Sunneparken.
Some ducks swim in Frykensundet.
Christer is having a nice dinner at Restaurang Eurasia.
One of several artworks on the walls in Sunne.
A peaceful evening in Sunne.
21.02 It is full speed here at Gylleby Hostel. People come and go, doors open and close, cars are parked and bags are carried. We have nothing against other guests but it would have been really nice to have had this nice place a little more for ourselves. We have a patio outside our room but it is also shared by other guests. Just now, there were kids running around there at full speed.
21.38 We have now sat in the furniture on the patio outside our room. We enjoy instant coffee and some Singoalla biscuits, evening coffee of simpler model. It's a warm summer evening. We had first thought to take a walk in the neighbourhood but it turned out like this instead. 23.02 The coffee was changed to reading in the books as long as the light and temperature allowed it and now we are inside the room again for an evening beer. From the outside, we have unfortunately brought a fly. From Örebro it is announced that several died in the plane accident. Soon we will sleep and recharge for tomorrow when more of Värmland will be seen and experienced.
You can see 57 photos from July 6 in this photoalbum.
You can see 61 photos from July 7 in this photoalbum.
You can see 83 photos from July 8 in this photoalbum.