Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt


Provinces: Södermanland, Gotland
Municipalities: Eskilstuna, Strängnäs, Gnesta, Trosa, Nykvarn, Södertälje, Botkyrka, Nynäshamn, Gotland


Saturday 24th of July

07.45 It's morning again here at Golden Spa Hotel in the western parts of Eskilstuna. Now it's happened to me too. The light went out when I was in the shower. The night has been good. It's lovely to sleep with the window open and get some cool fresh air. Today we will move on to something of an older model and later to other things.

09.22 After having picked up breakfast from the fridge here at the hotel, we will now pick up our own belongings.

10.05 Christer puts on his sunglasses and turns the ignition. We're on our way again. We will go street by street out of a morning calm Eskilstuna.

10.12 Via a smaller number of roundabouts we are now out on the E20 road. "We are the champions" with Queen is played on the radio. Does that apply to us too?

10.30 Exit 136 at junction Lunda has taken us from E20 to road 55.

10.45 After parking in the long-term parking lot at Ingvarsvägen we are now at the Travel Center in Strängnäs and pay the parking fee for our time here. The cost of one day is US$2,80. At least we won't stay that long. It is a new town to discover for both of us. Christer usually passes here relatively often when he drives from Sundsvall to Nyköping and Oxelösund where his sister and father live. However, he has not been in the central parts before.

10.56 It's time for a bench break and a chance to find out more exactly where in Strängnäs we are right now. There are some plans for what to see but we are open to surprises and improvisations. Here in Strängnäs there are 14 708 inhabitants. Nowadays, the town is the centre of the Diocese of Strängnäs and has a beautiful cathedral. There were other things going on in the past. In 1080, the English missionary Saint Eskil travelled from Tuna (later renamed Eskilstuna in his honour), to christianize the strong pagan believers. St. Eskil was stoned on the site of the sacrificial rite, where Strängnäs cathedral is now located. According to one legend, he later died near the spring of St. Eskil outside town.

We have parked our car outside Strängnäs railway station.

Easy to like it here. The Bishops Arms and Espresso House are neighbours.

Gyllenhjelmsgatan is the street going up to the cathedral.

We are visiting Strängnäs cathedral.

Here is the grave of Swedish regent Sten Sture the elder.

Strängnäs cathedral.

11.26 We begin the visit here in Strängnäs with something that is far from a surprise. It was actually a while ago. Has it ever happened in Södermanland before in my travel journals? We are thus at Espresso House for a customary eleven o'clock coffee. Next to this cafe is the pub/restaurant Bishops Arms but there will probably be no visit there this early in the day.

12.06 Created, built of glass and brick, another cathedral rises. It has been said before but can be said again, there is something special about older church buildings. Here King Karl IX rests with wife, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp. It was their funeral regalia that were stolen on the 31st of July, 2018. They were recovered in 2019.

12.24 Yet another cathedral has been examined from within. It was powerful but nothing out of the ordinary. This cathedral is not at all in class with those we have seen in Lund and Skara. At the front of the church are also the graves of Sten Sture the elder and Karl IX's first wife Mary of the Palatinate and other relatives of Karl IX to name a few.

12.57 A walking pole lady has walked past us. We have a good time down by the water where we sit on a bench. New plans for the day have been made. One of the stops, the visits, has been moved until tomorrow. We want to avoid stress today and distribute the experiences more evenly.

13.01 We did not go so far along the lake shore before stopping again. The water we have next to us is also part of Sweden's third largest lake, Mälaren. They are not many of the great lakes in the country that we missed during these last two summers.

13.11 The bells have tolled, the bars have gone down and now a section of the road is turning. There should be room for a sailboat. Correction, there are two sailboats, one from each direction. Some chose to paddle under another part of the bridge. The opening bridge is the Tosterö Bridge.

13.40 Just now we saw and immortalized another of the city's attractions, the old windmill. I remember seeing it from a petrol station my family and I were at during some point in the mid-1970s. Was there a station here by the lake at the time? Is there a copy of the windmill at some petrol station? Yeah, who knows? What is true, however, is that Christer and I are in Källparken right now.

14.17 After buying a Daim ice cream each, we returned ice cream eating back to the car. Now the Golf is to be aired out before we continue our tour.

Mixed architecture in Strängnäs.

Another wonderful summer day.

Strängnäs is situated by the lake Mälaren.

The Strängnäs bridge, a part of road 55 and the 9th longest bridge in Sweden.

Strängnäs mill was built in 1855.

Strängnäs boat harbour.

14.25 The car rolls again. We pass roundabout after roundabout in southern Strängnäs. We are heading out on European road number twenty.

14.40 Large and fast E20 has been left. It's time to drive on road 223 to get us to where we want to go.

15.06 After passing the entrances to both Norrtuna and Södertuna Castle, we are now in Gnesta. The last time we were here was in August 2008. Then we changed the bus to train here when we were on our way home from a trip in Southeast Asia. We have parked near some newly built apartments at Margretedalsvägen.

15.25 Lokstallet, the engine stall is on the sign pointing to the left and Långsjö Theatre is on the sign pointing to the right. In addition, there are several signs with different text. A family from India has asked two who came by motorboat if it is possible to swim here in the lake. They were advised about another lake nearby. I don't know what it's called, but this is Frösjön.

15.40 Near the railway station we take a break in a park located in the middle of the area a little optimistically called Stora Torget (Big square). We are thinking about where to eat a meal and how to eat it. We had planned to have lunch here in Gnesta but the supply is meagre and the hunger moderate. Gnesta, located just on the border between Södermanland County and Stockholm County, is the last station to the west that SL, Stockholm's public transport reaches to. It has 6,376 inhabitants.

16.15 Instead of a late lunch we have been shopping in the kiosk in Gnesta. We now consume the purchased snack at a table down by Frösjön. There are plenty of ducks and crow birds. This place is called Frösjöstrand and has a closed bathing area.

16.36 After fighting the drought in a bush we now travel further south through Södermanland.

16.46 Now that we have refuelled at an OKQ8 filling station on the outskirts of Gnesta, we continue on route 57.

16.58 What happens in the rest of Sweden? This year's releasing of storks has been made in Skåne for example. We're heading south towards Vagnhärad.

Frustuna church and the lake Frösjön seen from Gnesta.

Gnesta.

Trosaån the water going through Trosa town.

Trosa Vandrarhem (Hostel). We´ll stay here one night.

Torget, Trosa.

Trosa is a very nice summer destination.

17.14 We got to Vagnhärad and then continued a bit further south. It was easy to get to Trosa. However, it is worse to find a free parking space to put the car on. Trosa is crowded and popular. The parking spaces we checked out before were all completely full. Now we are in a small parking lot at Skärlagsvallen, a sports ground. Probably we can leave the car here.

17.54 The car was left at the home ground of Trosa/Vagnhärad SK. They play their football in division 2 South Svealand. We brought our small and large backpacks from the car. After a short walk we are now in room 9 at Trosa Hostel (https://trosavandrarhem.se). We had paid in advance and now during corona times we get to face an envelope with key instead of staff when we check in.

19.09 We have taken it easy in the room for a while but now enough space time. It's time to see Trosa, have dinner and has time to shop for breakfast before the centrally located shops close. Trosa is a popular cozy town with 7,089 inhabitants. In the summer there are probably a lot more people here.

19.45 It was a beautiful walk along the Trosa River (Trosaån). We continued even further and are now sitting at the Pizzeria La Piazza´s (https://pizzerialapiazza.se) outdoor seating. On the map it seemed to be in a good location but we have ended up outside the city centre and are in close proximity to an air filter factory. Here we have ordered kebab and filet of chicken.

20.45 It was tasty this evening as well. Now that tomorrow's breakfast has been bought at COOP supermarket, we sit near the harbour in Trosa, enjoying the summer evening and watching people. We have seen a woman on unsteady legs leave a boat of larger model to throw some pizza cartons. A troubadour plays songs by Ted Gärdestad in a restaurant somewhere further afield.

21.10 We are back in room 9. There's not much more we can do now than possibly drink some evening coffee. The live singer we heard as we sat at the bench had its strength in the guitar playing. It's fascinating how some singers can make really good music sound bad.

22.41 Coffee was certainly made. Our room air is frighteningly bad. Have we killed another room when we opened our bags?

Trosa harbour seen from Västra Ågatan.

Christer has reached Pizzeria La Piazza.

Tonight´s dinner at La Piazza.

Sunset in Trosa.


Sunday 25th of July

07.45 It is Sunday morning and quiet here at the hostel in Trosa. From the outside, a single bird is heard. We're probably alone in getting up at this time on a Sunday in holiday season. What else is there to say and write about? Right now nothing more.

09.07 Now we have eaten the trip's first breakfast out in the green. We sat by a table on a small patch of grass. Entering our room and feeling the warmth, the scents and the seemingly almost complete lack of oxygen makes me think of the archaeologists who stepped into the tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.

09.52 We are back in the green at the green. We are in the green Golf at the green football field.

10.07 Once again, we experience that fellow road users suffer from dyscalculia, difficulty in handling information with numbers. They don't understand the numbers on the speed signs. This is a growing problem.

10.26 Until now we have taken a back track on how we drove here yesterday. The journey goes north past Vagnhärad. Soon it changes because we are again approaching Gnesta.

10.30 We did not drive towards Gnesta but continue west on road 57. How many roads have we travelled on during these two summers?

10.39 After passing Björnlunda we turned onto road 223 and are soon back in areas we saw yesterday.

10.44 In Avla village they have a small fire station with a high hose tower. County road 223 is steep and curvy. We are looking for a suitable place for a coffee break.

Time for coffee and new notes after arrival to Gripsholm.

One of the runestones outside Gripsholm castle.

Christer is enjoying a wonderful view.

A nice place to take a break.

Mariefred, a beautiful town by Lake Mälaren.

Gripsholm castle.

11.03 The first drive of the day has ended at Gripsholm Castle outside Mariefred. It was this attraction that we moved from yesterday to today.

11.14 It's time for coffee on a bench behind Gripsholm's Våffelbruk located at the large parking lot here at Gripsholm Castle. In connection with our small coffee house, a castle has also been erected.

11.49 I am sitting on a green bench between Gripsholm Castle and Mariefred, the town named after the monastery that used to be here, Pax Marie. The monastery was built in 1493, but already before that the castle was located here. It all started in the 1370s when Bo Jonsson Grip built a castle on a cape, Gripsholm, which after several extensions later became the Royal Gripsholm Castle under Gustav Vasa in the 1530s. Today there are 4,247 inhabitants in the town of Mariefred.

11.57 We are now in the courtyard. I'm sitting on the gun carriage of one of the two cannons here. They are called the Boar and the Sow, the Russian Wolves as well as The Wolf and the Wolfess. Dear child has many names, I am called Peter. Speaking of children, a little girl here wants to take off her shoes.

12.10 The castle, apparently one of eleven royal castles, is impressive. The best view is from the water. I'm not going to get there. We are also pleased to see the castle from the outside.

12.58 A police car was parked outside Mariefred's Pizzeria (http://pizzeriamariefreds.se) on Nygatan. Is it a new hostage situation? Anyway, we'll wait for lunch. Now the first travel journal is fully written and finished. I'm glad I have another one with me.

13.55 A quiet walk took us through the cozy small town of Mariefred and then back to the car. We have previously been to several locations with connection to children books author Astrid Lindgren and her stories. This is yet another one. Here in town pieces from Brenda Brave, Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, Pippi Longstocking and Rasmus, Pontus and Toker have been recorded. Now we stand still at the railway barriers of the Museum railway. A train set passes.

13.57 It was difficult to get out of the parking lot. First one of the museum trains came on its rails and then it was a little impossible to get out on the busy road towards Mariefred. Now, however, we are on our way again. This will be the last car ride in a while.

We are visiting Gripsholm castle.

The courtyard of the castle at Gripsholm.

The conference centre Åsgård can be seen beyond the water.

Mariefred with all the visiting boats.

Steam coming from Mariefred Museum Railway.

Even the police force likes pizza.

14.06 We head east towards Sodertalje on road E20.

14.24 A few circular movements took us off the E4 and on and off the E20. Now we are at the long-term parking at Skomakaregatan in Södertälje. We have left what we do not need to carry with us to and on Gotland in the car. It feels safe to leave the car here for a few days. Next door to the parking lot is the police station.

15.01 Such a check-in it became. The man at the reception asked for Christer's name. He got it and said, first name, please. Christer Lundstedt clearly rehearsed his first name Christer. First name on the list, said the man. Unclear what he meant. Now we are in room 413 at Hotel Kringelstaden. The man at the reception listened to a Swedish course while checking us in. Maybe it was needed. Here in Södertälje we will sleep one night before we head to the Gotland ferry in Nynäshamn tomorrow. Hopefully there is well something to see here in the city too. Södertälje has 76,320 inhabitants and is known for the large companies Astra Zeneca and Scania. The city was first called Telje but in 1622 the Söder was added at the beginning of the name after Norrtälje was founded.

15.18 Anna Kiesenhofer from Austria won gold in the women's road race at the Tokyo Olympics. It is the country's first Olympic medal in cycling since 1896. Then it was called the Habsburg Empire. Anna has no professional contract but is a doctor of mathematics. Who would have counted on that? The most recent medallist before was Adolf Schmal who won gold in the 12-hour race and took bronze in the 333 meter and 10 kilometre races. In the fencing he came in fourth place in sable.

16.40 It hums like from a small motor, an electric beater, when you flush water in our wash basin. We are almost getting ready for a city walk here in Södertälje.

17.10 We are at the square Marenplan in Central Södertälje. Below us we have the waters of the small lake Maren. On the left it stands a panda, and above the pedestrian street hangs something resembling skirts, lampshades.

17.22 A tradition is broken. I have not only ordered triple espresso at Espresso House on Järnagatan. I also bought myself orange lemonade. Fluid is needed.

Plenty of wooden buildings in Mariefred.

Storgatan, Mariefred.

We will stay at Hotel Kringelstaden.

Järnagatan, Södertälje.

Kringelpandan on Marenplan, another example of public art.

Marenplan, Södertälje.

18.08 The coffee and lemonade was much needed. Now we have walked along the pedestrian street (Storgatan) and taken a picture of a statue lady. Even more photos have been taken here on Stortorget. The statue is Christina Sandberg. She was a Salvation Army soldier and stood outside of the store Åhlens with her gun from 1965 until 2008 and was named the inhabitant of the last century in Södertälje.

18.17 We chose to finish our sightseeing in Södertälje at Stortorget. I'm sure there's a lot more to see, but we'll settle for it like this. At Stortorget is Saint Ragnhild´s church. Ragnhild is the patron saint of both Södertälje and Söderköping. She is claimed to be a queen who lived in the late 1000s and early 1100s. She made pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem.

19.00 After buying drinks and little else at COOP supermarket we are home in room 413 again. Inside the COOP store, a mother told her son "I've bought candy for you and you throw shoes in my face". There's something about kids and shoes today.

20.02 Imagine, it seems to be dinner even this day. Both have chosen the option three small dishes, one with steak, one with chicken. We are at Bangkok Thai & Sushi, a restaurant near our hotel. In here it is calm and quiet.

20.57 We have begun to structure what will happen tomorrow. 53 kilometres is tomorrow's bus trip from Södertälje to Nynäshamn. Outside, emergency vehicles are heard. We are happy with our small dishes. Södertälje is not as exciting as a destination but as often it is always interesting to look around in all the cities that are in Sweden.

22.38 We set up and plan for the last mainland hours. Tomorrow starts with an early breakfast. It's not something we planned. It stops serving already at 08.00. It feels like this hotel focuses on people who are going to work, not have a holiday with a late morning

The Salvation Army woman Christina Sandberg.

Saint Ragnhild´s church, Södertälje.

Peter is waiting for the food at Bangkok Thai & Sushi.

Three small dishes.


Monday 26th of July

07.22 A new week has begun. Today we will change cities again. Today, the green Golf car will not help us. Today, other matters of transport will help us get to where we are going.

08.42 Today I am lazy with the writing. Have I lost the words, have I lost inspiration? We plan a little ahead of the day before we check out here at Hotel Kringelstaden.

09.30 It is done. On SL's app we have bought bus tickets from Södertälje to Nynäshamn. They cost us US$3,84 each. You can't complain about that.

10.02 In front of us is a dry fountain. We are in Järnvägsparken near the bus stops at Södertälje Center where the buses depart from. I hope this applies to our bus too. At the check-out we were asked if everything was fine. We answered, Of course, yes. One does not complain on the spot, you do it then, to people who cannot do something about it. We will, however, not complain then either.

10.15 We've moved to a bus stop on Lovisinsgatan. Here SL's bus 783 will soon appear.

10.28 The bus was entered the front door. Earlier during the pandemic the only options were the back door. It went well to scan the QR code. Now we will go by bus for about an hour and a half. It feels tough but we'll probably see something new.

10.34 On our bus trip through Södertälje we have come to Erik Dahlberg's road. Once again our paths crossed with Mr. Dahlberg. We approach the district of Östertälje, not as well known as Södertälje and Norrtälje.

10.45 Just now we passed the famous prison Hall. The prison has security Class 1, which means that the prison is adequately safe against prison break both from within the prison as from help from outside.

Window view from Hotel Kringelstaden in Södertälje.

Peter is prepared to leave Södertälje.

Christer is waiting for bus 783.

Peter is having lunch at Svandammens Pizzeria.

Duck warning at Järnvägsgatan in Nynäshamn.

Time to enter the ferry which will take us to the island Gotland.

10.53 Our SL bus has entered Botkyrka municipality. We have stayed in Vårsta, a nice little place by a nice lake, Malmsjön.

11.46 As predicted, this bus journey begins to feel tough and tedious. We have just passed Ösmo and Nynäshamn is approaching.

12.10 We have arrived in Nynäshamn and have made it to Svandammens Pizzeria (https://www.svandammenspizzeria.se) for a lunch. I am breaking the tradition and have ordered a pasta dish. Last time we were here in Nynäshamn in documented travel journal context was in August 2002. Then we arrived with the ferry from Poland after our third train trip in Eastern Europe. Nynäshamn has ferry services to Visby on Gotland, Gdansk in Poland and Ventspils in Latvia. Here in town there are 15 108 inhabitants.

12.43 After lunch at Svandammen's Pizzeria we have sat down at what gave the lunch place its name, namely Svandammen. However, we do not see any swans in it. Now we will get ready to travel by ferry from Destination Gotland (https://www.destinationgotland.se).

12.54 Christer has received our boarding cards for the ferry. My boarding card is emailed by him to me but my mailbox has not received it. Probably it is my hotmail that does not like to receive mail from gmail addresses. It messed with the mail contact to the car rental in Visby just for that reason.

13.12 We and many others have now started walking towards the ferry terminal.

13.50 Now our luggage is marked and left. We didn't have to weigh our backpacks. One before us, on the other hand, had a bag that was heavier than the approved 25 kilos.

We have found our chairs and are prepared for the trip to Visby.

We are meeting another ferry just before arrival to Visby.

Outside the ferry terminal in Visby.

The hostel Visby Fängelse (Visby Prison) is easy to see from the ferry terminal.

We will stay here. An old prison is now a hostel.

Interesting vehicles outside Visby Fängelse (Visby Prison).

14.45 We have boarded the Destination Gotland ferry with departure time 14.40. Now we sit in comfortable chairs on seats 7025, Y and Z. They are window seats. We are expected to arrive on Gotland at 18.05.

14.58 Captain Johan Asp will take staff and 1396 passengers to Visby. We heard this in the speakers.

16.43 Comfortable seats, hot, black and strong coffee and a nice sea voyage. What more is there to wish for?

17.49 The ferry is out on roadstead and waiting for a vacant spot in Visby Harbour. I haven't been this close to Gotland since 1982. For Christer it will be a premiere, a first visit. When he goes ashore, he has visited all the provinces and counties of Sweden. Gotland, which has been Swedish since 1645, has a somewhat strange status. The island is a municipality, a province, a church diocese and a county at the same time. Gotland has a population of 61,031 people and here in Visby 24,942 of them have their homes. In the summer there are a lot more people here.

18.56 We start our stay here on Gotland by checking in at the hostel Visby Fängelse (http://visbyfangelse.se) located a short distance from Visby Harbour Terminal. Here we are now in cell 2. It's running out of space in here, real prison feeling. Visby Prison was built in 1857 and entered service two years later. The last prisoner was released in 1998 and it was also when the prison was turned into a hostel.

19.20 One cannot say that this room is worth the money we pay for it. The cell is cramped and outside the only window there are some more expensive rooms where young people try to be as noisy as possible. When you stay in popular Visby, however, you have to stay this simple or pay significantly more.

Our hostel is close to the ferry.

Christer is visiting Gotland for the first time.

Visby City Wall.

Tonight´s dinner restaurant.

We are having Indian food the first evening here on Gotland.

Not much space inside our cell.

20.03 We have left the prison to take a first walk in the surroundings. We have seen Visby city walls and located where we can buy breakfast and other necessary things.

20.36 Our first Gotland dinner will be at the Indian Restaurant Village Tandori (http://villagetandoorivisby.se). We have ordered two kinds of dishes, naan bread and beer. We can sometimes vary our diet.

21.59 It was delicious, not fantastically delicate but delicious. One advantage was that they didn't charge us for the naan bread. After shopping at ICA Supermarket Atterdag, we are now locked in our cell again. Who then was Atterdag, the one who gave the name to ICA supermarket? Valdemar IV Atterdag was king of Denmark between 1340 and 1375. He conquered Öland and Gotland islands in 1360-1361.

23.10 Outside the window music is played and we hear young people with Stockholm dialect shout. Hopefully the younger generation will go out into the nightlife before we try to sleep. The darkness of the night falls over the city.


VIDEOS


You can see 105 photos from July 24 in this photoalbum.
You can see 105 photos from July 25 in this photoalbum.
You can see 57 photos from July 26 in this photoalbum.


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