Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Thursday 16th of June
14.52 It is about to happen. A summer trip abroad is about to begin. It was three years ago since last time. The last two summers we (Christer and I) have traveled around at home in Sweden by car. Christer and I just finished our spring terms. In other words, we leave as soon as the holidays begin. We can thank Ryanair for being in such a hurry. We had booked a flight from Västerås to London Stansted Airport on Friday afternoon but it got a new earlier departure time. This meant that we instead had to rebook and take a morning flight from Arlanda Airport. That's why we need to go already today and spend the night near the airport. When train tickets and accommodation were booked, Ryanair decided to once again change the time for the flight to Friday afternoon. In other words, we could have left tomorrow morning instead if we had known it earlier. In any case, I am currently at the bus station part of Örnsköldsvik travel centre. Fortunately, I don't have to pay for the fuel. A litre of diesel costs a whopping US$3,23.
15.18 The first of the many trips of the summer has begun. I will, just like last year, begin with a trip to Härnösand. This time, however, it is by bus instead of car.
15.45 The bus stopped in Skuleskogen (Skule Forest). We are close to the western entrance to Skuleskogen National Park. Off stepped a man with a paper bag. Some girls with backpacks boarded the bus. The journey continues.
16.35 After standing still behind a mud cleaner for a quarter of an hour, we now travel on the High Coast Bridge across the Ångermanälven river.
20.28 We travel south and are soon in Söderhamn. It is +18˚C outside.
Friday 17th of June
The High Coast Bridge.
Peter has arrived at Arlanda airport.
Waiting for our transport.
Room 22 at Måby Parking & Hotel. The first of many rooms this summer.
00.12 Via Facebook, Christer finally got into the login without codes and passwords. Time ran out but we got our boarding passes anyway. However, these must be printed according to Ryanair's information. We assume that we can use the digital version. After all, we are checked in. Now we're going to sleep.
08.58 The night's sleep has been good. Now while Christer is off to take a shower, I take the opportunity to eat a self-bought breakfast. Within an hour there will be return transport from here to Arlanda Airport. 09.39 How is it that the item you want to take out of the toiletry bag most often ends up at the bottom of it? It could be an object that you put on top the last time you opened the toiletry bag. Life is full of such riddles. 10.01 The first of today's transports is underway. The accommodation then, yes cheap and good. In recent days, there have been reports of long queues for check-in and security at Arlanda. We are out in good time to be safe. 10.37 Leaving luggage and going through security went just fine, beyond our expectations. Probably it was because we fly from Terminal 2. It is in Terminal 5 that most of the chaos has been recently. Now it's mostly about waiting. Maybe we'll take the opportunity to download the first British bus app on mobiles 11.28 Since the last note, we have mostly wandered around in our hunt for a restaurant, café or kiosk. Everywhere there are people, lots of people. There is even a queue for the toilets. We have walked in a corridor between terminals 4 and 5 to find what we are looking for. 11.49 We found an empty bench and were able to sit down for a while. A quickly purchased smaller meal from a kiosk is soon eaten. We have not downloaded any app. It will probably work out anyway. Next we head towards the passport queue. 12.10 The passports were shown. The passport police were curious about what we were going to do so he found out that from me.
If you have little to do at an airport, you can look for different airlines.
Time to get on board.
Ryanair takes us from Arlanda to Stansted Airport.
A short and uneventful flight with Ryanair.
We are about to land at London Stansted Airport.
Peter is waiting for a bus from Stansted Airport.
13.33 This will be the last words written with Swedish time for a while. We walked through gate 19 and are on the Ryanair plane that will take us to Stansted Airport in Essex 68 kilometers northeast of London.
CHANGING TIME ZONE
13.35 Our Boeing 737-8200 is surrounded by clouds. It is quiet and still in the cabin. It's been three years since we last flew abroad on a summer trip. 15.02 A green and brown patchwork can be seen down there. It is the agricultural villages of eastern England that we are looking at. We fly in towards Stansted. It will be good to come down.UNITED KINGDOM
15.35 We have landed at London Stansted Airport. It's time to start walking forward in the passport queue, it's long.
15.58 The walk went well and so did the electronic passport control. This despite the fact that a man loudly shouted in Swedish to other passengers that Swedish passports do not work. Once outside at baggage belt 9, our backpacks appeared straight away. Thanks for that. 16.38 A branch of Costa Coffee has provided us with a snack, a large coffee and a sandwich. There were few seats. We had to use a dustbin as a table for the coffee. Now we should probably take it easy before we board a bus from here. 17.07 Now we are seriously in England so the journey can begin for real. It's really hot here in the south of England at the moment, around +30˚C. We have left the airport and are on our way to the first bus journey. 17.33 German is spoken on bus X10 towards Chelmsford. We travel with First Bus Essex. An elderly lady easily put a cabin bag onto a low, like half a meter high, luggage rack. 17.47 Our bus drives on a narrow road through typical English countryside. Small villages with cozy pubs are passed. There are many people who have a drink at the outdoor restaurants in the heat. 18.12 We arrive at the bus station in Chelmsford. It's time to get to our booked home here.
Bus X10 from First Bus Essex.
Peter has arrived at Chelmsford.
Chelmsford station.
Chelmsford War Memorial.
We rent a room at a pub, The Ship.
Our room on the upper floor of the pub.
18.43 It was easy to find The Ship pub (https://theshipchelmsford.co.uk). It was also easy to check in and pay. After that, the bar staff had to search for a while to find the right key to the room. We had time to sit and get thirsty for beer while they looked for the key. After a bit of walking up and down stairs, we finally arrived at room 5. Last year we started by staying with Skutskepparen (The Skipper) in Barsta, this year we start on the ship itself.
19.36 It's warm in our room and we have a city to see tonight. Look, now we have two reasons to go out. Besides, we need to eat something other than sandwiches today. 19.55 The trip's first city walk and photo tour has begun. We recently took a photo of Chelmsford Cathedral. Something tells me that there will be and will be more cathedrals this summer. This is the country's second smallest cathedral and has been a cathedral since 1914 when Chelmsford became its own diocese with its own bishop. 20.33 For tomorrow's breakfast, we got hold of bread and juice at a good price at Home Foods Grocery. Now we have ordered tonight's dinner at Lantern House (https://www.lanternhouserestaurant.co.uk), a Chinese restaurant opposite the pub where we live. 21.19 It was fantastic good food. Now everything is rounded off with a beer each. We drink East Coast IPA at the home pub. More pubs for the Swedish people!
Chelmsford Cathedral.
Christer visits the Lantern House Restaurant.
Two cold beers are a perfect end to a warm evening.
22.08 It is not possible to truthfully say that it is cool in our room. We need to get the temperature down somehow to sleep well tonight.
22.46 With joint efforts, we have opened the room's two windows. Cool evening air flows in. Murmurs and cigarette smoke also flow in from the pub's outdoor seating. 23.02 The first evening in England ends with us finding out some curiosities about the city we are in. In year 60 there was a Roman fort here, which then grew into the city of Caesarmagus. The city disappeared when the Romans left the island. Did they take it with them? The town is first mentioned again in 1086. Much later, namely in 1835, the writer Charles Dickens did not get hold of a Sunday edition of a newspaper when he was visiting and he then condemned the town. His assessment of the city was “the dullest and most stupid place on earth”. In 1899, Guglielmo Marconi opened the world's first radio factory here, a factory that the Luftwaffe later wanted to bomb during World War II. Chelmsford with its 121,556 inhabitants is also one of the largest English cities without a football team in a higher league.
Saturday 18th of June
08.41 We have slept very well in our room and I have had a morning shower in the shared shower out in the corridor. Our strategy of opening the room windows made the temperature comfortable during the night. Soon I will turn on the kettle. It's time for breakfast and then coffee is included.
09.11 Certain things have stuck with us through all the years of travelling. One of these phenomena is what we call bedside breakfast. It's simply breakfast in the room as we sit on the edge of the bed and eat what we bought ourselves. There will probably be a lot of this this summer. Breakfast is rarely included in the price of the various accommodations we have booked. 09.55 Soon it is time to leave the first British accommodation. We have had a good time here. However, a private bathroom and included breakfast would be good to have. We usually find our accommodation on Booking.com, but we have booked this particular pub on Hotels.com. 10.11 We left room 5. Christer received information about how the key return would be done by a woman who knew Swedish. The key was later left to another lady who does the cleaning. Now we mostly wait to go to the next bus. 10.25 We have walked for a while and seen a bit more of Chelmsford. Now we are at bus stop 8. The only thing missing is the bus that will take us to Colchester. I hope that payment, luggage storage and travel will be as smooth today as yesterday. 10.41 It is reasonably smooth on the bus from First Bus Essex. We have sat down at the front of the upper floor to have the best views. The journey costs £6.10. 11.13 The bus stopped just to let three horse riders pass by at a pedestrian crossing. 11.20 In this now we are in Braintree, one of many places we will see this summer. One car says Fisk Group. It probably has nothing to do with fish. Fisk means fish in Swedish.
Peter is waiting for the bus to Colchester.
A few horses must pass before the bus continues.
We roll through Braintree.
Coggeshall, a beautiful village in Essex.
Colchester will be the second city we visit on this trip.
Peter has photographed the Colchester War Memorial.
11.44 Buses are slower than trains. The advantage is that it is cheaper. Another advantage is all the small towns and villages we get to see during the journey. Now we are in the cozy little town/village of Coggeshall which has many old buildings from medieval times.
12.08 We start to approach Colchester. We are currently in the Tollgate shopping area west of the city. We recently saw some placard-carrying opponents of covid vaccinations in a roundabout. Before, a road sign warning of elderly people was seen. It was an elderly couple, the man with a cane. 12.47 The bus stopped in Colchester and we got off at a stop on Head Street. Christer took with him a cap that a little guy had forgotten. The little one got his headdress back. Just as we got off the bus it started to rain. Yesterday's heat has been replaced by significantly cooler weather and precipitation. After a walk along various streets we are now in Castle Park and on a bench in memory of Olwen Lorraine Smith 1915-2006. According to the sign on the bench, she enjoyed many hours in the park. It is tradition here in England to remember deceased people by small plaques on benches where they liked to sit when they were alive. The beautiful park surrounds Colchester Castle, a castle built by the Normans in the 11th century. 13.23 We have a small picnic here in the park on International Picnic Day. Christer has checked that there is a bus leaving at 15.15. Before then, we should have seen more of the park and had coffee, we thought. Colchester in Essex is claimed to be Britain's oldest city. The city was founded by the Romans who made it England's first capital, Camulodunum. Today, 192,700 inhabitants live here. 13.38 On the further park walk we came to Avignon Garden, named after the sister city of Avignon in France. It is common for streets, parks and other things in this country to be named after each city's twin towns as they are called here. On the Castle Park Bandstand stage we found an orchestra playing, the Essex Concert Band. A young man in a cap danced and made moves in front of the orchestra. Now on the north side of the castle, we have seen a wedding couple being photographed. 13.53 Before leaving the park, we looked at the Roman remains of the Temple of Claudius at the castle. Not too impressive. 14.16 At Cremaaa Coffee (https://www.cremaaa.co.uk), yes it is spelled with three a, we now have coffee and croissants. 14.57 While waiting for the bus to Ipswich, we seek shelter and rain protection in a parking garage a short distance from bus stop Aa.
Colchester Castle from the 11th century.
Avignon Garden in Colchester Castle Park.
Essex Concert Band with an unknown dancer in front.
Remains of a Roman temple at Colchester Castle.
High Street, Colchester.
Christer visits Cremaaa Coffee.
15.17 We are currently the only passengers on board bus 93 from Ipswich Buses. Now it's off to the next place to sleep.
15.40 Now we are on our way and driving on the A12. We are not alone on the bus anymore. Just before we left Colchester, two elderly gentlemen were dropped off. One urged the driver not to get too drunk on his holiday trip. He was apparently going to leave on a trip tomorrow morning. 15.55 The windscreen wipers run over the window with a hissing sound. We stand still in the village of East Bergholt. We sense a Scandinavian connection when we see the name of the village. We have left Essex and are now in Suffolk. On the way here we passed a beautiful natural area called Dedham Vale. 16.09 Now and then we turn off or onto the A12. This is done even if there are no passengers who want to get on or off. The bus must follow its route and it covers many different villages. 17.17 Once we arrived in Ipswich, we got off at the Old Cattle Market bus station in the centre. Then we went to the small Carlton Hotel on Berners Street. There we got a key with a WiFi code and a key to room 12. We also got a breakfast bag each. We knew that breakfast would be included here but we had hoped for something better than that. Some hotels seem to be stuck in the routines they put in place during the pandemic. 17.32 Now I have done something classic for us. I have washed the shirt and sports shorts in the wash basin. It may be a premiere on British soil. 18.06 We drink coffee and consume muffins and pastries from the breakfast bag. We'll probably buy a more stable breakfast ourselves for tomorrow morning. Christer checks the train times for tomorrow online. He has also found information about an announced train strike.
We have arrived in a deserted Ipswich.
Christer is on his way to Carlton Hotel.
Peter in room 12 at Carlton Hotel.
Ipswich Town Hall.
Ipswich Waterfront.
Saint Peter's Church, Ipswich.
18.52 It's time to get dressed for going out. A jacket feels necessary in the windy and rainy weather. There are decent action plans for the evening. One is not to get wet. Another is to see more of Ipswich. Here in the town there are 133,384 inhabitants. It is one of the oldest towns founded and built by the English population. This does not include the Romans.
19.18 We walk so slowly through Ipswich. So far, we haven't seen anything startling. We are on our way to the boat harbour (marina). 19.42 Around us is the Ipswich Waterfront area. We cannot count the number of white boats that lie here. People who pass us have varying degrees of intoxication. Many carry rainbow flags. It's the Suffolk Pride 2022 event going on here in the town. Behind us are premises belonging to the University of Suffolk and a large horizontal question mark. 20.20 We have walked back through the city. Right now we are at the beautiful Ipswich International Church not too far from the Carlton Hotel where we are staying. 20.37 After a bit of hesitation between different restaurants, we chose Maharani, a restaurant with food from India and Bangladesh. After further deliberation, we chose lamb dishes for dinner. 21.35 All the good things on our plates were rounded off with a whiskey that the restaurant offered for free. If this is the norm in British restaurants, this will be a lovely summer.
Old buildings along Silent Street in Ipswich.
Ipswich International Church.
Peter visits the Maharani restaurant.
Complimentary whiskey appreciated.
22.01 Before we return to the hotel, we need to find a shop to buy something more stable and filling for breakfast tomorrow morning.
22.13 In the EU Supermarket store with Polish staff, we bought ourselves something good for the evening and something to enhance our breakfasts. 23.13 We are back in our room at the Carlton Hotel. Thunder and lightning has decided to come visit and walk around Ipswich. A sound and light show is offered through our room window. It feels good to be indoors. 23.44 We have now seen three English cities and the trip has started for real now. Much remains. Hope the money and the desire to travel will last the whole summer.
Sunday 19th of June
08.26 Things are going well for the Colorado Avalanche team in the Stanley Cup finals in North America. Tonight they won 7-0 and now lead 2-0 in games over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here in our reality, in our room far away from American ice hockey, today's trips are planned.
09.08 In our breakfast bag there was instant coffee, instant porridge and a small juice. We already ate the bread that was there yesterday, but we had made support purchases. It was nothing delicate, but filling for the moment. 09.37 There are plans for the day. We simply have to calmly get from place to place. Just like yesterday, it will be a city to be visited with backpacks on our backs before we reach our final destination in the afternoon. 10.20 We have checked out of Carlton Hotel. A short distance away is Portman Road, partly the street but also the home arena for the town's football team, Ipswich Town FC. The arena has room for 30,311 spectators. We are now sitting resting on a bench in Alderman Park near the Portman Road Stadium. Here in the park, we have seen a mobile squirrel but also more permanent maples. 10.50 On foot we are now on our way again. Christer has photographed a statue of Bobby Robson who was the successful manager of Ipswich Town in the 1970s and early 1980s. Under his leadership, the small club won the FA Cup in 1977/78 and the Uefa Cup in 1980/81. Ipswich later finished second in the league in 1980/81 and 1981/82. Later he coached the English national team between the years 1982 and 1990. In addition to Sir Bobby Robson, there is a statue of another legend here, Alf Ramsey who was the manager of Ipswich Town from 1955 to 1963 but also the national team captain when England won the World Cup in 1966. In our time the club is not so successful. They play in the third highest league in the country, League One.
One of 50 uniquely designed owls located at various locations in Ipswich.
Peter walks along Portman Road.
Alderman Park with Portman Road Stadium in the background.
Sir Bobby Robson points to something.
Portman Road Stadium.
Time to go by train for the first time since we arrived in England.
11.11 Soon it is time to leave Ipswich railway station by train. With some trouble I got the backpack onto the shelf above us. The first train journey today goes to Bury St Edmunds further north here in Suffolk. Before we boarded the train, we heard information about the upcoming train strike. On June 23 and June 25, the number of trains running will be extremely few. We'll see how this affects our plans.
12.10 It's easy to take the train and it's fast. Unfortunately, it is expensive, especially if you buy tickets on the day you travel. Here in England, there is a long list of different train companies that in theory should compete. However, one can question how the competition works. They rarely run the same routes and you can book tickets with any company if you go to one of the train companies' apps or websites. Today it is Greater Anglia that takes us to Bury St Edmunds. We have walked from the station into the central parts. Some Italians pass us. So what do we do now? 12.43 Despite it being Sunday, the town is bustling with activity. Unfortunately, there are few small kiosks that offer ice cream and the like. We are currently in the park at Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral. Here in the park, birds within the different species fight. Bury St Edmunds is believed to date back to Roman times. A monastery was founded here already in the 6th century. After it became the burial place of Edmund the Martyr (Saint Edmund) in 903, the city was named after him. Edmund was the patron saint of England until King Edward III replaced him with Saint George. There are 44,217 inhabitants living here in the city. 13.22 It's quite cozy here in the park. The birds are singing and the wind is rustling in the trees. Speaking of trees, the lindens look disciplined, They are mostly straight trunks with a few twigs. We have sat on a bench and talked about everything possible and watched people pass by. It's better to sit than walk when we're lugging around heavy luggage. 13.52 We left the park to go towards the centre. I rest and guard our bags on a tubular steel bench. Christer is inside the small bakery shop Greggs to buy lunch bags to take with us. 14.06 I also bought a lunch bag in the form of a baguette with a drink. Now our lunch bags and stomachs will be allowed to meet. As for the backpacks, they also get to rest. We have sat down in the Abbey Gardens, a beautiful park adjacent to the town's monastery, Bury St Edmunds Abbey. The park is full of people and small squirrels.
Bury St Edmunds.
Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral.
Peter rests in front of The Great Church Yard.
Here, too, the benches are dedicated to deceased persons.
Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds.
We change trains at Stowmarket.
15.08 It was a comfortable walk back to the station. We have now bought new tickets and are probably on the right platform, we hope.
15.24 We are again on a train from Greater Anglia. This should only take us a shorter distance before we need to change.
15.50 There was a train change in Stowmarket. Now we are on the track aboard the train from London to Norwich. We leave Suffolk and aim for Norfolk. 16.25 Our train ended its journey at the beautiful railway station in Norwich. Various construction works are taking place outside the station, but we have navigated our way past the obstacles and are now going towards our hotel, which will be located very close to the station. 16.37 Here we are now sitting in room 8 at the Central Hotel (https://www.cityandcentral.co.uk) in Norwich. Here there are several coffee tubes and it is a shared bathroom that applies. From our window we have a nice view of the river Wensum and the boats along it. As so often in England, the rivers are no bigger than what we in Sweden call å (larger stream). Sometimes they even resemble larger streams. 17.55 After our afternoon coffee and biscuits, we will now put on our shoes and jackets to see more of Norwich. Tomorrow we continue froim here so what we don't see tonight we won't see at all. 18.15 A visit to the Co-op store inside the railway station resulted in the purchase of some wine gums for now and bread for tomorrow's breakfast.
Norwich railway station.
Peter has just arrived in Norwich, the fifth city of the trip.
Central Hotel, Norwich.
We got a river view room.
Boats in the River Wensum.
Carrow Road Stadium is home to Norwich City FC.
18.20 From the railway station we started to walk away from the center along Koblenz Avenue. Once again, we have a name that comes from the city's sister city. Koblenz is located in Germany. We will take the "back road" towards the center to avoid walking exactly the same way twice.
18.33 Today's second football arena has been seen and photographed. This time we walked past the Carrow Road Stadium where Norwich City play their football. It is a club that in recent years has gone up and down between the country's two highest football leagues. This year they will play in the second highest, The Championship. We have also seen but not photographed a yellow Porsche with Saudi plates. It was in a parking garage. 18.42 After crossing the river on Carrow Bridge and I have made some notes, we will now follow Carrow Hill, a steep street which means a shortcut for us. 18.58 A long walk along Queens Road has brought us to Norwich bus station. We're here to do some checking so we know where we're going to be tomorrow morning when we get the bus out of here. 19.07 Here at the bus station a young lady with blue hair has asked if we possibly had four pounds to give her. She mumbled something about hurting herself and a hospital visit but we never understood what she needed the money for. We didn't have that either. We actually have no pounds in cash at all. Instead, we check where and when the bus leaves tomorrow. 19.30 From the bus station we headed into the city centre. It's Sunday and not much is open. A few possible dinner restaurants have been found but nothing too exciting. We have also seen the city's castle, Norwich Castle, which is located on top of a hill. The castle was originally a fortification built by order of William the Conqueror (1066–1087) after the Norman conquest of England. Now we are heading towards the Middle Ages and the cathedral.
Royal Arcade, shopping center in Norwich.
Peter writes down some notes at Bank Plain.
Saint Peter Hungate was a church but is now an art gallery.
Christer investigates Elm Hill.
Peter has walked the medieval street of Elm Hill.
Norwich Cathedral.
19.35 After going wrong a few times we have reached a street which is said to be one of the best preserved medieval streets in England. We have walked along this street, Elm Hill, a cozy street which is unfortunately quite deserted at this time of day. Nothing is open here. Now we take a bench break near the beautiful Norwich Cathedral.
20.05 We have looked at the beautiful cathedral from different angles and tried to get the best possible photos. It began construction in 1096 and was fully completed in 1145. The cathedral spire, which is 96 meters high, is the second tallest in England despite being partially rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169. 20.33 Hunger made us leave the church. After previously eating Asian food for dinner two days in a row, it's now hamburgers and Coca Cola at Five Guys (https://fiveguys.co.uk) on Orford Place. There are substantial and tasty hamburgers here. You get to design your own hamburger and decide which accessories to have. The only downside is that the price is quite high. Five Guys is a restaurant chain that was started by five brothers in Virginia, USA in 1986. 21.04 It's getting dark and we have quite a long way to go to get back to the hotel. Norwich is a pleasant city with 143,135 inhabitants. Since we experienced it on Sunday night in a bit cold weather, it feels like we didn't get to see the best version of the city. 21.18 We are back at home to summarize, think but also plan for tomorrow. On the way home, juice was bought in one of the few shops open on Sundays along Prince of Wales Road. 23.32 Since returning to the Central Hotel, we have tasted the juice and watched TV. How many more one-night stops can we manage before they start to take their toll? On most of the trips we do, it is a little more common to stay two nights instead of one night at most accommodations.
Christer is having a burger dinner at Five Guys.
Norwich Castle.
The skies over Norwich have turned pink.
It's time to sleep at the Central Hotel.
You can see 6 photos from June 16 in this photoalbum.
You can see 41 photos from June 17 in this photoalbum.
You can see 83 photos from June 18 in this photoalbum.
You can see 114 photos from June 19 in this photoalbum.