Silly Swedish Skirmishes

After we'd made the decision to head on upto Norway we were presented with the 7 hour drive that lay ahead of us and decided it best to break it up with some more Swedish goodness along the way. So far Sweden also seemed far more up our street with being much cheaper, more vegan, and a more interesting landscape than Denmark (also the squash is to die for).

Starting our journey we did an hours drive and stopped off in Helsingborg for the afternoon. This was initally expected to be a tiny town with not a huge amount going on but we were pleasantly suprised. We started with the Karnan which was the keep from the old castle. Helsingborg in particular was a super critical location in the middle ages, being the eastern side of the Oresund strait, and so the gateway to the Baltic. This made it a key target for the Danish, who controlled this part of lower Sweden for much of its history, and the northern German Hanseatic trading cities.

The tower itself had played host to several important historical events including my favourite: the wedding of Queen Margaret. Although not the wedding itself, she was ten, but more the aftermath. Margaret was the daughter of the Danish queen and she married the Norwegen king. Their son went on to the be the Danish king after Margaret's dad died but he was only a child when he died so Margaret retained control over Denmark. After a complicated series of events, she and her husband added Sweden to their union as well and then her husband died. As a result she became the de facto queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway all as a woman which was certianly not how it was supposed to happen. So big credits to Margaret #girlpower

Further around the city, and dodging the suprising crowds from the 2026 world Choir championships, who knew, we happened across the free mini golf in the city. I'm not sure what would be stranger to see in England, free minigolf without the pieces being stolen, or the signs all around promoting the long term planning and investment the Swedish government had done to prevent future emergencies...

After a bit more wandering and a very curious vegan returant, we headed another few hours north and pulled off the highway for the night in a very Swedish looking pine forest. Gari was having the time of his tiny life

Starting our next day heading up the coast, we did another hours drive then pulled into Gothenburg for what was initally a disappointing mess of road works. This then cleared out with our cycle around the very green city and we were treated to an excellent free zoo in the center including this small colony of penguins. 

Also whats not to love about being able to stroke a super chilled sheep

Feeling somewhat homesick we headed to the maritime museum to quench our thirst for the waves. The small fleet of 12 boats they had included such gems as one of the first ironclads from the american civil war and this cold-war era submarine with plenty of gubbins to fiddle with and spin around. Hours of fun

Feeling dejected about the lack of interesting booze in the Swedish supermarkets, it turns out that all alcohol over a certain amount of units in a bottle is only sold at a government controlled chain of alcohol stores. Needless to say Danni ferociously attacked their cider selection

Post-Gothenburg we had a remaining 2 and a half hour drive ahead of us and we headed straight north into Norway for the first time! The views from the road did not dissapoint

The temperature of the fjord did