Busy Days in Sweden Hiking, Eating and Exploring
After a few days of getting up early for some traveling here in Sweden, we were finally able to sleep in, which was great for my minor jet lag. Wednesday was full of exploring Trollhättan! We started off the morning by going for a hike in the woods close to Farmor’s house.
Some beautiful moments I captured while hiking in Trollhättan.
We eventually made our way down the the river, where everyday they open the gates holding back lots of water and it creates an incredibly powerful waterfall.
The famous Trollhättan “waterfall.”
Trollhättan is famous for their canals, waterfall, and locks so I was glad I got to see it in person! After the display, we walked over to my host father’s grandmother’s house, because you normally walk or take public transportation in Sweden. We had a nice late lunch there with lots of family and lots of Swedish. When we had cleaned up, we all wanted to go to the local weekly antique car show.
There were tons of Swedish cars and each one of us picked out the one we would want if we could choose. When we got back to the house, we had a small barbecue dinner, and since we were all tired, sat down to watch another movie and then went to bed. Another nice day in Sweden, with another early morning to come.
At bright and early 5:30 AM we rose head off to the insane Gekås Ullared! How I would describe this, like a Walmart on steroids? Almost like IKEA and Walmart and Publix all smashed together into one gigantic store. It was overwhelming with so many options from clothing, to lawn tools, to cosmetics, to food. Anything you could possibly ever need EVER you could by at this place. It’s hard to even describe it as a store because it is so much more that that.
The one and only Ullared.
My few purchases from the overwhelming Ullared, a jacket and some Swedish candy.
There were so many options that it was hard to decide what to buy so I got a jacket that will hopefully be useful here and at home, and some Swedish chocolate to try. After our two hours, we were starving so we headed into a nearby town named Varberg for some sushi. You can’t go to Varberg without seeing the fort built there so we headed there next.
The Varberg fort, and the beautiful view!
It was so fun to see what I had read about from Greenheart Travel alum Hannah Patzer’s blog, it was definitely as nice as she described. With such a beautiful view and many rocks to climb on, I was so happy we stopped in Varberg. After we got in the car again, we were all in the mood for some Fika so we stopped in Gothenburg at the prettiest cafe I have ever been to. The walls were all tiled, and all the tile was very detailed. As Swedes, we of course sat outside and enjoyed the nice sunshine and warmth.
We did a little walking around afterwards through the lush parks and then took off again for home. We had a nice dinner of bacon-wrapped chicken (yes you read that right, and yes it was delicious) and potatoes. We then played some card games late into the night, most of them new to me and most that I will definitely bring back home to share with my family.
Friday was nothing too special. We packed our bags, said goodbye to Farmor, and went back home. We stopped a few times along the way for some lunch and some fika but not much else. However, when we got home we checked the mail and I had received my very first piece of mail in my new home!! It was so surreal and really solidified the fact that I was now LIVING in Sweden. It was from my exchange company here in Sweden filled with goodies and important documents.
My first package in the mail!!
Once all the excitement was over, we unpacked our bags and had a nice pasta dinner. My host sister Anna and I then made cookies before watching another movie and heading off to bed.
Even though we were home, the exploring continued! Saturday we woke up and headed too Gripsholm Castle, a previous castle of the royals. We went on a tour inside and learned a lot about the history of both the royalty and the castle.
The Royal Castle, beautiful both on the the inside and outside.
Afterwards we were all hungry so we sat down for a nice picnic of pasta salad my host mom had made. Since there was a ferry that ran from the Castle to a little town called Taxinge, we got on it so we could get some of the delicious desserts that make Taxinge famous.
There were a few little shops to go in and a gigantic line extending at least thirty people from the door, but it was worth the wait. The desserts were amazing and we all got something different so we could try each other’s.
How can so many delicious desserts be at one place??? I’m not sure, but it was truly amazing.
We went for a little walk along the water and then got on a train back to the castle. Once we were home again, we had a nice cauliflower soup for dinner, watched another movie, and went to bed. If you couldn’t tell, we are all quite the movie lovers.
The next few day should be quite busy with a couple parties to come. Hopefully they will include the making of new friends and the enjoyment of new holidays. Ta ta for now!