Sweden - Thursday and Friday (Rengsjö)

Thursday September 28, 2017

And then we are ready for a full day around Rengsjö. Well, nearly, because before we were ready to take off for the day I found something rather unpleasant on the side of my waist: a tick! Something already had been bothering me for a day or two, but I couldn't see what it was and thought of a little scab, but it wouldn't budge.  When Ria asked to have a look she noticed it instantly.  Small, but definitely a tick.  Luckily she had the right tool at hand and had it removed in no time.  The wound only swelled a little bit over the next few days, but wasn't more than a little itchy, so I am hoping for the best.  Lyme disease is always in the back of your mind, in particular when you are in a country where the black-legged deer tick is prevalent.

Next Ria prepares a lunch packet and off we go to Västerby Hälsingegård, a world heritage site where Ria often works as a volunteer. 

We meet Ragnar and Göran, other volunteers, of which the latter shows us around.  Later we meet Kerstin and Carin, who show us their weaving looms and beautiful work.  Together we have coffee with Ria's home made cakes.

Patricia, Göran and Ria

All too soon it's time to leave, but it is quite a drive to our next destination: Järvzoo at Järvsö, roughly an hour's drive north again.

We see Scandinavian animals living in a semi-open zoo in their natural surroundings.  We obviously see wolves, moose, bears, owls, foxes, musk-oxen, wolverines, etc. on our pleasant walk.  Approx. half-way we have lunch at one of the picnic places, consisting of a large cabin and outdoor area.  Ria had planned for a BBQ lunch, but we couldn't get the fire started.  Luckily we had pre-cooked sausages, so combined with a bread roll and mustard we had an excellent lunch anyway.

Ria on the boardwalk

A large owl

Just a pretty view

"You are here"

Deer

Musk-ox in the centre with its white horns

At the cabin

Picnic area

bears

Wolves

Wolverine

View across the lake

Fox

We finished by 5pm and we made our way back via Bollnäs. We were home by 6pm and ready for dinner, which was really special: roast elk with home grown root vegetables. A meal for a king (or is that a queen in our case?)

Friday September 29, 2017

I am awake quite early, so I take some notes for my blog to be updated at a later stage. (A much later stage as it works out...) After breakfast Ria takes us to Växbo Lin where industrial weaving is done on numerous different looms. The end products are beautiful, but alas too much for my purse, as I have a lot more countries and places to visit before the end of this trip.  On the way back we stopped to take a few pictures of interesting surroundings, Ria's house and an old school house opposite.

One of the looms at Växbo Lin

Another one of the looms

A few sites on the way back

The old school house from below

Ria and Jan's house pictured from the school house deck

The school house deck

Ria and Jan's house from the site

After lunch it's time to leave again, as we have to catch the train back to Hyllie.  Ria sees us off with a delicious packed lunch and I can't thank her enough for being the hostess she was.  It's a pity really, that we couldn't spend more time together.  I still remember the few weeks in 2001, when I visited while she and Jan were still living in the Netherlands. Great memories!

Anyway, back to the story.  The train trip, with one change (or was it two?), was uneventful and we were back in Malmö at about 9pm.  Dianne picked us up and after a cup of tea and a sip of Baileys we were sound asleep.