Lapland

[GoldOxide_imp]

Yeah, I could do cheesecake:

New York (or Montreal) 2.5" tall cherry cheesecake, followed by a CB1100 ride, and finished off with 2.5" cherry cheesecake.

[Cormanus]

It looks a lovely place, Olof. The report made me look up the origin of the domestic cat. They’ve done an amazing job spreading all over the face of the planet.

[Stichill_imp]

Thanks guys for your kind comments, much appreciated!

@pdede, on the food – yes, the kitchen really excelled, it was truly delicisous. Not bad for a B&B and they've built quite a reputation for themselves the last few years.

@Comanus, on the beer – you are right, their home made beer was in the same calibre as the food – really, really good. I’m no beer expert but I’d say that they could easily have sold it nationwide.

@MrBob – thank you, cool to hear that the Swedish culture lived/lives on. I’ve never been to Minnesota but would love to, thanks for the tip. And you must let me know should you ever head this way!

@Stichill – it was a sublime morning indeed, one of those rare to remember for a long time. Not a single sound. Still to the point that I ended up pushing my bike around rather than start it and rip apart the peace. Does not happen often, especially not uphill.

@Henrik, on the Swedish cheesecake being different from the American chesecake – I missed to mention it so thanks for pointing that out. The Swedish cheesecake (in Swedish “ostkaka”) is a speciality of the region of Småland (where we were) and has been around since the 1520’s (yes, more than 500 years). Traditionally it is based on milk converted to cheese through a special procedure, but today most use cottage cheese as its much easier. The base is mixed with eggs, cream, sugar, almonds and bitter almonds. This is baked in an oven and served warm but not hot.
Epilogue day 2 of 3 continued. The last stretch to our friends place led us as far into the archipelago you can go and still be on the mainland. Getting there took a while and involved a narrow proper road, then a gravel road , then an ancient gate that was made to look locked but wasn't, an finally an uneven and wildly twisting loose gravel track with a few surprise inclinations combined with hairpins. On arrival we, or at least I, could have done with some rest but instead we were handed life vests and ushered into a boat. It turned out that someone on a nearby island had begun to make really good ice cream and now we were to get some. When we reached the island there was drama - their cat had climbed onto the roof and into a swallow's nest, so most of the staff and some of the customers were busy saving swallows. This was eventually successful, everybody went back to what they were doing, we got our icecream and returned for a very nice dinner.

Directly from two wheels to keel


The ice cream offerings for the day


The scene of the cat-swallows-staff drama


Most have boat houses, originally meant for boat and fishing gear. Many are still used this way but but some are transformed for lodging and, if you're picky, perhaps not always with all the needed building permits. However, pragmatism is what makes life work here and the law seldom comes this way.

Love the photos and love this!

[Olof_imp]

Epilogue day 3 of 3. A morning swim and breakfast on the porch was good preparation for negotiating the tricky gravel and dirt back to the main road. The CB coped well, despite weight, suspension and tyre handicaps compared to Evas V-strom and our friend's Desert Sled. Soon we were back on tarmac and set course for Råå. Perfect weather and empty roads so all smiles.

Seaside bike parking in morning light


The ride back took most of the day but was smooth and without drama. Eva, today's navigator, had found a set of nice B-roads that got us home swiftly. As always on the last day of a trip we itched to get home and ignored all interesting spots enroute. So after a truly uneventful we pulled up in front of our garage after eight hours and some 400 km.

We spent the following day cleaning the bikes and taking off all the small bits and pieces added for luggage and such, as well as retrieving the small stuff gathered and stashed away during the trip. We have this thing for collecting pebbles with beautiful colours, structures or curious shapes, as souvenirs from the places we've been. These pebbles tend to end up everywhere and can turn up months later, despite our best efforts to find them. We then went out to the pier, had some locally (Helsingborg) made ice cream and summed up the Lapland trip plus Västervik epilogue:

Distance covered: 4800 km or 3000 miles
Fuel consumed 230 litres (26 fuel stops)
Chain lubed, number of times: 9
Chain tensioned, number of times: 1
Oil consumed: nil
Overnight stops: 14
Best meal: moose steak at Grimsnäs mansion
Worst experience: mosquitoes and gnats in Saxnäs
Strongest memory: The vast Stekenjokk plain, above tree level
Most valuable: all the great people we met, and their stories

Decommissioned from touring, in home port of Råå


Helsingborg ice cream, served from an old school bus and delicious


Thanks guys for spending the time to read this, and for all your kind comments. Much appreciated!

[Stichill_imp]

Thank you for taking the time to document and share your fabulous and fascinating journey, Olof! I really got a sense of the cadence of the ride and acquired warm feelings for your country's landscapes, people, and culture.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Olof, your story sharing was much fun to read. Tanks!

[Cormanus]

What Stichill and GoldOxide said.

[GoldOxide_imp]

What Stichill and GoldOxide said.

Haven't heard from Stichill in a long time.

[Cormanus]

He’s checked in recently.

[peterbaron]

Last Visit: 10-03-2022 17:04