Lapland

[Olof_imp]

I like ferries...not all rivers and bodies of water need to be bridged.

I also like the look of the tight luggage that you've managed to pack w/out saddle bags.

Ferries: Agree. Ferries are nice. So much more for the senses and imagination compared to static concrete and steel structures.

Luggage: all makeshift and literally tied down with shoestrings ,(I find good sneaker laces to be excellent. just enough elasticity, never loosens up and still easy to undo. The backbone is SW-Motech's smaller stuff and what my local dear had on the shelf; a micro tank bag, a small tail bag and a medium dry bag. The yellow bundle at the rear contains my rain gear. The side roll is home made and carries tools and chain paste. I had a back pack too - hideous in chequered yellow, orange and red but has a good waist support and very comfortable. This may sound like an ad-hoc wobbly and dangerous setup but it sat really tight and secure, everything with double securing (I'm a bit safety obsessive). I also like travelling light, preferring to wash up every third day before carrying tons of stuff.

[Stichill_imp]

I love the ferries, too. We're so impatient, but they demand that we simply slow down and wait for it to arrive and load. Time to see who else is traveling around you and maybe talk to them. Then there's a nice little boat ride to enjoy...what's not to like?

[the Ferret]

D+10. An off-bike day. We strolled Nyköping, mostly famous for the Nyköping Banquet which took place at the Nyköping Castle. The Nyköping Banquet (Swedish: Nyköpings gästabud) was King Birger of Sweden' Christmas celebration on Dec. 11. Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, invited for reconciliation after eight years of feud. Later that night King Birger imprisoned Valdemar and Erik in the castle dungeon and, according to legend, threw the key into the Nyköping stream right by the castle (a medieval key was indeed found in the stream in the 20th century). Large parts of the castle remains, including the dungeon.

The Nyköping Castle. You can see the stream on the left side in the photo, just where the key allegedly sank to the bottom on that December night.


The CB also got some attention, having done some 2000 km after first service. New oil and filter (nothing consumed, nothing in the air box drain, oil slightly darker but no metallic), tensioned the chain (play had increased from 25 to 40 mm), checked some bolts and fasteners as well as the fork seals (having dealt with some serious jolts but no bottoming out). All well. I also spent quite some time removing a ton of Lapland bugs, especially from the headers. I tried soaking them in WD40 for half a day but that did nothing. Lots of window cleaner, careful scratching with a credit card and the patience of an angel seemed to be the only way. Lubed the chain again (we used Motul C5 Chain Paste, very happy with it) and that was it. The CB is such a quality package and during this trip I bonded with it. I love the way it just deals really well with all kind of riding. UJM indeed, even if we have had no rain so far and thus only riding in the dry. We'll se how long we're lucky - the forecast was not very promising this afternoon.




However, the impressive performance of the CB, and the complete lack of rain, may have something to do with the RLETs. Luckily I remembered to install them (in less than 60 seconds for both sides) and I suspect the play a part in this. They too were inspected as part of the mini service, and found to be in excellent condition and position, needing no adjustment.

and another Angel gets their wings

Great reporting Olof. The names are great, kinda like Australia's names only vastly different. Reading them is fun even knowing I'm butchering the pronunciations lol

[Cormanus]

I’m adding my voice to those who like both ferries and Olof’s ride report and pictures.

[Olof_imp]

D+11 continued. Having checked in at the Queen Victoria's Hotel and Health Resort we started to understand what it was. We'd booked it randomly a few days earlier, with a vague idea that they had a nice garden with old apple trees, and that the place had some history. Since Eva's into gardens we thought it was worth a try. It turned to be a gem, built in the 1850s as a royal residence. In the 1920's Queen Victoria agreed to turn the estate into a health resort for women. It has since then been run by a royal foundation for which the King Carl XVI Gustav appoints the board. Most is unchanged, but today also male guests are welcome.



The garden is vast, beautiful and contains rare mulberry and apple trees. You'd think that with a framing like that it would expensive but it really wasn't. The room was charming, the food was great and the staff were friendly, sincere and helpful. We were lucky to spend the night when a local band played followed by a quiz. We're not really royalists, or against for that matter, but we found this to be a really idyllic place.




Our room had a tiled stove, and normally we'd lit it right away, but it was still hot so we instead opened all windows, ignored the mosquitos (not really a problem anyway, at least not compared to Lapland) and thoroughly enjoyed the last evening and breakfast of the trip.

[the Ferret]

Cool place.

[Stichill_imp]

What a wonderful garden. Yesteryear's haunts of the wealthy and privileged are often still great spots to visit today. In the US, these tend to be areas with healing springs, typically found in the mountains. There are often historic old hotels but in modern times, no wealthy tourists seeking the healing waters. The winter retreats in warmer climes have largely been torn down and replaced with modernity. An odd behavior of modern American tourists is to flock south in the heat of summer and into the frigid cold of the mountains in winter. Personally I'd rather go to the warm south in winter and into the cool mountains in summer.

That ceramic stove looks very welcome in the depths of winter.

[the Ferret]

What a wonderful garden. Yesteryear's haunts of the wealthy and privileged are often still great spots to visit today. In the US, these tend to be areas with healing springs, typically found in the mountains. There are often historic old hotels but in modern times, no wealthy tourists seeking the healing waters. The winter retreats in warmer climes have largely been torn down and replaced with modernity. An odd behavior of modern American tourists is to flock south in the heat of summer and into the frigid cold of the mountains in winter. Personally I'd rather go to the warm south in winter and into the cool mountains in summer.

That ceramic stove looks very welcome in the depths of winter.

Snowbird

[Olof_imp]

Epilogue. A friend we met in Saxnäs invited us to their cottage north of Västervik, so we found ourselves merely washing up, repacking and servicing the bikes before we were back on the road again. This would only be a three day trip, so the luggage was significantly lighter. So far we'd managed to stay dry for 99 % of the trip and the forecast looked good, so we challenged the Gods and left the rain gear too. After a few hours of beautiful B-roads we arrived at our overnight stay, the Grimsnäs mansion right on the Swedish US immigration trail.

Grimsnäs


In total 1,3 million Swedes moved to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The migration peaked in the decades after the American Civil War (1861–65) due to an combination of population growth, crop failure and other hardships. Most immigrants became pioneers but some ended up in the the cities, particularly Chicago. The migration tended to follow certain routes and one of them goes straight through the Grimsnäs mansion. We strolled along the route which is still possible to discern, took a photo of the sign and then enjoyed their beer, moose steak with Swedish cheesecake and cloud berries.

The US migration trail sign post


The Grimsnäs mansion home made beer


Dinner

[peterbaron]

Lovely