Off to Strangnas, Daniel’s hometown. We took the subway to the train station and had a nice ride on a smooth quiet and clean train. His apartment was a 10 minute walk and it was right in the middle of a nice small town.
A nice new trainA nice fall day walking thru StrangnasVery nice old part of town. The red paint, Falun red, is commonly used in old wooden cottages, barns, and houses. This “paint” dates back to the 1700’s. It is more of a dye than a paint, made from copper mine tailings, linseed oil, flour and water. It not only acts as a paint but it protects the wood from decay. This historic district requires that you use this Falun red to color(paint) your house.This gentleman is painting his house with Falun red. I talked to him and ask about his Wisconsin baseball hat. He got his PHD from Wisconsin back in the 70s and then moved back to Sweden to to teach economics at a Swedish university. It’s a small world! “Go Badgers” he shouted as we walked away.An old windmill,still in good shape after 100 plus yearsThis is the Strangnas cathedral, dating back to 1260, it has one of the oldest working libraries in Sweden. The library dates back to 1316. It is still accessible, just need an appointment to visit the library inside the cathedral.A runestone outside of the cathedral. Sweden has over 3,000 runestones, most date back to the 11th century, the end of the Viking Age.Gyllenhjelmsgatan is deemed the most beautiful street in Sweden. A Swedish poet deemed this in one of his poems so it must be so. Our guide says it looks even better when the flowers are in full bloom.Another small library. They pop up all over Sweden. They are proud of their libraries, big and small.On the train ride back to Stockholm we saw a truck assembly plant. I was not aware that Saab and Volvo (Swedish auto companies) sold out to the Chinese. The cars are now made in China. The trucks, both Volvo and Saab, are made in Sweden. We finished the day back in Stockholm at a small nice restaurant in an old gentrified area of Stockholm. Daniel’s friend, Christian, met us for dinner. It was like another ‘people to people’ experience talking to Christian. He lives around the corner and he was willing to tell us about his life in Sweden. A very nice evening.After dinner we walked by one of Stockholm’s public librariesAnd of course we stopped inAnd books galore! Scaffolding is there for renovations and painting.
Rod and Patty Jenkins are retired and enjoy traveling. We hope you enjoy our posts as we we see different locations around the globe.
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