20 – 25 July 2021
Time flies far too fast here in Fellingsbro!! Before breakfast Maria always goes for a short, sharp walk through the forest. I take to the idea and join her. I love this mixed woodland, there are pines, birches with their white bark, maple and other trees whose names I actually don’t know. There are also fields of fast growing willow, which is cut into wood chips and used as sustainable fuel.
The ground is covered by blueberry bushes and suddenly I spot this moss which we used for Christmas decoration back in the seventies – actually it is rather lichen (Flechte) than moss. I love these morning walks through peaceful Sweden.
On the way back we pass barley, oats and wheat fields. There are elks in the surrounding forests and they love eating oats. They come out of their hideouts at dusk and you might have the chance to spot some of them.
And we do! Maria and Per (her husband) take me on a „elk safari“. We spot a whole elk family, two calves and another single elk. Unfortunately they are rather far away and the telephoto lens on the mobile phone is not really good while the telephoto lens on the camera is of no use at all with these extremly limited light conditions.
It might have been on the way from this elk-spotting when I totally fell in love with Sweden. I find it so enormously peaceful here. I like the combination of tradition and modern style the Swedes are very skilled in executing and I love the long stretches of seemingly unspoiled nature. There is seldom a high-voltage line impeding the view of a lovely scenery, or an ugly building horribly clashing the picture.
While it’s getting darker and darker lamps have been lit in windows to greet the repatriates and the wayfarer. And there it is – almost full – red, almost Swedish falun red, gorgeous, a red ball hanging above the countryside – a moon at almost midnight.
Anna’s hus – that’s what the guesthouse is called – is a wonderful old Swedish house. I do not stay in the guesthouse, though, but in my camper van, which is parked next to the vegetable garden. I love picking red currant or gooseberries and sugarsnaps and eating them off the bush.
I’m surprised about the constant breeze here in the middle of Sweden. I would not have thought there would be a lot of wind in the middle of this vast country. But it is very pleasing as temperatures rise up to 29 degrees these days – what summer! In Switzerland, meanwhile, there are new thunderstorms announced, with hail and inundations. So, rather stay in Sweden. I also observe the Corona situation consulting online newspapers – here, I have almost forgotten that Corona has ever existed. You hardly see someone wearing a face mask . It’s absolutely relieving to live this way again.
One afternoon we go to Örebro where Maria studied and one of her daughters is working in a café to earn some money. We have lunch in that café and I leave the two to a mother-daughter talk. When walking down the streets here in Örebro I am surprised again about the expertise with which Swedes combine old and new.
Wadköping is a cluster of really old house mustered next to the town’s beautiful park. We stroll through the small shops with their handycraft outlays and have „fika“ (afternoon tea or rather coffee and cake) in the park’s greenhouses – one of them being converted into a lovely restaurant.
I am very happy these days and I actually do not want to leave – one thing is for sure, though, this will not be my last visit to Sweden. I’ve really grown to like it a lot.
