Helsingborg - City

Helsingborg is a very beautiful harbor city. It used to be the main crossing point between Sweden and Denmark with ferries going back and forth every couple of minutes. This is where cars, trains, and trucks loaded onto ferries used to cross. Since the building of the bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen, all trains and most cars and trucks now go across the bridge. Nevertheless, the ferry traffic between Helsingborg and Helsingör (Elsinore) seems to be as profitable and active as ever. Every few minutes there was a ferry full of passengers going over the sound. Why? Because the Swedes go across to buy and bring back huge amounts of beer and wine, which is much cheaper in Denmark. The Seafarers' Godess (Sjöfartsgudinnan) by the sculptor Carl Milles protects the harbor.

Since the trains and trucks do not come here anymore, the old warehouse areas have given way to new construction of condominiums, restaurants, cafes, a boardwalk, and a marina for private boats.
The old city hall.

One of the most famous tourist attractions in Helsingborg is the old fort, Kärnan, also called Helsingborg's Castle. It was built between 1202-1205 and was one of Denmark's most important fortifications. Yes, Helsingborg was a part of Denmark until 1658.

From the top you have a pretty view of the sound and Denmark on the other side.





The beautiful Sankta Maria church was first built in the 11th century and then rebuilt in the 15th century. For a few years around 1657-58 one of my favorite composers, Dietrich Buxtehude, was the organist here.

Dinner at Olsons Skafferi. Waiting for the food

Thomas seems to be happy,

Arne is not so sure,

Publish Postand Eleanor is just looking pretty.

Helsingborg - Vandrarhemmet (Hostel)

On Tuesday we rented a car and drove down to Helsingborg in southern Sweden. We - that is Cliff, Thomas, and I, and my sister Birgitta, her husband Arne, and their three grandchildren, Fabian, Eleanor and Alfred. We stayed in this hostel, KFUM Nyckelbo, right outside of Helsingborg. It was a fantastic place with an outdoor patio where we could eat breakfast,
a great front yard where the kids could play soccer,

picnic tables where we could eat dinner bought at a nearby store,

and a short walk down to Öresund where those who wanted could swim (here, Fabian, Eleanor, Thomas, and Cliff).

We could also watch the sun set. Denmark is on the other side of the sound.

Jämtland Day 5-6

The next day the wind was strong and it was raining a lot in the morning. We decided to take it easy and wait for the weather to clear up a bit. And this is what is so fascinating about the weather in the mountains. It can change from sunshine, to rain, to snow, to hail, and back to sunshine within an hour. And that is exactly what happened on the hike we did today. We decided to walk halfway up to Sylarna, which is an 16 km (10 miles) hike round trip.

The wooden planks that someone (who is in charge of that?) had put out on many of the trails were a real help. These planks saved you from walking in deep marsh water.
If you get lost on the way from Storulvån to Sylarna, you can follow the telephone poles (if there isn't a snow storm, of course). These telephone poles were the only reminders of civilization as you can walk for miles and miles without seeing anybody or hearing any noise pollution.
After 8 kilometers we reach a little hut, just in time to avoid a hail storm.
The wind measure showed gusts of 20 meter/second, i.e. almost storm winds.
But here it is dying down, so it is time to hike back.

As we leave other hikers are eager to get inside for their lunch break.
And now we can see blue sky for a while.

Back in the lodge the big event for the evening was to listen to the European soccer cup game between Germany and Turkey. The lodge did not have a TV, so after much searching we found this radio that we were able to hook up to an antenna.
A toast for Germany's 3-2 win.
I wanted to get a picture of the late night sun, but unfortunately it was cloudy. But to show you how light it is at night I took the above picture at 11:30 pm.

The next day it was time to head back to Stockholm. We wished we could have had more time so that we could have completed the triangle, but that will have to wait until another time.
We took the day train from Enafors to Stockholm, which took about 10 hours.

Jämtland Day 4

As we woke up it was still snowing, which would not have been a problem if the wind had not been gusting at 20-25 m/sek, i.e., almost storm. We were supposed to walk 19 km (almost 12 miles) to the lodge at Sylarna 1035 meter (3400 feet) above sea level.
Harald, who is a very experienced mountaineer, is checking out the situation.
He, and all the other guests at Blåhammaren, realized that it would not be safe to hike to Sylarna since you could not see the trail very well. Therefore, we had two options, either wait at Blåhammaren and walk the following day, or head back to Storulvån. Some people stayed at Blåhammaren, but we decided to walk back to Storulvån for several reasons. 1. We knew the way, and it was only 12 km. 2. We would have the wind at our backs. 3. After about half the way, we would be down at considerably lower altitude, where the weather usually is better. 4. There was nothing to do at Blåhammaren.
So, here we go.

If you think we were wimps, read this link. The article is about two athletes who died last week when they were caught in a snow storm while participating in a race up Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. The weather there was nice when the race began but turned bad a couple of hours into the run. True, this was a much higher mountain, and they were running, not hiking, but the problem is that you have to have respect for the weather in the mountains at all times.
Another example of this problem the fate of "Armfeldts Karoliner," the army of the Swedish King Karl (Charles) XII. In 1718 Karl came up with the brilliant idea that he could redeem himself from his humiliating defeat by Peter the Great of Russia with a quick conquest of Norway. In August he took his army across the border near Blåhammaren. In October he headed for the Norwegian city of Trondheim. However, after the king himself was shot and killed on November 30, his main general, Armfeldt, tried to make it back to Sweden. As they were crossing the border a sudden snow storm hit. 3000 of 6000 men died. Of this we can learn two things:
1. Don't fight the Norwegians.
2. Don't hike in a snow storm.

The Carolingian Death March is memorialized in a famous painting. A reproduction hangs on the wall of the lodge in Storulvån:
We fared better. As we suspected, after about two hours of hiking down the mountain, the weather cleared up a bit. Snow was replaced with rain and the wind died down considerably.

We reached the 'vindskydd,' the hut half way down, ate our lunch and waited to see if the rain would stop, which in fact it did.
When we came back to Storulvån the weather seemed almost agreeable, at least for the time being.
Now we could relax with a book, take a sauna, play some cards and wait for another delicious meal.

Jämtland Day 3

Now it is time for the first leg of the hike around the Jämtlandstriangeln. We are setting off for Blåhammaren, a mountain lodge one can only reach by walking or, in the winter, skiing. This first day will be relatively short, only 12 kilometers (7.4 miles), but it is an uphill hike, especially the last half before reaching Blåhammaren , which is located at 1086 meters (3560 feet) above sea level.

The good news is that you do not have to carry any water in the Swedish mountains. There are plenty of streams with clean fresh water to drink.
The weather is beautiful and quite warm.
Picture by Harald

And the views spectacular. There is still a lot of snow left. In the background you can see Sylarna - a mountain range between Sweden and Norway. This is where we are supposed to go tomorrow.
This was the only place we had a bit of a hard time to follow the trail. We had to take off our boots and walk across in the ice cold water. But it was no big deal since we were half way and getting ready to have our lunch at the ''vindskydd,'' a little hut set up for the hikers and skiers.

Inside it was quite cozy, and if you got stuck here, you could light a fire in the fireplace and sleep over.

As you can see from these pictures, it is easy to follow the trail - as long as it is not snowing.

Picture by Harald

Picture by Harald

We are getting higher and higher up the mountain, and the sky seems to get darker and darker.After about five hours, including the lunch break, we reach Blåhammaren. It was not a very strenuous hike. If you are in reasonably good shape you can do it, too.
The view from Blåhammaren is fantastic. On one side the Swedish mountains, on the other the Norwegian mountains.
The view from our bedroom. Sylarna are in the background.

A toast for a successful first day!
After the sauna it was time for the evening meal, a three course meal with smoked reindeer heart as an appetizer, char (a kind of salmon) with shrimp sauce as entree, and a vanilla pannacotta as desert. In addition, there was homemade bread and an assortment of salads.
The chef came out and presented the menu and the waiter presented the wines he had picked out for the meal. Do I have to add that everything was delicious?


However, checking out the window after the dinner, the weather did not look very promising. Not only was it snowing, but the wind was picking up by the hour. Storm winds were to be expected the next day.


It is not possible to see very much anymore!