Monday – Uppsala

Leisurely clear up and repatriate odd bits of cooking kit and food to Chardonnay from the Aged P’s cabin.  Chard emptied of unmentionables and fully loaded with clean water and we dropped the Aged P’s N of Stockholm at the airport.  Been really, really good to spend time with them … Mutt is such a supper organised tour guide; you really must not pass the guide book over to me!!!  Helsinki would be a good next meet!!!???

We drove onto Uppsala, home to the first Swedish University in 1477 (Oxford opened in  1096 – but we’re not competitive!).  Has a castle now Art Museum – shut on Mondays.  Has a Gustavianum Museum 1477 with a faithful reconstruction of where public dissections of executed criminals took place – shut on Mondays.  Must remember Mondays are not good for entrances.  The twin towered church was open and we saw the gold shrine containing the Swedish patron Saint Eric.  Uppsala is also well know as the home of Carl Von Linne – for you gardeners out there – he created the two part Latin naming system, the “Systema Naturae” in 1741.  God created and and Linne organised!

King Gustav Vasa brought in Lutheranism and trained his castle cannon on the Church to keep the Bishops in order

Chuch twin towers and dome of Gustavianum

Fab painted Church interior

Parking had been a problem so we had taken up 4 bays, bought multiple tickets and left a note on the windscreen, so we only had 2 hours here.

Drove back to Skokloster Slot, where we had stayed the night before collecting the Aged P’s from the airport.  This time no inconsiderate other ‘van’ – we got prime spot.  BBQ (yes, chicken again!) and watched the sun set over the lake … aah!

Yep – chicken again

Sun setting over Lake Malaren

Tuesday – Sigtuna

Sigtuna is the second oldest town – original main street

St Olaf ruins, one of the 3 of 7 remaining Medieval churches.

Twisted tree outside St Maria Church C13

Amazing choc base with passion fruit cream, and before lunch!

Can you sense his enjoyment?

Not even a crumb left for patient Mrs Mallard

Bike ride to Steninge Slot 1690. Architect Tessin the Elder. Owner Count Axel ven Fersen, Playboy, renowned for his fling with Marie Antoinette

Even the bee hives are painted red for brick and yellow for stone

A lost soul?

One for Nic – she would have skipped, kicking up her heels, through this meadow.

Sigtuna marina – our Tuesday berth

We had not intended staying in Sigtuna but it really took our fancy, a lovely bike ride and beautiful timber houses with real charm. This morning we awoke to our car park being resurfaced by a Cat grader 140M (I am not anal about earthmoving equipment) AND I went out running in the rain for the first time in some months – now on to Birka the oldest town in Sweden….. More anon…..