Two weeks of vacation

These past two weeks have been rather hectic. The same day my vacation started I visited the Malmö festival in the evening. I went mainly for the food, which is a little different with international influences. That day the weather also changed. In my opinion for the better. It's about ten degrees cooler now and it rains occasionally.

Saturday two weeks ago I went to the summerhouse and the next day I joined my mother and her boyfriend on a trip to Gotland. First we drove through Småland and made a stop at a very weird museum with several different displays; alarm clocks, figurines with accordions and tramps and the folklore related to them. The main reason for visiting was the handcraft items these tramps had produced from wire and metal. There were things like coasters, whisks and candleholders. My mother has done some of this type of handcraft and wanted ideas and inspiration. In the evening we made it to Oskarshamn, where we drove onboard a large ferry. After three hours we arrived at Visby. It was after midnight when we came to the B & B (where my sister and her family were already installed).

The week on Gotland contained a lot of sightseeing, we drove out every day. The island is known for rock formations ("raukar", sea stacks), sheep and an agricultural landscape. We visited a light house, nature preserves, geology & history museums, a cave with stalactites, a herb garden, several old ruins, the Visby botanical garden, a sock knitting factory and quite a few outlet stores and shops both in Visby and the countryside. My niece and I started every day by jumping into the swimming pool. It was truly marvellous.We also went to the beach, which was near the B & B. We all had one day of the week where we would be in charge of dinner. On my day I opted for as little cooking as possible and offered hamburgers and corn on the cob. It was well received. Our visit was at the end of the tourist season and my mother made some bargains when she got large flower pots at 50% off and souvenirs at 20% off. I found out that the souvenirs were cheapest in the grocery store! In all, we enjoyed our visit to Gotland very much.

After getting back to Oskarshamn on the ferry we drove west to Borås. The week there was also nice with a visit to the outdoor pool with my niece, shopping at second hand stores and a road trip to another town. During my visit I gave myself a present - a car. Yes, after 32 years as a train commuter I have given up and bought a car. It's a grey Hyundai, last year's model. Yesterday my mother and her boyfriend drove back to the summerhouse and I drove home. On the way I made a strategic stop at Ullared, which is a large shopping place pretty much out in nowhere. I limited my purchases to four pieces of garment and some small kitchen/decorative items.