Thursday 1 August 2019

The Sixth Day - The Last Day


On the sixth and last day of our trip (July 13), we again basically drove the same roads as on Day 1; but still managed to get some variation by making different detours and stopping at other places.

Our first (rather short) stop was at Laholm, a small town which is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and the oldest in the province of Halland. It received its first city charter in the 13th century, when it belonged to Denmark. During the wars between Sweden and Denmark in the 16th and 17 centuries, Laholm was burnt down several times; but it still has narrow little streets reminding of the medieval times. Sitting on the top of a hill, it also has some beautiful views:







However, what seems to have attracted my camera the most during our brief walk-around, was fountains and sculptures:

The girl with birds in her hair reminded me of Pippi Longstocking (and also our present-day teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg). Looking for more info about the sculpture, I only find that it was made by Ernst Eberlein in 1974. And all I find about him is that he was a Danish sculptor who lived 1911-1993. 

However, another website confirms that Laholm does have an unusual amount of sculptures for a small town: about 30 of them, which means one sculpture per 200 inhabitants!

We did not see all of those; but in a garden close to where we parked the car, we could not help noticing this:



He gave me a strange dejá vu feeling when I saw him... A bit eerie, since I don't really remember having visited Laholm before. Might just be those eyes!! (lol) But... If he's been in that same place ever since 1888, I suppose it is possible that I did see him before. (No, not in another life - even if it almost feels like that. But on another trip through this area some 40+ years ago...)

After Laholm, we went in search of a huge iron age burial field, but found a small seashell beach instead... And if you are getting a creepy déja vu feeling now - don't worry! Because yes, I already told that story - in separate post entitled Somewhere by the Sea.


After that little excursion, we went on to Halmstad - another old port city, which once upon a time belonged to Denmark. 
 
There, we started by visiting one of the more modern additions to the city's architecture - a glass building that goes out over the water, housing a public Library and Art Gallery. (And a cafeteria, where we had lunch.) 

Glass sculpture in the Library, Halmstad

After lunch and a look around inside this building, we went for a stroll in the town center. 

Market square

St Nikolai Church, Halmstad
We also had a look inside the church, which among other things has some beautiful stained glass windows.


 Charming old half-timbered buildings



If we hadn't just recently had lunch, we would have been tempted to have coffee/tea here, just because it looked so inviting!

Halmstad also has an old castle, dating back to the early 17th century when Halland was a province of Denmark. Since then,the castle has been restored several times. Nowadays it is the residence and offices of the governor of Halland County. Some other local authorities have offices here as well. (As it is not open to the public as a museum, we only had a look outside.)

Old ship at the quayside near the castle, Halmstad

From Halmstad we drove along the coast back up to Varberg.

We decided not to go all the way out to this lighthouse, though.
(The first photo is my original; the second is cropped.)


Old windmill




The seaside resort Varberg was our first stop on Day 1; and also our last stop on the way home. This time, we did not go up to the fort, but had tea/ coffee at the café out at the old open air bath house (built in 1903).



As it was still nice and sunny at the coast, but we saw clouds  towering up over the inland, we did not feel in a hurry to leave the seaside... So we lingered for a bit, and also went for a walk on the pier.

Eventually it was time to get back to the car for the last 90 km drive inland back to Borås, though... 

And "of course" - when we were about five minutes from home... 


Never mind! As those were the only drops of rain we had that whole week, not much to complain about!



SkyWatch Friday

18 comments:

  1. What a wonderful place to visit. I like the cute statue of the girl with the birds in her hair. Pretty views of the water and boats. Enjoy your day, wishing you a great weekend ahead.

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    1. Thanks for visiting and commenting, Eileen :)

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  2. These are the most beautiful places yet! I love the fat windmill...can anyone go inside? Since it is old, it would not be working, so only a tourist attraction? My favorite of all is the little pigtail girl! Laholm is beautiful. And that library/art gallery, wow!! It would be worth it if that was the only thing you saw n vacation. I see the bicycle sign is in English. Just got your card I LOVE it!!

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    1. Ginny, we only made a short stop so I could snap a photo, but I got the impression that mill belongs to a B&B, so I suppose it is incorporated somehow in their business.

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  3. Your trip was marvelous - love the buildings, stained glass, and water scenes

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  4. Beautiful photos. It looks like perfect summer weather.

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    1. Thanks, and yes, we did have rather perfect summer weather the whole week!

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  5. I doubt I will ever be able to visit Sweden (but who knows??), so I really enjoyed this beautiful tour!

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    1. Who knows indeed. But I see on your blog you have beaches of your own worth visiting! :)

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  6. Road trips are the best. I wonder if it's easy for foreigners to do a road trip there.

    Worth a Thousand Words

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    1. PC, as most people in Sweden speak English, I don't think there would be too many problems. At major tourist sites there are even often signs and brochures available in English.

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  7. A picture book summer holiday post, Monica; I love it!
    The "Pippi" sculpture is fun, but I think I could not have resisted the lighthouse or the café. Napoleon is a bit eerie with that black eyeliner! And the castle looks like an interesting work place, even if it is "just" office work and administrative tasks.

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    1. Meike, our plans were rather sketchy to begin with, and we tried to keep them flexible. Which sometimes means to skip one thing, but have time left for something unplanned instead.

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  8. The building on the pier almost looks kind of russian-ish to me, but through your photos there are so many things to explore there

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    1. Amy, there was indeed a lot to explore during our trip, and many places where one could have stayed longer. On the other hand, seeing a little of many different places has its own charm as well!

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  9. all the photos are simply beautiful, you really had a great vacation. I especially like the closeups of the old wooden boats at the end and love that glass hanging sculpture. i always enjoy seeing all the old buildings as we don't have many of those here

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    1. Yes many of the places we were visiting on this trip were really steeped in history with a lot of old buildings left to remind us of it :)

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