Just a short post to tell you that I'm back from the holiday trip with my brother. All went well, and broadly according to plan (which was rather flexible to begin with). I have lots of photos, which I've hardly begun to sort and edit yet. So there will be several travel-related posts to come over the next few weeks. But I thought I'd start with a short summary (for my own sake as much as for anyone else's!)
My brother lives in Karlstad (in the province of Värmland), situated on the north shore of Lake Vänern (the largest lake in Sweden). On Thursday, 7 July, he drove down to Borås (where I live), and stayed the night here. On Friday the 8th, we set off together and drove east, past the southern end of Lake Vättern (the smaller oblong lake on the map - but the second largest in Sweden), and north-east to Linköping (in the province of Östergötland), where our aunt and uncle live. On the way we made a stop at Gränna. We arrived in Linköping in the late afternoon (a bit later than planned as we managed to take a wrong turn somewhere on the way...), spent the evening with our aunt and uncle, and the night at a hotel in the city centre.
The next day (Saturday, 9 July) we drove on to Karlstad (again with a couple of stops on the way). Linköping was the only hotel night on the trip this year, as in Karlstad I stayed at my brother's (five nights).
Sunday and Tuesday we spent in the city of Karlstad (where I too lived for 10 years back in my twenties). On the other two days (Monday and Wednesday) we made day trips further up north in Värmland.
And on Thursday the 14th, we drove back down to Borås; but this time on the west side of Lake Vänern (and again with some short stops on the way). We arrived back here in the evening. My brother stayed until after lunch on Friday, which gave us time for a walk downtown and lunch at the restaurant in the city park to finish off our week(+) together.
(photos from my phone)
welcome home and so glad you had a nice time and a whole week with your brother. I have not seen my brother since 2008. I would love to spend even a few days with him.
ReplyDeletecant wait to see what you saw
Thanks Sandra. Quite looking forward to go through my photos myself, but unfortunately it looks like it will be getting rather hot here in the week to come - so remains to be seen how much time I'll be able to spend at the computer... (phew) Glad we managed to time the trip itself to a week with cooler but still mostly sunny weather, though!!
DeleteThanks for a summary of your visit and trip with your brother! Can't wait to have more photos...and a big thanks for the maps to show where you went (since I'm totally illiterate about the terrain and towns of Sweden.)
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara. As I write this blog in English and know that most of my readers aren't that familiar with Sweden, I do realize that a map now and then may be helpful to give a rough idea... ;)
DeleteLovely photos, and i'm looking forward to the others. How often do you gt to see your brother? How is his music coming? Your header is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteGinny, now I hadn't seen him for 2½ years, because of the pandemic. That must the longest time so far that we've not met IRL. While our parents were still living we used to get together as a family for major holidays and birthdays, 4-5 times a year. In later years (after we sold our parents' house, and before the virus) 1-2 times a year. - The header has been up for a while. It's from our trip down south in 2019.
Delete... That must BE ...
DeleteIt sounds like a well balanced holiday, a good mix of trips and staying in one place. Your holiday with your brother almost coincided with my holiday with my sister 😊
ReplyDeleteBut of course we get to see each other a lot more often, as we live less than 15 minutes (on foot) apart.
Meike, it was good to get a whole week for a proper catch-up this time - and also me visiting him as well as he visiting me, for a change!
DeleteWhat a wonderful trip you had.
ReplyDeleteBrings back many happy memories for me, of the time we spent in that area. We were based in Värmland, but I took many trips out on my own, and the names are familiar.
CG, probably even more memories for you to come with my photos from Värmland then! (which is where I spent most of the week)
DeleteI've started catching up!
ReplyDelete