December 2 - Monday

Lily of the Valley, sculpture by Klara Kristalova; Falkenberg, Sweden

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!

On the Road - Skywatch Friday

On the road towards Varberg on the west coast (Monday July 8 - the first day of our holiday). The grey&black striped plastic around the hay bales in the fields (first photo) made them look like giant pieces of licorice candy. 



 
Kallbadhuset (the "cold bath house") at the seaside resort Varberg in the province of Halland Sweden: The present building is from 1903, but there have been similar bathhouses here ever since 1866. 

The First Day

First Day
From Borås to Båstad/Ö.Karup

The nearest seaside resort to Borås is Varberg, 90 km away; in the province of Halland (Sweden). In Varberg you'll find both rocky beaches (which continue north into Bohuslän) and sandy ones (predominant in the south). Varberg has been a popular seaside resort ever since the early 1800s. It also has an old fortress, dating back to the 1280s; nowadays housing a historical museum, restaurant/café and a hostel. We've been to Varberg before, but it's always nice to get back there in summer. On this trip it was both our first stop (Monday, for lunch), and the last (Saturday pm, for tea/coffee).

View from the fortress

The fortress in the background

Falkenberg is also a popular tourist destination in the summers -
a nice little town, with a long sandy beach to the south. My original plan was to skip this town on the way down (but maybe stop there on the way back). However, a warning light on the car's dashboard brought us there anyway, to get that checked out at a garage. (Turned out not to be anything serious, and caused us no further trouble the rest of the trip.) And then, when trying to get out on the motorway again, we very nearly got stuck in a complicated traffic jam (caused by an accident on the motorway, we found out later)... Per managed to somehow maneuver us out of it, though; and found another road to take us in the right direction. But as Falkenberg seemed so insistent on keeping us there, we decided we might as well drive into the city for a look around and some tea/coffee first, before we continued our journey. We wandered some streets up and down before finding a café; but I seem not to have taken any  photos - probably still a bit shaken by the car/traffic incidents!

Unplanned visit

Intricate traffic jam

When we finally got out of Falkenberg, we drove pretty much straight on to our hotel/motel at Östra Karup on Hallandsås (a ridge on the border between the provinces Halland and Skåne).

Having checked in and rested for a little while, we drove to the nearby seaside town Båstad, and ended up having a nice and relaxed evening in the harbour there. The first little eatery we happened to come across also turned out to be having a country & western troubadour evening, starting just as we arrived - and comfortable seats in a tent providing shelter from the wind... So we sat there for an hour or so; and then went for a nice stroll along the harbour before we returned to the hotel.