Day 14: Collection Day

Karina and I had a bit of a rough night in our Charcoal Burner’s hut.  Well… those guys did it pretty tough back then, so we weren’t expecting five star treatment.  The main problem with the beds was the leaning one way or the other.  My bed sloped towards the door – but we had been advised that we must sleep with our head near the door because of the fireplace at the other end of the hut.  The pillows were very thin so I spent most of the night, trying to think what I could put under the pillow.  Eventually, I found my gel seat that I had brought inside off my bike, in case it rained.  It did help a little.  Karina’s bed had a list to starboard, so she kept rolling onto the wall.  She said she didn’t get too much sleep, but I thought maybe she slept better than that – the deep breathing gave it away!

They found us in a forest

But morning came eventually and we climbed out of our beds and went for a bit of a splash in the small stream to wake ourselves up.  We raided the store room and filled our plates with muesli, bread buns and some jam & marmalade, plus brought the kettle back to boil some water for coffee.

Hitching a ride to Orebro

We got the fire going and were toasting some bread and discussing which way we might start riding so that we might meet with Agnete & Anders along the way, when we heard some talking and up the track came Anders & Agnete.  So no more biking for us now! 

It was so good to see them and for Karina to meet her aunty and make friends with her uncle again!

Put some more water in the kettle for coffee!!  Soon weare the cleaning dishes, packing panniers and wheeling our bikes down to the Suzuki for their ride into Örebro. 


Tapestry - design by Corneillev

We did a little detour going to an exhibition of prints and some tapestry all designed by Corneillev – a French artist.  It was a really nice exhibition space and the bright colourful ‘art deco’ like prints were quite beautiful.  http://www.galleriastley.com/ if you want more info.  The gallery is in a small village of Uttesberg – there used to be a railway line thru there, but not anymore.  The permanent collection is paintings and sculpture by the Russian-American artist, Ernst Neizvestny.  Follow the link for futher info - http://www.galleriastley.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=258&Itemid=1&lang=en

Ernst Neizvestny - gruesome stuff

Checking out an alternative

Threading smultron on a straw

Susannah and her cake

my portion - oh yes!

We dropped in on Susannah & Anders for lunch so that Karina could catch up with some family – meet her cousin Susannah and their children Lina and Gustav.  This is what we come to Sweden for – and it felt very comfortable being with them again.  The end of the meal was topped by a strawberry cake – like never tasted before.  A sponge cake cooked with a layer of meringue – then split in half, filled with cream, then topped with more cream and strawberries!  Yes it is strawberry time in Sweden – yum yum!!

Visiting the gravesite of grandparents, Ramsberg

Then into Örebro our final leg of the bike riding journey completed!