Day 25: Last day on my Cycling trip - to Örebro

I have not got used to the how the weather can totally change from one day to the next.  It was still cloudy when I pulled back the curtains, but by the time I was ready to load Maggie, there was sunshine and blue skies.  OK!!  I can handle this!
my breakfast was as yummy as ever - muesli, yoghurt, bread rolls, cheese and brie, tomato and the addition of freshly picked and lightly sauteed asparagus from their garden, continued the feeling of being somewhere special (all for $100)...  totally the top of my list of places I have stayed at on this journey...  and not only that - an atlas of Sweden was brought out and we found a track to take me away from the highway to meet up with the road I had planned to ride.
As usual, my map reading failed a couple of times, but late in the day I discovered that if I actually pressed the "Start Navigation" button a little compass comes up on the screen to show me which is north and south!!  how many times I had wished for this - I have lost count.  but all will be well on my next trip!!

so where to today?  with the sun shining the countryside was just so pretty...  so green and there were huge banks of lily of the valley all out in flower - I stopped to smell the lilies a few times, but I resisted the urge to pick them...  there were snacks beside still lakes, the reflections almost perfect.  Not so much farming land and gentle up and downs.  At one of the lakes there was a tiny island with a cottage and boat shed on it - ahhh...  to own your own island.  while I photography it a Storlom (Black-throated Diver - in English) popped up out of the water right in front of me...  click click click...  I hope I caught an image of it before it dived down and again...  so smiles all round.

I arranged to meet Anders and Agnete at the railway station in Hallsberg, which is just south of Örebro, so once leaving Åsbro, there was little option - the highway or this little track thru the forest.  well, it looked good and then it turned into the old road that ran high on the banks above the motorway - but that abruptly ended in a cliff - luckily I had Maggie well under control then.  so we slid down the bank..  Left to the motorway or right thru the forest...  lets go right, it shows a track over the railway line.  but maybe there was once a track there, but not any more...  so back to the highway and about 2kms later I was on a bike path leading in Hallsberg.
I have been to Hallsberg a couple of times, its just south of Örebro.  there is a museum for Carl and Karin Larsson - Swedish artists that I love - and it was great to see A&A waiting for me outside the railway station.  I think there might be a photo of me riding in, just in case any of you think I caught the train...  (just getting in first MissW!!)

So taking it easy now...  will work on the photos when I get some time....  I promise!

My bedroom in Kristberg Rusthall

The Hallway

The lounge and breakfast area

and the house - I really loved this place

pretty blue lupins - usually they are purple or pink - sometimes white

a mountain for my Carl - thankfully it wasn't too high!

and a beautiful lake near by

perfect to sit and have fika

Lily of the Valley perfuming the air

green carpet of moss and blueberry bushes under old pine trees

Coffee and weinerbrod!!  Yay! they were open!

lycra lass waiting for the train to pass

fluffy white grass flowers in boggy ground

The Boat Shed

well this means the end of my cycling trip is near....

Whooping swans in green grass, not blue seas

they do look much different than the usual mute swan

lakes glinting in the sunshine - throughout the whole day

how about an island just for yourself

will this forest track take me all the way to Hallsberg - maybe not!

rather flash residence just south of Hallsbery

and here I am - arriving at the Hallsberg railway station
- top cycling fashion clothes too!!

Day 24: Up and down, hot and cold and a bit of wet gets me to wonderful Kristberg's Rusthall...

well, if you are coming to Sweden and want to see what their farming countryside is like, ask me and I will show you the way...  a pretty ride today, but would have been really wonderful if there had been some sun...
but as I have been expecting all along on this trip - it was cold, grey, wet in some places and a tad windy in others...  but it is so pretty...  I didn't take too many photos as why would you drag your camera out in that weather....  but there will be some - hang in....  patience is a virtue and all that jazz...

while I was planning this trip I booked accom for tonight at this nice looking B&B - Kristbergs Rusthall - Christ's mountain rest hall...  roughly translated.  and man...  it is so beautiful.  especially as I am the only one here - but I feel like I am a guest at a genteel woman's country residence.  It has everything that is in Swedish Country magazine books.  embroideries, crochet work runners, starched tablecloth - beautiful old timber dresser - wooden floors and ceilings - rugs on the floor....  and creaks and groans..  so maybe ghosts too....

there's even a washing machine and dryer - but of course, this is the one night that I don't need them - tomorrow I will be in Orebro!!

so....  tomorrow it will be warming up again..  or so they say!

now to plug all the things in to be charged, download clips and photos and then hit the sack...

can't believe this tour is almost over...  but looking back there have been so many wonderful places I have been too - there is just so much history around these ridges!

my conversation continues - but they didn't know where Mama Moo is either...

unusual round barn - maybe horse exercise space inside

another view with farm machinery for Carl

for those that have been missing the canola - just a strip for you

arriving at Gota Canal

the sheep were reluctant to move - why would anyone be cycling in this weather?

a rather grand residence

Borensborg canal crossing - no sailing boats today

Day 23: Past lakes and forests to Rimforsa

I had a quick look around town - there was a market happening in the Stor Torget and it was just like Yungaburra Markets, but without the local farmers and their fruit and veg...  took me right back! - I pedalled out to Astrid Lingren's Varld - ie amusement park based on the stories by Astrid Lingren of course - and Pippi Longstocking...  but the queue was so long and the price was too high for just a quick look around,  so I decided to head off on my way to Rimforsa.

today I trusted the SverigeLeden signs and they took me exactly where I wanted to go this time.  hardly any time on the main roads, just small and sealed roads winding through farmlands and thru the typical Sverige forests of pine, birch and still oak and sycamore...  still heaps of wildflowers and I saw again today several patches of lily of the valley....  ahhh....  the hedges around most of the farm houses has lilac and the flowers are blooming in their purples, maroon, pink and white and the perfume is really quite lovely!

and there were lakes today too...  riding along a road with a lake at its edge is really very nice.  but there were some ridges to ride up, but Ms Google told me they would settle down after the first half of the ride.  One grind took me up to Djursala and the farm lands there were up the side of the hills with cows stuck half way up - also reminded me of Malanda - so a bit of FNQ day today...  really pretty country here...

I had told myself not to stress about the hills today and just take it easy and this is what I did - and it ended up being a really pleasant ride.  the weather was cool and it did rain later in the afternoon.  still a bit of juggle getting the right amount of layers - but grinding up the hills makes me hot, then the wind chill factor coming down freezes me ears and makes me eyes run....  just can't get it right!!

it started to lightly rain just out of Rimforsa, but not enough to stop and put on all the wet weather gear.  I stopped at a Gamla Kyrka - ie old Church - but I think there were some recent renovations.  it did have a real chill in the building but it was really calming.  Particularly like the WC in a little house out the back - my first visit to a Combustion toilet - will post the instructions fyi later.

arriving into Rimforsa is really pretty, its on a lake and was feeling rather chilly, damp and tired but found my lodgings for the night no worries... But wait - there's no one here, no key for me in the letter box,  so a few phone calls to various numbers only revealed recorded messages and wah???  my swedish lessons weren't long enough...  so I opened the envelope for the other person and found another phone number and eventually, a guy turns up, gives me a key, takes my money and just under an hour later I am in my room....  I have had some really easy to find places and then again, not so easy... this was one of them....  was a bit miffed because I thought I would be staying in a rather grand mansion - but ended up in a comfortable but felt like an old folks home - institutional No 1...  so yeah, the cranky Chris showed up for awhile....

so here are some photos - but there won't be any canola pics - saw only one paddock and it was not in full flower!!  how far north have I come !!

tables set up ready for the buyers to arrive

Astrid Lingren's World - entry gate - I hadn't got to the end of the queue to buy a tick
so I quit....

Trying to see inside without a ticket - failed

again, peering over the tall fence - failed again!!!

one of the many beautiful lakes

with a beautiful barn close by

can you get more Swedish than this??

Farmlands at Djursala - beautiful country here even tho there are hills

and a beautiful house to live in

Lupins!!!!

so now we are in timber country and the bell tower is all timber apart from the bel

and the church walls are clad in timber shingles - beautifully designed

but boohoo!!  the door was locked - wished I could have a squiss inside

into the forest for lunch - away from the traffic - peaceful...

nooo...  I don't think its a face - or???

I thought this would be a bridge, but it was a causeway - crossing a large
lake system

nice place to launch a kayak

Gamla kyrka

loved the contemporary design of the pews - or are they old?

a beautiful view from the graveyard

and the combustion toilet with instructions as promised