It’s quite a long way from Stockholm to Oslo,my next target(560km).After yesterday’s hot sun it was depressingly showery and grey,but I covered a total of 340 km today.Determined to utilise my Allesmansratten(‘all man’s rights’)tonight,I finally drove down to the shore of lake Vanern,near Karlstad,and I am parked at a quiet little marina and fishing dock.There seems to be a commercial lake fishery of a number of species and direct sales of fresh and smoked fish are possible from the small packing shed.The lake is vast(maybe 120km long) and of course I can’t see the other side. It is windy and fairly rough this evening , although the sun has now come out.
En-route today I stopped at a couple of castles.The first,Gripsholm,is about 50km out of Stockholm on the shore of lake Malaren.This is another huge lake,which winds all the way back to Stockholm(Drottningholm is on an arm of the same lake)
Gripsolm castle is one of nine palaces in the Royal estate.It is a late medieval castle with renaissance interiors(which looks like British Tudor period)although some décor is from the 17th and 18th centuries.30 rooms were on display,some a bit rough round the edges,but the 'Tudor' rooms with panelled carved walls and painted wooden ceilings,were impressive.There is a tiny 18th century theatre with all the original stage furnishings and machinery viewable.This was installed by Gustav III, who clearly was a thespian as he also built the theatre at Drottningholm.All sorts of activity was going on outside the castle.There was a narrow gauge steam railway in action,a vintage car show on the quay,and much boating activity.
En-route today I stopped at a couple of castles.The first,Gripsholm,is about 50km out of Stockholm on the shore of lake Malaren.This is another huge lake,which winds all the way back to Stockholm(Drottningholm is on an arm of the same lake)
Gripsolm castle is one of nine palaces in the Royal estate.It is a late medieval castle with renaissance interiors(which looks like British Tudor period)although some décor is from the 17th and 18th centuries.30 rooms were on display,some a bit rough round the edges,but the 'Tudor' rooms with panelled carved walls and painted wooden ceilings,were impressive.There is a tiny 18th century theatre with all the original stage furnishings and machinery viewable.This was installed by Gustav III, who clearly was a thespian as he also built the theatre at Drottningholm.All sorts of activity was going on outside the castle.There was a narrow gauge steam railway in action,a vintage car show on the quay,and much boating activity.
 Gripsholm Royal castle  Gripsholm-main entrance  an 11th century Runic stone in Gripsholm grounds |  Gripsholm ,from lake Malaren  Gripsholm-16th century "Tudor" interior  an 11th century Runic stone in Gripsholm grounds |
Later,as it was on my route, I called into the centre of Orebro to see the castle there too.It is from the same period,and the design looks similar to Gripsholm, both rather different in style to British castles.Unfortunately,despite the website saying it was open till 5pm,that turned out to be just the shop and the last tour was 1-30,which I missed.It still seems to the the official residence of the county Governor.Seemingly the thing to do on a Saturday,a number of people were driving around the town in vintage American cars,without indicating when turning.
 Orebro castle |  |
Shortly after rejoining the main road I passed through the town of Karlscoga (population 30,000).This turned out to have been the home of Alfred Nobel,who made his money,from which the Nobel prize trust was created, from his armaments firm Bofors ,still a presence in the town, and still making armaments.He patented dynamite and gelignite ,too.This is all a bit difficult to square up with his pacifism and philanthropy. The Bofors gun was of course an anti-aircraft cannon in wide use in WW2.(Of course well after Alfred Nobel‘s time,who died in 1895)
I passed signs to the Nobel museum but felt it might be it a bit on the dry side so gave it a miss. I moved on to Karlstad and spent some time following up promising roads on the small peninsular until I managed to find one which led down to the lakeside, and the marina. This had a large gravelled parking area and the few people still tinkering with their boats didn't give me a second glance as I settled in for a night's stay.
I passed signs to the Nobel museum but felt it might be it a bit on the dry side so gave it a miss. I moved on to Karlstad and spent some time following up promising roads on the small peninsular until I managed to find one which led down to the lakeside, and the marina. This had a large gravelled parking area and the few people still tinkering with their boats didn't give me a second glance as I settled in for a night's stay.
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