Disembarking late in the afternoon into the charming town centre of Ystad, I set off east along the coast, dodging a heavy rain shower to be rewarded with rainbows spanning the glowing fields of crops, and startling a badger at the side of the road, the first time I can recall seeing one in the wild
Aimed for and arrived at a "lägerplats" hikers shelter to camp, adjacent to the beach which stretches for miles in a plenty of room for all kind of way. Sweden has "Allemansrätten", the right to roam and camp anywhere (within reason), but also, in common with Denmark, provides designated free campgrounds not accessible to vehicles, usually with a roofed but open sided shelter and a drop toilet. This one was already populated by a German couple from the ferry, a french chick cycling south, and a Chilean/ Argentinian holidaying around via public transport.
Next day followed the coast for a while, via some charming wooden fishing villages, strange rock formations and ancient carvings, before deciding that the tourist traffic was too much and turning to quieter roads inland.
Detoured to a village has which declared itself a republic, but disappointingly it seems just to be a publicity stunt for the local cafe.
It Rains here. heavily, persistently. Sometimes!
Now passing apple orchards, but there is a strong sweet fragrance in the air - fields of cherries.
Soon the forest and farmland becomes forest and lakes, lakes and forests, mixture of managed plantation destruction and tranquil spacious glades full of moss covered rocky outcrops and bilberries
Met a German bloke pulling a little cube shaped trailer, which would extend to be long enough to sleep in, a kind of bicycle caravan. Wouldn't fancy pulling it up hills though!
Also a family from the Pyrenees doing the Baltic route - allegedly the kids idea!
Lots of roadside signs - I should have catalogued the variety of different "slow! Don't run over the cat" (or children) signs. The other common site is "Loppis" (flea market), with households regularly setting out bric a brac tables.
Mainly I'm following small roads through the forest, which are often packed gravel, connecting the frequent homesteads, smallholdings and holiday houses, and sometimes forestry tracks of rougher, loose gravel, or worse, a sandy surface, which my heavy bike slips and slides in. I will take another look at a "bikepacking" setup in the future, might need to get another new bike though...
Occasionally amidst the forest appears a town (hopefully with a supermarket).
Glassworks town. Mining town. Ghost town. Basically, lots of "frontier" industry towns, some of which have died off.
Crane birds and deer, no elk though despite the roadside warning signs
Final camp, moss covered rock in forest, nice ending before succumbing to the outskirts of Stockholm, unavoidable motorway side routes and brutal tower blocks built under the million homes program, and then into the historic centre. I didn't know before this trip, being an ignorant English pleb, that Stockholm is on an archipelago, connected by many bridges and ferries, and not having had any wars for a while, the old centre is well preserved.
So a couple of days to fill before flying home, but first and most important is to secure a large cardboard box to get the bike onto the plane.
As on previous trips, a local cycle shop is happy to oblige, and the arlanda express airport train allows bike on board, which surprisingly is in contrast to most trains in sweden.
Back to sightseeing then: the Vasa flagship, salvaged in the sixties having embarrassingly sunk within the first km of its maiden voyage in the 17th century, the Swedish history museum, modern art gallery, some street art, the subway system where each station has its own art installation, the England vs Sweden women's Euros semi final (4-0), and a Viking themed film at the cinema.
The hostel also worth a mention, first one I've encountered with a) a no shoes policy and b) a sauna, which was greatly appreciated.
So, flying back to the UK, everything has gone like clockwork as far as Reading where i'm writing.
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