Bellarine Traveller: The last few days in Scandinavia

After leaving the wonderful city of Oslo I travelled by train to Sweden’s 2^nd largest city Gotenberg.

Situated on the west coast of Sweden there are many lovely canals and of course lots of cobblestone paths and roadways here. Being on the coast it is well known for it fresh seafood. There is a ‘Fish-Church’ here. It is actually the fish market, and called the ‘fish-church’ because the building does resemble a church. The market only opens on days when fresh fish is available. The fishermen traditionally do not fish on a Sunday, so the market is always closed on Mondays. They have an amazing range of seafood available. You can buy take-away packs or there are a couple of cafes where you can enjoy a really great meal.

I did take a hop-on-hop-off bus tour here as I was only here for a short time. It is a beautiful city to visit with its many canals and waterways and many beautiful parks and gardens. The hotel I stayed in had a great view over the city. I took a couple of photos at 10pm & 11pm – and yes it was still daylight! It is rather bizarre going to sleep each night when it is fully daylight.

After leaving Gotenberg I travelled for about an hour to a smaller town called Falkenberg. I had met a Soroptimist member from Falkenberg earlier this year when she visited Melbourne. I was really happy to have the time and see some of ‘her patch’.

Falkenberg is a lovely coastal town in southern Sweden. Being shown around by a local is special. We did a lot of walking as there are several walking paths along a river, through the old parts of town and of course along the beach. One walk we did was called “Doctor’s Walk” because many years ago the land was donated to the community by a local doctor who thought if the locals had somewhere nice to walk it would be good for their health. It is a delightful walk along the river and there are many beautiful old trees along the banks. We saw several people fishing in the river, many others walking and enjoying the fresh air. There is also an outdoor theatre area that is used during the summer months for outdoor theatre and music - judging by the number of seats being set up it appears to be well supported. We went inside an old church called St. Laurentii Church, it was built in 1787. The interior was beautiful, quite different to other churches I have been in. The colour of all the church furniture was all a lovely blue in colour. There is some interesting art work on the ceiling, and as is often the story, the art work was not discovered until some restoration work was being done on the building. I enjoyed walking through the old parts of town seeing some very old traditional homes – many are still lived in today. Thanks to M, I had a lovely stay and enjoyed seeing her part of the world.

My last destination in Scandinavia was back to Copenhagen. I only stayed one night but as it was a beautiful balmy summer evening I took a short walk from my hotel and revisited the Tivoli. What a difference four weeks makes weatherwise! Summer had arrived and there were people everywhere. There were people enjoying a meal in some of the many restaurants. People sitting out on the grass enjoying music and other entertainment and of course lots for the children to do. Tivoli is a great place for adults and children alike.

My visit to Scandinavia has been a real highlight. It is somewhere I had always wanted to go. It is a stunning art of the world.

I will have just so many memories – some being:

· All the lakes in Finland.

· Learning about the 'Saami' people and their amazing survival skills over many, many years – they are an incredible group of people.

· All the stunning fiords and the 'millions' of waterfalls.

· The many snow capped, black coloured mountains.

· The frozen lakes.

· All that snow and in summer!

· The beautiful wildflowers. You see them everywhere and the colours are just lovely.

· The drive to the “Trolls Road” in Norway.

· And of course – seeing the ‘Midnight Sun’

I am looking forward to travelling to some new destinations in Europe.