Day 1, A start of an adventure or the end of it?
We decided to go on a holiday to the north on the 2nd week of July, in fact in a matter of two days. I went only with my father, because my mother and sister couldn´t go for personal reasons. There were some logistical problems we would have to sort out too otherwise, but like this it was without problems for us two. We went with the same van as last year and my father had added some simple beds that he built into the car, just like last year. So we put all of our stuff under the beds and on Sunday evening we headed off on our adventure.
We were driving with no problems through Slovakia, but when we were in Czechia, we suddenly had a problem with the motor. It started shaking and having a high expenditure of fuel. This upset us, because we felt our trip could possibly be in danger. We were trying to figure out what the problem was and what to do. My dad restarted the motor several times and we even waited for it to cool down for an hour. It stopped shaking for a few moments, but then it started again. My father had many possible explanations over the course of his reflections. At first, we thought the failure was in the system. But by restarting and starting the motor again, and that not solving the issue, that theory was proved wrong. We continued going about a hundred kilometers, to see if the issue would resolve itself, because my father had this same issue with the motor a few weeks before that and it fixed itself over night and the car service worker told him there was nothing wrong. But as we kept going, nothing was getting better and we were finally starting to accept that we would have to go back home and leave our trip behind. I am usually the person to fight till the last ounce of hope, but this time I felt like I didn´t want to interfere with fate, perhaps it was trying to protect us from something bad happening. So I agreed.
But after I agreed, my father suddenly got his hopes up. He said we would continue. After that, I recieved signs and synchronicities that told me to keep going and not give up. I love when I get loving encouragement like that. I had a feeling this would be a start of an adventure. My dad drove well into the night and then we went to sleep in the car.
Day 2, What a smell.
The next day we woke up, had some morning beverages and breakfast and we thought about our situation more. We got the brave idea that we would find a car service in Sweden and board the ferry that we already had payed for. With a bunch of fear in my stomach, I presented this idea and my dad was in for it. I looked up Nissan car service in Malmo. We couldn´t reach them through phone or e-mail, so we thought we would just come right in when we would arrive. I wrote their information into a pad.
Around lunchtime, we were in Rostock. We had previously wasted some time with the waiting for the motor and a slow ride, so there was only a couple of hours left for us before we needed to be at the ferry location. We had a walk around the downtown and the park. We shopped for some food and quickly prepared it with the help of a portable gas stove. I was still feeling uncertain, like it all could go to shit and I would be proven a fool for trying.
At about three o´clock pm we boarded our ferry. It´s also a lot of hustle and bustle before the ferry actually leaves. Unlike before, we had also ordered a „sleeping pod“ for our ride. That´s because the 6 hour ride goes by way quicker when one takes a nap and also one often feels like taking a nap on such a long ride. Before, we just acted like old people at the swimming pool and we ran to the benches to take them up first to sleep on them. But more about the sleeping pod. It wasn´t bad but there was a surprise. It was smelly because the sheets weren´t washed properly and there were no windows to open. Otherwise, it was a bit like a collection of human sized ovens with matresses, pillows and sheets in it. There was actually no one else in there, they probably knew about the smell. But the good news was that we could go outside and to all the public spaces at the ship. Even they were sometimes smelly, sometimes even more so. So I spent some time outside and some time at the sleeping pod, after my nose got a bit more numb to the smell. Some of you think that I am gonna be respectful and not say the name of the company who runs this ferry, but I am gonna respectfully say that Stena Line needs to wash their sheets.
Shortly after the sun had set, we were in Trelleborg, Sweden. We found a safe looking place to park for the night and we went to sleep. I was looking at the little lights in the windows of the story buildings and how the deep blue of the sky complemented them. But before that, we drove around a bit, looking for the best place. The sky was filled with soft and warm colors, liney clouds painted across the sky, the trees were lush green and full of shadows and secrets. I could distictively tell I was already in Sweden. It wasn´t too hot, like in Slovakia, but it wasn´t too cold either. The temperature was just perfect.
Day 3, Big decisions
We woke up pretty early so that we would be at the service early enough, and there wouldn´t be too many people there. So we went to the address that I wrote down and it was a big building with cars in it. It was actually a car selling place. There were almost no people inside, but we found one guy. He was really nice. He told us that they were having a holiday sort of a regime at that moment and that the waiting time for car repair would be 2 weeks, but he recommended us a place to go where they could fix our car immediately.
That place was just a few hundred meters away from there. As we arrived there, there was still no one there because it still wasn´t the opening hours, so we had to wait for about a half an hour. Then we went in and were asking where we should go. A bunch of people kept sending us to different places. At first, we ended up sitting and waiting at an expensive car section. When the saleswoman came, she didn´t even try to speak to us. She just said hello politely and left. We probably didn´t look like her potential customers. Good that we lifted ourselves and went to a different section, where the car repair actually was. We got approached by an older guy who didn´t seem extremely friendly and when he was speaking to us, he stood extremely close to us, seeming bothered by us. He looked like someone who listens to the symphonic metal band Nightwish, with long, very straight hair and icy blue eyes. His demeanor definitely evoked the vibe of metal music. He asked for our car details and told us to wait for him. After a couple minutes, he appeared outside with his young assistant, probably someone who was still training and under supervision. We went there to unlock the car. The assistant was at the wheel, running the motor while the older guy was looking under the hood of our car. The assistant was running the motor while his eyes were piercing the air with some type of a deep, watery force. I wanted to look at him more so bad but somehow I felt too shy to. Then the main guy told us that they could do a diagnosis in about thirty minutes. After that happened, he talked to us and he said that the problem was in one of the injectors. He told us the price and it was very high. He tried to convince us that we needed to change all of the injectors otherwise the others could go out as well. I feel like he might have been trying to fool us to get more money out of us. So we said we would think about it and come back as needed. Then we went inside and the assistant got our information. I came to wisdom at that point and tried to make eye contact but I think it was too late. He didn´t respond at all. I just kept listening to his beautiful clear voice for the last few moments.
With regret in my heart, we went to Burger King to see the weather on our laptop and think about our options. We didn´t eat there, we just got drinks, because we thought there was nothing edible in there. We called our Slovak service person to ask for the price if we would decide to repair it in Slovakia. To our surprise, there wasn´t much of a difference. So hooray! We decided to repair the car in Malmo but before that, we chose a hotel we would stay in, and then we walked around in a park with story buildings.
What an exciting thing to stay in a hotel. We had a bit of a problem finding one which would have a garage which´s height would suffice for our car. But we found it. And it was FAN-TAS-TIC!!! But while we were slowly driving around the town with our car, something happened. For a moment, the car was better. Then it was better and better, as we drove slowly. Until the red control light disappeared completely! Our car seems to have woken up from the dead. Hooray a thousand times!!! The signs were right all along. We couldn´t believe in that miracle.
We booked ourselves in the Scandic Triangeln hotel, the coolest hotel I had ever stayed in. It had a fast lift that was on the outside of a building, behind glass windows. I couldn´t get over it. The lobby was very beautifully designed and decorated too, all in shades of green with unique details.
We checked ourselves in and went into our room and YES!, it was on the eleventh floor, with a spectacular view over Malmo. When I saw it, I immediately loved it. The room was looking neat and had a scandinavian style. There was even a small water kettle with cups and teas in our room. I loved that detail so much. I actually loved that we stayed in a hotel in Malmo and didn´t do something else.
We first took a little nap in there and then we went to walk around the city. Malmo was nothing less than beautiful. The atmosphere of the evening was filled with warm yellow sunlight. We admired the streets and how unique they looked with such a huge amount of plants and greenery, and even parks in between, some streets even looked like little jungles. With so many buildings with a well thought-out unique design, all on an almost completely flat surface. It had everything that I feel like cities in Slovakia are missing. The greenery, the spaces in between, the little oasies for people to rest in, the presence of nature, the well kept lawns surrounded by wildflowers. I felt good in there.
Our noses got hit by a beautiful smell at some point, a smell coming from the linden tree. Such a wonderful and massive plant living among the people od Malmö.
We walked until the sun set and it was dark. Then we took a photo under this peculiar lamp.
It was around 8 pm that the city started to be absent of people. This was a shock to us. We thought everyone would be enjoying the long summer nights outside. But that´s not at all how the Swedes do it. From 7 to 9, they all pack up and close. On the other hand, I understand their need to not work until late. It´s the absolute opposite of places like Croatia or Italy. They are out till late night.
This was the view of our hotel.
Just look at the view from the window at night. The dark blue is enveloping everything so beautifully.
Day 4, A gift.
On day 4 the car was still working, hooray! We decided to go to the beach in Malmo. That was one of a beautiful beach. The white sand, the water, the blue sky with the white clouds, piers, birds all around… It was perfect. In fact, I had a feeling that it was meant to happen and I was meant to visit that place. For me, it was a beautiful gift. I never thought someone would give me a gift like that, but they did. I am not going to reveal who it was, because that is a top secret. I even fed the birds, which has a special meaning to me. The sand gently touching my feet was such a beautiful feeling. So beautiful, that sometimes one has trouble to take so much love in.
We went to the pier and took a bath. The water wasn´t very warm, but bearable. I didn´t stay in it for too long and after coming out I was dressing myself because the wond was blowing a lot.
The place before the beach was also an interesting one. It was a long, wide grassy strip for public. It was so nice to see that they left some spaces for people to sport and relax at, not putting a building on every available inch of land, like in many other places. It´s nice that they have things that are good for people there. There were also a couple kiosks there, along with sports playgrounds of all kinds, and a place for dogs. The grass was also well kept. There were actually so many people with dogs there. Behind the grassy strip, there was a road for runners and bikers and there were trees and bushes from one side of it. It was pretty busy. My father and I also did a little run before jumping into the water. It made it more compelling.
In the evening, I had a bit of a strange request that my father agreed to fulfill in the end. I wanted to drive around the countryside and take pictures. Skane countryside! I was so eager to see it. I took some beautiful pictures of the fields with the golden looking barley. It was actually a wish of mine to explore this part of the world and it came true. I also think I am going to have lots of new inspiration for paintings. The old inspiration was swept out though, but I don´t mind that.
In between, we also shopped at the grocery store and I really liked the variety of products there, particulary soups in tetrapacks that were affordable and the only thing we needed to do was to re-heat them.
Day 5, Becoming an icycle.
The weather forecast was foretelling bad weather, so we decided to move somewhere else. We headed to Gränna, a place we have been to before, a couple hundred kilometres north from Malmo, by the lake Vättern. There we set up our tent in the camping location. The whole place was a bit flooded, but we found a place for our tent that was okay. It was a really unusual situation. Even the fields of barley, which weren´t as golden as around Malmo, were damaged by water. The water in the lake was very cold, colder than ever. When we were taking a bath in it, it only lasted a few seconds. Otherwise, the little wooden platforms around the shore were really nice and comfortable to lay our towels and ourselves on. We took a couple of walks, too. The evening provided some beautiful views with golden light and vibrant flowers.
When we were at the pier at sunset, the wind was blowing really powerfully and my father lost his hat. He decided to jump into the icy water and get it, which he succeeded at but he almost turned into an icycle.
Day 6, Lots of music!
The second day at Gränna the weather was great so we spent it similiarly to the previous day, by the water. I also went to the tourist shops to ask around if they wanted my postcards. It was with no success, but I tried. Then we also went to eat pizza at a restaurant and it was amazing. I loved it.
There was also a surprise at the end of the day, there was a concert at a little stage in the camping site. We listened to the music from the beach and we enjoyed it. And it was a whole lotta songs in my opinion! Props to the guys for being able to sing for so long.
Day 7
On this day we decided to do something a little exciting. But before that, we packed up our tent because we planned to leave for Norway in the evening, because of the weather forecast.
We always watched a yellow-blue ferry from the beach. That day, we went on it and it took us to the island in the middle of the lake, the Visingsö island. That Island exceeded my expectations. We borrowed bicycles to go around on, although these heavy and hard to maneuver ones definitely did not exceed my expectations, definitely not for the price.
We took some quiet snakey roads around the island to get to a beach there. The roads were surrounded by nature, such as oak forests, or by beautiful houses with gardens, or fields with the background of water and blue flowers in them. It was so varied. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We even saw horses. They seemed quite sad. I pet their big faces and their foreheads with messy fringes. They seemed to like it. Horses are such beautiful animals, so graceful, big, and they have a kind of a depth in their eyes. In my opinion, they are the animal that most resembles humans.
We also drove by a huge duck location, a piece of land solely reserved for ducks and other birds. There was also a viewing point that we climbed to and took pictures from.
While riding, it was pretty hot so I was happy when we arrived at the beach. It was a very small beach with white sand and a pier that was slowly disintegrating, with a sign that said: „Enter at your own risk“. There were aslo some other people there and these already made me feel like they might inspire my next painting.
The water was really, really cold, and everyone´s bath took only a few seconds, again. But it was such a nice time overall to be there. I didn´t even want to leave but we had only borrowed the bicycles for a designated period of time.
We went back to the harbor to return the bicycles, had some ice cream, which was not nearly as good as in Slovakia, and then I was so tired that I laid down on the grass at the Visingsborg castle ruin and took a nap. I really have no idea how people in Sweden can like the ice cream that they eat there. It´s so baffling to me. They should try our ice cream or croatian ice cream.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for part 2! But to get notified about that, make sure to subscribe to my mailing list.
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