Sweden Road Trip 2006- Day 9

The Jontorp Youth Hostel was amazingly clean. This is an important factor that will come up the a little later. The beds were very comfortable to sleep one, but not the most comfy ones that I have every felt as we were told they would be. I know that we talked about it yesterday, but the hostel was pretty amazingly decorated. The more I looked around, the more I found high quality antiques. At some point, I would like to come back for a visit.

We were planning on walking from the parking lot in Kullagården, mainly because they were charging yesterday 40:- to drive to the light house (let us not forgot the fact that we are cheap). The weather was a little cool this morning, so we decided to suck it up and pay it. To our luck, they only charge on the weekends, who says there is no such thing as karma! The lighthouse was cool. We walked from the parking lot to the lighthouse. The wind was blowing and it was cold. N was miserable, so we did not stick around like we had planned to eat at the café for fika.

We headed back towards Hoganäs with a stop along the way still in the Nature Reserve. Somewhere in the reserve is an art sculpture made from nothing but drift wood called Nimis. The powers to be did not like it and thus no signs excist as to where it is. It is just one of those things that you have to know about and have an idea where it will be. We did not have a clue. If N was not with us, then we would have searched for it. With N, it is a little more difficult. So we never found it, maybe next time.

We made it into Hoganäs. Just for the hell of it, we determined we should look again at the factory store. Neither of us thought that we were get anything or find anything. Which of course means that we did find something- coffee cups in the sienna color at an amazing price. It was one of those things that we really did not want to do, but almost had to do. We ended up getting 12 of them along with 6 saucers. The Punto is starting to get pretty full, which means we should stop shopping, which means we shopped more. When N was born, my mother bought us a really cool pot in the shape of a giraffe. So this time we got us a glass sculpture of a giraffe. I did not think about it until after we bought it of the connection, but pretty cool.

We ate lunch at Sibylla. M has been craving it all week. They have a hotdog, mashed potatoes and salad all wrapped in thin bread (kind of like a tortilla). I had a hamburger. After lunch we went into Hamstad. Of course, we did some more shopping (poor, poor Punto). The town is actually famous for a Swedish Band from the 70’s and the 80’s- Gylder Tyder. The lead singer is probably better known around the world as the male voice in the duo Roxette. Gylder Tyder is actually a good fun band. Every Swede knows all the songs. Their concert a couple of years ago sold out instantly. We went to one of the shows and the age of the crowds were from 3 to 65. It is just a fun band to listen to. Anyway, they come from this town and so now it is a hot summer destination. The beach here is always packed in the summer. Both of my brother-in-laws have spent a week or two down here. I had told M that I was going to take a swim in the sea, that was yesterday when it was sunny and “warm”.

Most countries love UNESCO World Heritage sites, Sweden is no different (the only one that I know that does not like them is the United States). A couple of years ago M and I said that we were going to visit every one of them. The was before we realized that there are 500 something different ones. Not to mention the fact that the list is growing every year. So that plan is no longer going to happen. With that being said, when we see one, we are going to stop. Today was one of those stops, we passed by the Grimeton Radio Station which has became a site recently. Apparently this radio station was the first one to broadcast across the Atlantic using six radio towers. It was closed for the season, big shock there. I took a picture. The last one of the trip actually.

The hostel tonight is the worse thus far on the trip. To start off with, it was suppose to be 300:- per night, but they charged us 420:- a night, making it our most expensive one of the trip. The beds are as thin as cardboard and as hard as plywood. The kitchen is beyond gross. M had to do the dishes before she was even able to start to cook dinner. The saddest part is that they do not have any trash bags. I would say that a nice after dinner drink may help with everything, but this hostel is owned by the anti-alcohol people, so drinking is not allowed. So here is the first true WARNING of the trip: If you find yourself is Åsa Sweden, do not stay at the youth hostel. Spend a little more and go to a hotel. It will be worth it!