The days you're about to read of now were planned to be the days of our holiday family trip to Askersund, Sweden. What happened? The trip happened. Read more about it below.
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| The most usual view from the trip |
Day 18
Sunday started with birds singing on a cloudy morning. And of course,
kids waking up, making a hell of a noise covering the quite sounds of
nature. Well, there ain't a start of the day that coffee can't cure.
Slow and peaceful first half day with delicious
lunch and nice afternoon coffee break.
The day also brought the start of the family holiday trip. Left the
solitude of the countryside on the afternoon and headed to Turku. In
Turku harbor, after couple of hours' waiting drove the car inside the
cruise ship Viking Grace. The ship was to carry us
to Stockholm, Sweden. Short visit in the tax free shop delayed buying
my own souvenirs until the cruise back - nothing too exciting. From the
start I realized that cruise ships aren't made for sober people. Too
much crowd, too much noise.
Craving for a beer: 4
Day 19
A lot of driving today. Woke up at 5.30 local time and drove the car off the
ferry in Stockholm at 6.30. Stopped for a one-hour coffee break in
Södertälje at 7.30. Got into the Kolmården zoo at 10. And stopped there
for a little over six hours. From 4.30 to 6.30
p.m. made our way from the zoo to a small town of Askersund in the
north shore of Vättern lake.
Absolutely amazing day. Dead tired from walking and driving around the
whole day. No time to think about having a beer. Still, checked out from the net he
Swedish goods the local Systembolaget offers to a beer enthusiast for
souvenirs. Pretty decent.
Craving for a beer: 2
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| The Swedes live on the top of a rock... |
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| ... or in ball-shaped tents hung in trees. |
Day 20
After a well slept night we headed from our cabin to Örebro. Target was
at Gustavsvik water world an aquapark called Lost City. Ran around with
kids in water slides of many kind and relaxed in a whirlpool for four
hours. Finished the day at Örebro by eating
good food in Burger Love. I had even a chance to visit Systembolaget
and pick some hopefully great Swedish beer- of course as souvenirs for
myself.
Second fantastic day on a family holiday without beer in a row. Should I be worried?
Craving for a beer: 2 (just because visited Systembolaget)
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| Traditional Swedish pets include the tiger.. |
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| ...and the trout that can wink. |
Day 21
Today it was a day in Motala, somewhat slower day than the couple
before. Visited Vätternakvariet, a local fish exhibition/aquarium that
shows the fish living in Lake Vättern. Without asking got some special
guidance on catching and feeding the fish from the
caretaker. The kids spent time in the nearby play park. Otherwise the
day was just wandering around with some sightseeing near the lake.
Back at the cabin started cleaning and packing, since tomorrow we'll
start our way home. Had time to go for a short run. Intentionally the
route went by the local pub O'Leary's - seeing people on the terrace
reminded me that there's a little over a week of
draught left.
Craving for a beer: 3 (after the run something was clearly missing)
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| The landscape included sandy beaches... |
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| ... and boats with names making you laugh and cry. |
Day 22
Bye, bye, Askersund! Stopped shortly at the local chocolate shop before
heading for the first and only pit stop in Örebro. Lek & Buslandet is
an indoor amusement park for children. For me, the great part is that
adults get in free. The reason is that parents
should look after their kids by themselves. But why settle for that?
Parenthood isn't the excuse to stop playing - parenthood is the key to
more awesome playgrounds. So it was excellent fun for us big people, too.
On the way to the harbour got lost in Stockholm. After collecting the
nerves from the floor everything ended fine: got our vehicle inside
Viking Amorella. Also found some additional souvenirs from the tax free
shop. All in all, one more day of total fun for
our journey.
Craving for a beer: 4 (getting lost in Stockholm doesn't suit the early planner)
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| Souvenirs from Systembolaget i Örebro... |
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| ...and a smaller set from Viking Amorella tax free shop. |
Day 23
Midsummer Eve. In Finland the day traditionally includes burning
bonfires, overconsumption of alcohol and drowning in the nearest body of
water. For us the day was about finishing the trip, leaving the kids
with their cousins to Grandpa's house and unpacking
the luggage at home. For me it was something completely different from usual
behavior and fitting the souvenirs inside the beer cabinet that had
shrunken during our holiday. Today the temptation to open up one of the
souvenir bottles nearly got too big. In the end,
it was just a matter of self-control. "Just."
Craving for a beer: 7 (Those damn souvenir bottles!)
Ölbeat
Of course, there would have been the classic George Gershwin's song of the same name. But since it's way too slow to match the trip's general mood, I pick this one from the start of Will Smith's "musical" career.
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: Summertime (YouTube)
From the 1991 album Homebase, the song has samples from Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness.
