While most people dream of lying under palms
on a sunny beach somewhere around or preferably below the equator, I was always
rather fascinated by the North. The breathtaking landscapes, the mysterious castles
and ruins, the picturesque little cities and the deep history always had a deep
impact on me. Especially Scandinavia with its overall ambience (I would call it
the northern spirit) has secured a place in my heart, to set limits to the term
North. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to travel to one of these
countries; nevertheless I have already set the vacancy dates of my part-time
job on the end of July and the beginning of August, which is actually the best
time to travel to Sweden (my favorite country not only of Scandinavia but
overall). Thus I hope that I will at last find any motivation to save money for
that trip, which will be pretty expensive for sure as Scandinavia in general
isn’t really the cheapest region in Europe.
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However, I still have only two
weeks time to explore my beloved country which is no time at all if you take a
look at the many facets that one can discover. All in all I have to take into
account the time available and a certain budget together with the question if
anybody wants to come with me or should even come with me, though on the other
hand it would be really boring to stay two weeks in a foreign country without
any companions at all. After all I’m not some kind of lone wolf.
Well, now as
we have these factors included we can go on to the main point -> How?
What
should the journey be like?
Package holiday? No, certainly not.
A multi-city
tour? No that’s not quite my cup of tea either.
I want to see both, the South
with cities like Stockholm or Malmö but the savage North as well, with its
numerous pretty little lakes and forests. Honestly, Lapland (the region in
northern Sweden) should be part of every journey through Sweden, because you
haven’t seen Sweden if you haven’t been far up in the north where you sleep in
your tent between a bear and a moose (so to speak). Neither can you speak of
having discovered Sweden if you haven’t been at least in Stockholm, a
ravishingly beautiful city indeed. Did you know by the way that the city of Stockholm
is spread across a total amount of 14 islands, all of them connected with
bridges?
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| Stockholm by day ... |
Anyway, I’m beating around the bush right now. I won’t present you a
guided tour though, as I don’t know one that completely satisfies my urge to
inhale the Swedish spirit myself, right now. I will give you three tips, however,
that, in my opinion could be helpful for travelling to Sweden.
Step 1: Get yourself an old VW bus,
preferably in Yellow! (Why? Because it’s my favorite color, that’s why!) But honestly
now, a country like Sweden shall be explored neither by train nor by a coach but
only with a car (hiking by foot would be acceptable too but I think it gets a
little bit inconvenient after the first half of the country). I am not talking
about a three day trip to Stockholm but about a travel through the whole
country, from the southern shores up to the northern lights (my dream!). First
of all, you are completely free and not bound to any travel group etc. You can
go where YOU want and when YOU want it, not your tourist guide. Besides, a VW
bus has a huge trunk where you can possibly sleep and cook in if it rains too
heavy to put up your dents.
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| ... and by night. |
One note I do have yet: In northern Sweden
you can camp wherever you want (if not on private property) and swim in every
lake because that’s property of everyone according to the government –
wonderful, isn’t it? (unlike Austria
where you have to pay a fee if you want to dip your toe in any goddamn puddle).
Step 2: Be prepared to drain your bank account
drastically. Sweden really is an expensive country compared to others in Europe,
especially concerning the groceries. A beer normally costs something around €8
as I’ve heard, first and foremost in the cities it get’s expensive.
Step 3: LIVE IT! FEEL IT! LOVE IT!!!
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