We crossed into Sweden a couple of days ago, on a ferry between Elsinore (Denmark,) and Helsingborg (Sweden). I took a photo of this castle from the ferry, and it turned out to be the castle (Elsinore) where Shakespeare set the Hamlet story. It is one of the most important renaisance castles in Europe!
The ferry ride was only 20 mins but there were already people eating in the resturaunt when we boarded. After striking up a conversation two young men aboard we learned that alcohol prices are so much higher in Sweden than in Denmark, that Swedes often ride the ferry to stock up in Elsinore. And the ferry has bars and a resturaunt. So diners can book a ferry ticket and cross/re cross any number of times until they have dined or imbibed to satisfaction! In fact our two young informants had spent 5 hours aboard that day already!
We began looking for a camp site as soon as we were out of Elsingborg. And we were delighted with our first wild camp in Sweden! Take a look at this! I hope it a sign of things to come!
We were so delighted we sat up till after midnight, when it was just getting dark.
So far Sweden is beautiful.
This is a rune stone and a burial mound from the Stone Age! These things are seen quite frequently in paddocks around here. The farmer simply farms around them. Of course they may be relics of his own ancestors!
Similarly these stone circles were used as meeting areas and battle grounds.
I loved this cottage, said to be an example of a "crofters cottage". I think a crofters was a farm-worker. This one was inhabited until 1952.
Our second night of wild camping was in this old quarry.
We had just settled down thinking no-one would know we were there when a car drove in and a man got out with a rifle. He smiled and nodded and strode off into the forest nearby. We felt a little unsettled by this! We heard some shots awhile later, but he emerged again without any carcasses. He was hunting fox and badgers he said, but had no luck. I read later that badgers are culled because they are thought to spread bovine tuberculosis, and rabies (controversial).
We have our CTP insurance at last! After a number of banks (which do insurance brokering in Europe) two auto club offices, numerous online inquiries, we finally found two companies who mainly serve touring motorbikers. There was a great difference in their prices, and we were very happy with the price and quick service of this one:
Stefan at
My advice? Arrange your green card insurance with Stefan BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME! It was most uncomfortable trying to arrange it quickly once we were here. You can set the dates to suit.
No comments:
Post a Comment