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Friday, July 10th
Eksjö
map link
The bikes were ready to go when we got up. The morning was clear and cool and perfect for some back road riding. I let Dan lead, as I have no navigation system on my bike, but he has rigged up his phone to show him the way. It was a nice 20 minutes to Kåseberga and after wending our way through the town, we found an almost-empty parking lot. The early bird gets the worm!
After some slight frustration in trying to figure out how to use the Swedish parking app (yes, motorcycles were expected to pay for parking – how uncivilized!), we stowed our gear and started walking. We had to climb the stairs up the side of a hill because of course that’s where you’d put your standing stones. The view was worth it, though, and because of the early time of day, we practically had the area to ourselves.
One of the locals: Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
Early view of the stones
From a sign on the site:
“The 1,400-year-old megalithic monument in the shape of a ship, is made up of 59 large stones.
The boulders on the sides of the ship consist of granite and gneiss, while the four boulders in the middle are sandstone. On several of the boulders, above ground as well as under, there are so-called cup marks, small chiselled, round depressions. These indicate that the stones probably were gathered from older types of megalithic tombs, so-called dolmen and passage tombs.
The name Ales stenar (Ale’s Stones) is found for the first time in 1624, recorded as “Als Stene” by the parish vicar in Valleberga. Before then the ancient monument was called “Heds stenar” or “Hé stenar” (the stones on the moor), a name that have been used by the people living in the vicinity to this day.”
Dan for scale
The stones are fascinating if you consider the amount of effort that went into moving them to this location and setting them in place. But if you stop considering that, there isn’t much else to do here except to admire the view. Which we did, and then headed back to the motorcycles.
I saw a rabbit!
Having successfully seen the stones, we rode back to the farm and packed up the campsite. We were a little faster this time, and a bit more organized as things went back into the van. The most important thing was that Dan was starting to sort out the ratchet straps to their most effective use. We were getting the hang of it!
Passing through a small Swedish village
I am in love with the massive stone work
A well-marked train crossing
I was really impressed with the size of some of the barns I saw
Moose! Unfortunately, this is the only kind of moose I saw on this trip
Navigator Dan had found another gem to check out on our ride north: the Granhult Kyrka (church). It is one of Sweden’s oldest fully preserved wooden church, built around 1220. The GPS took us on a weird route through some gravel forest roads, but we really enjoyed the change of scenery. And Swedish forests are very well managed and quite beautiful.
Not the road – just a view
Here is probably more information than you thought you wanted to know, but you should take every opportunity to learn something new!
“Granhult church is the oldest entirely preserved wooden church in the country. It was preserved thanks to the stubborn efforts of parishioners in the 1830s against the decision of Bishop Esaias Tegnér and HM the King to have the church torn down. The people of Granhult refused to give up their church, and succeeded in getting permission to use it as a grain store. The right to hold divine service there was regained in 1879.
The surroundings of Granhult church, with its curate’s residence, which dates from the end of the 18th century, is protected by the national cultural environmental protection system. The oldest parts of the church have been dated to the 1220s. Then as now, it consisted of nave and chancel, with portals to the south, north and into the chancel. The only light came from small, Norman arched windows, high in the walls. The high roof construction is also from the 13th century.
The wall shingle was partly replaced during 19th century restorations. The pattern design, on the frieze under the roof base and the eastern gable of the chancel, is older, but its date is not known. The church was decorated directly on the timber by Johan Christian Zschotzscher in 1753. The pews and pulpit, and the paintings in the sacristy, were added in the 17th century. The vestry’s ceiling painting is from the early 18th century, and was probably carried out by Hans Brachwagen. In 1795, the windows to the south were destroyed, and in 1819, the triumphal arch was widened. Otherwise, the interior is unchanged since Zschotzscher signed his paintings.”
The old and the new
I was surprised when I entered the church. I hadn’t really considered what it would look like, but apparently my brain hadn’t even considered what I was about to see. Here are some photos of the interior:
Looking at the exit from the inside – I had to duck to come in
After exploring the church, the church yard, the tower, and the auxiliary buildings, we hopped back into the van and continued on our way north. Ever since we crossed over to Sweden, Dan had been making comments about how much the countryside reminded him on Ontario. Fields? Ontario farmland. Trees? Northern Ontario forests. Small, clean lakes? Northern Ontario. Rocky outcroppings? The Canadian Shield. I had fun teasing him about it, but I admit that he did have a point…
Are we in Sweden? Or Ontario?
It wasn’t a long drive today. Sonia (one of the many relatives I’d be meeting tomorrow) had recommended a visit to the town of Eksjö. It is one of Sweden’s best-preserved wooden towns, featuring over 50 listed historic timber buildings. Plus, apparently one of my relatives used to work at one of the Fancy Houses in town – Aschanska Gården, if I understood correctly. Now if only I had realized that this place was open for visiting, it would have been fun to have seen it in person.
As we wanted to explore Eksjö on foot, we made reservations at the nearby campground, Eksjö Camping. This would be our first experience with a full-service, family orientated campground, although I didn’t realize it at the time of booking. While I was standing in line at reception, Dan was staying out of way. But he popped in to see how things were going. He told me later: “It was a room full of people who look just like you: tall, blonde hair, blue eyes. I had no idea just how Swedish you look until now.” Silly Dan.
Once we had erected our Tent Mahal we left camp to explore. The town center wasn’t far and there was a good walking path to get there. It felt good to stretch my legs and see the countryside up close.
Street of Eksjö
A tiny diorama illustrating Aschanska Gården – is that my ancestor in there, cleaning?
On the drive, Entertainment Director Dan had looked up why there is an iconic “Swedish red house”. We were seeing more and more of them as we left the southern region of Sweden (which was actually once part of Denmark, hence the distinct difference in building styles). Dan did some digging and found out some fascinating history on “Falun red.” While I strongly suggest reading the full Wiki link, here is the key information that I found so interesting:
“After centuries of copper mining in Falun, large piles of residual materials were deposited above ground near the mines. By the 16th century, mineralization of the mine’s tailings and slag, added by smelters, began to produce a red-coloured sludge rich in copper, limonite, silicic acid, and zinc. When this sludge was heated for several hours and mixed with linseed oil and rye flour, it was found to create an excellent anti-weathering paint. In the 17th century, Falun (Falu) red began to be applied to wooden buildings to mimic the red-brick façades commonly used by the upper classes.”
And that doesn’t even get into the social status of having a red house (for better or worse). You should really go read the Wiki link.
Fula paint display
An excellent example of a Fula red house across the street
We had walked the length of the old town center and decided that some food was in order. We were conveniently next to Millies Burgers, a well-regarded burger joint, and went in to see if it deserved the ratings. It did. Our burgers were very good. The fries were a little crispier than I like, but still good.
We returned to the campground and I realized that this was not my type of campground. The kids were everywhere and thoroughly enjoying themselves. I mean, it is great that they have a place to play and scream and run, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be a part of it. I can be such a grump. It didn’t help that I totally misunderstood how the showers worked there as well (they used a pre-paid card that you tapped to activate the water, but the signage wasn’t clear to me). Anyway, I’m sure that it is a wonderful campground but I was glad that we weren’t staying for more than one night.
Behold! The Decadent Air Mattress
