| 7-Münster, DE | 8-Aabenraa, DK | 9-Borby | 10-Eksjö | 11-Stenberga | 12-Stenberga - Reunion Day! |
| 13-Brevik | 14-Brevik | 15-Ljungskile | 16-Ljungskile | 17-Gothenburg | 18-Gothenburg |
| 19-Gothenburg | 20-Stena (Kiel)-Home |
Tuesday, July 14th
Brevik (Hjo / Karlsborg)
map link
It was a chilly night with a low of 14°C – I wouldn’t have it any other way. I would have slept better but there was some intermittent road noise that kept bothering me. It would be quiet, but then I could hear the Doppler effect of a truck as it approached from one direction, zoomed by (with a sudden burst of volume as it passed by the treeless area of the campground entrance), and then faded off into the distance. I should have broken out the ear plugs.
Today we’d take the Hondas to a couple of local sites that we’d scouted out beforehand. The first one was the Karlsborg fortress, located just north of us in – you guessed it – Karlsborg! It was a quick 15 kilometer ride up the road and because of that, we took the chance and wore minimal gear. I know, I know: I am a champion of ATTATT, but the circumstances of this particular trip I looked the other way and hoped I wouldn’t regret it.
We made it to the fortress, parked the bikes (and secured what gear we DID have: helmet, gloves, and jackets, to the bikes) and started walking. The fortress is massive. Huge. Nothing like I ever expected, even! Construction started in 1819 and exceeded the estimated completion date by a considerable margin: 10 years turned into 90 years. And before it was even completed, it was obsolete. The town of Karlsborg actually formed because of the fortress, and then continued to thrive because of the nearby Göta Canal.
We walked along the waterfront, and then backtracked to the fortress entrance. Passing through the tunnel-like entrance we were presented with what felt like a miniature village inside. Beautiful buildings lined a grid of cobblestone streets and open park-like spaces providing refreshing greenery.
Because not everyone enjoys museums, I’ve created a new page for the photos and information I have from inside that section of the fortress.
After enjoying the history of the old fortress, we grabbed the motos and headed into the town’s center, planning to park on the far side. But there was something going on because the traffic was backed up for blocks and not moving. Being flexible, we made a U-turn and parked in a corner so we could explore this area on foot. It was hot and the sun was beating down on us as we walked back up the road we had aborted from. We stopped for a quick bite to eat at Jocke’s Bageri, which also sold pre-made sandwiches in addition to delicious looking pastries. While we ate, it suddenly became clear: the traffic jam was because the drawbridge crossing the Göta Canal had opened. I found out later that it opens once an hour, so it seems that this back up was not unusual.
Lunch rush – I felt like I was on a movie set
All kinds of cool cars were on the road today
We skirted a marina and walked along the Göta Canal back to the drawbridge. It was set to open again in a few minutes so we popped into the nearby Information Center while we waited (it was shaded AND air conditioned!) What we didn’t expect was the helpful employee in the Center who seemed to take it as a personal challenge to give us something else to do in the area. What she suggested was a visit to Forsvik, where the Göta Canal has the highest lock elevation change. It wasn’t far out of the way and we could make a nice loop out of it on the way back to the campground. She won the challenge!
Göta Canal
After watching the line up of waiting boats go through the canal we walked back to the motorcycles and headed on to Forsvik. The adventure continues!
At the tiny town of Forsvik, we left the bikes in a gravel parking lot and started our exploratory walk around. The buildings were very historic, with some of them accessible only via a museum entrance fee. We were “museum-ed out” so instead we contented ourselves with what we could see from the outside and read about online.
One of the current museum displays was for “EPA Traktors”. EPA means something else entirely in this context. Technically, it is “a heavily modified standard car or truck legally reclassified as a slow-moving agricultural vehicle in Sweden”. But people have taken this definition to a whole new level. Because the legal age to drive one of these is only 15 (vs 18 for a normal car), “the kids” have taken over and made having an EPA “Traktor” almost a rite of passage. I can’t say that I fully get it, but maybe watching this video will help to at least get a better idea of what is it about.
Forsvik was built in the mid-1600s with an iron works, machine shop, mechanical pulp mill and steam sawmill. The pulp mill took center stage with its massive red walls featuring prominently along the water’s edge. This is the only preserved historical wood pulp mill building in all of Sweden. It was built in 1870, but only six years later it was completely destroyed by a fire. Unlike most industrial structures of the late 19th century which were made of brick or stone, this pulp mill was constructed using heavy timber framing and painted the famous Falu Red. Not to focus too much on one building, but I think that the timeline of how it survived until today is rather fascinating. So many chances of being destroyed, yet still saved “one more time” until it became an historic site.
– Shutdown: Economic fallout and a drop in demand during World War II forced the mill to close in 1940.
– Scrapping of Machinery: In 1946, the interior machinery was stripped out and sold as scrap metal.
– The structure avoided demolition when the building was repurposed as a wooden crate and box factory until 1967.
– Demolition permits were officially approved for the decaying structure in 1968. However, the building was temporarily spared when a local business stepped in to utilize it as a basic storage warehouse.
– The pulp mill and the adjacent calorifier oven were the very first buildings prioritized for restoration when the historic site salvage project kicked off in the spring of 1983.
The pulp mill
We enjoyed the remaining buildings and how everything was centered on the flowing waters. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was wondering “Where are the locks? There’s nowhere for boats to go through here” but I was too distracted to follow up on it.
Where do the boats go?
With the sun getting higher in the sky, we returned the motorcycles to go back to the campground and relax for a few hours. Our route took us immediately to the Forsvik Locks. And the drawbridge was just starting to open. What excellent timing!
We left the bikes sitting on the road and walked around a bit to see the lock. It is the oldest and deepest single lock (of 58 locks) in the entire 190 kilometer length of the Göta Canal. Thrilled that we stumbled upon the lock in action, we were more than satisfied to continue on our loop back to the Van. The roads were country roads, with very little traffic and lots of fields and forests. I was really surprised to see a dead piglet on one of the back roads. It looked surprisingly fresh and otherwise healthy. Here is a link, if you are curious.
Ahhh – THIS is where the boats go!
Beauty!
Not enough motorcycle pictures
Our campground was a nice one, although it could have used some more trees and shade. But we had our canopy and comfy chairs, and the lake was nearby. The water was very clear, and about 18°C, so perfect for cooling off in.
Grocery store sight
* * * * * The Day – Part II * * * * *
Our afternoon plans were to get back on the motorcycles and ride south, to the historic town of Hjo. I love some of these Swedish names! Folklore suggests the name comes from the initials “HIO” for the Latin phrase “Hic Iacet Otium” (“Leisure rests here”) left by a monk in the sand. And considering that as far back as the 12th century monks would rest in Hjo when they traveled between the two monasteries of Alvastra and Varnhem on the west side, that folklore just might have some meat to it!
We planned our timing to get us to the town with enough daylight to walk around to see the sights, have dinner, and then be back to our tent before it became Deer Time. There were a lot of people packed in the Biergarten, and the waterfront was lively with tourists and young people. And even young tourists.
Waterfront sculpture – but what’s that at the top?
A crow in the crow’s nest!
A new-to-me mooring system
The town was very nice and easy to walk around. I dropped the ball by not reading more about why the town is so special (other than the broad term of “historic wooden town”), but now that I am home and am looking things up, I see that I should have spent some more time appreciating some of the finer details of the town. For instance: apparently the medieval street pattern is unusual, and the “handcrafted wooden panels” are very rare and worth a look. Sadly, I didn’t appreciate either of these points while I was there. But I did recognize that there are three towns in Sweden that are famous for their historic wooden town centers, and I’d now been to two of them (Eksjö and Hjo, with Nora being still on the “to see” list).
More classic cars today
Shiny!
Dinner was at Esla’s Koch. They had a table with a view of the lake and it was a pleasant atmosphere. I suspect that there was some freshly painted wood (linseed oil) nearby that gave this area of the restaurant a rather sickly smell, but the seating was otherwise good and I didn’t feel like we should move. Then again, maybe we should have, because I commented on the smell throughout the meal.
Our waiter was good and did his best: for his drink, Dan ordered a particular beer on the menu, but the waiter came back and said “Sorry, we’re out of that – would you like this other beer instead?” Then Dan ordered a salad and the waiter came back and said “Sorry, but we’re out of avocado for the salad – is that ok?” Poor Dan. Meanwhile, my burger and fries were great and I was completely satisfied with my meal.
Bicycle boat
We took some different streets back through town in our return to our motorcycles, seeing more of the architecture and people’s yards. It struck me again that the seasons were about a month behind Basel. Flowers in my garden that had long since bloomed and died were in full bloom here. The strawberries in my garden had been eaten weeks ago, but here they were the focus of road-side stands. It is amazing what 10° of latitude can do!
Modern builds
More classic cars – just randomly parking or being driven around
It was an easy ride back to camp and we quietly pulled into the campground while most everyone else was already settled in for the night.
