Travel

Måkläppen

| Jennifer Noice

Today’s outing was to a nature reserve near Falsterbo, where birds and seals are protected. It’s an island/ peninsula only accesible November through January, so in spite of the 25 mph winds, we headed out.

Starting at the light house, it takes about an hour trekking along the shore line to reach the end of the peninsula.

We enjoyed the fresh air and ocean views but didn’t get to see any seals today. A flock of swans in the tidal pools allowed us to get quite close!We’ll watch the weather and hope for a clear day without so much wind, then try to go earlier in hopes of seeing gray and harbor seals. The area has remains from hunter gatherers, including 8,000 year old stone tools from the Kongemose culture.

Gothenburg

| Jennifer Noice

Autumn break for school and work so we headed to Göteborg for 2 nights, to see the Lights of Alingsås and whatever else caught our attention. It wasn’t our best trip- weather was crummy, places were busy, so we didn’t feel comfortable being inside. No museums. Just a few quick meals at off hours. Mostly we walked around in the rain. The kids bailed after only a few of the light exhibits! We previewed some places we’d like to see post covid and in better weather, including a castle en route, where we have “traditional Christmas dinner” reservations for Dec 20th.

Sölvesborg

| Jennifer Noice

While Bryant and kids have been canoe camping, I explored a tourist town nearby. The season ends with the start of school so I mostly enjoyed the scenery. 30,000 steps worth!

Magpie Inkcap fungus, a few of the many kinds of mushrooms I saw in the beech forest.

The ruins of a 13th century castle made for an interesting morning.

And the new sheriff’s residence, built beside the one that was destroyed to prevent invaders from making use of it.

There’s even a moat, formal gardens and “modern” outbuildings from the early 1800’s. The king would have had a fantastic view of the bridge!

Only parts of the church remain from medieval times.

And I checked on the moon jellies before heading back to Hotell Edgar.

Quite a fancy train station, still very much in use. Trains are frequent and I found myself with groups of pedestrians waiting to cross the tracks several times.

This photo is from the stairs that cross above the tracks. We had lovely fall weather and the campers are star gazing tonight.

I’ve been trying to block out news but the hotel owner is from Canada, and he wanted to express his sympathy for America’s great loss. He is a big RBG fan so there was no avoiding the sad news.

This was one of my favorite photos from our visit to the National Portrait Gallery.

Hardware Stores (and masks)

| Bryant Noice

Yes, I have abandoned the “day count”. There’s a lot of them now (days) and they are starting to be a reminder of how long I have been away from the fam. Speaking of the fam, I have a ticket to go to the US on May 9, spend 2 weeks there getting ready for our move (since the house sold) and then we all come to Sweden on May 23. Hopefully. If the planes are flying.

Anyway, in order to prep for this (essential) travel, I needed to get set up with some kind of mask, both for myself and others. I looked all around for where some might be, and ended up finding hardware stores. So I went to one today. Swedol is a really big hardware store. It is kind of like a Northern Tool (for those in the upper mid-west). It was clean, had a huge selection of tools and stuff, and was nicely organized. It looked like all the tools were high-end brands, but seemed pretty reasonably priced. It was outside of the center of town, in a more industrial-y area, but it was still a short bike ride. Basically everything is a short bike ride here. I took some snaps of Swedol.

I found the masks, but they only had one kind of lightweight FFP2 or FFP3 mask left, and they were valved. Valved masks are more comfortable for the wearer because they let the moisture from your breath escape while blocking particles from entering. BUT, they do nothing to protect others from you as your (basically unfiltered) breath goes right out. Then I realized I was in a hardware store, and thought, “hell, I can MacGyver something here”. So I got some FFP3 filter inserts and some white electrical tape. I can tape over the valve, or tape an insert over the valve. I can also use the insert inside a t-shirt mask (which might be more comfortable). In any case, I think I am OK, and here is my Swedol haul:

Now I just hope the planes are flying.

Day 11 – Lördag

| Bryant Noice

Nice clear, sunny Saturday today. So I decided to take a little trip out to Lomma. Lomma is a little seaside town about 10 km (6 miles) from Lund. I was going to bike it, and then decided I was lazy, so I took the bus.

But first I had to get to the bus stop, and that took me past Broder Jakob. Oh, darn.

The 139 shuttles between Lund Central and Lomma Central, with some local stops along the way. Total ride was about 15 min on the same Skånetrafiken app-based ticket that I use for the train. The bus was actually quite nice! Dropped me of in the center of Lomma, which is by the Library and the marina.

A short walk takes you past the marina and all the little shops that face it to the beach. Yup – “beach”. White sand that is shallow out for 100s of feet. Cool little breakwater and other stuff. I walked the whole beach north half way to Bjärred, and back. There’s a great little trail that runs along the whole south coast of Sweden, and this is a segment of it. You can also see Malmö from the beach pretty clearly, as well as the Öresund bridge that connects to Denmark. Here’s a small selection of pics.

Yes, I did stick my hand in the water. It was not as cold as I thought it would be, and also was not salty. Like, almost at all. Weird.

After checking out out the beach and watching a small regatta get set up, I got some coffee at this cafe and sat in the sun. Right where the arrow says so. Which was amaze-balls. Just saying. Also, you can sail up to the back of the library. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Bus back to Lund. At the hotel basically by noon, and I tipped over 16k steps. By noon. Now I’m going to sit on my butt and do some work.

Adventure Trailer

| Bryant Noice

I recently picked up a Space Trailer and tricked it out with side rails, cross-bars, spare tire, and stabilizer jacks. I put some bike racks on it and the Yakima Skybox that I usually put on the car. Tons of space, rides nice, and no cross-bar noise on the roof of the car!

I wasn’t done, however. I was inspired to build a chuck box to go inside, with a propane grill, a 2-burner propane stove, a 20lb propane tank, lots of storage, and a pivoting cover that turns into a prep-counter! Altogether, a very sweet adventure trailer. You can throw a roof-top tent on it, or just clip some bug net around the open lid with a plush pad inside.

Visit to Avalon

| Jennifer Noice

Bry’s Great-aunt Bunty invited us for a visit on seven mile island, NJ, where she’s enjoyed her unique cottage home for many years.

We saw the original portraits of Bryant’s 3rd great grandparents, heard many family stories, and explored the wetlands institute which Bunty and her late husband passionately supported.

The hand made bird mobile, which he carved and she painted, continues to impress and educate visitors.

Sunset view of the marsh from Bunty’s living room.