Of Fair Visingsö (Swedish Notes #4)

Visingsö

There is a saying among the Swedes that: "He who has not seen Visingsö has not seen Sweden!" Actually I just made that up. I think the saying really goes: "He who has not seen Visingsö has not seen Visingsö!" (which can hardly be denied). In any case, Visingsö is a quiet, lovely little island in big Lake Vattern in the middle of Sweden. If you want a nice peaceful pleasant interlude, exploring a beautiful little island with surprisingly varying scenery, where you can take a swim in the lake, or a bike ride through a forest or on a country road, then this is a good place for it.

In the summer there are plenty of tourists on Visingsö. But they are mostly Swedish families or couples who adapt to the nice quiet pace of the island, cooking their meals, making little picnics, taking little horse drawn carriage rides, and fitting in fairly well. Tourism seems to be a big part of the of economy, but there are also farms, livestock, orchards, etc, so it seems to be a real place, especially the further you get from the harbor, though I suppose most of the farmers are just part time. I didn't see any Americans here. Come to think of it, I didn't see many Americans at all in Sweden, maybe just a few in Göteborg. I guess once they get this far North they just go to the cities. I asked a lady I met there if she ever sees Americans. She said of course there are plenty of Americans. For example, she remembers meeting an American from Chicago around five years ago.


The best way to get around on Visingsö is by bicycle. I rented my bike for 75 kronar/day from Öbergs Kafé and Hembageri. It is also possible to rent a bike for 50kr/day at the Piri Piri Thai Restaurant at the harbor. The bikes at both places are about equally bad, so I figured I might as well rent the more expensive one. The other advantage is that if I had rented from Piri Piri, then when I finally left the island I would have been able to ride almost all the way to the ferry with my heavy pack, but instead I had to walk three kilometers from Öbergs after dropping off the bike. All the bikes on Visingsö have three gears. I couldn’t get first gear to work, so I brought it back to Öbergs. The bicycle repair guy at Öbergs (I suspect he is also the chef) worked on it for a long while until finally second gear also wouldn’t work. Then he asked me what did I think about that? I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. He finally offered me a different bike. First gear also didn’t work on the second bike, but I took it and honestly felt much better about the whole thing.

I stayed at the hostel Fredängen on Visingsö. It was the nicest hostel I have ever been in. Clean, peaceful, friendly, inexpensive, with a view of Lake Vattern, and a beautiful breeze in the (summer) evening. Please stay there if you visit Visingsö. In fact, you ought to visit Visingsö just so that you can stay there: visingsovandrarhem.se/index.htm.


Visingsö is quiet these days. But you should have seen it 400 years ago, when Count Per Brahe the Younger was running the place from his castle. Then it was really swinging. You can see the remains of his castle from the harbor. I watched the castle as I left the island. Visingsö is a magical place. It appears deceptively simple, but it has great variety and depth and reveals itself slowly, so that each day it appears a little different and a little surprising.




Visingsö, a type of cow.

On the manufacture and consumption of “saft” (Swedish Notes #3)

Today's topic concerns the traditional Swedish custom of "saft" brewing.

Often mistranslated with a benign-sounding word like "juice", saft bears little resemblance to what we know as juice. And although this potent and dangerous liquor is officially banned by the church authorities, it is still widely manufactured and consumed, particularly in the wild rural districts of the western coast.

Saft is made year-round, but it is in Summer that saft-making, with all the licentiousness and depravity that accompany it, reaches its frenzied peak. During summertime, the Swede, wild-eyed and “crazed with the saft”, will make his brew with whatever he finds at hand. No flower or berry is safe. Small pets are sometimes known to go missing. In wintertime, the saft-brewer cannot afford to be picky, and will use almost any available materials, the most common being potatoes and old shoes.


Blueberries may be extracted from these Swedish plants.

The Swedish tradition of Allemansrätt (Swedish Notes #2)

I would be remiss in my duty as chronicler of this interesting people if I neglected to describe the ancient Swedish tradition of Allemansrätt. This wonderful, well-nigh unique customary right, establishes the freedom of the countryside for all who would venture wander there. It is a matter of law that one may wander where one pleases, and spend a night on private land, with certain reasonable restrictions. For example, one should not harm living trees, or light fires in dry weather, or approach too close to private gardens or dwellings.

The law governing Allemansrätt has been amended in recent years. According to the expanded, more progressive law, the traveller now has the right to spend a single night in any home in Sweden. Again, there are reasonable restrictions. For example, the visitor is expected to:

(1) make up his bed in the morning;
(2) comment on the beauty of the surrounding countryside (however ugly);
(3) comment on the beauty of his host’s wife (however ugly);
(4) refrain from touching his host's vodka or daughter.

I myself spent several nights with members of Swedish parliament during my stay, and found them to be excellent hosts.





If you wander in Sweden, you may see something like this.












Typical west-coast dwelling.

On Swedish Wildlife (Swedish Notes #1)

We begin this series of notes on our great and beautiful neighbor to the Northeast, deep in the Swedish countryside, the true heart and soul of Sweden.

A generous and benign Providence has seen fit to gift Sweden with more than its share of lovely flora and fauna. And in most cases you will find the wildlife to be a pleasant part of your experience in this charming country. Of the larger wild game, you will certainly encounter the “Cow.” This ferocious creature bears little resemblance to its mild, domesticated cousin, found in most civilized countries, with which the reader may be familiar.

A companion and I once found ourselves in a field surrounded by a gang of angry looking cows, Swedish cows. They moved in. I could tell that they had been drinking. It was starting to look like an ugly situation. These beasts can tear a man apart with their bare hooves, and digest him in any one of their four stomachs. And then cough him back up, and chew him, and then digest him again. Suddenly, the biggest, meanest looking cow moved closer. He looked at me. I looked at him. Our eyes met. Neither of us moved. Suddenly, before I could react, his tongue shot out and licked me from head to toe. I was wet. And gooey. But I had survived.


Gang of cows, near the scene of the attack.

Me and the Garden

Today's Post is Dedicated to my Backyard

I was out working on the backyard/garden yesterday. It has been severely neglected and so much of my time was spent clearing out weeds and ivy. I don't know much about gardening or gardens or plants, so I can't always distinguish the good plants from the bad plants (those that some like to call "weeds"). Nevertheless, there is a job to do and I have never been one to shirk my duty (excpet when it is really annoying or inconvenient). In short: I must decide which plants are to live and which are to die. It is an awesome responsibility and my awareness of this is never far from my mind. I have adopted a simple strategy: I keep the plants I like, and I get rid of those those that I don't like. I don't claim that this is fair.

Plants I like: The myrtle, the azaleas, the plant with nice green leaves with white spots that my schvooger decimated a few years ago. I like also the mimosa fern tree, the holly (when it isn't invading another plant), and the monkey grass, and of course the established trees. I like the moss, but it needs a lot of encouragement.

I don't like the ivy and the little weeds that spring up everywhere.

There is a little poison ivy. I don't particularly like it, but I respect and fear it. We have a mutual live-and-let-live policy.