Convoys and the Long Way Home

[get me outta here]

Thanks for the great report. HEL is one of my most favourite cities in summer. I got a hotel that had bikes and had a wonderful tootle around, your photos remind me to get back there. If you like Marrimekko, there is a big one a bus ride away.

 

[drron]

Stockmann's sale this year was nowhere near as good as 2010.Mrsdrron loves ARA shoes.2010-$A80 on special.2015-$A140 on special.

Thw salmon soup at the Kamp was excellent with lots of salmon and not just the left overs made into soup that was occurring in the markets.Never been to the Sea Horse.

Marimekko had their flagship store next door to the Kamp but now only half the size-still big.Another store a block away but again pricing not what it used to be.

And so back to the TR.First of all the Kamp brekkie.I loved it and filled up on the traditional smoked salmon,hot smoked salmon and marinated sea trout.All just beautiful.
Our last day in Helsinki was Helsinki day.Crowds everywhere.People having picnics in the park with the sun out and a balmy 14C.

.

.

.

Old trams were out.And Scandinavian specialties on sale-

.

.

We then walked the opposite way to yesterday-

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

The Russians are coming!

.

.

.

.

Now those people sitting on the steps weren't just sunning themselves there was a fair in the square with live music and essential advice such as how to grow tomatoes in Finland,a nifty idea for QF WP to turn his empty wine bottles into candleholders,how to knit Finnish socks,the ideal boots for chopping trees down in Finland and the newest idea to hide your Schnapps drinking from your partner.Had a long conversation here with a fellow who was amazed an Australian would come all that distance to be here for Helsinki day.

.

.

.

.

.

And some typical Finns just having a chat-

.

 

[drron]

We went in a circle and came back to The Esplanade.Just missed a performance by the Finnish military-

.

Kept walking and in the square beside the main railway station was another fair.But this time Spanish music and Tapas.Unfortunately both were of mediocre quality-

.

But we did see a very important tram-

.

.

The beer tram.

Back outside the Kamp a long dinner table had been set up on the road from the harbour up to Stockmanns-

.

.

.

There was wine and water set up but it looked like everyone bought their own food.By this time the temperature had dropped,the wind had picked up and it was very cold out in the street.

We were tired so ate at the Kamp brasserie-salmon soup and steak tartar.Food was very good but service slow.

 

[drron]

So Friday comes and time to leave Helsinki.Awoken just before 0700 by a fire alarm.It kept going so up and dressed but rang desk before going down 6 flights of stairs.It was a false alarm.Took some time before it was announced.Another healthy breakfast of fruit and fish.About 1300 off to the airport.Looked around the shops then to the Finnair Schengen lounge.Has been renovated since our last visit and is bright and open but seats at a premium.

.

.

.

We were sitting near the desk.amazing how many people tried to get in.A Chinese Tour group caused a few problems-2 ended up getting in the rest reluctantly left.One older American guy came in and said the checkin agent said he could go to the lounge.Asked for his invitation he repeated that she just said I can go to the loung.The agent rang checkin and used a great line-I rang the agent.Nice try.Your lounge is waiting at Gate 27.
It is great for plane watching-

.

.

.

.

.

We went to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding.Found out the Chinese tour group was also going to CPH.The 2 admitted to the lounge sat behind us the rest were down the back.When boarding was announced they all swarmed the gate.Somehow the agents sorted them out.

AY 667 HEL-CPH. ETD-1745. PB-1747. TO-1754. Seats 2A,C. A321.
ETA-1825. Land-1818. At gate-1824.
Served a salad as soon as the seat belt sign goes off.Then once more a short sleep.

.

 

[drron]

Long walk to the baggage carousel.Once again a few anxious moments as our bags are next to last out.Off to Avis.However to get to the car there was about 500metres walk in the open and it is raining and wind howling.Avis though did come through again and upgraded to a new Audi A3.We are given a Biz pass to go over the Oresund bridge to Sweden.We are going to do 3 days in Southern Sweden staying at Best Westerns.Signed up as I will get 250 AA miles for each stay.

The roads in Sweden are very good so it was an easy drive to our overnight stop in Kristianstad at the Hotel Anno 1937.Only had rooms with 2 single beds.However the room photos on the website are not representative of what you get-

.

.

The shower is really that dark.Still light outside but no light anywhere near it.

.

.

And that was our view.The room was the smallest we have ever been in.The door opened outwards as really no room to open inwards.The best thing about the hotel is the view from outside-

.

All the Best Westerns came with breakfast by Tina Nordstrom promising the best local ingredients.Unfortunately just not enough of them.Lucky we still had some muesli bars.
Next the quaint town of Kristianstad.

 

[drron]

So buildings of Kristianstad-

.

.

.

..

.

.

The guns are outside a restaurant.

.

.

.

And the train station-

.

 

[drron]

In the park was a theatre.Beautiful grounds-

.

.

.

.

.

Plus lots of bird life-

.

.

.

We then set off for Vaxjo.Again even though a third tier road it was very easy driving.Passed a very large Ikea plus an Ikea hotel at Almuth but mrsdrron didn't want to stop this time.There were lots of wildflowers along the way-

.

.

 

[drron]

We headed for Vaxjo as it is in a glass making area-the town of Kosta is nearby.It has the Swedish glass museum as well as the Smaland museum which get reasonable reviews.The day we went half of the Glass museum was closed-the historical part.However the price was right-free this Sunday.So first the oldest playable organ in Sweden and the ceiling of an old church-

.

.

And now the glass.Strange collection-

.

.

.

.

Yes the little piece was called Zorro.Also an item of Murano glass.The title was imaginative-

.

.

And some work from Kosta-

.

.

 

[drron]

The Smaland museum was half old household items with only occasional English.The other half was local craft,mainly by children.The glass mural wall by Kosta Boda designers was nice-

.

But it was something outside which caught my attention-

.

.

A seagull feeding her chicks.There were some displays outside and mum was certainly vigilant making 2 low passes over me.

.

.

.

Nearby a large attractive lake for recreational use-

.

.

.

It was now time to set off for our night's stay-Ljunby.We stopped at a supermarket for some supplies.The fruit was very definitely second quality.These very tiny passionfruit were over $1 wach-

.

There was a section of fruit and veggies marked-Ecologie.The stuff was not fit for consumption.We don't know how lucky we are.

 

[drron]

We now checked in to the Best Western.It was a newer place and I had booked a family room with a queen and a double bed.Openned the door and just one bed visible in a very narrow room.

.

.

.

.

A very small bathroom.The shower was so small the screen wouldn't shut when you had your shower.Just to complete this magnificent room the hotel was connected to a truck stop and just off the A4 highway.

.

After taking that photo I turned around and figured where the second bed was-

.

It had a 100KG limit sign on it.The "queen" bed was only just a double so I took the mattress and doona from the top bunk and slept on the couch.

 

[OATEK]

We now checked in to the Best Western.It was a newer place and I had booked a family room with a queen and a double bed.Openned the door and just one bed visible in a very narrow room.

A very small bathroom.The shower was so small the screen wouldn't shut when you had your shower.Just to complete this magnificent room the hotel was connected to a truck stop and just off the A4 highway.

After taking that photo I turned around and figured where the second bed was.

It had a 100KG limit sign on it.The "queen" bed was only just a double so I took the mattress and doona from the top bunk and slept on the couch.

Only slightly better than a tent if you are sleeping on the ground!!! Quite the adventurer, roughing it in Finland!

 

[drron]

There is a restaurant at the hotel but a cafeteria.Like all the Swedish restaurants we went to it was equipped with one arm bandits.Though these days one button.So we decided to go to a Thai restaurant in town.First a little drive around town.Not a large place and most seems to be of recent origin.

.

.

.

Now it appears that in Scandinavia the term"Thai restaurant"means Asian.This was more Thai than others we looked at as it was run by Thais.We had chicken satay,Mussaman curry and Pad Thai.The only dish that tasted remotely like Thai was the Pad Thai.The food was OK just not Thai.

Breakfast in the morning was slightly better than the first morning.The scambled eggs actually looked like scrambled eggs rather than a loaf which you cut a bit off the previous morning.They had also added meatballs and mini frankfurters.
Then we were off to an interesting days activities.We had stayed at Ljunby as it was close to a moose farm-Laganland.Just 10km up the A4.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

More moose-

.

.

.

.

The one in the grass is a female who gave birth 10 days ago.She wasn't moving and the youngster was out of sight.Mrsdrron said time to go but I opted for one more walk to the other side of the enclosure and was rewarded-

.

.

.

.

There is also a forest where another 3 females with 3 youngsters are living.When rutting season starts the younger male will be put out there.But now a couple of photos of cars meeting moose-

.

.

There are about 30000 moose in the wild in Smaland and 250000 in Sweden even though thousands are hunted every year.
A recommended visit.Entry fee 50SKK.Approx $A10.Family is 100SKK.

 

[drron]

We now detoured to the coast and Halmstad but in particular Tysosand said to be the greatest beach in Sweden.Easy drive and the beach was well signposted.First we went to a pretty little bay-

.

.

It was only 12.5C and people were having a picnic on the beach.But it was a fine day and you can see Denmark-

.

.

BBq facilities on the beach.The path down to the bay was through a rhododendron park-

.

.

.

.

.

Some of the bushes were really high.Must be very old.

.

 

[drron]

This particular specimen was really a tall tree-

.

Lots of wildflowers as well-

.

.

.

.

.

But all around this bay are at least a 1000 small cabins cheek by jowl though fortunately not visible from most of the shore.These are the best of them-

.

We then drove to the beach.A much more upmarket area with very nice homes.Again most not visible from the beach.Bush paths everywhere and real sand dunes-

.

.

And the view back from the top of the dunes-

.

 

[drron]

So to the greatest beach in Sweden at the start of summer-

.

.

.

.

A little island offshore-

.

But looking both ways not another soul on the beach-

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

So now the drive to Klippan for our final Best Western.Interestingly along the way we passed a Ten Points hotel.Now I was worried.This time I had booked a room with a king bed.Nervously opened the door-

.

.

Well an European king-2 singles pushed together but heck.Still not much room but heck.Naturally a great view-

.

We walked around the town-didn't take long but stumbled across this place-

.

.

A wool place and this was their factory outlet.Some nice stuff and mrsdrron picked up some alpaca yarn.Very good quality from Uraquay.Much cheaper than Tasmania too!
On our walk we found 5 pizza places,3 Thai restaurants and a couple of cafes.There were also 8 hairdressers-surely some had little work to do.Now our rate tonight included a dinner buffet so we went down.Some basic salad stuff.Two corningware bowls of unidentifiable stuff in matching yellow sauce and an ordinary looking dessert.So we decided to try out one of the Thai restaurants.A hard decision as none of them had any customers at 1930.
The one we picked once again was not Thai.We talked to the young woman and she was Vietnamese but her uncle lived in Thailand many years.She said they knew the food wasn't Thai but that Swedes wouldn't eat true Thai dishes.We suggested she might try a small Vietnamese section to her menu and see how that went.Once again we don't realise how lucky we are in Australia.

So back to the hotel.Each doorway in Sweden had a small raised piece of steel or wood.Mrsdrron tripped and down she went on her left side.No one came over to see how she was.Bruised and sore but able to walk and no serious damage done.However she was definitely not a happy camper.
Breakfast was the best of the Best Westerns with smoked salmon and marinated salmon added.

Next-off to Copenhagen.

 

[RB]

Have just caught up with reading this great report. We note that the cherries are also being promoted heavily in Spain.

 

[drron]

So after brekkie we drove straight to Copenhagen.The plan was to go straight to the Royal Copenhagen outlet then drive around the O2 ring road.Once again signage in cities is not good so we end up driving the ring road first.After doing a lap we find the road that led directly to the RC outlet.Even with discounts it is really expensive.Fortunately there is also a George Jensen outlet there and some things much more reasonably priced so mrsdrron was happy.

Then it was back to the Hilton CPH.Got upgraded from basic king to deluxe king.The place was fully booked.So no lounge access but free Brekkie in the restaurant.This is done by coupons.It was very busy so agent said she would send them up to the room later.A little later I took the luggage trolley downstairs.They are kept next to checkin.A fellow at the HH line was obviously a little upset.The agent said sorry but breakfast is only available in the lounge.She then notices me and says drron here are your breakfast coupons.I got out of there quickly to take the car back to Avis.
No problems with Avis.The car performed well.750km and used only 41 litres.

So to the pics-

.

.

.

.

.

Now I haven't posted one of these for a while-

.

.

.

.