Day 14 - Friday 5th May 2023

Today we'll be travelling from Stockholm to Uppsala and Falun. It was to be a leisurely start - bags out by 8am, departure at 9am. We went down to breakfast in the hotel restaurant at about 7:30.

It was another bright sunny day but once again it was cold. At 6am it was -3C and the feel-like temperature was -6C.

After leaving the city, we travelled through industrial areas before reaching rural areas with green fields and farmlands.

We reached Uppsala and stopped outside the cathedral at about 10:15. Unfortunately there was a funeral in progress and so we were not allowed to go inside. So we took photos from the outside. The main spire is 119m tall and so it was hard to get it all in one photo, I had to walk a long way away to get the shot.

The next event was to be a visit to the gardens at Uppsala. Gennady hadn't told us much about our guide but hinted he would be someone special. After we waited near the entrance to the garden for about 15 minutes, Gennady walked in with a man dressed in a wig and the outfit of a nobleman from the 18th century.

He introduced himself as Carl Linnaeus - otherwise known as Carl von Linne - who was a Swedish botanist who invented the system for naming plants. This system is still in use today. He gave a very amusing talk.

Unfortunately there were very few flowers in the garden. He said that spring is running late this year. Not surprising really. No self respecting plant would poke its head out of the ground until the weather got warmer. Apparently this garden is a blaze of colour in summer and although summer is only a few weeks away, there was no sign of this splendour.

After the garden visit, we were free to explore Uppsala on our own. For lunch, we found a cafe that sells serve-yourself pizza.

The bus left at 1:15pm and drove through more rural areas. Most houses in rural Sweden have a reddish brown timber exterior with white trim around the windows, along the eaves and down the corners of the house. Apparently this is just a tradition.

Logging seems to be a common industry around here. Some parts of the pine forest had ben cleared and there were often piles of timber lying by the roadside.

Our next stop was at Carl Larsson's farm. He was a famous Swedish artist from the 20th century. His wife was also an accomplished artist. Their house sits next to a lake in a rural setting. Their house has been preserved, just as they had lived, and is open for inspection by visitors like us.

You are allowed to take photos outside but not inside. The outdoor area is a tranquil peaceful setting.

The house has two levels. Downstairs, there is a living room, dining room, kitchen, a small studio and a large studio. Upstairs, there are bedrooms, including a guest room, and a library or reading room. They had eight children.

Throughout the house, there are paintings by both Carl and his wife. There are also tapestries by the wife. Apart from the framed paintings, there are paintings on the walls and ceilings.

The bus left at about 5pm to travel the short distance to the small nearby town of Falun where we will be staying at the First Grand Hotel. Grand in name but perhaps not all that grand in reality.

Instead of a king bed, our room had two single beds pushed together - each with its own separate single quilt. There was a long work desk, two lounge chairs, plenty of power points, small bathroom with a separate shower. There \was no cupboard, no fridge, no safe, no air conditioning. The Wi-Fi speed was about 90Mb/s in both directions. They could have made the bathroom a little bigger and the bedroom a little smaller.

Our dinner tonight was at a rural restaurant called Skedvi Brod. The bus left the hotel at 6:30pm and we arrived on time at 7pm. To get the the restaurant, we walked through storage areas and a factory where they make bread. It wasn't elegant but the food was very good. One round of drinks was free and we paid for a second round.

We were back at the hotel at about 9:30pm.