Leaving the south of Sweden

This day was mostly spent on the road as we were leaving Österlen, and Skåne, for Öland and new pastures.

Maria had checked a couple of places where she wanted to stop to look at gardens. The first was in Sölvesborg and then we should stop in both Ronneby and Karlskrona. This was at least the plan, to get out of Skåne and see what Blekinge had to offer.

Plans are always good to have, but we had already made two stops, in Kivik and Åhus, before we got out of Skåne and that forced us to rethink as I wanted to be on Öland before 18:00. The stop in Åhus was really nice, and my initiative. I knew of an ice-cream producer there and wanted to see if we could find their ice-cream. That we did and what a treat. The ice-cream balls were big as a fist and I only managed two, but they were delicious. If you ever are near Åhus then be sure to visit the big square and try Ottos Glass.

The only planned stop we did where the one in Sölvesborg. Maria wanted to visit the park that Piet Oudolf had planned in the center of the city. The park wasn´t that interesting this time of year, due to the long winter, but we got to try the new footbridge connecting the peninsula of Listerlandet with Sölvesborgs center.

Footbridge Sölvesborg leaving — Footbridge Sölvesborg 130509

Sölvesborg turned out to be a good stop and it was really nice to see the Sandwich Tern, first time ever. It was hunting in the small boat harbor just by the dockside so I had the opportunity to take a couple of photos before we left.

Sandwich Tern Sölvesborg leaving — Sandwich Tern 130509

I really like when I get opportunities to photo Terns. These agile birds aren´t easy photo objects so you really have to spend time with them to get a feeling for what could can be done. This photo is a nice first try, and my hope is to find a colony here in Sweden and be able to spend some time there.

The time was now an issue and we just had time for one stop before Öland, and that was lunch break. We headed directly to Bröttorp, a small community, on the Eastern side of the island of Öland, and here we would spend the coming days.

We did a small evening tour to Gråborg, an old castle that dates as far back as the 6th century. It isn´t really much left, but these ruins where just a kilometer or two from Bröttorp so we had to check it out.