One of my favourite days during our stay in Sweden

Last summer (2017) I travelled to Sweden with my family. We rented a camping car there and set off our journey to be free to explore the south of Sweden. Our tour started at Malmö, and we took the train to Hässleholm, where we picked up our camping car that we had rented through airbnb. We spent the first night at ‘Lake Åsnen Resort’ in ‘Getno Gård’, but it was so nice that we stayed for four whole days instead of one!

Today we woke up very early because we had many things planned, and we wanted to get them all done. In the morning, I biked to the bakery to get traditional Swedish bread, which is quite sweet in comparison to the Austrian one, because they add sirup (the sirup is added because the days are very dark there sometimes, and sugar helps liven up the spirit). I don't really know why, but there is something really satisfying about biking to a bakery in the morning and passing all of the other camping cars on your way.

Then we went to a typical old Swedish village called Krokshult with traditional red and white wooden houses. It was located next to a lake, where we ate breakfast in the middle of the trees. The village is so beautifully located, with fields, a light breeze, the beautiful houses, and a lake, so it was very idyllic and calming to walk around basically with no one else. I found this experience one of the best ones ever, because I was never in a village where ALL houses were wooden and painted red. It kind of felt like walking straight into a fairytale, and the lake definitely contributed to that surreal but exciting feeling. The village was also very interesting, because it is an ‘open museum,’ so anywhere without a lock on the door, you could go in and have a peek around. Sometimes there were labels describing old objects that were displayed, like in a real museum!

Photo of the lake by the village, where we had our breakfast. We brought our won table and chairs and prepared the food in the camping car.

Above and to the left you can see the old village. As you can see, the fences are handmade out of wood, like in the old days. The houses are mad out of wood and painted red and white.

Then we left the village and drove to an Elk Park, or in Swedish: Ålgpark. When we arrived, there were so many different animals ranging from bunnies to pigs and goats, and elks, of course. We walked around the enclosed area with the elks, which was in a beautiful forest, and we saw five of the strong and muscular creatures, one of which was very close to us. The antlers looked furry and soft to touch, and some were very big (approx. 3m wide). It was definitely something we had to do (and it was worth it!), because in my opinion Sweden is the country of Elks. At the end we ate grilled elk bratwurst with bread and bought elk sausage. I am sorry to disappoint anyone, but elk sausage tastes like beef, so it is not very ‘special’. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a taste!

Beautiful male elk lying in grass, which is slightly reddish. He has beautiful antlers that look furry and soft to the touch. 

After that late lunch, we went back to our camping place at Getnö Gård, and we took a stroll in the woods to gather firewood for an evening mini-bonfire. While gathering the wood, we saw a snake. My brother was the first one who detected it, and he loudly whispered to us that we should come and look, because there is a snake. We were a little bit scared at first, but also very intrigued and interested to see it. We only saw it a few seconds anyway, because it silently slithered away under a rock.

Above you can see the snake we saw while collecting wood in the forest. I am guessing it is an adder.

Because it was still light, we went to the ‘reception,’ which had a small restaurant with it, and we ate elk burgers which we had pre-ordered the day before. The burgers tasted a lot better than the sausages from the elk park. Then we walked back to our camping car, where we lighted the fire. If you ever camp with a camping car, you should definitely make a fire in the evening, and if you have one, you could bring along a guitar to sing. Fires are just such homely, cozy things. We then walked to the lake, called lake Åsnen, and watched the beautiful sunset, like so many other guests. It was dark and fresh, but on our way to the lake, we passed the other camping cars, whose inhabitants had also lighted little fires, so it was very beautiful to see the dancing flames and hear the crackling of the wood. The little specks of light were very soothing, in a way. Again, this is a very nice experience, and I would definitely recommend to stay in a place where you can light fires. After watching the sun set in all its red, yellow and orange tones, we went back, sat by the fire until it went out, and went to bed after an ice-cold shower (there were only two showers with warm water, which obviously were occupied at all times :D )

My brother and I putting the wood we collected into the metal 'pot' for making fires.

The small fire we made by our camp. As you can see, there are pinecones from the woods in the fire.

The view at lake Åsnen with a soft sunset. The photo is taken from a small peninsula, and you can see
the land at the left of the photo.