Round the World 2015: Vasteras

We visited Vasteras, west of Stockholm, for several days. Hakan’s mother and father (Ann-Kristin’s farmor and farfar) came from near Vasteras. We stayed with Hakan’s cousin, Bengt Sandell and his wife, Gun. Bengt escorted us around in search of the ancestral homes. We visited churches, church ruins and cemeteries in places with names like Tibble, Nibble, Sorby and Furby.

My pictures don’t convey the bucolic beauty of the Swedish countryside. Large red barns and yellow houses sit between blue skies and vibrant green fields, framed by wild flowers (especially purple lupines). The recent rain, oblique sunlight, or some Swedish magic does something with the colors. In the evenings, things are especially golden. The roads are narrow and wind around as if they were avoiding long-gone trees or boulders.

Vasteras is located on one of the northern reaches of Lake Malaren. Lake Malaren is large, extending 40 kilometers west of Vasteras and connecting to the Baltic Sea 110 kilometers east at Stockholm. In the time of the Vikings, the lake was important for inland navigation.

The kids enjoyed Bengt and Gun's large yard and invented a game they called Swedish sprout ball. We all ran more than we had in a long while. I’ll be days recovering.

We thank all of the Sandells for their exceptional Sandell hospitality, especially Bengt and Gun.

Jack in his new sweatshirt on the train to Vasteras

Bengt and Gun’s yard near sunset

Closer to sunset

Breakfast at Bengt and Gun’s home. They raised the American flag on our behalf.

Another view from Bengt and Gun’s house

Ruins of the Church of Stora Rytterne

The church at Koping (“Chooping”)

Monument dedicated to Martin Sundell, a leader in the Swedish cooperative movement

A timber out building at Bengt and Gun’s

A view from Sabina’s house

The kids playing a game

The big party – I think 26 Sandells and Sundells attended

Margarite’s amazing potato salad

Dessert! - I think it is called havreflarn

The kids running free at Bengt and Gun's

Hakan at the Sundell family grave in Vasteras

Proba - a historic detention center in Vasteras for juvenile delinquents, and inebriated priests and teachers

Vasteras Cathedral

A street in Vasteras

A cool sculpture of biking to work in Vasteras

Vasteras - on the canal

Anundshog - a 3,000 year old Viking power center with burial mounds and ship-shaped stone memorials. This location was once on the shores of Lake Malaren. The land has rebounded from the glacial compression and Lake Malaren is now miles away.