Vitlycke Museum

Last week, the girls and I visited the Vitlycke Museum, famous for its Bronze Age rock art. The Bronze Age in Scandinavia is from about 2,000-500 BCE. The rock art here is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; these are places chosen by the UN as being of notable significance to human history.

Of course the museum is stylish and adorable. It's in Sweden!

We started our visit in the small indoor museum. It held some Bronze Age artifacts, such as a massive bronze sword that someone found buried to the hilt in the sand beneath the sea. As with most places in Sweden, the museum is extremely kid-friendly. The exhibits are designed as a narrative of several family members. The museum also offered a scavenger hunt, a wall puzzle of some of the more famous rock art images, and clay for kids to make their own versions.

Daim ice cream cones in the museum cafe.

The girls' favorite part of the museum was the large outdoor space designed to look like a Bronze Age farm. Within a fenced area stood a few structures (a longhouse, a house/barn, and a workshop). There was a small garden and a large area with goats grazing.

Long girls outside the longhouse.

Interior of longhouse, aka best playhouse ever.

The girls begged me to let them play house in the long house. I hung out with the goats for a bit, then took a walk along a trail that was also part of the property. I walked to the "sacrificial bog" where a statue of a goddess stood on an island in the middle. It felt like I'd walked onto the set of the Princess Bride, everything covered in ferns and moss.

Baby goats!

Heading out on the nature trail.

The goddess.

Finally, we made it to one of the rock art sites. By this point, we were all a bit tired and cranky. And looking at carvings in rock, especially when you are not allowed to touch them or climb on the rocks, is a tough sell for any kiddos.

Just one of several sites.

She wants to touch them SO. SO. MUCH.

A boat. Most sites were near the sea; sea level was higher then.

Top: One of the most famous images, The Lovers

Overall, it was a lovely day trip back in time. Four thousand years ago is beyond my ability to truly wrap my brain around. I'm awed at the depth of human history at our fingertips here in Sweden.

One Day in Lund

Jeremy invited me and the girls to tag along with him on a collecting trip, and we jumped at the chance to visit another part of Sweden. He needed isopods from an area near Lund, one of Sweden's oldest cities. It's approximately 5 IKEAs hours south of where we live in Tjärnö.

That's Lund at the bottom. We live up by the border with Norway.

Lund is very close to Malmö, Sweden's 3rd largest city. It's also home to Lund University, Scandinavia's oldest university, whose early history began in 1425. Today, it's home to about 40,000 students and is considered one of the top universities in Europe.

We learned on this trip that this is what Swedish graduation hats look like. Who knew?!

We arrived on a grey and drizzly Sunday evening. The town was quiet, most of the shops and restaurants were closed for the night. We found a place was both open AND popular, so we gave it a shot. I believe I had the best veggie burger of my life (and as a Californian and former long-time vegetarian, that's saying something). The place was sort of like a non-chain version of the restaurant Islands, so we felt right at home.

Of course we ate at a place called "Surf Shack"... in Sweden.

The next day, Jeremy was up early and off to fetch little ocean beasties. That left us girls one precious day to explore the city. After our disastrous day in Hamburg, I left the hotel with back-up plans upon back-up plans... prepared for the worst, while still hoping for the best.

Fairy tale entrance ahead.

Trying out the seating in a city square.

Many people rode bikes, we saw people carrying groceries, flowers, even a dog, in their bicycle baskets. Lund is absolutely beautiful. Every step felt like walking into the past, or possibly into an episode of Game of Thrones; Lund was founded around the year 1000!

Old town girls.

We started at the town's most famous attraction: Domkyrkan, or Dome Church. It's Lund's magnificent, thousand-year-old cathedral. It's size and beauty were overwhelming.

Lund's Domkyrkan

Visiting the crypt under the church.

Next stop, a local bakery for a quick mid-morning fika. As with many Swedish restaurants, the coffee was strong and the cups were bottomless. Our fingers were coated with buttery deliciousness after we each scarfed down a freshly baked croissant.

After a bit of a walking around the city (pass the train station, check out a little flea market, make a quick stop in the gigantic toy store), we stumbled upon another church. This was the Alhelgonakyrkan (All Saints Church). Although I don't know much about architectural styles, the differences between this church and the cathedral were immediately apparent. (The All Saints is gothic revival style, and only about 100 years old, while the cathedral is Romanesque and ten times older. Thank you, Internet.)

Checking out the balcony seats.

We found the Sunday school play area!

We had planned to return to the Cathedral for the noontime show of its astronomical clock. Jeremy finished his work and met us there.

Little figures come out of the door and circle around Mary and Jesus.

After the clock show, we headed over to the Saluhallen for lunch. It reminded us all of Liberty Public Market in San Diego: many different types of cuisine, all under a single roof.

Pastries!

So. Much. Cheese.  Mind = blown.

In the afternoon, we chose an outdoor museum called Kulturen. Most of the museum consists of a variety of buildings dating from the Middle Ages all the way up to the present-day. It was perfect for short-attention-span visitors, such as our children. They could run up to each one, explore the interior, and move on to the next. Being outdoors on a gorgeous day was an added bonus.

And you thought Ancient Runes was just something J.K. Rowling made up.

A little bit of dress up.

Jeremy had to get in on the dress-up action.

A little more dress-up in a room full of old toys.

I think this was Miracle Max's place.

Ye Olde Smithy.

Jeremy's favorite was the dark and creepy toy tour.

I wish we'd had one more day. Lund is a gem and there were dozens of little shops I'd have liked to poke around in and cafes I'd like to sit in. Savannah kept saying, "We need to come back!" I'm not sure we'll make it back to Lund, but it would certainly be worth trying.

Nereus to Ursholmen

Today we were fortunate to be invited to join a class trip to Ursholmen, the site of the westernmost lighthouse in Sweden.

Not quite sittin' on the dock of the bay... but close.

Tjärno is top right, Ursholmen is red flag. Thanks, Google!

We donned lifejackets and climbed on the Nereus, one of the vessels belonging to the marine lab here in Tjärnö. About 20 undergrads studying ocean biodiversity came aboard, planning to spend the day snorkeling and learning to recognize the local seaweeds.

The Nereus, ready to head out.

Safety first!

On the ride out, the sky was grey and the water was calm. There was just one patch of rougher water, where the boat jumped up and down a bit. The girls stood gripping the railing at the bow of the ship, and screamed together in delight.

Ursholmen means "rocky island" which is funny because all of the islands here are rocky. Ursholmen is part of what's called the Strömstad archipelago, a collection rocky islands too numerous to count.

Time for a rest when you make it to the top!

On the island, the first thing the Swedes did was sit down and have a quick fika. Our friend Gunilla, the course instructor, gave some instructions to her students and they were off, changing into wetsuits and clambering over rocks to get down to the water.

"I am MOANA!" (That's literally what she yelled.)

We didn't brave the chilly water. Instead, we did some rock clambering of our own. We eventually made it up to the highest point on the island, where the lighthouses stand. They were automated in 1965, but before that a lighthouse keeper and a few other families lived out here. I can't imagine what life on this remote, isolated rock must have been like for them.

These few houses are the westernmost buildings in Sweden.

1891. Imagine living out here over 100 years ago.

By noon, the sun had come out and we were hot from our exertions. We laid a blanket on the grass in the shade for a picnic lunch, in the center of the small circle of old houses.

Om... with a mug for fika. Because Sweden.

The return trip was sunnier, but didn't provide any wave-riding entertainment. We saw some seals, basking in the sun on a low rocky spit. We saw countless jellyfish and seabirds. We saw not a single speck of trash in the ocean.

Lighthouse family selfie.

 A beautiful day, in a beautiful place. We are all feeling very thankful to our Swedish friends for inviting us to tag along on this adventure. Couldn't ask for a better way to start the week.

Tunnbrödsrolle Tutorial

I have a Swedish friend. I ask her all of my pressing, international inquiries such as, "How can I pay this Norwegian parking ticket?" and "Where should I leave my shoes at the pool?" and "What else do you eat with the crunchy roasted onions?"

Visiting Nordens Ark, we discovered that Swedes like to put crunchy roasted onions on their hot dogs. Friends repeatedly confirmed this when we were invited over to barbecue and offered roasted onions for our hot dogs.

Americans will recognize this food as "that crunchy stuff we only eat once a year on top of the green bean casserole at Thanksgiving". We call them "French fried onions" and ours are more like strips, but the Swedish ones are more like little chunks.

After this crunchy deliciousness came to my attention, I noticed it in the grocery stores. Sometimes, it is sold in giant bags. I couldn't imagine that all of that was for hot dogs, so I asked my Swedish friend: What else do you put that on?

She replied, "Nothing... Except, if you want to make your hot dog a bit fancier, you can do this."

And then she proceeded to describe to me the Swedish specialty known as a tunnbrödsrolle (translation: thin bread roll).

And here's how you make it!

Step 1: Get our your tunnbröd

It looks like this. Don't get the crispy kind!

Step 2: Make some mashed potatoes. You can get all fancy-like and boil actual potatoes, but this isn't gourmet food. I opted for the instant version.

Instant potatismos!

Just follow the simple instructions!

Step 3: Cook up some hot dogs. Again, you could grill them if you're feeling fancy and you want to make your life difficult. I put them in a pan of hot water.

Bacon and cheese make everything better.

That's not a blurry photo. That's steam!

Step 4: Get out your roasted onions and ketchup.

These are so delicious. Why can't we put them on everything?

Ok, yeah, I should've gotten some Swedish ketchup, but y'know.

Step 5: Put it all together! Smear some potatismos on your tunnbröd. Then toss a grillkorv on there, and top it with the rostad lök. Roll that sucker up and you're ready to go!

See how easy?

Voila! Dinner is served!

It is sort of like a hot dog burrito, I guess? Or hot dog wrap? The addition of the mashed potatoes was... interesting. Can't be any weirder than putting French fries in your Cali burrito, amiright?

Oh, and apparently if you want to take the fanciness factor of this dish up to eleven, you can add shrimp salad. Yes, that is correct. Shrimp salad. As in, cold cooked shrimp tossed in mayo. (Needless to say, my family did NOT approve of this variation.)

This dish got a passing grade from the Long family. I asked the kids what they thought of it and got one, "It's good," and one mute nod. Jeremy and I liked it just fine, but I think I'll stick with a traditional hot dog. In a bun. As long as I can pour a pile of those crunchy onions over the top of that, it'll be all good!