Episode 8

So we came back into Sweden and slowly made our way to Linkoping. This is where L's friend used to live and where her friend’s daughter and husband live. Also where D is getting some car parts sent to by courier company:

We had a couple of days here before the parts arrived. One day we went to the flight museum. This was a great place to visit because it had a great many old aeroplanes from before WW1 to after WW2 including helicopters used in Vietnam. Mostly it was air defence aircraft with only a few that were used for both civilian and defence purposes. I got to sit in a pilot’s seat, and check out a number of different career options though I’m not at all sure who would accept me seeing as I’m a stuffed toy. David enjoyed himself as he got to try a simulator.

Another day we visited the ruin of a 12th century abbey at Alvastra near the shore of Lake Vattern. These are quite extensive ruins. Along the way we stopped and looked at a 'rune stone’. This stone dates from the 9th century and was ‘discovered’ in the stone foundations of the nearby church about 200 years ago. A rune is an ancient form of writing. There was a translation written on the notice board though there seems to be some disagreement of exactly what it does say among scholars, who have done translations.

One afternoon we called at the visitors centre at the Lake Takern wild life sanctuary. The lake is very shallow, averaging 80cm deep and offers migrating birds a wonderful habitat for the summer. There are a few species that spend their whole lives here. Below the water there is just as much life as above hence the abundance of birds. We were going to go for a walk around but when we went outside it was tipping with rain so we sat and watched what we could from the comfort of the centre until they closed.

One day while we were sitting in the car outside Mcdonalds using the internet a fellow came up and spoke to David. His name was Michael and he is a 71 year old Native North American retired cop who lives here in Sweden. He offered us the use of his summer house and as David needed a place to work on the car once he got the parts it was gratefully accepted.

This proved to be a godsend. The parts arrived and my humans collected them from Kristina one evening. Kristina is the daughter of L’s friend Anna-Lena who was murdered in 2004. Being in the middle of the working week it was just a quick visit to collect the parts, say hello and a very big thankyou.

Next day D started work on the car. The job should only have taken a couple of hours, well my humans seem to have one problem after another so nothing is ever simple. D put on the new airbag for the suspension only to find that brake fluid is dripping out. Further investigation found that the brake pipe had rusted through in a few places and it was sheer luck that the leak started when it did. This could have happened in a much worse place.

It was good that we were at Michales summer house. The place was just a small cabin really but it had everything my humans needed including some tools David could make good use of. Also a refuge from the tipping rain that we had most days: With Michael available to take David to a couple of mechanical suppliers D could soon start on the brakes. The rain didn’t help of course and it proved to be a very big job that took him a couple of day and a lot of swearing. When it came time to test the new things D found that the brakes were fine, no leaks, but the new airbag had a slow leak, probably around the seal. He had got two sent over, so he changed it for the other new one, no better. At least it was a slower leak than we’d had with the old bag. D would just have to see how it went, whether the compressor could cope or overheat.

So finally after a week in Linkoping we took our leave in bright sunshine. A great big thankyou to Michael, it was great to stay in your summerhouse. We headed north making our way towards Finland and the Russian border. My humans had decided they would see how the car is going and if possible make some use of those expensive Russian visas. It would be a few days before we reached the border, and if there are no more problems we shall head into Russia and see how things go.

We travelled northward through Sweden without stopping to look at anything. It was a pretty trip despite the fact that it rained most of the way. When the sun did come out it was quite hot, and of course being summer the mozzies are out in force. The further north we went L noticed that the trees are not growing quite as tall as in the south. Timber is still a big industry and at Kalix near the Fin border there was a very large timber mill.

The countryside is mostly forest with cleared areas for farms here and there. Nearly all the buildings in Sweden are painted a deep maroon colour with white trim, houses, outbuildings and farm buildings. The next most popular colour is a mustard yellow. With a background of lush green meadows, birch or pine forest it all looks very pretty. Sunshine and a bright blue sky helps too but even in the rain it looks good.

The Swedes are very fond of using speed camera and we passed a great many. With a maximum speed limit of 110k’s it was often a case of braking hard to suddenly have to reduce speed to 70k’s with little warning and the sign that a speed camera was just up ahead. Often the 110k’s limit was for so short a distance that it seemed silly to be there at all. After crossing into Finland we found that they too are fond of speed camera though here the limit can be as high as 120k’s. All along the way there have been signs warning of elks crossing, however, no elk has ventured onto the road when we’ve been about. An elk is similar to a North America Moose. We all want to see one.

Now we have crossed the arctic circle and come through Rovaniemi where Santa lives most of the year. I wanted to go and see Santa but L feared that I would get ‘toynapped’ for Santa’s next round.

The Russian border looms tomorrow providing the car keeps going well. Now that’s a novel idea this trip. Oh! The battery died in Linkoping too, and it was only a bit over a year old. That didn’t please D either.

© Lynette Regan June 2nd 2013