Karlskoga

I arrived around 11am from the train to Karlskoga. My dad’s cousin, Michael, and his two children, Josefina, her boyfriend Anders (sp?), and Jonathan came to get me at the train station. I was tired from being up late in Stockholm the night before, but I trekked on. I guess Aunt Jean had decided all of us should go to the Alfred Nobel museum in Karlskoga to tour his laboratory and such. Josefina was scared because they led us on the tour into his dining room and there was a mannequin sitting, and he suddenly popped up, becoming a living history of Alfred Nobel. She screamed and became quite a shade of white. Interesting fact: Alfred Nobel has residences in Sweden, France, and Italy. And his will was interpreted in Sweden because an old law stated that wherever you kept your horses, was where your residence was.

Afterwards, we stopped by the grocery store to get things for the BBQ that was going to be at the summer cottage. The group dropped me of at Aunt Jeans to eat a brunch of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and of course coffee. I read that Swedes drink more coffee per capita than anyone else in the world. Cool, eh? Anyway, it was interesting to talk with Aunt Jean about things and my adventures so far in Sweden.

She surprised me at how well she spoke English. Though I’m not really surprised since she was born in the US and emigrated to Sweden when her and my grandfather were six. We had a long chat about almost everything it seems. The two of us drove to the summer cottage and met Michael’s wife and kids to have a BBQ. Michael took all three kids on the boat and we drove around for a while, then then we went in the sauna.

I guess the sauna is a big Finnish tradition, so we had to go through all the ritual of being in a wood-burning sauna, and beating ourselves with the birch branches to increase circulation, but then jumping into the lake. WOW! That is a big shock, but I guess it helps clean toxins from your body. It was an interesting cultural exchange, so I went along. The rest of the night was sitting around and chatting as the sun went down, and going home with Aunt Jean.

The next morning, we ate breakfast and went to Lappsand, the summer resort owned by Bofors, a defense contractor and military weapons builder in Karlskoga. It was the reason why Alfred Nobel came to Karlskoga, because Bofors had modern equipment for the time and good facilities. Anyway, Aunt Jean and my grandfather lived there and their mother cooked there for people and her father worked in the Bofors factory. They got free rent though, and during WWII, her mother cooked for soldiers who were staying there. We also stopped and took pictures at the one room schoolhouse where Jean and my grandfather went to school as small children.

Next we met up with Michael and went to the school where he teaches in Karlskoga, then caught some lunch at the restaurant by the lake. It was really nice out, so we ate on the patio. It was a delicious roasted chicken with potatoes, steamed vegetables, and of course, coffee afterwards. :-P I got some of what they call “handicrafts” a.k.a. souvenirs at the shop and Jean and I went back to her apartment to drop things off and check on the cat. We then went to see the locks that lead to the sea, and sat in the nice weather and chatted. On the way back, we had to stop at a place called “Lappis” which directly translates to “cheap things” but basically was a flea market. I picked up a vintage coffee-percolator that some of my friends in the states had, and I’m sure paid more than $8 for...HA!

I guess Michael and his wife were going to take me out on the town in Karlskoga, so I took a nap in anticipation of that, and they took me to a pub called Red Brick? I don’t remember what it was called exactly, but it was something like that. It used to be a big Bofors factory store I think. Regardless, it was good to chat with the two of them. They almost ended up in the US in the 70’s, but bad paperwork kept them from leaving. Crazy, eh? I could have had Swedish relatives living in the states! They both had jobs lined up in LA too!! Ugh.

The next morning Jean made breakfast for me again, and we went to an old iron smelter just outside of Karlskoga which dated from the 1600s I guess. Hardly anything is that old in America, probably nothing but a few buildings. He made it back to have some herring for lunch. I was a bit skeptical on how it would taste, but with some sour cream and a bit of spicy mustard, it tastes pretty good. I had to say my goodbyes to Jean as Michael and his wife came to bring me to Stockholm. I was sad to leave. She’s kinda like the grandmother I didn’t really have growing up.

Our drive to Stockholm was long and rainy, but I survived. We needed to stop by Ingrid and Patrik’s to get a key from them, and then we drove to Thomas’s house. It was kinda cool having everyone together. Anika made a really good pasta salad for dinner, and of course there was lots of wine. Thomas poured Michael, himself, and I a Jack Daniels on the rocks, which started off the evening with a bang. Not my drink of choice, but it’ll do the job, eh?

Place of the Post: IKEA!!! The home of college student’s dream, and well-designed Swedish things....