We took a quick jaunt to the West coast in week 44 during which the kids had no school - kind of a fall break I guess. We poked around on the internet a bit, but ended up just getting in the car and, with map book in hand, heading for the coast.
We stopped at Fossum to see the rock carvings from the bronze ages, and then headed on just down the road to a museum in Tanumshed. This was unfortunately closed, but the gate to the village was open, so we wandered through and saw what is probably a Bronze Age working village during the summer. It was still very cool to see when deserted during a cold and misty fall day - I think the area by the pond where religious ceremonies and sacrifices took place was...spine tinglingly eerie. Duncan was especially tak
en with all the sample animal traps.
Then we headed out to the coast itself, stopping to watch a boat head out to its traps and walking out to the bad plats or swimming place with its little beach and beautiful boardwalk hugging the rocks. We continued to poke around as we made our way down from Hamburgsund towards Smögen and Kungshamn. We had a bit of scramble finding a place to stay that was open and didn't cost a fortune but eventually hunted down a hostel type arrangement. We got the key for a very cold, but functional kitchen and then headed down to the docks to find some fish for dinner. With a feed of lemon sole and some of the obligatory potatis and pickled beets in us we settled into our cosy room while a storm howled
through the night.
We awoke to snow and ice everywhere, but improving weather. Before leaving Smögen, we drove out towards the ocean and came across this very picturesque little bay with its colourful boathouses.
Then we drove down towards Lysekil and the sun came out and we found a nature reserve and the local idroitts plats (sports place), a stadium built back in the 1930s with granite walls and old cast iron turnstyles - very impressive. We walked on the rocks in the sunshine and howling wind until Duncan's face
was covered in hives from the cold. A quick picture of hthis wooden boat in a sheltered cove and then it was time to head back to the heater in the car. On the way back we walked through an area where rocks had been quarried - probably to build the stadium among other things.
The boys got to experience their first dagens rätts at a restaurant that was obviously a local favorite. We ate our fill and then headed down the road again. A free ferry took us across an inlet and then we headed on towards Göteborg.
with lingon berries in it. Check out the pan it is in - this fits directly into the oven (it doesn't have to sit on a shelf). Ovens come with one of these pans, 6 flat cookie sheets, and one rack like we find in our ovens in Canada.
J's birthday was in the middle of the month - he chose to have a very different cake from anything we have ever had before. It is a
