We arrived at the airport in Stockholm on an SAS flight and went into the terminal to find a bus. The information kiosk is wonderful! The young lady helped me purchase the tickets, wrote down the bus stop and showed me which door to exit. Once outside, I had to stop and ask again because there were numbered signs on two different lanes. The same thing happened to us in Frankfurt. We would have missed the bus to Hamburg if it hadn’t been for the help of a bag handler. I told Dennis I’m changing my name to Blanche as in Blanche DuBois, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” If this trip hasn’t enriched us in any other way, we have learned that this world is full of kind and generous people.
The bus was very comfortable with recliner type seats, WiFi, ports for devices, drop down tables, etc. It was an easy trip and looking out the windows we saw beautiful fields, spring flowers beginning to pop up, and even a field with deer grazing on the grass emerging from the snow. At the end of the journey in Örebro, we got off the bus and in minutes there was my cousin, Steve. The luggage was loaded into his car and off we went to his home. Even after a long day at work, Lotta was there to greet us. Imagine living in a house that was built in the 1700’s. What a gorgeous property.
Recently they added an Orangerie which we had only read about in novels. Dennis wants one but I don’t think we’ll get that through the HOA. It was a beautiful spot for breakfast.
When Lotta returned from work on Friday we took a ride into Nora. What a lovely little town with some fantastic little shops. Yes, we looked in the shops and bought a few things. I found one thing for a gorgeous young lady who is soon to be married, something that is unusual and made there in Nora. I also found a charm there that symbolizes the geology of the area. Lots of finds and treasures. Steve and Lotta were presented with a photo of their house and its in habitants, including rifles and horses which were symbols of wealth at the time of the photo. Then dinner in a charming hotel. What a wonderful day!
On Saturday we went into Örebro to a restaurant that Holly (daughter-in-law, wife of Gabriel) and 2 partners had just opened. The grand opening was on Friday. Saturday morning found the place very busy. We found the food delicious and are sure it will be a success. It is part of the theater complex and will have a before theater and intermission service. It is vegan and even Dennis found the food filling and tasty.
As we finished lunch, Gabriel along with children, Lucy, Darcy, and Grace came in to say hello. What adorable children! Lucy is very articulate and Dennis was completely awed by her. She explained her cheerleading class and her skiing competition and we talked about art. I told her the next time we came we could play a game I used to play with her grandfather that involves drawing. Of course she may be quite grown by then if it takes us as long for a second visit as it did for the first—hopefully not. Though with all the entertaining and cooking Steve and Lotta did, it may take them that long to recover.
After lunch Lotta had a party to attend and Steve took us for a walk around the square. Quite a town!
Then we went to visit Emily’s to meet her husband Anders and son Otis. They just sold their home and bought one in Nora that has much more room. What a cute home! We were completely charmed by two year old, Otis who could say our names. It was a wonderful visit and Emily is as sweet now as she was as a young girl.
Before we left for home, we had a tour of Örebro and the university complex where both Steve and Gabe teach. And then we went for one more meal. Did I mention that in Sweden we had three meals a day? Can you imagine? Dennis is used to two but he adjusted beautifully.
On Sunday we had breakfast in the Orangery and then packed and another quick lunch followed by a trip to the bus station. In a few hours following ohs and has from our window we were once again In Stockholm. We took the shuttle to the hotel but panicked that we would miss our hotel we got off too soon and found ourselves dragging our luggage around to the front of the hotel through gravel and sand paths. The 360 degree wheels weren’t much help over that. But we did it and were soon opening our bottle of Linton Part Cabernet before Dennis went down to the pool.
Next stop—Edinburgh.
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