I love Hjo!

Unfortunately, our games got canceled today against Gefle (the team we played last), because Gefle couldn't round up enough players...major bummer. With the unexpected day off, Lina, Lina's niece, Diane, Gabe and I ventured to the town of Hjo (pronounced "You"...now reread the title of the post!!)--a place that had been recommended to me at the Skovde tourist center. It is a harbor town near the biggest lake in Sweden, and after visiting, I must say that it is one of the most picturesque places I've ever been. Here are photos to prove it. We started by walking around the Stadspark, (the town's park), and it was so beautiful overlooking the water. 

This wooden house had to be my favorite building in the whole town. I'm not entirely sure what it is used for, but it is stunning.

Along the same stretch of road, there were around 5-6 other wooden houses that were so intricate and gorgeous. I had a field day taking photos of all of them.

Those small shacks pictured below are left over from older days when people used to vacation here (before it became more touristy), so people could rent these and hang out for the day on the shore.

I also wanted to visit Hjo because I had read about its famous ice cream restaurant, Moster Elin's. I chose to skip lunch and opted for ice cream instead. I chose the Vattersnipa which included a chocolate scoop, soft serve, chocolate sauce and sprinkles, all in a waffle bowl. SOOOO good!

This is Lina's niece below. She knows no English, but I still had fun playing with her. She got pancakes with ice cream on top but ate only the ice cream. I hope Lina doesn't get in trouble with her sister!

This flag showed the town's logo--a play on the pronunciation of the name. Very cute.

The harbor was absolutely stunning. Again, a photographer's dream. We also got to see the S/S Trafik--a steam boat built in 1892.

We wrapped up the day by walking into the main part of town. The buildings were so beautiful, and again, I was obsessed with the church.

The town was pretty busy today because it turned out that our trip coincided with a huge bicycle race. We looked it up later and found out it was the world's largest recreational bike ride, and Hjo is around the half way marker. The race attracts 23,000 people, and they release groups of about 60 people every two minutes starting at 9pm last night until 6:30 this morning. A few hours later, they start releasing the faster groups that are actually competing. Pretty cool!

Disappointing our games were canceled, but we turned it into a fun day nonetheless!