Tuesday-Lacko and Varnhem

July 24-- I got to the train station to catch a 9:30 train but I quickly found out that one doesn't run in the summer. Luckily I could take a fast train at 10:15 that would go straight to Alingsas and get me there close to my original 10:30 arrival time. I got there at 10:50 and we immediately took off. Thankfully Anders had rented a 5 passenger car so no car sickness today. I told him I had to be back at 5:30 for a phone interview but he said that would not do and I needed to push it back to 6 or 6:30...just have to find Internet access to send that email though...(this would be a theme of the day). 

Our first stop turned out to be more of a hike than I anticipated. We stopped off the side of the road to see an old house that belonged to Wilma, Grandma's aunt's house. We walked through tall weeds and saw the decrepit house, and Anders said that this explains why Wilma and her husband left for the States. On our way back to the car, Anders pointed out poison ivy, and I was left hoping I didn't walk through any of it! We then went to the Lacko Slott. This is a castle built on the shores of Lake Vattern. It has water on three sides and is very interesting looking. We took a Swedish tour so we wouldn't have to wait 1 1/2 hours, and that was a weird experience having no idea what the guide was saying. Mere and I turned to look at things at appropriate times, but we almost burst out laughing a few times as well. We stopped in the garden and by a Viking boat on the way out and then drove to the town of Spiken (pronounced Spee-ken). It is a fishing village and we ate some lunch including korv, (hot dog), a burger, fries and Anders had smoked fish. For dessert we all had mjukglass cones (soft serve creamy ice cream).

I was worried about getting back in time since I hadn't had the change to email my interviewer, and Anders's solution was to find a computer. I was skeptical. We stopped at a ceramic museum/shop that had amazing vases and beautiful plates for sale. And lo and behold, there was a computer available for me to send an email. Relief rushed through me as I bought myself an extra half hour. Final stop of the day was the Varnhem Church. It was a very interesting looking church and the graves around it were so well tended to. It was beautiful inside and there were tombs that represented different kings, although they were not buried there. 

We headed back to my apartment after that, and after getting pizza for dinner, I was able to do my quick interview. (I think it went well!) Then I had just enough time to pack for the next trip and eat and the crew was out the door to head to the railway station to get on our night train to Sundsvall.  The train left at 8:30, and we were assigned four beds in a 6 bed sleeper car...and we got the middle and top beds. Kind of claustrophobic but also kind of fun. My favorite part was sitting in the dining car for a few hours before going to bed and just chatting. Then it was off to bed around 10:30 to try to get some sleep.