…. SWEDEN BACK ON THE SAFE CORRIDOR TRAVEL LIST AND OPEN FOR UK VISITORS
Travel Life of Brian’s BRIAN OGLE recalls the home of the Dalarna horse, meeting Santa Claus in summer and eating cloudberries and ice cream in Lapland…..
NOW that Sweden has reopened to UK visitors in that there is no necessity to quarantine on returning, the country has a lot more than its stunning Stockholm on its 14 islands, to offer tourists.
I have travelled there many times, as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as the country’s third city Malmo, and have never been disappointed.
Watching Michael Portillo’s Great Continental Railway Journeys the other night on the Inlandsbanan brought back a flood of wonderful memories, especially of the side of Sweden away from the cities and the coast.
It was 20 years or so now when I was lucky enough to visit the rural, folksy Dalarna region, home of the colourful hand-crafted Dalarna horse, which is a sort of unofficial emblem of Sweden.
I often wear an enamel Dalarna horse badge on my lapel and it invariably is a conversation-starter. It nearly always catches the eye – indeed I remember it so intrigued Willie Walsh, who has just retired with a multi-million payout from IAG last week, British Airways’ parent company – when I was interviewing him at Belfast City Airport a few years ago, that he stopped mid-sentence to ask me about it and where he could get one.
Anyway I visited Dalarna at the best possible time of the year, as did former Conservative party high-flyer Michael Portillo in the TV programme the other night…. it was Midsummer when locals didn’t require any excuse to don their tradtional costumes and the girls to plait flowers and wear garlands in their hair.
Raising the midsummer pole, eating, drinking and dancing round it is an important part of Swedish tradition, especially in rural areas like Dalarna, indeed it only slightly less important than Christmas and New Year festivities.
It was great to be there, as of course it was to visit a place called Nusnäs, a village which is the official home of the Dalarna horse. Virtually everyone there carves and hand-paints them and even Michael Portillo had a go the other night, proudly creating his own unique patterned design. Anyway I was enjoying my visit, wandering around talking to the carvers and painters when suddenly the this quiet rural idyll changed… two coachloads of American tourists arrived sporting badges like: “Hi I’m Barbra from Iowa”. I hurriedly jumped into my hire car and headed for the hills, quite literally, at least towards a nearby mountain called Gesundaberget half an hour’s drive away.
It was there I found the most amazing place, Sweden’s Santaworld, or Tomteland in Swedish, which is open not just during the winter or at Christmas, but all the year round.
There was no snow obviously but the Great Man himself was there, a 6’ 4” barrel chested amiable grandfatherly giant talking to kids, soaking up the sunshine and even taking a dip in his red and white hooped bathing suit in a nearby lake to much amusement of visitors. I have been to Tomteland in winter as well, and I can confirm that it is an even better experience for kids when snow is on the ground.
The fact that Santa did not speak any English – at least that I heard – did not matter a jot, in fact it added to the excitement of youngsters from an English family who were there.
When I visited in winter I got to Solleron, at Gesundaberget, by flying to Mora by air from Stockholm, in half an hour, but an alternative is maybe two and a half hours by train and well worth considering, as some of Santa’s helpers entertain and help to shorten the journey.
The best thing to do is team up a weekend winter break with the Christmas markets in Stockholm, then do the air trip to Mora, or take the train, to Tomteland. It’s an experience the kids will never forget.
I’ll write more on what you can find there in winter on my Blog in the next week or so, because now’s the time to plan for a visit this coming Christmas season, especially as Sweden looks to have the virus on run…. hopefully.
Anyway, after Tomteland, I visited Orsa bear park at Grönklitt, then headed north again to the town of Östersund which has something in common with our Lough Ness, the nearby Lake Storsjön is reputed to have a Nessie-like monster lurking in its depths…..
Anyway after Östersund I abandoned the car and took one of the most laidback rail journeys of my life, aboard the aptly named Wilderness Experess on the Inlandsbanen, the railway line which stretches up the spine of Sweden through places with lilting, (if you use the proper Swedish pronunciation) poetic-sounding names, like Wilhelmina, Dorotea, Sorsele, Storumann and Arvidsjaur. At the end of the line I took the bus on the capital of the Sammi (Lapp) people, the incredibly named Jokkmokk.
They were expecting me and kept the Sammi museum open specially so that I could have a look around. (I remember my bus had been delayed on the road by hundreds and hundreds of reindeer). I can’t remember his name but the curator of the Saami museum in Jokkmokk way above the Arctic circle came out to greet me, shook my hand, (no Covid restrictions then), and said: “Welcome Brian, I’ve just returned from a conference at your St Patrick’s centre in Downpatrick.” You could have knocked me down with a twig off one of the millions of fir trees stretching away as far as the eye could see!
That took my breath away even quicker than the minus 30 degrees Arctic air which envelops Jokkmokk in January when Lapps gather for a huge winter fair.
It was summer then, but that evening I sat in my beautifully panelled wooden hotel looking out over the lake and the Arctic wilderness, dining on reindeer and forest berries, soaked in the most amazing sauce, followed by warm yellow cloudberries – the gold of the forest – and ice cream, and I remember thinking…… life doesn’t get any better than this.
Anyway I did not intend to write so much just now, places like Dalarna, the Inlandsbanen, and of course Tomteland deserve a proper piece all their own.
So keep reading the Blog in the next few weeks…..
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