Endless Tree Views

I'm just having too much fun with the Tourist View of Sweden (see the two previous posts) to quite let go of it yet. So I thought that before I go on to other things, I'll finish off this mini-series with some pictures to show there is actually some variation even in the tree views.



I do have some sympathy with the writers of that Travel Guide, though, because there really is A LOT of just this along some roads... Spruce and fir, and nothing else in sight, for miles and miles and miles... Especially when you go up north; but also in some areas further south.



However, we also do have decidious forests (dropping their leaves over the winter):



Beech forests are more common in the south.



Birch forests you can find both in the south and far up in the north.



Mixed kinds of forest vegetation.

I do not go travelling very far or wide any more, and the pictures in these three posts are all from the area around where I live, in the province of Västergötland. (Link to Wikipedia article.)

Wildlife, Birds and Flowers

I got some "complaints" [hi, Ginny ;)] about yesterday's tourist advice. Seems I forgot to mention that we also have wildlife, birds and flowers! One reason for leaving those out was of course that the Tourist-to-be did not ask about them (only about biking, swimming and dancing). Another reason is that wildlife, birds and flowers can be found all over the country; so without narrowing it down a bit it's rather hard to recommend exactly where to go to find them!

But if you're looking for elks, for example, a deep forest would be a much better choice than a seaside resort. Myself, I prefer the zoo. Saves you a lot of trouble and monotonous tree-watching!

I'm afraid I'm not much of a bird-watcher either, and neither is my camera. I think I made some guess about what kind of bird this was when I took the photo, but by now I've forgotten!

Do butterflies in a town park count as wildlife?

Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) on Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)

Chamerion angustifolium grows wild all over the country in the summer. From ever-obliging Wikipedia I learn that in English it's called Fireweed or Rosebay Willowherb. One of its names in Swedish would translate "navvy rose" because they are very common along the railways.

(Without the blessings of Wikipedia, by the way, I would not know much about anything.)

Tourist Advice

The other day, I got an email from someone I don't know; not even by blog. It did not seem to be spam, and it contained a polite enough request: The writer is planning to go to Sweden and wants some touristing tips. Now, I'm not a Tourist Office, and therefore feel a bit hesitant to reply personally to a request "out of the blue" like that. But I thought I might make a blog post out of it...

Besides wanting to "see the world", the email writer claims to be interested in biking, swimming and dancing. This in itself tells me that this person has not been doing very thorough research into my blogs before asking my advice!

Fact: I have not been on a bicycle in ten years. No, sorry - eight years. My last very brief attempt was on a holiday in 2002. Not successful from neck-pain aspect. The last (and only) time I went on a longer biking adventure was 34 years ago. And that was fun only because of the company!

Fact: I have not set foot in a lake or sea in ten years either. Well, possibly my feet - but definitely not my whole body. Having got used to gentle exercises in an indoor rehab pool heated to 33°C, everything else seems too cold now!

Fact: The last time I "went dancing" was... 38 years ago, at a disco in England! [laughing out loud here] I may also have walked around a Swedish midsummer pole a few times in my twenties, but that's it. Not my kind of entertainment.

So what advice could I give? Only of a very general kind:

First, if you're not into winter sports, go in the summer. Our main tourist season is between mid June to mid August. May or September can be fine too, and less crowded; but you might also find many typical tourist places closed.

If you want entertainment and city life, go to our capital, Stockholm, beautifully situated on the East coast; or our second biggest city, Göteborg (Gothenburg), beautifully situated on the West Coast. If you like sandy beaches, go to Skåne (South) or Halland (West coast south of Gothenburg). If you prefer rocky shores, try Bohuslän (West coast North of Gothenburg). For old stone age tombs and medeival abbey ruins and churches, go to Västergötland. (Västergötland and the Stockholm area compete about which best deserves to be called the true "cradle of Sweden".) If you want midnight sun and mountains, travel far up north to Lapland. If you want forests and lakes, but don't want to go too far north, I suggest Värmland, or Småland. (I'm naming provinces rather than towns.)

Here's a link to a Travel Guide web page I found.
Quite amusing to read about one's own country seen from a foreign tourist's point of view. This page I find pretty accurate though (and with some nice pictures), even if their selection of noteworthy things (like my own!) might be a bit random. Quote:

Downsides:
- It can get chilly, or wet, or both, even in mid-summer.
- Endless tree views can be sooo monotonous.
- Swedish cuisine is healthy and hearty but hardly entertaining.

They must have gone about by car a good deal, because further down the page they repeat:

Self-driving in Sweden is, frankly, often slow and dull [unless you have a passion for endless forest] while city parking is difficult.

"Endless tree views can be sooo monotonous"

(My own picture from February 2010)