Småland
Rhonda: This past weekend we decided to make a trip to Småland. It is basically an area in southern Sweden which today is sometimes referred to as the “Kingdom of Crystal”. There are 15 different glassworks located throughout Småland. Chad and I were able to visit 4 of them on Saturday. I was hoping to be able to watch some of the glassblowers actually performing their work, but the glassblowing tours are only held during the weekdays.
Our first glassworks stop was at Mats Jonasson in Målerås. This was by far the best one out of the four. They had a very nice gallery that displayed some of their very expensive glass art work. Also, their products in the gift shop were arranged in a good way and separated by category. Their glass products were truly art rather than glassware used in the kitchen which I enjoyed.
The next three glassworks that we visited were Johansfors, Boda, and Pukeberg. Pukeberg was such a funny name, that I just had to see what it was all about. So, I was able to talk Chad into checking it out. It ended up to being nice with a museum on the lower floor and a gift shop on the second floor.
After our glassworks tours, we headed to Kalmar which is a city on the southeast coast of Sweden. Our hotel was right on the water. It was perfectly located for us to visit the old Kalmar Cathedral and the Kalmar Castle.
When we arrived, we checked into our hotel, then went directly to see the Cathedral. It is an Italian baroque style cathedral, built in the 17th century. The original town of Kalmar was located just beside the castle, but during war with the Danish, the town was constantly being threatened. A decision was then made to move the town just north of the existing location for better protection from the Danes.
Upon arrival to the Cathedral, there was a large crowd outside of the Church, so we assumed that a wedding was just performed. We decided to go to a nearby sportsbar for a quick drink, and then check to see if the crowd had dissipated. We were correct! After about 30 minutes, we were able to visit the inside of the church to take pictures. It was beautiful!
For dinner, we got a great recommendation from our hotel reception. We had dinner next door to our hotel at a restuarant called Hamnkrogen. When we sat down at our table, we were told that we would have shrimps for an appetizer, lamb and potatoes for the main course, and some type of pudding for desert. Chad and I were both very surprised that we didn’t have a choice of what we would have to eat. We didn’t say anything, because we thought we were at special place, and that was just the way it was. After dinner, our waitress told us that she had made a mistake and confused our reservation with someone else. Oh well, she gave us a great discount we enjoyed a meal that we most likely would not have chosen!
On Sunday, our goal was to visit the Kalmar Castle and take a drive over to the island of Öland.
The Castle didn’t open until 11AM, so we decided to take a walk through the old town of Kalmar. The only thing left of the old town was some old cobble stone streets, a garden, a graveyard, and some very nice residental homes.
Chad: After our walk through old town we made our way to the front gate of the castle. It was still a bit early so we decided to walk the outside perimeter. We searched and found the only way up the inside embankment. From there we could walk the entire perimeter of the castle. We found some very old canons used for protection. We could also see all other areas of the city and the sea very easily. By the time we walked the entire outer grounds, it was time for the castle to open up.
We made our way to the central courtyard, then went inside the gift shop and purchased some tour passes. They only offer tours in Swedish, but we were told that all the signs were in English, so we went on our own to tour the Castle. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the Castle. We only have photos from the outside.
We made our way to all areas in the castle. I have listed some that stood out for me.
Off of the side of the banquet hall was the King’s bedroom. It was restored in perfect detail. It had wooden pictures of hunting scenes in extreme detail. I had not seen anything like that.
There was also the prison for men which was just a very deep hole in the ground surrounded by many feet of thick rock. In most cases people were in there for life. They were lowered in with a manual elevator. They were given only bread and water to live on. Fresh air came from a small sewer pipe, believe it or not. They never got out. Prison in those days was extremely difficult compared to today.
All of the rooms in the castle were huge compared to what we are used to. There was a fireplace in each, but I don’t see how it could have warmed up the rooms that big, no matter how large the fire was.
Rhonda: The one room in the Castle that got my attention was the women’s prison. The women were punished a certain way depending on what bad deed was performed. It was written in detail what happened to each.
Each room of the Castle was huge! There was a Queen’s living quarters and a King’s living quarters. Also, a lot of the castle had been restored, especially the ceiling and the floors.
After visiting the Castle, we took a drive over the bridge to the island of Öland. The bridge was completed in 1972.
Basically the island at one time contained over 2000 wooden windmills. Today, only about 300 remain. Chad took some good pictures of a few of them. Also, the Öland Island is known for being very popular for camping! There are a ton of camp sites located throughout.
Check out all of Chad’s pictures from the weekend below!