Halmstad

We picked up our little car this morning and drove around in circles looking for the Oscar Frederick Church and the Skansen Kronan Fortress in Gothenberg. Various roadworks had us ditch the church idea but we found the fortress high above the city. Built in and after 1687, Skansen Kronan and its sister fortress, Skansen Lejonet, were built on opposite hills to protect Sweden from the Danes. The views here were worth the driving anxiety and we had a good view of the church from there anyway!
We headed south out of Gothenberg to find the very impressive Varberg Fortress at Varberg. It was easier driving to get here! Varberg Fortress was built in 1287, again as a fortification against the Danes, and we were almost blown off the fortress wall by the wind. The views here were amazing and the moat even had water!
Next stop Tylosand, supposedly a popular 7km stretch of white sandy beach. Hmmmm… they haven't seen an Aussie beach!! Though, pretty, the sand was full of shell, there was lots of weed and the "surf" was rough. There were plenty of people out swimming (the water was surprisingly warm for being so close to the north sea) and we even saw the lifeguard start to rescue a kid in chest deep water. His mumma made it there first though. It was a nice place for lunch and the kite surfers were having a wow of a time!
Next we took an easy hike to Danska Falls, so named for the death of some Danish soldiers in 1676 who, while fleeing from the Swedes, trusted a not-so-trustworthy suspension bridge and fell to their doom. It was also a pretty, though strangely coloured, waterfall.
We had the devil of a time trying to locate Galgberget near Halmstad … a forested area with historical buildings within. We located the tower known as Utsiktstornet, a 13m observation tower built in the early 1800's. It's spiral staircase freaked Samara out but the views from the top were pretty darn fine. Also within the tranquil forest we found a pet cemetery (one of two here, i believe - eewww, though obviously well loved) and the Hallandsgärden open air museum, which was free and very cool.
Our accommodation tonight is part of the Wäpno Castle estate. The grounds are pretty but smells like cattle and ducks! Samara no likey… We had dinner in a cute side street in Halmstad and enjoyed a walk around this old university town. A full day, yet again.Lue lisää