Back again with more photos from Sweden! I hope you don't mind…just trying to sort and share. Today, a look at an early morning hike. Next week: our final farm tour.
If we learned nothing else from our time in Sweden, it is that Swedes enjoy their great outdoors. Strolling down streets in Stockholm, every single restaurant had tables and chairs out along the sidewalk. The Swedes held the Congress itself not in the city, but in a countryside hotel retreat. And the main conference room featured a giant wall of windows behind the stage, so even though you were trapped inside…you could still see trees, lake and sky. The Congress itself was themed, "Solutions for a Green Future."
Morning in Sweden
The sky began to lighten as we started our hike, which wound around a harvested barley field.
Around the Bend
After hiking and joking for a solid half hour, we rounded a bend, emerged from the forest and found a pasture of cows enveloped in fog, the sun slowly rising above.
Misty Morn
Checkout that longhorn! Horns were not uncommon in Swedish cows, notable considering the effort U.S. cattlemen have taken to breed polled cattle over the years. And in the background: a lovely red building, trimmed in white. Very Swedish.
Over the Fence
I just like this shot. But I like cows, so maybe it's just me.
Cows in the Mist
And, day breaks.
Photographers in the Mist
Four photographers, endless photo opportunities. This was us. Or them, technically, because I shot their photo when they weren't looking.
Morning Mama
This mama cow and her calf were in no hurry to catch up with the herd. They mosied along and let us photograph them, almost as if they'd been through this routine before. We, of course, obliged.
Mama Cow
"Here, would you like a shot of our faces?"
We Found It
Cue the Hallelujah Chorus, we found the Viking Ruins (it's that rock on the hill)! And took more pictures along the way.
The Ruins
The Viking Ruins date back some 1000 years, and are essentially made up of two large carved rocks. They don't mark gravesites but were rather, as described to us, sort of like Facebook status updates: here's what we did and who we were.
Carved
This is the carving on the backside of the massive stones. And to imagine, this was carved and set a thousand years ago.
Viking Status Update
And on the second rock. Translation, anyone?
Gokotta
Our walk was officially called a "Gokotta," which means cuckoo morning. It's typically held in spring time when you're more like to hear the bird. We didn't hear any cuckoos, but the cattle mooing in the background was still lovely.
The sun crept above the Swedish countryside, enveloping cows, fog and all.
We also heard a lot during the entirety of our trip about a national Swedish law that says, in effect, every Swede has the right to be in the forest. They can walk onto any forest property and pick mushrooms, pick blueberries, hike, and whatever they want to do. The Swedes are proud of their forests. And yet, I kept thinking about how that would work here in the U.S. No trespassing? No trash? Nobody leaves the gate open and lets the cows out?
One night, I was able to dine with Swedish ag journalist Gunilla Ander. Among the wonderful conversation we had (she was an exchange student in Decorah, Iowa! What are the odds? I told her about the eagles.), I also got to ask her about this right-to-be-in-the-forest law. She smiled wisely, laughed and said, yes, it is wonderful but there are actually problems with it. Forest land is generally privately owned, and some by farmers. People do sometimes leave trash behind, and in the most extreme example, commercial tours come through and leave trash (rare, but it happens).
I asked Gunilla, too, about liability – like, say, someone breaks an ankle and sues the landowner. Because, you know, I'm from the U.S. and we have this tendency to sue each other here. She said that would not happen in Sweden because they don't have the "industry" we have in the U.S. Amen to that.
Gunilla works for a magazine published by a farm organization in Sweden, which I believe would be comparable to FarmWeek/Illinois Farm Bureau. She shared that the farmers in their organization don't like the law and, in what I imagine to be similar to IFB annual meeting, discuss problems with the law each year.
Yet, having said that, we sure enjoyed our time in Sweden's great outdoors. In particular, one morning a large group went on a 5 a.m. hike through the forest to see Viking ruins. We missed that one. So four of us got a map from the man who led the original hike and we went out on our own. I'm not gonna lie, I was not optimistic about our ability to find a couple big rocks under some oak trees in a cattle pasture, after we'd hiked through the forest, around the bend and passed the house with the barking dog. It was sort of like those directions I occasionally get from farmers that always, always end with: "You can't miss it." Because actually, you can!
But my comrades were relentlessly optimistic so I knew it would be fun whether we found the ruins or not. As it turns out, it was both. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And now, I share a slice of what we saw with you.The Swedish forest really was amazing.
Catch up on the rest of my Swedish adventure here:
Farm Girl Goes to Sweden
Our Swedish Melting Pot
10 Things I've Learned About Sweden
Sweden in Photos, Part One
Sweden in Photos, the Farms