Sweden August 2019

Very relaxed start to the day, where I even went and sat outside with my first coffee, or at least until I realised there was no Wi-Fi or mobile signal. Decided to do something that wasn't theme park related for our last day, so planned a good long walk, starting along the coastal path and then heading inland towards a lake. The route was supposed to be 15km long and take about 5 hours. Starting at 11, we picked up the trail at the end of the lane. The first part was following the coast, the sea was a bit choppy from the wind, but the weather couldn't have been better with broken clouds. Past an old marble quarry and then inland to Kölmarden theme park. This was closed today, even the restaurants that have sprung up around, so no ice cream for me (which I was secretly glad about). Away from the park and further inland, slowly climbing through alpine forests to reach the lake. We were all hot and bothered by the time we found somewhere for lunch, but

A more relaxed morning, fending for ourselves, with coffee and frosties for breakfast. It was interesting that, given the choice in the supermarket, we all went for frosties and milk over a cooked brekkie. Back to Kölmarden theme park for another day of riding wildfire and seeing the animals. Again, because we had already ridden all the coasters, there was no urgency to get around the park. A couple of rides on wildfire to start with, and one of the ride ops, Emma, recognised us from yesterday and started chatting to us. We wandered around the animals, seeing the bears get fed, then wandered to the tiger enclosure to eat lunch before they had theirs. We'd just finished eating in a small covered picnic area overlooking the enclosure and the boys rushed to try to get a better view while we packed up. It was that point that the heavens opened, so we (obviously) didn't go outside, but the boys didn't come inside either! Both of us could see really well, but half

Woke up to the sound of nothing this morning, and soon ruined it by trying to make my own coffee. All up, fed with frosties (no more breakfast feast now we have to do our own...) and our the door by 09:30 for the very short trip to our last theme park. Kölmarden is primarily a zoo, with a couple of rides tagged on, one of which cost nearly $12 million. Needless to say, that was the reason for visiting the park, along with the 2 children's coasters. The ride is amazing. We rode it 6 times throughout the day (the boys did 8) on one of the first rides of the day and the very last,  and it just got faster and more thrilling each time. The coaster is right at the back of the park, a good 20 minute walk from the entrance, and the paths weave their way past animal enclosures, such as monkeys, elephants, camels, etc. They also have an amazing cable car that takes 30 minutes to go around some of the enclosures, so you get to see the animals from above, which gave a

Up early today, but not from the planes which I'm now finding soothing, but by the thought of driving in Sweden for the first time. Coffee and brekkie on our usual balcony, then packed up, checked out and on the bus to Bromma airport to the nearest Avis and pick up a car. The airport is teeny and very quiet, so much so that there was no one at the avis desk, just a note saying they'd be back soon and a phone number if we were impatient. 10 mins later and we'd gone through the speech about extra insurance, upgrading to a bigger car, etc. The Avis man suggested that the car might be small for four people but we smiled politely and told him it would be fine and headed off to find it. We found it, a very small Toyota yaris, which struggled to get my case in the boot, yet alone the other couple that we had. Trudged back to the man who did not look at all surprised and for a small upcharge, upgraded us to the spacious Kia Niro. The drive to Kölmarden was just

Up at a reasonable time for the morning foray into the breakfast room, but had to ask for our little hidden balcony to be unlocked, which they willingly did. Wandered to the metro station and using yesterdays day pass (which runs for 24 hours), did more station art spotting. There some really lush ones, and some not so good, but my favourite had to be the children's drawings, which were done by the artist (was a child) and their children. Just after 11am, at the end of the line and our ticket finally ran out. Got another one, which will cover the airport run tomorrow, and we headed to the harbour and one of the ferries. This took us back next to gröna land, and a short walk (passed the ABBA museum) to the Vasa museum, which houses the largest intact viking gallon, which has been submerged in the harbour for 300 years,  where it sank on its maiden voyage because it was top heavy. The ship is 95% reconstructed from the salvaged vessel and is amazing. Ende

Woke up about 8:30, then panicked that brekkie finished at 9. Fought our way into the breakfast jumble sale, grabbing what we could, only to find that it actually finished at 09:30. Got a day pass on the metro, and headed off to the centre so we could see the changing of the guard at the palace. The marching band lead the regular soldiers to the palace, and so we marched behind them with the other tourists racing to get the best photo spot. There are guards there that were getting pretty irate with people being the wrong side of the rope, especially when a tour guide led a while group right up to the front door of the palace,  but unfortunately no showing of force. After that excitement, we had a tour of the palace, which took a good few hours, each room slightly more impressive than the last to keep your attention, including the crown jewels, where somebody got shouted at for touching the cabinets.  The palace is on a small island, which is one of the old