Ramble Quest – Bicycle Break (Mariestad and Orebro).

Getting back to why all these hostels are full in the off-season, there are a few reasons.  First, because it is off-season, some of the hostels either close or are used for student housing.  They must have a problem with student housing in Sweden because even the hostels that are not reserved for student housing are still full of students looking for housing.  They’re also full of other Swedes, people who are either traveling and don’t want to pop for a hotel or people who seem to live there in a semi-permanent basis.  I talked to one guy who was there because he had a fight with his wife.  I found accommodation to be a hassle everywhere in Sweden, but it was less of a problem in a pair of once again randomly chosen towns along the way to Stockholm: Mariestad and Orebro.

The weather stays perfect, so I’m keen to get outside.  So, I basically spend a week and a half biking around the area using these towns to sleep in.  Both are attractive places, Mariestad is much smaller, with a cute historical center.  Orebro has a nice castle in its center next to a river with flower-laden parks along its banks.  Both are near large beautiful lakes.

Both are fabulous spots to bike out from.  I can quickly find bike paths, small roads, or dirt paths that wind past rivers and lakes, through forest, or into little farming villages.  Often I push the bike through woods too rocky to pedal through, or just stash it somewhere and enjoy the solitude of nature.  As usual, I’m without map, so I get lost a lot.  I have a compass though so I always manage to get back at the end of the day.

From Mariestad, I bike over to some nearby islands in the large lake.  I find empty beaches where wisps of fog swirl in, giving the place a dreamlike quality.  From Orebro, I once discover a series of empty bird blinds along a marshy area near a lake.  I live in these little cabins for a day, watching the multitude of migrating birds outside the many windows.  Once I find an area near a river bank that is covered with amazing blue and green stones.  They are so beautiful that I can’t resist taking a few and lugging them around in my backpack.

This little nature break was sorely needed!  Of course you can’t come to Europe and not see the grand cities and fine museums, and I do greatly enjoy doing that.  But I also need to get away from this for awhile.  I’ve been doing a lot of urban cultural stuff recently, and I know I have more in front of me.  Thank goodness the weather allowed me this opportunity.

One of the great things about traveling is that you sometimes having the feeling of truly being an alien, in the sense that you’re in a situation where you have absolutely no idea what’s going on.  For example, in Orebro, I’m biking through town when I notice some people popping into the courtyard of some interesting looking old houses.  I park the bike and follow them in, out of curiosity.  A woman hands me a program and I take a seat in front of a makeshift stage.  Of course the program is in Swedish so it means nothing to me, but clearly something is just about to happen.  A guy wearing what looks to me like a naval uniform gives a short speech.  Then a chorus of people comes on to sing.  I can’t tell if they are dressed in historical costume or not.  From the old-fashioned look of the buildings around me, I was guessing this was going to be some sort of historical recreation.  My guess is half-right.  I later learn that this courtyard is part of the Wadkoping open-air museum, named after a famous Swedish writer’s novel.  So the buildings are historical recreations, but what is with this performance?

Another guy takes the stage and starts into a fiery (Actually, I should temper that adjective by saying that it is fiery for a Swede.  People here are so low-key with their speech that a better universal description would be “somewhat animated”) speech.  Finally, it dawns on me that this “show” must be some sort of church service or religious revival.  I look around at the audience and notice that they are all ancient.  The alien departs.

http://www.geocities.com/mdonath