NORRTALJE (SWEDEN)

Following my quick look around northern and central Sweden I returned to Norrtalje to catch up with friends and let my hair down a little before continuing south. I ended up staying almost 10 days, quite remarkable given there really wasn't much at all to do in the town, however I managed to keep myself occupied drinking lots of coffee, washing dishes at my friend Anna's restaurant, hanging out with friends, shopping, playing golf and making a few trips to Stockholm to visit more friends and explore places I hadn't visited during my first stint in the city.

By far the most enjoyable of my pastimes in Norrtalje was going with friends on both of the weekends for which I was there. Despite the town boasting only a single nightclub, a good crowd and friendly atmosphere could be expected most nights and I managed to have a great time. Quite oddly, of all the places I went out in Scandanavia I think I enjoyed Norrtalje the most. This really cemented in my mind the fact that knowing just 1 person (which was how it started for me in Norrtalje) meant that the nightlife was likely to be infinitely more enjoyable than if I had ventured out without a local contact. In some ways this merely confirmed what many people had told me throughout my time in Sweden, that Scandanavians are certainly hard nuts to crack when it comes to getting to know people. However, this still bothered me somewhat, especially given my incredible experiences in South America.

Photos 1&2: Anna and Sandra.
Photos 3-10: Everyones happy whilst out in Norrtalje.
Photo 11: Still happy despite nursing hangovers the next day.

OSTERSUND (SWEDEN)

Travelling south from Lulea and Pitea, I took an overnight train to the picturesque town of Ostersund in central Sweden. Situated adjacent to another of Sweden's many lakes, the town was quite cosy and the weather just brilliant and as such I spent much of my time just wandering around and checking out the various sights of interest. Following the rainy and cold weather I had experienced throughout most of Norway and in parts of norther Sweden, this weather certainly made for a pleasant change. Following a full day in Ostersund I continued south to an area of Sweden known as Dalarna, more specifically the town of Falun. Whilst the town contained a number of interesting churches and cathedrals and was absolutely crawling with students, I didn't see anything of particular interest and hence stayed only a few hours. From Falun I took a train to Uppsala and a connecting bus back to Norrtalje to catch up with friends before heading further south. As a brief stopover on the train south, I took 2 hours to have a look around Gavle, which was once again nice, but didn't offer anything of particular interest.

I found the area of central sweden to be quite pictureseque but nowhere near as exciting as Norway. Whilst my dissapointment with much of the wilderness scenery in Sweden can be partially attributed to the fact that I came to Scandanavia expecting all the countryside to contain rugged snow-capped mountain ranges and deep fjords, Sweden was quite tame. Relatively flat and with not much more than some nice forests and lakes, the similarity in landscape across much of the country was somewhat dissapointing. Still, the central regions of Sweden were nice, if only to provide a few days of relaxation before returning to the hustle and bustle of magnificent Stockholm.

Photo 1: Cathedral in Falun
Photo 2: Sunset over the lake in Ostersund.
Photos 3&4: Views of Ostersund and the lake.