Michael and Pam's Travels Our European Motorhome Adventures and other Travels
Michael and Pam's Travels

Vimmerby, Sweden 2017 🇸🇪

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Travelled: 208 kilometres from Säterdalen to Vimmerby in Sweden.

Visited: Linköping, Göta Kanal and Vreta Abbey Church.

Stayed: Astrad Lingred World Stellplatz, SEK150 (but free out of season !) all services.  N57.67538, E15.84220

It’s a very grey and misty morning looking across the Bråviken channel.  Laying in bed I heard the ferry start it’s engines around 6am, since then about every 30 minutes there is a thud and a few cars obviously roll off the ferry.  No early walk here this morning as the paths are all wet from some rain last night.

After coffee and fruit we roll up to the ferry ramp.  There are already a few cars waiting and now so are we.

Rolling onto the Säterdalen ferry. It’s free, unlike the other 20 or more ferries we have taken in the last couple of months.

Our first planned stop is Norrköping about 50 kilometres to the west.  We cruise along at 80kph most of the way, hopfully avoiding a speeding fine from one of the 20 or so speed cameras we have seen this morning.  We roll into Norrköping but cannot find a parking spot anywhere near the town centre.  Any parking sign we follow eventually leads to a multi level car-park, so we give up and head on the Linköping.

Sweden
We find a parking spot in Linköping easily enough but we have to shell out SEK15 for the privilege. It’s only a 5 minutes walk to the town square.
Found this ominous looking fellow looking down on those lined up at the adjacent bus stop.  We are slowly making our way up the hill, looking for the DomKirke.
Mm…looks interesting but its a bit early for a liquid lunch.
The Cathedral in Linköping is one of the largest in Sweden and full of interesting stuff, so here we are.  A church has stood here since the 12th century.  A similar story of the original church being extended and built over for a period of 300 years till its current form.
The ornate door and side entry to the Cathedral.
The main entry point to the Cathedral with its gilded panel.
Inside the Cathedral looking toward the alter. The 17th century pulpit dominates the crossover.
This 14th century bronze font is a masterpiece in its detail.
Time to keep moving, we walk back through town to the Hymer and head off on our next adventure.
Looking like another nice day in Sweden.

Sweden
12 kilometres from Linköping  we come to the locks of the Berg’s Slussar. There are 7 locks in the series with a climb of 19 metres from the lake in the background of this photo into the Göto Canal
Pam with the lock keeper’s cottage in the background.
The Göta Canal above the locks. Very pretty, Pam and I chatted about how clean the water in the Göta appeared in comparison to our experience on the Midi.

Anyway there are no boats scheduled to run through the canal today, so we soon loose interest.  There is a motorhome service point in the canal carpark so that fixes that problem.  It’s only a kilometre up the road to the Vreta Abbey Church, so we head off to find it.

Erected in the early 12th century, it had been expanded extensively by 1162. It has served as an episcopal church, abbey and parish church to date.
The alter of the Vreta Abbey Church. You can see one of the many murals on the left.
Lots of old and interesting things to be found wandering the church.  No need for me to translate, but the third passage is particularly relevant even today.
The amazing burial chamber sits in an alcove. The Douglas Family, what are a family of Scottish Knights doing in Sweden ?  Its a very interesting story.
The ruins of the abbey cloisters adjoining the church are beautiful, covered as they are in ivy.
This last glimpse across the cemetery to the Abbey Church as we make our way back to the Hymer.

We spend the remainder of the afternoon driving driving south, finding a spot for the night at Astrad Lingred World at Vimmerby.  Its a Swedish version of Wally World.  The stellplatz has room for more than a hundred motorhomes and facilities, mind you we are here on our own and no one comes asking for money.

Michael and Pam

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