RAMBLING SOME MORE IN ÖLAND AND THE GLASS DISTRICT

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2012—Öland and the “Glass District”

We continued our exploration of Öland by driving north to the northwest side of the island to see Byrums raukar Nature Reserve.  There are about 120 limestone columns in the reserve, which formed when waves eroded softer limestone away.  The tallest columns are about 13 feet high and come in various shapes.  They are very unique and reminded me of the “pancake” rocks I had seen in New Zealand.  A limestone cliff rises above the columns and vegetation is very sparse in the area.  I dipped a hand into the water of the Baltic Sea while walking among the columns—I couldn’t resist the opportunity.  Mother Nature does some amazing things on planet Earth!



Byrums raukar Nature Reserve

We then headed south along the west coast of Öland to Borgholms Slott, which is northern Europe’s largest castle ruin.  It is one of the first castles built by a Swedish monarch and is first mentioned in 1281.  The castle sits on a cliff overlooking a strait so it was primarily a defensive observation post.  Historically, the castle has been under German and Danish control in addition to Swedish control.  The castle sustained heavy damage during the Kalmar War of 1611-1613 between Sweden and Denmark.  It was abandoned in the 18^th century and in 1806, the remains were devastated by fire.  Preservation work began in the 1880’s and continues to this day.  The castle is an imposing structure and I am glad they have been able to preserve this part of the country’s history.

Borgholms Slott

We continued our leisurely drive down the west coast through small towns, past a large marina, and past numerous farms with characteristic narrow fields running in an east/west direction.

Typical stone fences on the island

I saw quite a few RVs on the island, mostly small motorhomes (translates to “house cars” in Swedish) and trailers.  It really is a beautiful island with a tremendous variety of things to see in such a small area!  It was easy to see why Mari-Anne likes the area so much; I could have easily spent several more days exploring the island if it wasn’t for my “schedule”.  However, we had more miles to cover and more sights to see before returning to Jakobsberg so we crossed the bridge back to the mainland at Kalmar where we had a nice lunch at an outdoor restaurant.

After lunch, we headed west to Nybro, Boda, and into the heart of the Glasriket aka the Swedish “Kingdom of Crystal” in southeast Sweden.  We took numerous small backcountry roads through the area and northward towards Stockholm.  The land in the Glass District was heavily forested and opened up into rolling farmland interspersed with forestland as we drove north out of the district.  We visited four glass factories in the afternoon and watched glass blowers work at two of them.  One establishment had a very interesting glass exhibit with beautiful pieces on display.  The glass blowers and designers are truly “artists” in every sense of the word and I saw many stunningly gorgeous pieces—with prices to match at the locations we visited.  (Yes, I bought a couple of small pieces.)







Glass blowers in the Glasriket

Glass Exhibit--absolutely stunning!

I could have spent considerably more time in this area, too; however, the hours were passing rapidly and we had many miles to drive before getting back to Jakobsberg.  Therefore, we headed north and arrived home at 2245, thus ending another delightful day and a wonderful visit to southeastern Sweden.  This area really was very different from the northern and western parts of the country that I had seen previously.  Unfortunately, my time in Sweden was swiftly coming to a close—much too quickly.

FAST FACTS:  There are at least 11 glass factories in the Glass District, which is Sweden’s third largest draw for tourists after Stockholm and Göteborg.  Glass work in the area began in Kosta in 1742.

Although I cannot find the source of the information as I write this, somewhere in my reference material I read that many of the early Swedish emigrants to the U.S. came from the areas we traveled in the past two days.