In June '04, I posted an account of a visit of people from my town of Reepham in the UK, to Malä in Northern Sweden. Since then a return visit has been made by the people of Malä to Reepham, and last year another return visit from Reepham to Malä. So far, two quite lengthy reports of this trip have appeared in the last two editions of our Church magazine, as was the case with the first visit. I have chosen some exerpts from the articles which I thought might interest members. Where a row of "dots" appear, I have omitted names of people which would not be of interest to anyone.
Quote:
A group of thirteen set off starting our journey at Norwich Airport at 6.15 a.m. to fly to Schiphol. After several hours wait we travelled on to Stockholm. As we had a five hour wait there, a couple of us used the time to travel into Stockholm by a fast train link. The next stage of our long journey was an hour and twenty minutes flight north to Lyksele. The skies cleared as we flew north, giving us views of the landscape of pine forests, studded with lakes and rivers and the occaisonal little wooden house, in dark red wood and ochre yellow. When we landed at the little airport it was approaching 9 p.m. and we were delighted to see our friends and to pile into their cars for the last part of the journey to Malä - about an hour and a half journey north. The sun was still shining brightly as we sped along the deserted roads and we had splendid views of lakes, pine and birch forests, and a herd of about a dozen reindeer crossing the road in front of us. After about an hour, our friends' cars pulled in to a clearing by a lake and, to our surprise, there waiting for us was a further group of our friends who had organised a delightful picnic with hot flasks of coffee and tea and a delicious spread of food. We were also serenaded while we ate by Bjorn on the accordian. The lake sparkled and we had a great time catching up with old friends and watching the sun slowly sink into the lake. However, it did not get dark - this truly is the "land of the midnight sun". We were then taken in separate cars to our various hosts' homes, very tired, but exhilarated by our welcome and the still bright sky.
The next day we were taken to the hill above Malä where the Geomuseum and Exhibition Centre is situated and met up with the rest of our party. This area has facilities for many activities, including numerous winter sports. There are chalets there for holiday accommodation and an excellent campsite. It is a world centre for the mining industry and receives geologists from all over the world. We were also shown around an old house in the centre of Malä that for years was the home and business premises of the town's pharmacist, Gota and his wife Verber. They spent all their life there until they reached their nineties, when they sadly died within a short time of one another. The house and premises had been perfectly preserved and we had a fascinating tour of the old pharmacy, including Gota's workshop. He was a clever inventor of all things mechanical and, equally, Verber was a skilled artist and needlewoman and there were many examples of their craftsmanship including racks of beautifully made clothes.
Unquote.
To be continued in Part 2 on another "Thread", because this is turning out lengthier than I first thought it would be.
Quote:
A group of thirteen set off starting our journey at Norwich Airport at 6.15 a.m. to fly to Schiphol. After several hours wait we travelled on to Stockholm. As we had a five hour wait there, a couple of us used the time to travel into Stockholm by a fast train link. The next stage of our long journey was an hour and twenty minutes flight north to Lyksele. The skies cleared as we flew north, giving us views of the landscape of pine forests, studded with lakes and rivers and the occaisonal little wooden house, in dark red wood and ochre yellow. When we landed at the little airport it was approaching 9 p.m. and we were delighted to see our friends and to pile into their cars for the last part of the journey to Malä - about an hour and a half journey north. The sun was still shining brightly as we sped along the deserted roads and we had splendid views of lakes, pine and birch forests, and a herd of about a dozen reindeer crossing the road in front of us. After about an hour, our friends' cars pulled in to a clearing by a lake and, to our surprise, there waiting for us was a further group of our friends who had organised a delightful picnic with hot flasks of coffee and tea and a delicious spread of food. We were also serenaded while we ate by Bjorn on the accordian. The lake sparkled and we had a great time catching up with old friends and watching the sun slowly sink into the lake. However, it did not get dark - this truly is the "land of the midnight sun". We were then taken in separate cars to our various hosts' homes, very tired, but exhilarated by our welcome and the still bright sky.
The next day we were taken to the hill above Malä where the Geomuseum and Exhibition Centre is situated and met up with the rest of our party. This area has facilities for many activities, including numerous winter sports. There are chalets there for holiday accommodation and an excellent campsite. It is a world centre for the mining industry and receives geologists from all over the world. We were also shown around an old house in the centre of Malä that for years was the home and business premises of the town's pharmacist, Gota and his wife Verber. They spent all their life there until they reached their nineties, when they sadly died within a short time of one another. The house and premises had been perfectly preserved and we had a fascinating tour of the old pharmacy, including Gota's workshop. He was a clever inventor of all things mechanical and, equally, Verber was a skilled artist and needlewoman and there were many examples of their craftsmanship including racks of beautifully made clothes.
Unquote.
To be continued in Part 2 on another "Thread", because this is turning out lengthier than I first thought it would be.
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