Greetings from Kalmar in Sweden!
It's Wednseday and I know some of you will be having Gaby withdrawal so i thought i'd send you all a short postcard.
I've been in Sweden since Sunday after a couple of days in Germany, its difficult to say whether i'm enjoying it or not. How so I hear you ask, well until today it's rained, sometimes very hard, each day which, on a bike and staying in a tent isn't a lot of fun. Add in the trees - no wonder they make everything out of the damn stuff and what's wrong with putting a few bends in the roads?
Then there's the issues with Foxy, poor girl has been struggling to keep air in the tyres after an incident on Monday. It's too boring to go into but the front wheel has been in and out like nuns knickers! Hopefully i've got that fixed today. Let's just say that Gaby is less than impressed but a paddle in the Baltic this evening put a grin on our respective faces.
Tomorrow we catch the ferry to Oland for a few days finding the windmills and archaeology. Oh and my apologies Samantha, I didn't see them but there were some signs warning of Elk on the road yesterday!
Tak
Mads
Comments
Elk
There is some confusion regarding what sort of animal is being discussed. What Europeans call Elk, North Americans call Moose. When North Americans say Elk, they are talking about the animal also known as Wapiti. Both are more than large enough to be dangerous, even though they herbivores.
G/R
Dangerous elks
The (european) elk is very dangerous for motorists. When hit by a car, due to the long legs, the body (several hundred kilos) will fall straight on the driver. They tend to move at times of low light and blend into the background quite will and thus will appear to come "out of nowhere".
As for the straight roads in Sweden: some are are built to be war-time airfields for fighter aircraft.
Dangerous NA Moose, aka Elk
'More than 500 traffic crashes involving moose occur in northern New England each year, and the injuries sustained by a vehicle's occupants—because of the height and weight of the animal—can be far more serious and more likely to result in fatalities than collisions with deer...'
Traffic accidents involving moose are 13 times more likely to result in human death
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Not to be confused
Not to be confused with Nerrrrvous Elk: https://youtu.be/xEUud3x9PRw
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
And I dare not tell the story
And I dare not tell the story of the moose turd pie... ;-)
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Chocolate Moose
If I remember correctly the Swedish chef in the Muppet Show once prepared chocolate moose. The Moose was named Mickey (not to be confounded with the camel Sopwith).
Kalmar has a nice castle
I kind of got a feeling that at least Gaby's father is quite fond of those.
Not sure whether the season for royalty spotting on Öland has passed or not. Gaby might have to wait for the next wedding.
I know people from northern Sweden and Finland that consider the forrests in southern Sweden as mere copses. What a Canadian would think ...
didn't
Go in the castle but did go in the County Museum which was very nice.
On Monday I did have two deer jump across the road in front of me - they may not be Elk but when you are on a bike a rabbit could be lethal! I'm afraid I can be too, I ran over a tiny black snake on Tuesday - won't of done it much good!
I've come to Oland to follow some of my passions - lots of archaeology and apparently 350 windmills (not sure I believe that!) the ferry was bouncing about a bit today, hopefully it'll be smoother when I head back on Monday!
Mads
And just as weird as Elk signs, I realise that my default foreign language is German - even if i've had the conversation in English!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Never been to Öland
even though I've been around Sweden quite a lot. Did a quick check on tourism on Öland and did see the mention "hundreds of windmills". Enjoy!
I'm not surprised that German is your "default language" in a foreign context. While not really "inter-comprehensible" with German Swedish is not that far from that language. While most people there speak English, German can usually be used at tourist spots (and if you encounter someone very old they might know only German).
The weather should be quite good over the week-end.
And I just realized that the form Mads is a male name in Denmark ;)
the conversation
Usually goes something like this:-
Hej
Er hi, English?
A little (of course their little will be more than some native speakers)
We will then converse in English until the end.
Tak
Er, danke
I feel a right girls blouse sometimes when I realise i've done it.
Been very tiring today, the SW wind has been pretty strong and as I was riding to the south of the island it made it hard work. I gave up counting windmills after 20 - probably seen and photographed about 50 today! Some nice archaeology too.
Tak,
Madeline (
which is not a Danish male name)
Madeline Anafrid Bell