Åwesome Travels with Åsa

05/01/2022

✨✨✨ A truly magical moment when hundreds of light carrying kayakers paddled up to the City Hall! ✨✨✨
It was the final stop on my city walk for Visit Stockholm during the Nobel Lights Week, in honor of the Nobel Prizes in December. Suddenly the kayaks glided around the corner, creating pure magic with the projection on the City Hall... Breath taking!
🤩 💖 🙏

04/10/2021

Happy Cinnamon Bun Day! 🤩😋

The Cinnamon Bun (kanelbulle) is the most Swedish of all sweet treats and it is at the core of the ”fika” tradition. My grandma always had delicious home made buns ready to serve expected and unexpected visitors to the afternoon fika break. And to bring along with coffee ☕️ or milk🥛 for the fika stop on our forest hikes. 🌳 🌲

Cinnamon was introduced to Sweden in the 1300s. It was an exclusive and expensive spice, reserved for special occasions amd wealthy environments. This is why it is still associated with Christmas, the only time of the year when ordinary people could afford such extravaganza.

The origin of the Cinnamon bun goes back a hundred years, after the end of WW1 when it became easier to get hold of the ingredients.
Cinnamon buns have several cousins in other countries, but also Swedish siblings. My favourite is actually the Cardamom Bun (shhh, don’t tell…). See if you can spot which one it is of the three! And which variety do you think the third one is?

Mumsfillibaba! (Yum in Swedish! 😅)

✨ ✨ ✨

26/09/2021

A visit to the vibrant city of Norrköping, once the centre of the Swedish textile industry. I fell in love with its unique old industrial architectural landscape. The most famous building is the ”Strykjärnet” (the Flat Iron) that raises up straight from the water housing the Museum of Work. 🤩

I also saw the most perfect rainbow I have ever seen! Incredibly clear colors! 🌈

Bonus pic: I found the only new house I could imagine living in! 😍

Bonus pic 2: You can from now on call me Queen Å! 😉 👑

21/09/2021

I love the early autumn in Stockholm! Clear sky, crispy air and sharp colours…
🍃 🍁 🍂 ☀️

17/09/2021

Ready to welcome the Swedish King, the Queen and the Crown Princess, the Speaker of the Parliament and the Prime Minister! Plus all the 349 Members of Parliament and the leaders of all the political parties represented. The 14th of September the inauguration of the Swedish Parliament session of 2021/22 was held. I had the great honour to be part of the welcome committee! HRH King Carl Gustaf officially opens the session with a speech to the members of the Parliament. Then he withdraws from all politics. The Swedish Monarch has no political power and he cannot interfere with the parliamentary work (unlike some of his royal colleagues in other monarchies). According to the Swedish constitution ”all formal power proceeds from the people” and the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) represents the voice of the people. This means that the Speaker of the Parliament, (currently Andreas Norlén) formally stands above the Prime Minister (currently Stefan Löfvén of the Socialdemocrats), since the Prime Minister is appointed by the Parliament. Proud to be part of this beautiful celebration of Democracy! .andreas.norlen

26/08/2021

Last ride north to Gällivare today at Inlandsbanan. Amazing farewell weather!
Will miss that scenery… 😍🛤

19/08/2021

Kungsleden - the King’s trail, nr 1 on National Geographics list of the worlds best hikes, is 450 km of stunning hiking trail through arctic Sweden. Dotted with mountain huts at a daily hiking distance you can choose how much wilderness you want to add to your adventure. Some use tents, sleep under the stars and do the whole hike at once from Hemavan in the south to Abisko in the north, carrying everything on their backs. Some make day trips with their kids and sleep at a comfortable mountain station. The possibilities are endless, just as the views from the mountain tops you pass. I just finished the southern part from Ammarnäs to Hemavan and will be posting some pictures from this amazing hike!

🥾🥾🏔🌳🦌🌲🌄

13/08/2021

Hej from Kungsleden - the King of the World’s hiking trails!

08/08/2021

Fryksås is a stunning village in Dalarna that was born out of the ”fäbod” culture. In central/northern Sweden the cattle of the farms was brought to the summer pasture up in the mountains to get enough fresh grass for the long winters. It was the young girls and women that walked the cows, goats and sheep to the summer farm (fä = old word for cattle, bod = hut) and stayed there all summer. The cattle walked freely over the hills, and then the girls would call them with a special singing technique called ”kulning” that could be heard bouncing between the mountains. The cattle recognised their maid and went to the small farm to get milked. Then the maids would make butter and cheese to preserve and save for the winter. Fryksås has 100s of these small summer farms, today summer houses. Less hard work, more relaxed chill, but just as beautiful with the magnifiscent view over lake Siljan.

🐄 🐑 🐐 🐄 🐑 🐐 🐄 🐑 🐐 —> 🧀 🧈 🥛

05/08/2021

And this is how to open the door to the food storage of the Fågelsjö Gammelgård (see my last post). Imagine you are the working as a maid here and the Lady of the house asks you to get some evening snacks! 😅

🗝🗝🗝🗝🔒🔒🔒🔒🔒🔒🔒

02/08/2021

First stop of my holiday adventures along the Inlandsbanan:

Fågelsjö Gammelgård
- one of the Decorated Farm Houses of Hälsingland - a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Farmers have a very special place in the Swedish history. Unlike their likes in other European countries, the Swedish farmers were independent, enjoyed political power (one of the houses of Parliament were specifically for the farmers) and some became very wealthy.

In the county of Hälsingland, with its enormous forests, the farm houses grew to become timber mansions with several rooms, including halls only used for special festivities. Just like in the palaces!

The walls are beautifully decorated with kurbits - a folk art known as Dalecarlian painting - created by travelling artists who went from house to house to offer their services. There are 1000s of decorated farm houses in Hälsingland, and seven of them made it to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Fågelsjö Gammelgård is one of them. With room to party!

29/07/2021

Inlandsbanan is Swedens longest named railway - Inland (interior countryside) + banan (railway). It covers an impressive 1300 km (11% of Swedens entire railway system) and connects remote places in Swedens interior. It took the railway workers 30 years to build and it was completed in 1936.

The journey starts in Mora in picturesque

Dalarna (Swedens heart land) in the south and the first part is finished in the lively, youthful town of Östersund by the lake Storsjön. There you have to spend the night (well worth it with plenty to do) before the second part of the train ride will take you all the way up to Gällivare north of the Arctic circle in Lapland.

Enjoy a meditative slow train journey to the rythmic beat of the old railway. Plenty of time to read a book, talk to the fellow travellers and watch the beautiful landscape of endless forests, wide marshlands, mighty rivers and thousands of lakes. We can almost promise that you’ll see wildlife along the route - there is plenty of reindeer, moose, eagles and if you are lucky you can see brown bears or lynx.

I’ve enjoyed some days off which I’ve packed with amazing adventures along the Inlandsbanan. Stay tuned!

🛤🚞🌳🌲🐻

28/07/2021

Cloudberries! There is only one berry per plant and it only grows in wet marshlands. Some years the frost takes all berries so the access differs greatly from year to year. People who know of a good picking place often keep very quiet about it so they can go treasure hunting alone. The scarsity and the difficulties in picking them makes the price very high. This is why it is called the Gold of the Forest… The flavour is sweet and aromatic, and it is full of vitamins and minerals. Delicious to serve hot with vanilla ice cream, with some good cheese, on top of a cheese cake or as jam on waffles. Or you can make liqour, parfait or a luxury vinegar. The possibilities are endless. This summer in Lapland I was lucky! 😍

24/07/2021

An evening bath in Storuman, my temporary home in the heart of Lapland. Storuman.

23/07/2021

My train summer in Lapland, northern Sweden, continues. I will be posting more updates from now on! 🛤 🚂 😍
Also, welcome to follow me on instagram for daily stories!
https://www.instagram.com/aawesome_travels/

11/07/2021

Tonight is the last night of this summers Midnight Sun in Gällivare, Lapland, Sweden, above the Arctic circle. 🌅🇸🇪

25/06/2021

Today it is the Midsummers Eve festival in Sweden! Check out my step by step guide! 🤩💐⛅️🍓🐸 (Why is there a frog emoji? Read my blog post and find out!) GLAD MIDSOMMAR!

It all begins with an idea.

15/06/2021

☀️Up north is where you’ll find me for the coming 2 months - as a train host/guide on the legendary rail road Inlandsbanan ☀️

Based in Storuman (Lapland) I will be crossing the Arctic circle once a day going north up to Gällivare!

🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

👉 Never seen a reindeer in the wilderness? 🦌
👉Want to catch the Midnight sun? 🌅
👉Never crossed the Arctic circle?
In summer? 🌱
👉Curious about life in Norrland (more than half of Sweden)? 🇸🇪
👉Never visited Sápmi - the land of the 8 seasons? ❤️💚💙💛
👉Enjoy old fashion trains? 🛤

Doing tour planning for fantastic, fully guided tours coming up! Join the adventure! 🥳

👉Åwesome Travels with Åsa 🤩

05/12/2020

A Moose Parade in downtown Stockholm!

14/08/2020

The town of Trosa - queen of cuteness! And also - officially - ”The End of the World”! 😂 It is the town slogan, and it goes back to those days when there was only one access road, so you always had to go back the same way you came. Once a poor fishermans village, a visionary entrepreneur in the 1800s decided to join the bath town hype, got the mayor onboard the project and suddenly Trosa was a tourist destination for wealthy Stockholmers who needed spa treatments, fresh air, envigorating mud packs and punch parties at the verandas by the river.

05/08/2020

Swedish Lapland is Europe’s last wilderness area, located above the Arctic circle. It is the home of the Sami people, the only indigenous people in Europe, who has lived here from and near the reindeers for thousands of years. In the past following the reindeer herds in a nomadic life style, today using scooters, helicopters and the latest technology to keep track of their animals. In Lapland you can catch Midnight Sun during the summer and the Northern Lights in winter time. It is a dream destination for hikers, adventurers and everyone that appreciates amazing scenery and being one with nature.

05/08/2020

Beaches and rain forests of the Caribbean? Nope, Stenshuvud national park in Southern Sweden...

02/08/2020

Nature + sculptures + ancient burial mounds = Pilane sculpture park! Voted as one of the world’s top 10 sculpture parks by the Guardian, the place is truly full of magic, especially on a windy, cloudy day... ✨

30/07/2020

Lavender fields somewhere in Provence, France? Nope, by the ruins of Alvastra abbey, founded 900 years ago when the Swedes had recently turned away from the old Norse gods to become Catholic. Saint Birgitta (Bridget), Patron Saint of Europe and Swedens only approved saint, received many of her visions here in the middle of the 1300s. Two centuries later the abbey was closed when the reformation came in 1527 and Sweden became the first Protestant Lutheran country in the world. A beautiful and evocative place!

24/07/2020

Island hopping in Bohuslän! 😍 Åstol - the 🚘 free island, Klädesholmen - the 🐟 island and Tjörn - the main island.

22/07/2020

At the Nordic Museum of Water Colour in Skärhamn. 🌊🖌

22/07/2020

Salty days on the Swedish West Coast! 🌞🦐⛵️🐟💨🌊🌤

14/07/2020

Catching the magical Midnight Sun! ☀️

02/07/2020

Yesterday was the 20th birthday of the Öresund 🇸🇪 or Øresund 🇩🇰 bridge! A nearly 16 km long road and rail connection between Sweden and Denmark that is partly bridge, partly tunnel. It takes just half an hour to get from Malmö in Sweden to Copenhagen in Denmark and the bridge makes it possible to drive all the way from northern Norway to Portugal or Greece! If you like Nordic noir, be sure to check out the immensely popular TV series ”The Bridge”...

02/07/2020

One of the many bronze age stone ships found on Gotland, just after sunset at 10.30 pm. Magical.