Here is Part 2 of the mad adventure of two old women tracing their ancestors in Ireland and Sweden. This segment is long, covering 15 days crammed with unusual sights in small Swedish towns and graveyards, plus Limerick and Adare, Ireland.
The 8am train ride from Copenhagen Airport to Stockholm was amazing! We opted to go first class and it was worth every penny. The train left on time, there was plenty of room for our baggage, truly comfortable seating. We sat at a table (see above) with travelers from Chile and the train had charging stations at each seat for our electronics. Porters immediately came through with coffee and breakfast, followed several hours later by coffee and sweets. (Note: coffee is the national drink of Sweden. Always hot and very, very STRONG!) The ride was about 5-1/2 hours long. The scenery was spectacular, particularly at the start — crossing the Oresund Strait — then down into a tunnel under the strait for 4 kilometers, up to sea level again with heavily forested scenery flying by before arriving in Stockholm. Passport Control agents interrupted breakfast as we crossed the border into Sweden.
The Central Train Station in Stockholm was massive. Took us a while to find Hertz. We decided to stop for late lunch/early dinner at the Radisson before getting the car. Out of this world shrimp salad and fish chowder, and perfect chocolate truffles for dessert.
Our destination was Uppsala, currently a university town and originally the capital of Sweden, about 70 km north of Stockholm. Negotiated heavy traffic through Stockholm on 3 and 4 lane freeways, made a wrong turn once forcing us to retrace our path and arrived at our Airbnb about 9pm. Speed limit ranged from 60-80 kph or 37-49 mph. Safety is far more important in Sweden than speed, a lesson we here in the US could certainly learn from. Never saw an accident the entire time in Sweden or Ireland.
What a wonderful change of pace — a hostel on a houseboat on the Fyris River that runs through Uppsala. Our cabin had bunk beds; shared shower. Easy walking distance to town center, restaurants and the castle.
Lots of interesting sailboats moored along the river.
Our first destination was Uppsala Castle. It is massive. Photographs were difficult since it was situated on a hill obstructed by trees. Judy only had two pics, no better than mine. (Suggest you go to Google to get better feel for its size). The only part that was open housed an art show by Finnish artists in celebration of 100 years of Finn’s freedom from Russia. Several truly unique displays including a stunning ‘forest’ made entirely out of reclaimed plastic tarps/plastic bags and a 30’ tall pair of multi-strand cascading loops made from unused toilet paper (sorry, photos not allowed).
We spent the next day in Gamla Uppsala, a short drive from the Airbnb. It is the oldest part of the city, the historic capital of Sweden, and site of the Royal Burial Mounds.
We were successful when we searched the church graveyard for Perrson graves. Found two with dates that coincided with Judy’s info! The only documentation she had of her family were letters and postcards dated in the 1870-1900 period from Uppsala, Gamla Uppsala and Nora, Sweden. And a government document from 1900 allowing her father to immigrate to the US. So that’s where we started. Nora was a treasure trove of information in the form of an older gentleman who was the unofficial genealogist for the area. Judy’s gravestone photos were immensely helpful in his compilation of family info. More on that later.
We then spent several hours in the Gamla Uppsala Museum located on site. It contained many relics and treasures secured from the burial mounds during excavations in the late 1800s. Museum housed historically accurate depictions of ancient Swedish living quarters, building methods, toys, spiritual dedications and information on Saint Erik.
We had one of the finest dinners of the entire trip that evening at a micro/craft brewery in the town center. Out of this world melt-in-your-mouth pan fried flounder, mashed potatoes, heady dark porter-like beer and mouth-wateringly good freshly baked bread made with the hops/barley saved after brewing.
On to Orebro, Sweden, our home base while planning trips to Nora, Lessebro, and Kalmar Sweden. Approx 150 mile drive from Uppsala (late arrival). We chose a very modern hotel for our 2 night stay — our single biggest housing expense of the entire trip. We needed it after the bunk beds and shared shower!
The hotel room was a perfect example of Swedish modern simplicity.
Our first foray out of Orebro was to Nora, Sweden, a small town (established in 1643) of approximately 6,500 people, 30 miles north. Judy had a dog-eared picture postcard of the church written from a relative in Nora around 1900 to relatives in Uppsala. Driving was easy and the town was just as easy to find. As soon as we rounded the last curve in the road, there it was and we knew we were in the right place.
We decided to check out the town square, shops and, of course, have coffee and lunch before touring the church.
Just outside the cafe was a florist/plant seller. Had to investigate the captivating wide variety of available plants, most of which were in bloom. It also turned out the owner knew of a gentleman who was known to be the Nora area’s unofficial genealogist. Plants and genealogy within one short walk. Bingo!
The shop owner was fascinated that a woman from the US would be in Nora in November tracing her heritage. She recommended we find the owner of ‘Central Photo,’ a store also located on the square. We made a few purchases and headed to Central Photo only to be greeted by a sign saying “At Lunch. Back 2:30pm.”
We strolled down to the lake for about an hour.
And then we found Central Photo, a mish-mash of antiques, old cameras, new cameras, film, vinyl song albums, furniture, jewelry, glassware, silverware, linens, clothing and bric-a-brac. Tucked into the back of the cluttered shop was a tiny office that smelled of old photographs, paper files and photo developer. With only one chair — his.
The owner greeted us and asked what we needed. Judy explained. The next three hours were utterly absorbing. He had centuries of records on his computer of virtually every birth and death from the province (essentially equivalent to a US county). The question and answer period was crazy. He spoke some English; we spoke no Swedish. Judy showed him the letters, postcards and government document — all in Swedish. He translated. We laughed at the banality of the postcard/letter messages to family...weather is terrible, kids are fine, farm is good. Judy showed him the photos of the graves in Gamla Uppsala and the hunt was on.
Judy’s father changed his first name long before he emigrated. She wasn’t sure what his original first name was. More computer searches without results. And so began Judy’s email friendship that continues to this day. Every time we found a grave with the Amblat or Perrson name, Judy sent it to this gentleman, who promptly responded with how they fit into the family tree. Judy was ecstatic, excited and impressed! Her family tree had found roots. And her father’s given first and middle names were Richard Karl. Back in Orebro we celebrated and luxuriated in long showers and feather down duvets!
Next, our road trip to Lessebro — a 224 mile trek on 2 lane paved mountain roads in altitude, through fog, rain, wind and sunshine. Saw many ‘moose crossing’ road signs which we didn’t catch fast enough to photograph. We were delighted to find playing cards in our Airbnb with the picture we were looking for.
The Lessebro/Nybro region is known as the glass blowing capital of Sweden. Manufacturers like Orrefors and Kosta are located there. Kosta bought out Orrefors a number of years ago, so the entire complex is known as Kosta Boda.
Our Airbnb was a comfortable set of rooms with a private bath in a large house on the town square. Kitchen privileges. We decided to stay for 5 nights instead of 3.
Awesome trees:
We spent one day at the Kosta Boda complex watching continuous glass-blowing. Teams of 6 people worked to create elegant stemware, tumblers, pitchers and vases from kiln-molten glass to hand-blown finished product. I was so mesmerized I took no photos!
An immense Christmas 2017 art glass show displayed 6 artists’ work and took us a whole day to tour. Artists were Vallien, Bergstrom, Fjellman, Warff, Ehrner and Engman. So proud to see 3 women artists in this group. Enormous glass hot air balloons suspended from the ceiling, violins made entirely of glass, an 8 foot long boat with crew, giant glass perfume bottles and lipsticks, giant colored glass rabbits, cartoon-like characters, delicate pink glass roses enclosed in their own clear glass egg-shaped cover, undulating vases, tall heavy angular clear glass vases refracting the liberally colored inside. Here’s the only picture I sneaked:
We spent another two days shopping at the outlet stores and enjoying coffee and giant peppermint meringue cookies.
On our last day we traveled to Kalmar, Sweden, about 60 miles east to the coast. Yes, another castle!
Then we were off to Vaxjo Sweden to investigate the country’s immigration records department cache and take the train to Copenhagen airport for flight to Dublin. Never got to the immigration records department. We lost more than half a day in Vaxjo trying to return the Hertz rental car. Strangest rental drop-off in history. First conversation with AAA: leave car parked and locked behind the cathedral (6 blocks from train station) and return the keys to the convenience store in the train station. Huh? Surely we misunderstood. We made another call to confirm this was true, mostly worried it was some sort of scam (leave keys at convenience store???) and griping that two old ladies shouldn’t have to drag their travel baggage 6 blocks in the rain. AAA eventually relented and said to park the car in the lot across from the train station, pay for 1 hour of parking and leave parking tag on the dashboard. Someone would pick it up. We’re still waiting for the bill!
Sights in Vaxjo:
Our flight arrived in Dublin at 10:30pm. We took a tour-size local bus from Dublin to Limerick for our last hurrah in Ireland. Arrived at Arthur’s Quay at 1am. Someone from Airbnb picked us up at 2am. LONG DAY. We were grumpy. And got a bit grumpier when our plan to take a guided tour to Galway to see more of the Wild Atlantic Way — the Cliffs of Moher and possibly the Aran Islands — was nixed. All tours had ended the prior weekend (weather, holidays, etc.)
After a short good night’s sleep, we headed out to see the sights in the rain. Never made it to King John’s Castle.
We spent one day in the Hunt Museum.
The next day — on to more cathedrals.
Then we took a day trip via local bus to Adare, considered the prettiest village in Ireland, known for its thatched roof cottages. Unfortunately, the cluster of thatched roof cottages were under repair. A recent fire in one set the others ablaze.
We flew home on November 15 from Shannon. Our cab driver stopped at Bunratty Castle for 10 minutes before getting to the airport so we could take photos. All our photos are terrible and not worthy of sharing.
Took 18 hours to get home including the time change. We had a 3-½ hr layover in Boston before our flights to Dallas and Minneapolis. Both of us needed 12 days to recover. And we both came home with more information on our roots and a very strange assortment of ‘gifts’ in our suitcases. It was a spectacular trip!
I’m in contact with the Listowel, Ireland, genealogist (not getting any answers yet) and Judy is still emailing her contact in Nora. Will keep you all updated if any info of value appears.
It was a pleasure reliving the trip while writing the story. Thanks for spending time reading!