CouchSurfing
As I wrote in the last post my activity during the last weeks was to travel through whole Sweden. I visited a lot of interesting places, got to know many nice people and had a very good time with tons of fun. I think this will be the longest post by so far. Maybe it's a bit tiring to read everything but in that case you can just have a look at the photos. Let's start...
KARLSKRONA
The first day I took the train from Linköping to Karlskrona at the south coast of Sweden. There, Felicia (my first host) met me at the station and we went to her home before she showed me the city. It was my first CouchSurfing experience as a surfer and I didn't expect such a comfort as I had there (that wasn't the last time I thought that).
 |
| Karlskrona |
I slept on a completely new couch and in the evening her mother cooked for us. Unfortunately the weather was not that good (also not the last time) but I enjoyed my time there until I left to get the train to the next station which should be Copenhagen.Cop
enhagen
COPENHAGEN
In Copenhagen I didn't have a CouchSurfing host but Hanna, my former Swedish teacher, moved there some weeks ago and so I could stay at her place. I've already been to Copenhagen some years ago and that's why I didn't go to see the main sights but some nice places Hanna showed me.
 |
| street in Copenhagen |
 |
| Søndermarken (park in Copenhagen) |
It was nice to see her again, the only strange thing was the Danish language which was easy to read for me because it's near to Swedish but impossible to understand when spoken.M
a
lmö
MALMÖ
The next day I took the train from Copenhagen to Malmö. Very funny was that I met Stefan, the volunteer I visited with Linus in Stockholm, at the station in Copenhagen by chance. He had been some days in Germany and was on his way back to Stockholm. We talked half an hour on the train but then I had to get off to see Malmö. Incredibly handy that they build a bridge and tunnel connection between Copenhagen and Malmö. I left my baggage at the station in a locker and walked many hours through the city. Good for me that the weather wasn't too bad.
 |
| Malmö central station |
 |
| Stortorget (big square) |
 |
| Lilla Torg (little square) |
 |
| Baltic Sea with Öresund Bridge |
 |
| seaside with Turning Torso |
 |
| Turning Torso |
 |
| harbour of Malmö |
 |
| nice little street in Malmö |
GOTHENBURG
It was not my plan to sleep in Malmö and so I had to take the train to Gothenburg. My host in Gothenburg was Martin. He picked me up at the station and cooked some nice food which was great because I was very hungry. In the evening we went to a pub in the city centre.
The next day Martin had to work and so I did a tour through Gothenburg. Good that he gave me some tips before. One of the tips was a boat tour through the archipelago sea which was included in the public transport day ticket. I also took a long walk on one of the islands.
 |
| archipelago 1 |
 |
| archipelago 2 |
 |
| archipelago 3 |
 |
| archipelago 4 |
 |
| archipelago 5 |
 |
| most common vehicle on the archipelago islands |
After that I went back to the city centre for some sightseeing. The weather was a bit strange. Sometimes it was very sunny but then it rained very much for maybe five minutes, after that again sun and so on. I walked four hours through Gothenburg and I think I saw the most important places. I even had time to buy some vinyl in some stores I saw the day before when we went for a beer. In the evening we took a walk at the riverside and I have to say that I was fascinated by the city. I really like Stockholm but I think Gothenburg is even better.
 |
| Opera of Gothenburg |
 |
| square in the city centre |
 |
| old tram |
 |
| harbour |
 |
| Avenyn (one of the main streets) |
 |
| tram wires |
 |
| houses 1 |
 |
| houses 2 |
ÖREBRO
The next station of my tour was Örebro. My host Dawei, a Chinese guy who studies there, picked me up at a bus stop. He had to work one hour and so I had the possibility to get some sleep which was quite comfortable. After that I put my stuff at his place and he gave me a tour through the city. It was the first day without rain and so I saw many things. Very nice was for example the castle in the middle of the city.
 |
| street in the city centre |
 |
| city hall |
 |
| castle |
 |
| funny art |
 |
| more funny art |
 |
| nice reflection |
In the evening I met some of Dawei's friends. They were international and so it was no wonder to meet some German-speaking guys. They decided to go to a near night club and so I joined them. It was nice to speak some German after three days in which I have almost only spoken Swedish and we had a lot of fun together. The next day, after a hectic breakfast I nearly missed my bus to the train station. But I got the train and so I was ready for the longest train journey by then to Östersund.
ÖSTERSUND
After more than 9 hours of traveling I reached Östersund in central Sweden. Good that my hosts Gabriella and Tim picked me up with their car. We bought some food and Tim cooked. I was pretty tired and so I went to bed soon. Although it didn't get dark I slept well.
 |
| view of the city |
The next morning Tim left and I and Gabriella picked up two more CouchSurfers, two girls from Norway. It rained cats and dogs and so I didn't really see the city. But we did a tour with the car and so I got to know the area. Gabriella drove us to a mountain from which we had a great view. In the Afternoon we played some cards and drank some tea and in the evening we watched a movie.
 |
| Östersund |
GÄLLIVARE (pronounced Jällivare)
Actually I wanted to take the train between Östersund and Gällivare. But then I read that it isn't a normal train but rather a touristic thing. The train line is called Inlandsbanan and is only in traffic during the summer. It makes extra stops for sightseeing and that's why it takes over 14 hours. I found out that there is also a bus on the same route that is only a third of the price and takes only 11 hours and so I went for that. Later I read that it's the longest regular bus line in whole Sweden. Entering the bus driver looked at my ticket and said just "Ouch!". The bus driver changed two times and although it was quite a long trip I really enjoyed it. I never saw so much wood and the journey even felt a bit surreal.
 |
| area next to the train station 1 |
 |
| area next to the train station 2 |
I could really feel how the nature got more northern. The trees got smaller and because I already passed the polar circle the sun never went down. Gällivare is just a small village and for me it was just an intermediate stop. I had booked a room at a camping site and so I went there to get some sleep.
 |
| train station |
The next day I had to get up early to get my train to Narvik. I set the alarm at 7 o'clock but when I went to the reception to give back my key I noticed that it was still closed. First I panicked but then I found out that the reception opened 20 minutes later. Lucky me!
 |
| reception of the camping site |
NARVIK
 |
| my train |
Mostly I just took the train to reach the next city but this time it was different. The train trip was part of my destination. The first hours of my journey weren't that special. They were more or less the continuation of what I experienced during the bus trip - wood, wood and more wood. But then we passed Kiruna and the landscape changed.
 |
| station of Kiruna |
The last trees disappeared and the train entered the mountains. At the left side of the train the Torneträsk appeared. It is the seventh largest lake of Sweden and a real beauty. Unfortunately I could only take photos through the windows and therefore they aren't perfect.
 |
| Torneträsk 1 |
 |
| Torneträsk 2 |
 |
| Torneträsk 3 |
After we passed the Torneträsk the landscape became even more mountainy. The mountains got higher and higher and then suddenly I saw the fjord. It was stunning to see how the sea met the mountains.
 |
| the fjord |
The last kilometers the train followed the fjord until it reached the station of Narvik where my host Jim picked me up with the car.
 |
| train station of Narvik |
We ate something and then he showed me the city. Narvik is a nice little town but there's nothing special about it. In contrast to that the nature is just breathtaking. We went to the seaside and to the harbour...
 |
| mountains in front of Narvik |
 |
| harbour of Narvik |
... and after that Jim drove us to a mountain from which we could see the town. The view was amazing.
 |
| Narvik from the air |
Narvik was the most northern point of my tour with more than 300 km distance to the polar circle. I thought it was time to buy some post cards and so did I. The following one shows distances to European cities.
 |
| post card for my sister |
The next day I took the train to Luleå. The first part was the same like from Gällivare and this time I was clever enough to take some pictures out of the opened window in order to avoid the reflections.
 |
| mountain landscape |
The landscape was as beautiful as the day before and I think I really have to come back one time. I read that it's the most beautiful train route on the northern hemisphere. Well, I'm not sure about that but I guess it's at least in the top five. It would be interesting to see it again in winter sometime.
 |
| station of Vassijaure |
LULEÅ (pronounced Lüleoh for the German readers)
The train took almost eight hours from coast to coast. I saw even more wood and then finally I arrived in Luleå at the Baltic Sea. Benjamin, the guy hosting me, picked me up at the station and we took the bus to his flat. He lives in a student area together with two flatmates who hadn't been there when I visited him. We cooked some Moussaka and after that we had lots of interesting talks. In the evening we listened to Swedish Jazz and drank some good Single Malt. The day after he gave me a tour round Luleå. First we went to the harbour where I could see a pair of icebreakers.
 |
| the two icebreakers |
Instead of Narvik Luleå is not ice-free during the winter and so there's a need for them. After that we went for a walk through the city centre.
 |
| cathedral of Luleå |
 |
| polar bears in the city centre |
 |
| main street |
Next he showed me Gammelstad which means old town. It is the old town of Luleå and UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. During the Ice Age a massive ice shield covered Sweden. Today it's melted and now the Scandinavian peninsula lifts each year some centimeters because of the lack of weight. That has also influence of Sweden's coast line. When they build the old town of Luleå it was close to the sea but now that distance increased and they build the modern city close to today's coast line. That's why the old town is not in the city centre like in most of today's cities.
 |
| church in Gammelstad |
The centrum of Gammelstad was a square with an old church. Around that you could find many old typical red Swedish houses. Of course I saw some pictures before but I didn't know how big the area was. It was a whole village and not only maybe ten houses like I thought.
 |
| Gammelstad 1 |
 |
| Gammelstad 2 |
 |
| Gammelstad 3 |
Back in the city centre I saw an interesting piece of art - the braided trees. Also nice was that steel pot that symbolizes the old ore industry of Luleå.
 |
| braided trees |
 |
| steel pot |
After dinner we cycled to the Facebook data center that is under construction right now. They are building it in Luleå because of the climate there. It is cold especially in the winter and that's why it's cheaper to cool it down. Interesting is that the data center will increase the air temperature of Luleå by 1-2 degrees. Maybe not the worst if it's -30 degrees in the winter.
 |
| Facebook data center |
 |
| Facebook container |
 |
| view from Benjamin's balcony at one o'clock in the morning |
UMEÅ (pronounced Ümeoh for the German readers)
The next day I had to get the train to Umeå because I already bought a ticket. Unfortunately I missed the train by five seconds and the departure of the next train was six hours later. I decided to buy a bus ticket and so I left with the bus just one hour later. It made me a bit angry because I had to pay twice and the bus was even more expensive than the train but it was my own fault.
 |
| main street with typical birch trees |
My host Yevgen from Ukraine picked me up at the bus stop. We went to his flat and then five minutes later he disappeared to work. I felt a bit lost because I didn't know where I was in the city but at least he gave me his wifi-password and so I could get some orientation by an address on a letter and GoogleMaps. God save technology.
 |
| old train station |
I took the bus to the city centre and started to discover the city. Except from the old train station and a church there weren't any historical buildings. No wonder - the city burned down twice.
 |
| new train station |
All in all I didn't like Umeå that much because there was nothing really special to see and it was dead because it's a university town and during the summer the students left the city. I had no reason to stay much longer and so I booked a train ticket for the next morning.
 |
| European Capital of Culture flag |
Umeå will be European Capital of Culture and so there were many construction areas and some totally modern buildings. At least some of them were interesting like the station Umeå Östra (Umeå East) from which my train to Sundsvall left.
 |
| Umeå Östra |
 |
| bridge over the river Ume Älv |
SUNDSVALL
In Sundsvall I was hosted by Fabrizio and his wife Tímea, a nice Italian-Hungarian couple living in Sweden now. The first day Fabrizio showed my a hill near to their flat from which I enjoyed a fantastic view of the city.
 |
| Sundvall from the mountain |
You could see a lot of interesting places like the campus of the Mid Sweden University that is situated in Sundsvall.
 |
| Mid Sweden University |
Interesting for me was also to see the construction of a bridge that will cross the bay of Sundsvall by 2015.
 |
| construction of the bridge |
The next day Fabrizio had to do some things in the city and so we took the bus together. In the town, I went to the tourist information to get a map and then I've been walking through the streets for eight hours.
 |
| typical stone building at the main square |
Like Umeå Sundsvall burned also down a long time ago. But in contrast to Umeå they rebuilt the city with stone buildings to avoid a second destruction. That was possible because Sundsvall was quite rich at that time. Today Sundsvall is called Stenstaden which means translated to English the stone town.
 |
| street in Sundsvall |
A nice idea was the following building. It consists of four old buildings that were now connected to a bigger one with a glass roof. Inside you can find a museum and the city library.
 |
| connected buildings |
I liked about Sundsvall that there is a lot of water. It is situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea and there's also a river floating through the city.
 |
| Selångersån (river in Sundsvall) |
At the bus station I saw interesting busses. They don't work only as public transport, they are also a kind of lorry. Often the rear part was separated from the public part but this particular bus had even a little trailer.
 |
| lorry bus |
In the evening I met Fabrizio and Tímea again and we went to a CouchSurfing meeting. There once more, I got to know many interesting people and we played Kubb together. Kubb is an old Viking game and a bit similar to the German Bierball, just without beer but instead with wooden figures. We also had a barbecue there and I have to say that I really enjoyed Sundsvall. I would consider it a bit as an insider tip among the Swedish cities. The last photos show some of the creatures that you can find all over the streets in Sundsvall. God knows why.
 |
| weird creature 1 |
 |
| weird creature 2 |
 |
| weird creature 3 |
 |
| weird creature 4 |
 |
| weird creature 5 |
 |
| weird creature 6 |
 |
| weird creature 7 |
 |
| weird creature 8 |
GÄVLE
The last city I've been visiting was Gävle. I've already been there in December together with Miguel to visit the French volunteer Chloe and now it was on my way and so I decided to stop there.
 |
| station in the city centre |
It was interesting to see how the city completely changed from winter to summer. I recognized some places but the whole atmosphere was different.
 |
| Swedish counterpart of the red British telephone boxes |
For example I was surprised how green the city was. Of course, in the winter everything was white.
I don't know why but it seems like every Swedish city needs a strange creature they can put on their streets. Here are some miniatures of the Gävlebock I saw in December.
 |
| Gävlebock 1 |
 |
| Gävlebock 2 |
 |
| Gävlebock 3 |
 |
| Gävlebock 4 |
Some hours after I arrived in Gävle we went first to Systembolaget, the Swedish monopoly store for alcohol, and then to the central station where a minibus picked us up and brought us to a beach party. The weather was perfect and so the party was a success. They had music and alcohol and the bus drove us also back home in the night. The next day was a typical hangover day and the day after I went to the central station and took some last pictures of the following buildings.
 |
| church near the station |
 |
| stone building near the station |
 |
| view to the other side |
And then the time had come. I waited together with all those people on the platform for my last train back to Linköping.
 |
| platform in Gävle |
All in all I can say that I didn't regret one minute of my trip. It was super nice to see all those cities and to meet so many nice people.
 |
| some station names |
Maybe I will plan a trip sometime in the winter so see everything I saw in the winter time. Who knows.
 |
| my train and bus tickets |
But now it feels also great to be back in Linköping because on saturday I'll start my next tour. My father will come and we'll go hiking to the mountains of Jämtland in central Sweden.
