We drove to Glass Country today, for an overnight stay ultimately in Kalmar. Took us about 3 hours, but we drove through beautiful country. There were heavy forests, many streams and small lakes, narrow roads. Just beautiful, tranquil.
Our first factory was Mats Jonasson Målerås, where we took a tour. His work is magnificent, and this was really more of a museum. Some of the exhibit pieces were art work, with themes of war, world problems, love and hate, etc. and the conflicts would be reflected in the glass in incredible ways.
We then went to Orrefors, which also had some Kosta Boda pieces, and this was a factory outlet. We took our time looking, then had lunch there as they all have cafes with buffets and "ficas". then, Pat and Danbought some gifts and some pieces for themselves. Decided to have it shipped, which was costly, but they took off more money so it ended up reasonable.
We then drove around to several others, trying to find something for Hillary to buy, and just to see as many as we could in the short time we had left before they closed. Went to what we thought was Kosta, which turned out to be a huge, awful outlet mall with little glassware! Then quickly drove to Sea, Åfors, and Transjö Hytta. Didn't find anything to buy, but the studio and the setting at Transjö was idlyllic--set in the woods with glass sculptures hanging over the little stream, placed wherever in the garden with the flower pots, just here and there, reflecting the sunlight. (except there was little sunlight!) Red buildings around, with the typical white trim, neat, and charming. The crystal was beautiful, we took pictures of just the crystal inside.
One thing we have noticed on the roads, and Per told us this, as this every so often, the road had very wide shoulders on either side, and is absolutely straight for several miles. Per told us these are all around the country, and are built to be also used as landing strips for aircraft should they be under attack. Sensible and interesting, as everything in Swedish design seems to be.
As we were driving around the countryside, as well as the the drive to the area, Ken exclaimed "There are no people in Sweden!". Indeed, we'd hardly seen anyone, even in the factories. One of the sales people told us this was because "everyone was on holiday and it was warm so they were all at the beach, it was a good beach day."
Well, we were quite struck by this, as it was raining! And when not actually raining, overcast and cloudy!
We then drove on to Kalmar, a charming old town on the east coast. Some of the streets are cobblestone, and this is a walled, medieval city. Our hotel is the Stadshotellet, a 200 year old hotel ? or so. Very old, very old fashioned with an old fashioned elevator, and a beautiful marble staircase. Rooms were small, plain and clean, fine with us. We really liked this town. Walked around looking for a nice dinner place, and enjoyed the town. There were actually crowds out, as there had been a local soccer match, which ended in a tie, so everyone was celebrating. We ate at a Bistro, pretty good but not noteworthy. Walked around a little more, then went back to the hotel where the 3 of them had an expensive drink at the hotel. Food IS incredibly expensive, as is alcohol. And not really that good.
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