It has been a bit rainy this week and the weather did not look so promising yesterday but we decided to risk it and go to the nearby island Öland where there was a spring fest this weekend. It was under the motto “Garden” and there were a lot of exhibitions and activities along the whole island. We had checked the program and chosen to visit Borgholm (the biggest town in the north part) and the surroundings among which Glömminge where there was going to be a gardening market.
The first thing that one gets to see on the way to Öland is the long bridge with a steep raised part in the middle where ships can pass under. It’s a great view from above there towards the island.
Öland from the bridge
I had been to Öland just once before, in the middle of winter and we just drove to the other side of the bridge. Now I got to really glimpse the island and its nature. It’s relatively flat so we could see the sea and the main land most of the time. However, there are small hills and we also got to enjoy rolling fields of raps lit up by the sporadic sun in beautiful bright yellow. The other thing that made me a big impression were the old wooden windmills that spotted the landscape every now and then and which fitted perfectly in the rural landscape making Öland idyllic.
An old wooden windmill on the way
Soon we were in Borgholm. We had missed the city tour by 6 minutes so we set off by ourselves to discover this calm sea resort town that was now bustling with people even if it was only just spring. We checked out a few shops, bought local cheese at a factory cheese shop, ate kroppkakor produced by a local company and sold for charity on the main square, tried the local hand-made ice cream (I had incredibly delicious Nutello and Forest fruits sorbet) while waiting for the rain to stop and stocked up on souvenirs. The big hit was rain boots for me and a modern version of clogs for my boyfriend. Since it kept raining and it was getting close to 16 h we decided to shorten our trip by skipping the castles this time and heading straight for the gardening market in Glömminge which was closing at 16 h. We got there on time but it was still raining so we ran around the stalls and bought 2 paprika plants on discount for our vegetable garden project since paprika was the only thing we had wanted to plant but never got to. We also checked out the old school which was turned into a tiny museum (1 room) and managed to run into some of my boyfriend’s relatives. I had really hoped to be able to check out some farm animals as well but it kept raining and it was getting late so we just headed back home. Now I look forward to the next time when we’ll head east and explore more of Öland’s beautiful scenery.
PrettyVibe 