The roads have all been dug up around Tyresö. Two roundabouts have been decimated and bollards are everywhere. It looks very different to when we were here before. In fact, the rows of Lucia lights that led all the way along the same stretch of road would not have been there last December, by the looks of it.
Still, everything looked delightfully familiar as we drove towards Gamla Tyresö, where we’ll be staying for the next two months.
It took us a while to get there from Skillingaryd after our comfortable night at the hotel. And little did we know that there was a railway line over a bank and outside our window. Naturally we had the window open all night but, apart from a furiously dripping gutter, the sound of trains, there were none.
Our trip north was mostly on the mighty E4 highway; the one that goes from one end of Sweden to the other. Though that would have taken us a fair bit longer. Fortunately, we left it just short of Stockholm. Because of the tunnels.
When we first came to Sweden, back in 2020, Linda took us through the tunnels then died. I think it was the stress. It was when we switched to Maxine. It wasn’t just the tunnels though. It was peak hour and it was raining. And we had no idea where we were.
The upshot was that Mirinda never wanted to go through the tunnels ever again. In order to prevent a reoccurrence, I made a ‘contact’ that would let us leave the E4 before it started to circle Stockholm. Today I engaged it and the tunnels were avoided.
Not avoided was Emma chasing a stick.
We were parked up at a PLOQ services and took the girls for a bit of a leg stretch when we found a little picnic type area. We had bought coffee and something to eat at the café attached to the bowsers and had stopped by a bench. Obviously, stopping, as far as Emma is concerned, means a bit of stick throwing. There’s never enough but what she does manage is always joyous.
We’d never been to a PLOQ services before. As we drove in, I noticed a poster on the wall advertising some kind of toasted sandwich. Unlike a lot of food posters, this one looked delicious so, when Mirinda asked me what I wanted, I indicated the poster and said “One of those, please!“
When she ordered it inside, she asked for one of the things in the poster.
It was a quite simple rosemary sprinkled focaccia sandwich containing ham, cheese, something green and mayonnaise. Toasted. It really was superb. I excused the carbs because…well because it was so delicious. Besides, Mirinda had indulged in breakfast at the hotel so I felt I had to catch up.
Having arrived at Gamla Tyresö, and the most amazing house we’ve ever stayed in, we unpacked Max then headed up to the local Coop for food supplies. I made roast salmon and salad, of which Mirinda highly approved.
And so ends our 2023 trip from Farnham to Tyresö. And now, a little rest.
