Gorgeous views of Sweden

I went on a weekend trip with 40 other students in my program to Sweden, and it was breathtakingly beautiful. To get to Sweden, we took a 20 minute ferry-ride from Denmark. We didn't need our passports. That idea is so foreign to me. The border policies in this part of the world are far more lax than in the US, it's actually quite nice.

We started the day with 3 hours of canoeing through the countryside and through a small town. The architecture there is so quaint and interesting and their landscaping is absolutely incredible. Green is even greener in Sweden! Unfortunately, it rained, so I do not have any pictures except right before we set off.













 Then, we went to our hostel and had a nice, warm meal of chili (which had been made before we got there).
The owners of the hostel were a very sweet older couple. They made our stay very nice and the place was cozy. It was out in the countryside right next to a tree nursery.
They even had a cute little sauna.







From there, we left to go hiking to see what was described to us as driftwood sculptures on a beach. That description did not prepare me for what we encountered.

We started with a steep climb down to the beginning of the sculptures. Then, we climbed through and down these massive, precarious-looking structures to the beach, where there were more towers to explore! It was like an adult jungle gym!

 I found a humorous warning about Sasquatch ->
















The site is called Nimis, and I definitely will tell everyone I ever meet that it is a must-see in Europe!
Fun fact: The artist, Lars Vilks, actually proclaimed the area the micronation of Ladonia so the Swedish government wouldn't tear down his work!















The next day, we went to Kullaberg national park for a day of repelling down cliffs at the ocean-side and hiking.

We repelled from these cliffs

The park was on this peninsula

Some hikes were very intense, and there was an embarrassing video of me (I do not have the clip, sorry) sliding down a steep incline we were trying to walk down, completely unable to stop myself.

While we hiked, we completed little "missions" like building a rock tower and making certain knots in rope. The views at the park were absolutely mind-boggling. Also, our sweet hostel owners brought us sandwiches and chocolate halfway through the day!








We also found a cute little beetle with a fuzzy tummy.









 

On the way home, we stopped at this adorable little cafe in the country-side for coffee and pastries. They served us  these little custard-filled hearts and some delicious raspberry cake. The raspberries on top were so perfectly tart and the cake at the bottom melted in your mouth. The cafe was called Flickorna Lundgren, and I undoubtedly want to go back to it someday.

For those interested, here is the hostel info:
    STF Vandrarhem Jonstorp
    Gamia Södåkrvägen 127
    26392 Jonstorp
    Telephone: 46 4212 1413