A Visit From Home

After 30 hours of traveling our Klassen parents finally made it to Vickleby for a 4 day visit. We had a nice time being together and relaxing in our cozy little village. We spent some time touring the countryside on the island, finding a great nature reserve with a bird sanctuary and lighthouse.

This day was bitter cold, though, with strong winds and below freezing temperatures. Periodically, we would optimistically stop during our drive to go for walks, but would quickly return to the car and its highly coveted seat warmers. The next day we walked around the castle in Kalmar.

The castle's construction began 800 years ago, originally a medieval castle, it's onetime ruler decided to transform it into a renaissance masterpiece. Being closed to tours, we made a nice, leisurely walk around the castle grounds in a thick fog. When we were walking through the heavy fog, Barb said "This would be a great day for a ship to make a surprise attack!" After that, we made sure to be on the lookout.

The Klassen parents left for Copenhagen Monday morning, where they will spend two days before flying to Tallinn, Estonia for a visit and on to Stockholm to conclude their tour. It was really nice to have them visit. We are now really beginning to feel like our time here in Sweden is wrapping up. Barb leaves for home in 12 days (Dec 1) and I plan to leave on the 19th.