Uppsala, Sweden

Uppsala was a quick day trip from Stockholm for me. About an hour on the train and I was there. After disembarking the train, I immediately headed for the castle area of town. Although it was cold, the sun was shining and took the chill out. I haven’t seen a whole lot of the sun lately; it’s been cloudy. Before arriving at the castle, I passed by a park. The time was still early; I had many hours ahead of me in which to sight see. I found a park bench and sat down.

From the park, I walked a little closer to the castle to get a good frontal view. I took a couple of photos and then walked toward the city center. Walking along the Fyris River (Fyrisån in Swedish), I noticed some people in orange vests trying to hoist something out of the river. They were attempting to pull a bicycle out of the water. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a pile of rusty old waterlogged bikes sat near these workers. I continued following the river. At the next bridge, I saw two or three other people in the same orange vests attempting the same feat. Near these people was a truck filled with these waterlogged bicycles. I came to the conclusion that since many people park their bicycles along a fence on the river, the bikes often fall in. Fortunately, I was able to witness the unusual occurrence of workers dredging the river for bicycles!

I turned away from the river and walked toward the Uppsala Cathedral (Domkyrkan), Scandinavia's largest cathedral. As I neared the church, I noticed a strange flying contraption. Seriously, this flying device didn’t look like anything I had ever seen before. I couldn’t see anyone who appeared to be flying this thing remotely. I’ll admit that I even considered the possibility that this flying thing was a UFO. As I walked around to the side of the church, I finally saw the man responsible standing near the church. Noticing a bench nearby, I sat down to watch the man and the flying thing. He soon left, and I got up to go visit the church.

I continued walking around the church until I was at the front and went in. Apparently, an art show was happening. In venues around the city, the work of many artists was being shown. Showing a photograph collection, the church was one of the venues. I wrote in the comments book, left the church, and headed to Uppsala University.

I had read that the park in front of the university held six rune stones. I found all six before I continued to the castle. Set on a hill, the castle (Uppsala Slott) was built in the mid-1500s under the rule of King Gustav Vasa. Subsequent kings expanded the castle to a much larger Renaissance palace.  After a devastating fire at the beginning of the 1700s, the castle was rebuilt. This is the castle we see today. From the castle, I walked back down the hill and entered the botanic garden behind the castle.

The botanical garden (Botaniska trädgården) is owned by Uppsala University. The garden was planted on land that was donated by King Gustav III in the late 1700s.  From the garden I walked back past the castle, through the town, and past the train station to Old Town (Gamla Uppsala).

I no longer had any Swedish money (kroner). I hadn't thought about the possibility of needing cash, so I spent the last of my money on a snack at the Coop grocery store next to the train station. Because I had no money left, I was unable to take the bus the four kilometers to Old Town.

Those four kilometers were exceptionally long ones. My day bag was heavy, and I quickly tired. More than once, I stopped to check my progress on my iPad. I finally arrived at the burial mounds site.

I first stopped to see the old village of Uppsala before checking out the church, and finally the mounds. Thousands of years ago, the area where Gamla Uppsala exists was under water. People have been buried in the area for about 2000 years. Although two to three thousand burial mounds existed in the Gamla Uppsala area, only about 250 remain today. The others have been turned into farmland or quarries.

The three large mounds, dating to the 5th and 6th centuries, are known as the Royal Mounds (Kungshögarna). According to mythology, the gods Thor, Odin, and Freyr were buried in these mounds. Later, in the 1800s and 1900s, legend told that three important kings, Aun, Adil, and Egil, were buried in the mounds. Visitors were permitted to climb on one of these mounds; access was not allowed to the others.

Before I walked back to town to catch my train, I checked the map on my iPad and discovered that there is a hiking and running trail from the mounds to the city. I wish I had known about this path earlier; I would have used it on my way to the mounds.

Walking on this path until I got the the city, I arrived at the train station in plenty of time to make my train.