(written by Nancy)

We woke up to the smell of bacon cooking this morning – Oskar has become a bacon and egg roll convert and he was up early on his own accord cooking us up another great breakfast.  We could get used to this….

Today’s main chore was to get the bikes into a bike shop in Lund so that we could get them serviced while we are travelling around Stockholm with my sisters.  We caught the train with the bikes to Lund, about a 70 minute train ride from Ystad.  The bike shop in Lund, Cykel City, looks like a great bike shop and the guys working there seemed to really know their stuff as they looked over our bikes so we feel confident that they will be well-looked after.  After dropping off the bikes we wandered around a bit and stopped at a nice coffee shop for a lunch of savoury scones and of course a good shot of espresso.

This afternoon Oskar and Julia took us out to visit the small village of KÃ¥seberga, situated right on the Baltic Sea about 20k or so northwest of Ystad, which is famous for being the location of the Ale’s Stones (or Ales stenar in Swedish).  The monument consists of 59 sandstone boulders in the shape of a ship.  There isn’t a clear explanation of the meaning of the monument –s some argue that it was used as a form of celestial calendar, while others believe that it was some form of burial ground.  Human remains have been found at the site – according to folklore they are the remains of King Ale, hence the name.  Some of the stones have been dated at 5000 years old and others at 1400 years old.

The setting of the monument is spectacular, amongst the fields of wheat on a plateau sitting right at the edge of the sea.  Especially on a sunny day like today, it is really a beautiful spot, with lots of folks picnicking and parasailors floating above. After seeing the rocks we walked over to the fish restaurants that sit right down on the water and had some great fish while sitting in the sunshine.

The great day continued as we headed back into town to get to the murder and mayhem part of the program.  Julia had organized for us all to go on a Wallander tour, a ride on a vintage firetruck around town to see the sites made famous in the books by Henning Mankell about Inspector Kurt Wallander. The stories are all set in and around Ystad and the books have all been turned into films that were filmed here.   It was a fun tour, though you might be worried about living in Ystad after hearing about all of the brutal murders that take place around town – though perhaps not as long as Inspector Kurt Wallander is around to solve them!

Another great day in southern Sweden…

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