Uppsala, Sweden - Day Two

Center of Uppsala

Friday morning started off quite nicely in Uppsala. The sun was shining as Thea and I walked through the center of town and found a farmer's market where we got coffee and kanelbulle. Kanelbulle is probably my new favorite pastry. It's the Swedish cinnamon roll, but so much better! Definitely wish I had eaten about 10 more of those before I left. 

Kaffe and kanelbulle 

The walk through town to the Domkyrkan was accompanied by more colors and, of course, bicycles. We stopped by one of her universities buildings- which was full of elegant details, sculptures, and grand pieces of art. 

Look at those coffers and that oculus! 

There was also a stop at DesignTorget, which I insisted upon. It's the best place to find anything handy and brilliant. It's like the marketplace in Ikea, but tens times cooler and much more expensive. My future life will much resemble this store. 

Design Torget = Genius.

We had to stop by the cathedral to ask directions for the day's plan. The sweetest little Swedish woman helped us to locate a 6km pilgrimage through town and the surrounding countryside that Thea had planned on showing me. And she couldn't have picked a better day to do just that.

The trail has these handy little signs to keep you on the right path and historical placards to make it feel like an outdoor museum. The pilgrimage is called Eriksleden- or St. Erik's Path. The legend surrounding St. Erik is that he was a martyr and was beheaded in 1160. His head rolled down the river that runs through Uppsala and caused a fresh water spring to erupt where it stopped. The walk is the processional path that his remains and relics were carried down each year commemorating his death.

Starting Eriksleden

View of the Domkyrkan from the river

The path not only ends the St. Erik pilgrimage, but brings you to Gamla Uppsala- home to the Viking Mounds. Of everything I saw this weekend, I think the viking mounds were the most stunning.

Too sunny for pictures- the sign to Gamla Uppsala

Along the path

The Viking Mounds are ancient burial sites. They are the Swedish equivalent to the Pyramids. When a viking king, or really anyone, died, they were put in their boat with all their most valuable possessions and a mound was piled on top of them. I had not realized before, but where we were was a very flat part of the country. So seeing these hills pop up as you round a bend creates a striking and intriguing visual. These specific mounds- the three largest in particular, are said to be the mounds of the great kings Aun, Egil, and Adils. These three are the largest in the entire country and date back to the 6th century. It's amazing to see something so old that has somehow withstood the perils of time. They just look like silly little hills, but they're so much more than that. And so worth the beautiful walk through the countryside. Sidenote: one historian tried to prove that THIS was Atlantis. Yes.

Thea and the mounds

Me!

At the end of the pilgrimage, we found the church where Erik's remains were brought. It's a relatively small but ornately painted church. Thea told me that these hand painted walls were done by one artist in particular, but that most of the others that existed were whitewashed at some point in history. This church seemed to be only partially white washed and somewhat restored.

The interior of the church

Lots of pictures along the way

Gamla Uppsala Kyrkan 

The Viking Mounds

Argh. 

I stopped to be a viking myself at the little museum before we found the bus to bring us back into town. We started our night off in Flogsta where I met a few more of Thea's friends. And then we were off to the Nations in Uppsala. With my guest pass I could now pretend to be a member. We went to the Smålands nation pub and had a quiet drink while we watched more and more students head to some event down the street. We quickly realized that they were all on their way to a party in the same nation we were at. So we followed suit and found ourselves in quite the fancy shindig. Thankfully we were both wearing all black so we blended in as we wove our way through the festivities to the bar and then over to the dance floor. It was a great night of dancing, encountering hilarious Swedish dancing, and a drumline. Yes, you read that right. At some point in the evening, a drum line entered the room and performed for about 10-15 minutes. We had absolutely no idea was was happening and couldn't have had more fun.

The crazy awesome drum line- "Chambray shirt...follow him!!" (stolen from Thea)

Falafels!!! (also stolen from Thea)

The mask I found at some point while dancing and then proudly wore for the rest of the night

Three or four hours later we found ourselves at the late-night food stop for falafels. We had entered the party not knowing what it was and left with masks and a new appreciation for house music and karaoke. We got safely back to Thea's room and were happy to rest our tired feet.