A Day in Gävle

Hello everyone,

As I mentioned in my last post, to get up to Axmar Blue Park I had to take the train from Stockholm to Gävle. After visiting Axmar, I stayed over in Gävle so I could explore the city the next day. This isn't related to my project, but I had a nice day. Here's what I did:

I perused my guide book and decided that I really wanted to go to the Swedish Railway Museum, mostly because I like trains. The train museum is located outside the center of the city, and the directions given were to walk down a specific street until it ended, then follow the bike path. Okay, I could do that. So I started down this street, which brought me from the big downtown buildings to abandoned storefronts to apartment complexes to pastel-colored homes...and finally to where the road ended. Past the road was a path, so I followed it into this garden community, which consisted of large garden plots and tiny, tiny cottages. The only 'road' in this area was the bike path. It was actually a really beautiful area, with fences covered in greenery and so many flowers. The only museum-related sign I saw the entire time was in this area, pointing me away from the garden community and towards a graffiti-covered tunnel which went under the train-tracks. In the last stretch to get to the train museum, the path went between the current train tracks and an old train yard. So I assumed I was in the right place! Finally I stumbled upon the Swedish Railway Museum. I must admit, half the time during that walk I wondered if I were heading in the right direction. I mean, you have to be a real train nerd or feeling adventurous (guilty on both counts) to actually walk all the way to this museum with very vague directions. However, it was totally worth it.

The museum had so many trains, from relatively new ones to the very first trains made by Swedish engineers. I learned a lot about the implementation of train systems, both in Sweden and in the world in general. I could even go inside some of the trains, and at the very end there was a simulation game, where you could see what it's like to drive a modern-day train, like the one I took back to Stockholm later that day. There was only one downside to this museum: it was a little creepy. First of all, the trains in the museum were all driven in on tracks, so the fronts all faced one direction. For some reason, the back areas of each room, near the backs of the trains, were not very well-lit. Which wouldn't be scary except for the fact that this museum used mannequins. So multiple times I was in the back of this big empty room (not many other people were in the museum that day) and I peered into a darkened room in a train, only to jump when I spied a person in the corner. Who turned out to be a mannequin. But seriously, this happened at least 5 times. Despite my few scares, I really enjoyed the museum.

Train!

And another train!

Inside a train

See the mannequin under the wheel?
Well I didn't until I was 2 feet away. Creepy.

Train simulator

So many cool old trains!

See how it gets dark in the back? 

The first tank engine, build by Swede John Ericsson

An outbuilding at the museum

After exploring the museum, I had lunch in their cafe-in-a-train and wandered around the outbuildings at the museum. I walked back to Gävle, this time knowing I was going in the right direction. I headed to the Gävle County Museum, the museum where Bosse works. I really enjoyed their various exhibitions. There is a gallery on the top two floors of Swedish artists, organized by decades. They also had a really old fishing boat from about 1000 AD in one of their exhibitions. I enjoyed learning more about the local county's history and culture, and I especially liked that the main staircase was lined with pictures of old Swedish ships.

The county museum

Cool anchor statue near museum

To end my day in Gävle, I sought out the smoothie bar recommended in my guide book. I had a quite delicious smoothie. As I wandered back towards the train station to head back to Stockholm, I noticed that the main shopping street in Gävle featured painted goats. The Gävle goat is a cultural icon in the city (you can read more on wikipedia, if you're interested), and these statues reminded me of the painted cows (or in VT, the moose!) from back in the US.

Painted goats

Another painted goat

That evening I took the train back into Stockholm. While I haven't done much traveling outside the Stockholm region, since there's so much to see right there, I enjoyed my little adventure north to Gävle and Axmar.

~Kristine