Day 36: Mon 14 Aug: Stockholm to Linkoping

Start time: 8:15am
Stop time: 3:20pm

Drive: 200km
Weather: fine, sunny and clear 17 to 21deg

After another good breakfast Mick and Greg took off on the bikes to the city, 6.5km, to pick up our hire car. Why a hire car on a cycling tour I hear you say? Well we just couldn't squeeze in the distance we have to travel into the time available. While not catch the train? Swedish Rail (in their wisdom) will not take bikes on the vast majority of their trains, despite the fact that Sweden is one of the most tolerant and generous countries in the World. So as a last resort we hired a car. We don't enjoy hurtling down the freeway at 110km/h, you don't see anything, it is much better on a bicycle. 

After two trial packings of the Volvo, we decided that we needed another vehicle.  Mick, Kate and Greg went down to the local Europcar shop and came back with a VW Golf 5-door hatch. After packing the bikes in one car and the wheels in another we finally got going after saying goodbye to Ken and Maree. 

We ended up having lunch on the banks of the Marina at Sodertalje, a city we'd stayed at when on the bikes without Mick and Kate. Finally arrived at Linkoping about 3pm and squeezed the cars into a tiny underground car park. Quickly unpacked and then went for a wander. Linkoping is a nice place and with clear blue skies people were enjoying alfresco dining and drinking in the many restaurants, bars and cafes. There was also a canal not far from the town Centre that we visited. 

During our usual afternoon hunt for somewhere to have dinner we spotted a different supermarket where we could purchase the “make-your-own” salad which worked out about A$10 for a big bowl of salad with everything you could want. We ate it later and washed it down with a nice cold beer in the grounds of the Cathedral. There was only just enough time (and energy) for another wander around town, which was still very full with diners, drinkers and people having ice cream, so Mick and Greg had to join them.

Pano of the view from the gym and sauna level of our hotel in Stockholm

The Ericsson Globe from our hotel window


Room 325 Best Western Linkoping


Linkoping Town Hall

Linkoping

Canal in Linkoping

Lovely old stone building at Linkoping

Our lunch stop at Sodertalje

Our motel street in Linkoping

The square outside out motel


Linkoping


Linkoping

Our dinner spot in the Cathedral garden


The massive Cathedral at Linkoping


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