Euro Day 37 - What Next?

We didn't sleep all that well in the lakeside car park as people seemed to be coming and going all night, however Jon and I did manage to get up and out for a run in the forest reasonably early which was nice. 

Even though we were just trying to follow tracks, and we had a map, we seemed to get way more lost than either of us had orienteering the few days earlier! 

Afterwards a quick swim was in order before we sat down for breakfast.

Then it seemed we were all suffering from a bit of decision fatigue - we still had one more night in our campervan so we had to decide what to do for our last full day.  With my computer flat, it meant that all research had to be done on phones which is a bit of a pain.  We were at a bit of a loss but then I delved through the paper recycling and pulled out a booklet on the area between us and Stockholm that I'd picked up from the tourist office at O-Ringen.  Bingo - we suddenly had some destinations! Sometimes it's so much easier to do things the old fashioned way!

Firstly, we went to see the largest burial mound in Sodermanland. It really wasn't very exciting but it did have nice views of the surrounding country side and it was a relaxing drive to get there.  The mound is in the centre of the background below.

And due to the un-popularity of this small bare hill in the middle of a paddock,  parking was a breeze! 

Then we went to Stendorren's Nature Reserve which was a lovely area by the sea with lots of little islands joined by suspension bridges. It was here we were able to observe Swedes in their natural environment - i.e. enjoying the sunshine and their 6 week summer holidays (or maybe their 460 days of maternity/parternity leave). Hurumph. 

Anyway - we had a lovely short hike around some of the archipeligo.

Afterwards Zali discovered Jett's answer to her indoor orienteering talent - blueberry catching. She would stand and toss them to him, and he would effortlessly catch them in his mouth.

From there was our third stop of the day, the worlds largest Ikea! We timed it to coincide with dinner so we could benefit from the cheap cafe, then we had a walk around. It wasn't amazing (Ikea is Ikea is Ikea), but it was fun.

By the time we left it was 7:30 so our next destination was a parking place for the night. I'd planned on another bathing area but we weren't allowed to go there, so we ended up parking in a clearing beside the road just a few minutes from where we needed to drop the van off in the morning.   So after the slow start we ended up having a fun day!