Road trip - Sigtuna

Sigtuna is a charming small town situated about 40 kilometres northeast of Stockholm city. For me it takes about 20 minutes by car, a bit longer by bus but still there's a bus-line that actually goes from my place of living "directly" - if you don't mind the changing of bus in the middle of nowhere, on a pretty desterted country road, a minor detail perhaps - to Sigtuna. So I don't have to bother about taking the c-train to the city and change for another c-train and then a bus.

I bet I can hear the Club of Interest taking notes once again, since my doings and non-doings with the Stockholm public-transportation is of the uttermost interest - or not.

Anyway. Sigtuna is the perfect place for a lovely little day trip. The town was founded in the late 1000 century AD and is actually the oldest town Sweden. It played a significant role in Sweden's history for some centuries. Now it's mostly a popular place to visit during the summers with a laid back atmosphere and a posh address for living.

Some noteable things about Sigtuna are for example;
* the first coin of Sweden was made there
* since Sigtuna is considered to be the first Christian town in Sweden it had seven large churches erected in the Middle Ages, of them only three ruins remain now.
* there are several nicely situated castles in the area - my favourite being Skokloster which is more than well worth a visit and a guided tour

* there are several runstones erected in the town centre - Elvira took a particular shine to the one in the pic, from 11th century AD
* also many other places where you can hear the wingbeats of history can be found in the Sigtuna vicinity - read more here

There are also many small shops of interest, handicrafts, flowers, clothes, books, toys, ceramics, antiques, interior decorations etc etc to be found in Sigtuna. Most of them situated along the main street in a very compact, easy to reach kind of way.

And of course, several places to eat and have coffee and a cake. In every pricerange, from gourmet to pizzeria. One of my favourites being Tant Brun - Auntie Brown - which is a small tearoom with the most gorgeous outdoor area in the summers. The name derives from the old children's book of "Tant Brun, Tant Grön och Tant Gredelin" (Auntie Brown, Auntie Green and Auntie Mauve) by lovely Swedish author and illustrator ElsaBeskow

Just so old-style typically Swedish and I just love it! Such an idyllic place, the staff all wear old dresses and aprons when they in a very friendly way serve delicious bread, sandwiches, cakes and coffee in those old, gibbous brass kettles. Just sit back, relax and enjoy!

And after having finished there's mostly a little fellow or two who are keen to get some leftovers.

And before you return back home, if you haven't done that already, I recommend you have yourself a walk among the old church ruins, it's quite the atmospheric thing to do. Close your eyes and just slowly let those wingbeats of history take you back in time...