Quite a few years ago one Swedish paper invited people to send in tips on their favourite cafés all over Sweden, from the very north to the uttermost south. Those tips were then compiled into a café article of some hundred different types of cafés. A copy of that article has conveniently enough found a home in M's car.
Believe it or not, I/we have only visited a handful of them and I can't say I've found them all to be particularly well worth a visit. Some of them don't exist anymore - which is slightly annoying when you've decided to make a bit of adventurous detour and find yourself in the middle of practically nowhere in vain search of what might supposedly be a hidden gem of a café...
On the other hand, when one do find a café and it turns out to be rather lovely, with surroundings, buildings, weather all working well together forming a small patch of wild strawberries in the middle of the real nowhere - then those futile searches are kind of worth the finding of that one gem.
And it really doesn't matter - at least not all that much - if the coffee and cakes aren't top notch delightful. Because the place itself is and then most anything (vegetarian) tastes good.
We found such a gem when on our way home from holidays this past summer, when we had a look at the above mentioned café article and made a slight detour from the motorway and there in the woods of Byarum, in the province of Småland, the area's local history society (hembygdsföreningen) serves coffee, beverages and homemade cakes during summers, in what can only be described as very picturesque surroundings. They also host different local events and sell local arts and crafts - at more than reasonable prices...
So if you happen to be in the vicinity and it's summer and the sun is benevolently shining and you feel like a coffee and cake - and yes, the baked goodies were really rather nice - I really recommend that you pop by for an unpretentious and relaxing visit. The place is situated a bit south of city Jönköping, when driving highway E4 take the sliproad named Bondstorp/Byarum, drive towards Byarum and after a few hundred metres you'll see a sign with a coffeecup, enjoy -
This sounds rather lovely and the swedish handmades look delightful. I would love to buy some of the gloves with their intricate nordish patterns; not to wear of course but to have and marvel at their simplicity and beauty. I generally never buy souvenirs unless it is really something worthwhile, handmade.Great pictures of your beautiful, rural country site.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Titania, I'm the same - at least with age and wisdom:) - I shy away from buying souvenirs if they're not handmade with quality or useful, like when possible I do enjoy bringing home the local detergent, herbs and such.
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