Day 22 - Free ferries? free museums? so that's what they pay so much tax for

We hung around waiting for the hostel reception guy to show up and when he did he told us the bike shop was open but not until 11. Good news, slightly worse news, it was about 7km out of town. We wheedled off and got superbly lost in the old part of Karlskrona, we just couldn't find the road out.

Sylv was cycling on her flat tyre and was getting frustrated, we stopped to look at the map again and to check her tyre. She spotted the problem the inner tube blow out had ripped part of her tyre and the wires inside were showing, oh this was worse than we thought. It was 11 by now so I called the bike shop to check that they would have a tyre and could fit it that day. Unasigned number flashed up on the phone, I tried again and again but to no avail. In our lostness we had spotted another bike shop that promised to be open the next day from 10. As our hands and feet started to freeze again and the grey clouds rolled in, we wound back through the town to the hostel. Any room I asked to the smiling receptionist, of course you are so welcome he replied. He had just finished telling all thr other other hostel staff about our trip.

So we had a free day in a very beautiful town, lucky us. We warmed up and put on our lounge clothes, made a packed lunch and hit the streets. There was a free ferry to be caught.

Hey said some familiar voices, Frances and Jannes joined us on the ferry crossing. We got to Aspö and spent a lovely hour (in the pouring rain) walking around and looking at the beautiful summer houses and the swimming spot. Then after our sandwhiches went back to the mainland where we said our final goodbyes to our German friends.

                                                        Once again, looking a bit mental...
They'd tipped us off that the marine museum was a great place and as I had now realised I have a slight obsession with all things nautical we went along. It was great, really good displays and interesting information, finished off with a lovely hot chocolate. Uber nice.

We headed home and had a relaxing sunday dinner.

Miles - about 3

Day 21 - Let downs and blow outs

I left our lovely cabin with a heavy heart thought grateful that I wasnt map reading today. We had a long way to go and route was winding to avoid the E22 highway. However, we had a beautiful ride following the coast through stunning woodland and passing small summer house villages. Although the rain had stopped the air was thick and there was no sign of the sun all day. But as we bumbled along we imagined how amazing this landscape must look during summer.

After an early lunch courtesy of Lidl (took me back to my Bedminster days - are all Lidls EXACTLY the same  no-matter where you are in the world?) we pressed on, this time on a more major road with less exciting scenery. The stupid road was wold-esque and as I came to the top of a hill I had that old familiar and very unwelcome feeling....the rear puncture. I wobbled to a standstill and called to Hana to stop. Well, the 40quid Danish wonder tyre didnt cut it for long did it? We chaged the tube and I picked out two minute  pieces of glass which had created quite a big gash in the tyre - how could this be!? Once the tyre was inlfated we noticed it was bulging near the valve and spent a while trying to rectify it before giving up as the bulge wouldn't budge.We were about 10kms from Karlskrona and thought we'd make it despite the bulge.

50m down the road and BANG! Whoops, a blow out. Perhaps we should've been more patient. We phoned our bycicle advice hotline, my very good friend Matthew Mountford who had kindly said we could call him anytime. He provided sound advice delivered in his ever cool calm and collected manner - thanks Matti! However, despite his advice and our efforts to follow it something still wasnt quite right. The tube was a bit better but there was still a bulge.

We plodded in to Karlskrona and miraculously found our hostel with ease, our first question to the chap at reception being, 'Is there a bike shop here?' He wasnt sure it would be open tomorrow (Sunday) but promised to find out and let us know in the morning. So we began a bit of a waiting game. Karlskrona is quite a big town but I had my suspicions about the shop being open on a Sunday. Think positive Sylvie, come on now.

As we made dinner we met Frances and Jannes from Germany. Frances in training as a pedagog at a Montessouri school in Lund and Jannes had come to visit her for the weekend so they'd come to Karlskrona for a little holiday by the sea. They were both really lovely and told us how they'd met working at a Camp Hill Community in N. Ireland - cool! Frances told us that tomorrow they'd be getting a free ferry to one of the many many nearby islands. Maybe we could too if the bike shop isn't open. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Day 20 - The land of make believe

So here I am in Sweden, one of the lands of my childhood dreams. The country where Pippi Longstocking roamed with her friends Tommy and Annika and her monkey Mr Nelson, where the children of Bullerby lived (in my eyes) the most wonderful life and the country that Carl Larsson portrayed in so much detail in his incredible books about his family and farm. I can't quite beleive I am here. Happy days indeed.

We breakfasted overlooking the lake (get us) and commented to each other on how windy it looked, oh we thought we'd left the wind behind.

Outside it was freezing and the wind was right up, but hey hey what's this, it was only our first tail wind of the whole trip and soon we were whizzing along at 18 mph, speeds we hadn't reached since Holland. Nice going, I thought. We were headed for Kristinstad to check out the tourist office.

As we whipped along through the icey sleet it was hard not to smile, we're in Sweden, we're in Sweden. As the sleet slowed for a bit and the sun came out a huge rainbow appeared to our left and what with the wind and the small barns dotted all over the place I was convinced that any minute now I would see Dorothy and Toto skipping through the fields (yes I know they were from Kansas, but it just felt like that).

All aorund us there were trees, they were mainly Beech and were the most fantastic vivid colours, it was glorious to cycle through.

We reached Kristianstad and marched into the tourist shop armed with our maps and a zillion questions. The woman in there was very helpful and after spending an hour or so looking at hostels in the worlds darkest dankest internet cafe we left Kristianstad with renewed vigour.

Our end of day destination was Sölvesborg and we reached there just before it got dark. We had been given the name of a hostel but as we were cycling in to the town we spotted a campsite that we thought we'd check out and oh boy were we glad we did. Sylvie spotted some little huts and was hooked, you ain't never seen a happier girl so I shall let her tell you about our night there.........

Now this is what I've been waiting for. All my life! I asked Thorleif the campsite owner what the name of our cabin, Göken, meant, 'It's a bird we have, cuck-oo, cuck-oo,' he said making the sound. 'Oh, I said ' we call it a Cuckoo!' at which he roared with laughter (anyone called Thorleif should certainly roar when laughing) and continued to mimick the Göken.We settled in to our beautiful, tiny but perfectly formed Göken, we cranked the heaters up, erected a drying line for our socks and put the pan o' water on for constant stream of tea.

There is nothing I like more than staying in tiny places. I dream of Romany caravans, enjoyed one of the best holidays ever on narrow boat and marvel at small yachts (although I would'nt want to go on a yacht - the sea, like lakes, is quite scary). I really want to live in a tiny flat one day. So this little cabin really was my idea of heaven and especially as sursprise surprise, it was raining again. The cabin had everything we needed: little beds, little chairs, a little table, hooks for our coats and a single hob to make our dinner - brilliant! Why do we all clatter around in big houses? We reveled in our surroundings and played ludo and mini cards all evening. Let's hope there'll be a few more Gökens along the way...

                                                                      How cute is this?
I told you she was happy, if anyone has any spare wooden sheds going, I think you can safely say Sylvie will purchase it from you.

I also just have to say that Sweden may also be Mrs West's (aka Jodie's mum) dream country, you aren't anyone here unless you are driving a huge Volvo estate and that is just what Mrs West likes. When aged 14  Jodie, Helena, Tamara and I used to go to football club in Crediton, Mrs West would turn up to collect us in her huge burgandy Volvo estate with Rod Stewart blaring out of the speakers and call 'Sweetie' time to go home. She knew just how to embarass us. She has now moved on to a new model of Volvo and I am now more appreciative of the old Volvo estates, in fact I think I'd rather like one!

Day 19 - 'I thought you packed the snow chains' (Dumb & Dumber on tour in Sweden)

We'd decided yesterday that if the weather was good (not raining) today we'd better get moving. We would've loved to have stayed longer in Copenhagen but as we were both feeling fairly well rested (despite our mystery snoring roomie) there was no excuse - we had to hit the road again. OK, not the road at first but the tracks. This time, we were getting the train out of neccessity rather than desperation.

The sky was ble when we woke and stayed that way for a few hours. We'd stayed on the island of Amager in Copenhagen - a little  out of the city but on the main line for trains to Sweden. The tain crosses the amazing (I've seen the pictures) Oresund bridge but it was actually a pretty disappointing journey; tha train was uber crowded and at no point did we ctch a glimpse of the bridge - awwwwww! Oh well, I'm soooo grateful you're not allowed to cycle over it, Hana would've made me and I don't think I could've coped after the trauma of the Afsluitdijk in Holland!

Instead of the first Swedish stop Malmö, we got off at Lund, the next town. It was only another 15minutes on the train and without a detailed map of Malmö we didn't fance our chances trying to get out of the city. We stocked up on Swedish Krona and hit the road in search of Hörby. By this stage, the blue sky had long since disappeared and as the icy rain battered us we were heckled by Swedish workmen no doubt wondering what on earth we were doing...Despite the chill in the air we were feeling so excited to finally have got to Sweden our destination country as last. Already the landscape and surroundings felt different. The Swedish flags were flying outside all the country houses and suddenly there were trees - millions of them, in the most beautiful autumn shades.

Along the way people have been commenting on the weather and questioning our desire to camp and today we finally understood why. We'd got blasted earlier and on the train the conductor had explained they'd had snow 30kms away and here it was! We passed through a few small villages and by the side of the road and on the roofs of the houses was a thin yet very noticeable layer of snow - no way!!!! Joy of joys, at least we were on our way to hostel in Hörby - or so we thought.

                                                                   SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When we arrived in the town no one had heard of such hostel. It was after 5pm, getting darker and now utterly freezing. Hana asked as many people as possible but to no avail. So, our only option now in this tiny town was to head to the next village in search of the campsite. Whist Hana had been frantically trying to find the hostel I'd been waiting with the bikes in the square gradually gettting colder and colder - my own fault, I hadnt imagined she would be so long so didn't bother to put more clothes on . As we cycled out of town to what felt like a far away village in the pitch black my hands and feet felt like they were about to drop off. 5kms later we found the camspite which turned out to be a hotel as well. Oooooh, the dilema - camping, hotel room, camping, hotel room. So, we spent the evening wrapped up in bathrobes feeling very much like Lloyd and Harry from Dumb & Dumber (don't knock it 'til you've seen it (at least 40 times)).

                                                                   Check out the luxury!
This whole episode of not finding the hostel put us in to a bit of a panic so we also spent the evening questioning the map and devising an alternative route for Sweden based on places to stay that actually exist - thanks for assistance via telephone Dad! Tomorrow we would make it to the next big town and hit the tourist office.

Miles today - 35

Day 18 - Cool runnings in Copenhagen

After a farewell breakfast with the lovely Maggie and Frida and lots of photos...........we set off for Copenhagen to go to a meeting!

                                           Bye bye lovely ladies - thanks for looking after us!
Our media consultants John and Marion Garrad had set up a meeting for us with the Scelrosis organisation in Denmark. So at 11.30 we were greeted by the very lovely Lotte who welcomed us in and showed us around. Lotte works as PR for the organisation and was really interested to hear our story.

Well, what a fantastic organisation they have here in Denmark. Having seen the wonderful centre they run in Haslev it was awesome to meet others within the charity. Lotte explained that anyone affected by MS can come to the office and see psycologists for help or ask any questions they may have. They had set up a website for kids of people with MS so that they can go online and talk to each other, this is facilitated by a doctor. They offer this service for adults also and have found it affective in getting men and boys to talk about their feelings.

We were joined by Irene who works in marketing and we had a delicious lunch together (from the amazing canteen). Irene asked us lots of questions and is keen to use us as a case study to promote fundraising in Denmark. She loved the idea of travelling from M to S.

We came away from the meeting feeling so happy, they had made us feel completley welcome and seemed genuinlly interested in what we are doing. We wish that the MS Society in the UK was this switched on.

                                                                 With Lotte at the office 

Late afternoon we headed to our hostel and managed to catch the last canal tour of the city which was great. Copenhagen looks like an awesome city and one to explore in the future for sure.

                                                                  Nyhavn in Copenhagen

                                                    Our favourite buildings on the tour!

Tomorrow we are off to Malmo and the start of the last leg of our journey.

Thanks so much for all you messages of support, we really do appreciate them and we feel confident we can make this last stint. Stockholm here we come.

Lots of love to you all, Hana and Sylvie xxxxx

Day 17 - Vacation in Viby!

Horray - we're still at Maggie's and we have the day off!

                                                                        Me and Frida
We did have a few things to do though....

• We walked Frida the dog (a sweet chocolate labrador) and on the way met Marianne, Maggie's neighbour and her dog. She took us through the woods which was beautiful - it was good to have a guide with us or we would've got lost!
• I picked some litle paradise apples (a bit like red crab apples) from the garden for Maggie to use later to make paradise apple jelly...mmmmmmm. She is going to write a book of chutney recipes one day - I think it may be a  best seller!
• We went to the shops in Viby (pronounced Vee-buuh) and marvelled at the selection of English goods on sale in the posh supermarket - HP sauce, Yorkshire Tea (I resisted as the box was enourmous and expensive), Walkers crisps, Marmite etc etc. The men working in the shop were laughing at me laughing at the display...We bought some food for the evening dinner and went to the most amazing charity shop and bought a pair of jeans each to wear in Copenhagen - pah!
• We also spent a considerable amount of time drinking tea, listening to Danish radio, and making curries for dinner and BLOGGING.
• Later on, Maggie's lovely daughter Lea and her boyfriend Michaelcame over and we all ate together (some choosing the left over lasagne over our veggie curry!). Lea and Michael are both techno-wizards and manged to sort out our stupid camera so we should hvae more photos from now on (can't upload any here though) - thanks you two!

A relaxing day in a beautiful spot with lovely lovely people.

4 miles in to Viby and back on our bikes!

Day 16 - Delightful Denmark

We left Gitte's cosy flat with a packed lunch she had made us and directions to the bike shop (to get Sylv's tyre sorted out once and for all) and to visit the troll (who carried a bag of sand accross Denmark but didn't realise there was a small whole in the bottom of it, the sand that fell out along the way created the undulating landscape).

With a brand new Danish tyre on Sylv's bike we set off to visit the sclerosis centre in Haslev. The receptionist welcomed us but said, oh you have come on the worst day possible, we have 42 new clints arriving today. Still 10 minutes later after a glass of juice we were being introduced to a nurse called Anders (who Sylvie was rather taken with......) who offered to show us around.

What an incredible place, meeting Gitte the previous day and then seeing this wonderful centre in action gave me some real strength after the last annoying days. The centre was beautiful, set in lovely grounds with nice spaces to be in. Anders explained that people with MS come from all over Denmark and usually stay between 14 days and a month although they are free to go when they want. They can come as many times as they want and there are different treatments available, they can see a specialist doctor, sit and talk with new friends or do activities like horse riding or swimming. There is a place called the castle where people who have been recently diagnosed (usually young people) can go for a week in a small group and just hang out together and share their experiences so far and ask questions if they have any.

It really was terrific and incredible to see such a place, another bonus was that the staff got to ride around the centre on scooters, excellent. We had our picture taken for their newsletter and bidding them all a fond farewell set off to Viby just south of Roskilde to spend the night with Maggie, a friend of Aunty Marion's.

There is someone waving at us Sylvie shouted to me through the wind, I could see her too, a small figure with a Danish flag was standing in the road waving frantically. We rode down to her and Maggie gave us a big hug each and took us inside. Maggie lives in a small commune with Eva, Flemming, Kirsten and Sophie and her dog Frida. They had a beautiful house and garden and all made us feel so welcome. We were pretty physically exhausted from the wind so decided straight away to stay 2 nights. We had forgotten to let Maggie know we are vegetarians so she had cooked us a meaty lasagne, but there were enough people around to eat and enjoy it and Sylv and I made some pasta and we all sat down together to eat with a glass of wine.

Everyone was so lovely and it was a great atmosphere to be in. We finished off the night with Maggie asking us to pick an Angel card..........mine was one to do with new and renewed energy, hurrah and Sylvie chose a card Maggie had never seen before about wisdom and listening to your dreams.

We settled happily into our bed ready for a whole day off.  What a super day.

Miles 35.