Växjö - Sweden

We visited Växjö, a lovely Swedish city, during in the autumn last year. It was not the first time we were there and I have already written about it here. The word Växjö means way in the lake and the city is surrounded by different lakes. The temperature was low but the weather was lovely with a really bright sky. This time we took the chance to walk more around the lakes and surrounding nature, and not so much in the city. We also visited Ingelstad again, where Johan's mother grew up.

Visitamos Växjö, uma pequena cidade sueca, durante o outono do ano passado. Não foi a primeira vez que estivemos lá e até já escrevi sobre isso aqui. A palavra Växjö significa caminho no lago e a cidade está rodeada por vários lagos. Estava frio mas o tempo estava bom, com um céu azul brilhante. Desta vez aproveitamos a oportunidade para passear mais ao redor dos lagos e na natureza em volta, e não tanto na cidade. Também visitamos novamente Ingelstad, onde a mãe de Johan cresceu.

Inglinge mound

Inglinge mound, in Ingelstad town located about 20 Km south of Växjö, is one of Småland's largest ancient remains, that goes back to the iron age, around 1100-500 AD. A circle of high stones surround the largest mound where there is a standing stone on top. Other small circles and can also be seen in the area. 

O monte de Inglinge, na cidade de Ingelstad a cerca de 20 km ao sul de Växjö, é um dos maiores restos antigos da região de Småland, que remonta à era do ferro, em torno de 1100-500 a. C. Um círculo de pedras altas cercam o monte maior onde há uma pedra em pé no topo. Outros pequenos círculos também podem ser vistos na área.

Ingelstad

 Rottnen lake

 Trummen lake, with Teleborg castle in the background

Teleborg Castle

Teleborg castle is a fantastic building that resembles a fairytale castle. Despite its medieval style it was only built in 1900 as a wedding present from Count Fredrik Bonde to his wife Anna Koskull. Nowadays it's used as a hotel and conference venue. Inside there's also a restaurant and it was exactly there we were heading. We had a three-course lunch to celebrate a birthday in the family and we even got the manager to tell us the story of the castle and show us around. 

O castelo de Teleborg é um edifício fantástico quase como um castelo de conto de fadas. Apesar do seu estilo medieval, foi construído apenas em 1900 como presente de casamento do conde Fredrik Bonde para a sua esposa Anna Koskull. Hoje em dia é usado como hotel e local para conferências. Lá dentro há também um restaurante e foi mesmo aí que fomos. Estávamos a celebrar um aniversário na família e experimentámos o menu de almoço com três pratos. Além disso a gerente esteve presente durante o almoço para nos contar a história do castelo e nos mostrar mais tarde o seu interior.

It must have been quite special to receive such beautiful castle as a gift. Recently, the Teleborg castle was also featured in the Swedish TV show Sjärnorna på slottet (it means roughly "stars in the castle"), in which stars from different areas lived there for a week and talked about each other's careers. Who wouldn't want to live in such place, with great views over the lake, the city and surrounded by this beautiful nature!

Deve ter sido bastante especial receber um castelo tão bonito como presente. O castelo de Teleborg foi usado recentemente no programa de TV sueco Sjärnorna på slottet (que significa "estrelas no castelo"), em que estrelas de diferentes áreas moraram por uma semana no castelo e conversaram sobre as suas carreiras. Quem não gostaria de morar ali, com aquela vista sobre o lago, a cidade e cercado por esta natureza tão bonita!

Växjö

Växjö is a small town in the region of Småland, in the south of Sweden. It's name means "lake road" (väg sjö), which makes sense as the city is surrounded by different lakes. It was not the first time we were there (you can read about my first experience here), so this time we didn't walk around as much but enjoyed the company of our host instead. 

Växjö é uma pequena cidade na região de Småland, no sul da Suécia. O nome significa "estrada do lago" (väg sjö), o que faz sentido uma vez que a cidade é cercada por vários lagos. Não foi a primeira vez que fomos a Växjö (podem ler sobre a minha primeira experiência aqui), portanto desta vez andamos menos pela cidade e fizemos mais companhia à nossa anfitriã.

Photos taken during a walk around lake Trummen.

 As fotos foram tiradas durante um passeio em volta do lago Trummen.

  Teleborg Castle / Castelo de Teleborg

An artistic installation by the Växjö lake (the main lake or the most central).

Uma instalação artística à beira do lago Växjö (o lago principal ou o mais central).

 Park by the Växjö lake / Parque à beira do lago Växjö

The weather got better and better, and it went from grey to beautiful blue skies in the last day, which was the race day. We also celebrated Valborg, which is a Swedish tradition to welcome the Spring on the 30th of April. Celebrations normally include the lighting of a bonfire, choral singing and dancing, and a speech to honour the arrival of the long awaited spring season. Similar festivities occur also in other countries, but usually more connected to religion, in which is said that the fire is used to scare away witches. It's unclear if the Swedish bonfires have the same origin or not, but many say that they do scare the winter witches and let the spring in. 

O tempo foi ficando cada vez melhor e passou do cinzento a céu azul no último dia, que foi o dia da corrida. Também celebramos o Valborg, que é uma tradição sueca para receber a Primavera, no dia 30 de abril. As celebrações normalmente incluem uma fogueira, um coro, danças e um discurso para homenagear a chegada da tão esperada primavera. Festas semelhantes também ocorrem em outros países, mas são geralmente mais ligadas à religião, nas quais se diz que o fogo é usado para assustar as bruxas. Não se sabe bem se a origem das fogueiras suecas é a mesma ou não, mas muitos dizem que nesta noite se assustam as bruxas de inverno para que a primavera possa finalmente chegar.

 The band

 The lightning of the fire / O acender da fogueira

In Växjö the speech is held in the main square and then a band, a group of cheerleaders and a group of young people holding torches parade through the streets of the city until they reach the side of the lake, where the bonfire is lightened. We didn't see the speech, but instead waited next to the lake to see the fire. Fire is always something mystical that in a way brings some spirituality to the atmosphere, especially if surrounded by the sounds of drums and a beautiful sunset. 

Em Växjö o discurso é feito na praça principal e em seguida uma banda, um grupo de cheerleaders e um grupo de jovens com tochas desfila pelas ruas da cidade até chegar à beira do lado, onde a fogueira é acendida. Nós não vimos o discurso e em vez disso esperamos ao lado do lago para ver a fogueira. Fogo é sempre algo místico que adiciona uma certa espiritualidade à atmosfera, especialmente quando rodeado por sons de tambores e um belo pôr do sol.

Even the moon was more beautiful than normal and allowed us to see its more shady side. 

Até a lua estava mais bonita que o normal e nos deixou ver o seu lado mais sombrio.

 Sunset by the park / O pôr do sol no parque

The colours became very spooky with the fire burning nearby.

As cores ficaram mais misteriosas na presença do fogo.

It was really a great weekend with running, good weather, good food and especially great company. Let there be more like this!

Foi mesmo um fim de semana fantástico com corrida, bom tempo, boa comida e principalmente boa companhia. Que venham mais como este!

Växjö's Half Marathon

Last weekend we, the usual 3, ran the half marathon in Växjö. None of us had training as much as wanted. Among other things we were all sick at one point or another and had a lot of work or a new job to suck our energy. 

Picture taken by our local supporter

Still, the race was a promising one, because the course was beautiful and flat, and there were only around 250 people registered. There was also a 5k race starting an hour before ours and a 10k starting 2h later. The 10k was actually the main event with about 1000 people registered. That made it quite perfect, because it was never crowded to run the narrow paths of the half marathon, but there were a lot people around so we wouldn't feel lonely for too long. 

The course was breathtaking, probably the most beautiful 21km I have ever ran, even if it was a two-lap race. Half of each lap went through narrow roads and small paths inside a forest, that was partly along a lake. The other half was a full lap around the most famous lake of Växjö. There was a point in which the path actually went in between two lakes (or if it was through the same lake, I actually don't know). It was warm but not too warm, the sun was shining and the water was reflecting the light in a beautiful way. There and then I had my runner's high - that moment when the endorphines kick and the world is beautiful. 

I'm so lucky to be here running, it's so beautiful, my life is so beautiful, everything is perfect, oh how lucky I am.

Down there in the background is me. It was really nice to not run in a crowd like in most races.

Of course that was during the first lap, when I had 11km to go. In the second lap, with 1 km to go, I tried to go into that mood to forget how tired I was. The feeling was still there but it was a bit faked. It still kept my mind busy and I ran the whole thing without ever stopping. It was not the easiest half marathon I have ever ran and the fact that I hadn't training enough was clear, especially the day after. Still, I did it and I was super proud of myself, because I actually broke my record in an official race (my current record is during a training... I know, not common, but I was inspired that day). 

The boys also did quite well and we were all happy to be there. We had a wonderful supporter that did her best to be present and cheer us up when we most needed (with 2km to go I was dying...).

I wish I had pictures of the course but I don't. I do have some pictures of the city and I will be posting those soon in another post.

 Växjöloppet, May 2017, 1h50m46s

Växjö - Sweden

Växjö é uma cidade sueca, em plena área do Reino do Cristal. Com cerca de 60.000 mil habitantes, é uma cidade não muito grande mas simpática, rodeada por muita natureza. Quando visitamos Växjö, o tempo estava tão bom que tiramos fotos dignas de postais!

Växjö it's a swedish city located in the Kingdom of Crystal. It has about 60.000 inhabitants, it's not so big and it's really nice. It's surrounded by nature and when we visited there the weather was so good that we managed to get pictures looking like postcards!

 Só me apetece ir ali rebolar na relva!! / I really feel like going into the picture and roll down on the grass!!

 E ler um livro aqui? / How about reading a book here?

 Campos de Trigo / Wheat fields

 Framboesas e uma borboleta quase da mesma cor / Raspberries and a butterfly of similar colours

Local com vários tumulos antigos. Cada pedra representa uma pessoa ou uma familia

Ancient tumulus, in which each stone represents a person or a family. 

 Corremos em volta de 2 lagos / Running around 2 lakes

 Mercado / Market

 Biblioteca / Library

Teatro e 2 estátuas que representam a mulher e a sua visão ao espelho / The theater and 2 statues representing women and what they see in the mirror

A igreja e as senhoras do "Fika", que vendiam fatias de bolo e café 

The church and the "Fika" ladies, selling cakes and coffee

Eu adorei conhecer esta cidade sossegada e muito bonita. E vocês, gostaram das fotos?

I absolutely enjoyed this quiet, pretty city. Did you enjoy the pictures?