Today I got home from Öland, Sweden's second biggest island. We were there for two weeks, and walked through the unique “alvar” landscapes, which is a biotope consisting of limestone ground covered by a thin layer of dirt with sparse vegetation. The alvar grounds have, in most places, next to no ability to hold water, and are therefore very dry, so it's pretty much as close to a desert as you can get in Sweden.

We went to different beaches around the Island. The weather was almost perfect. It was warm enough so that it's comfortable to be in the water, and cool enough to not get sweaty, tired, and sunburnt when on the surface.

There are many flee markets all around the Island, much more than in any other place that I know of. I'm usually not very enthusiastic about them, but this year I bought a lamp, a coffee mug, two ceramic bowls, one tin chalice, and six books.

Before we went to Öland, we hiked for a week in the Lunndörrsfjällen area. We carried heavy bags, filled with our tent, food, clothes, and equipment. My bag weighed about 20 kg. We walked 12-22 km per day, some days on a trail, some days in places that are far more trafficked by reindeers than by humans. We walked from Kläppen, where we parked, then up past Vålåstugorna, down into Storådalen, up through Lundörren, and then back to the car.

It was a very tough trip, but it was fun and it felt good to leave everyday life for a while, but it was also nice afterwards to come back home to the luxury that is having electricity, heat, and running water.