A trip to Uppsala

It was a beautiful sunny day again, so we drove to Uppsala, a university and cathedral town of about 242,000.  We started the day with fika at Ofuandahls.  Mr Dub and I had a cinnamon bun each, which was delicious.  Now I think we need to try a cardamom bun.  We wandered around admiring the cathedral [which dates to the late 13th century and, at a height of 118.7 metres (389 ft), is the tallest church in the Nordic countries], the castle [a 16th-century royal castle which, throughout much of its early existence,played a major role in the history of Sweden. Originally constructed in 1549, the castle has been heavily remodeled, expanded, and otherwise modified. Today the structure houses the official residence of the Governor of Uppsala County, various businesses, and two museums], the spring flowers, the buildings.  We visited the Linnaeus Museum and garden, which was fascinating.  Carl Linnaeus is most famous for creating a system of naming plants and animals—a system we still use today. This system is known as the binomial system, whereby each species of plant and animal is given a genus name followed by a specific name (species), with both names being in Latin.  At 2:15pm we went to the a late lunch in the Domtrappkällaren Restaurant [literally the restaurant in the cellar under the cathedral steps].  It serves traditional Swedish food and it was an excellent lunch with professional but unobtrusive service.  We certainly didn’t need supper tonight.  After lunch we walked back to the car and on the way saw lots of young Swedes obviously dressed up for something special.  K asked one of them what the occasion was and apparently all the student nations (associations) hold a spring ball and an autumn ball each year and they were walking to their nation’s (association’s) spring ball.  It was so lovely to see them all dressed up and ready to enjoy themselves.  When we arrived back in Västerås the blossom tree near K and M’s home was in full, perfect flower - so lovely to see.  The end of a most enjoyable day.

The main blip shows the cathedral, the castle, the Linnaeus museum and a couple of interesting buildings.  The extra shows where we had fika, the river Fyris, the Domtrappkällaren Restaurant, the students and the flowering tree.