Åsnens National Park, Auto Graveyard and IKEA Museum

For Åsnens National Park, we took two days and stayed overnight at the Getnö Gård campsite on the Getnö peninsula.

Before we headed there, we went for a hike at the Trollberget entrance.

There are two small loops that we combined.

The first (yellow) loop mainly went through the forest and past large rock formations.

There were beautifully arranged picnic spots right by the lake, which were also used by several groups.

Overall, there were several visitors here: The language we heard most frequently was definitely German.

Only when we moved a bit further from the parking lot and hiked on the other (white) path did we not encounter any other people.

The landscape here was noticeably more varied: First, we walked through grass with only a few smaller birches growing.

Then we went back through forests, whose ground was covered with a moss carpet.

Unfortunately, the blueberries that grew in some places had already been picked.

After an overnight stay with forest and lake views, we headed to Toftåsa Moor in the south of the national park the next morning.

A hiking trail led through the forest and partially over a boardwalk through the moor.

At Lake Åsnen, which makes up 75% of the national park's area, we took a break with a cinnamon roll.

Along the way, we collected a few more blueberries.

The nature along the path was beautiful but not very varied or special.

On the way to Malmö, we made a detour to the car graveyard “Kyrkö mosse” near Ryd.

There, 150 junk cars along with other motorized vehicles have found their final resting place.

The owner of the place, Åke, collected and bought them to dismantle them.

He left the remains on his property until he moved to a nursing home in 1992.

The municipality debated for a long time about what to do with the wrecks. Ultimately, it was decided to leave everything there and wait for nature to reclaim the territory.

A short walk leads from the parking lot to the car wrecks and Åke's 12 m² hut, where he lived for many years.

We continued to Älmhult to the IKEA Museum.

The exhibition is located in the first of the furniture stores that Ingvar Kamprad opened in 1958.

The exhibition vividly and interactively tells the story of life in Småland with very short texts.

In another part of the exhibition, furniture pieces from IKEA and the development of furniture stores and their goods are displayed.

The exhibition included some self-promotion but was still very appealing and interestingly designed.

After our visit there, we of course had to eat meatballs (and their vegetarian alternative) in the restaurant.

I particularly liked that there was not only water but also coffee and tea available for free for visitors.
Even in the first furniture store, there were free coffee and cookies for the visitors of the exhibition at the opening - which led to the staff driving around the town to buy more cookies because they were consumed so quickly.

In the evening, we overnighted - along with several other camper vans - in the parking lot in front of the museum before setting off again the next morning.