Eco Park, Renaissance Castle and Play about Saint Bridget

In the morning, we drove to the Alvastra Monastery Ruins, which were still very quiet and devoid of people at that early hour.

The structure from the 12th century is freely accessible and belonged to the Cistercian order before it was abandoned during the Reformation in the 16th century.

Saint Bridget, who we would encounter again later in the day, is said to have received some of her most important revelations here.

However, we did not yet walk in the footsteps of the saint but set off on a hike in Eco Park Omberg.

The recreational area around the mountain at the Vättern shore offers various hiking trails.

We followed the blue route, which first led steeply through the forest up to the peak of the mountain at the viewpoint Hjässan, 261 meters high.

From there, we had a lovely view of the surroundings.

At the same time, it was quite windy, so we didn't linger too long but continued on our way.

We continued through forested areas until we arrived at Café Stocklycke, where we took a break—of course, in true Swedish fashion, to have a Fika with coffee and cinnamon bun.

We followed the hiking trail to the shores of Lake Vättern, where it ran above the water with some ups and downs.

Back at the camper, we chose not to take the expressway for the next leg of our drive, but rather the scenic route over Stocklycke and Borghamn.

It is only accessible as a one-way street heading north, so we didn’t encounter any oncoming traffic on the narrow road. Most of the time, the road led through the forest, and we could see the water only occasionally. We had hoped for more viewpoints. In a few places, you could stop for a view of the water; once, there was even a picnic table and parking spot where you could stay overnight with the camper.

We continued our journey to Vadstena, an old town on Lake Vättern, where we stayed overnight at the pitch directly by the lake.

Right at the harbor stands the impressive Renaissance castle, whose construction began in 1545 under King Gustav Vasa.

We toured the interior rooms, which are accessible on three floors and whose exhibition tells the story of the castle and its inhabitants.

The rooms were rather simply decorated, and in some places, the old paintings are still preserved.

In the evening, we strolled through the old town of Vadstena.

A few old buildings have been preserved in the small pedestrian zone and at the old squares.

There is also a pilgrimage center since this is the site of the monastery foundation initiated by Saint Bridget.

During the Reformation, the monastery was closed. However, in the 20th century, some nuns from the Bridgettine order resettled here, so there is now a inhabited monastery again.

When we were standing in front of the monastery church during our tour, the director Sonja Ander Slootman approached us to ask if we would like to come to the show “Moments from my life - Saint Bridget” later.

We spontaneously decided to watch the “musical monologue” in English and hurried with our dinner, which was originally planned as the last program point of the day.
So, after about an hour, we were back in the church, eagerly waiting for the one-woman show about the life of Saint Bridget.

The actress Sandra Ottander presented it compellingly and variedly in five monologue scenes.
The play was performed in Swedish in the first half of the summer, and now the English-language performances are following, which are also set to continue next year.

After the performance, which took place in an intimate setting, we had a delightful conversation with the actress and director and returned to the pitch with new impressions and knowledge.