Day 7: The Children from Bullerby

The day started with a view out of the window - of rain clouds.

Nevertheless, we sat with good mood in the hotel breakfast room, where we ate scrambled eggs, marzipan croissants and fresh fruit as the only guests and watched the Swedish breakfast television with fascination.

After packing up and checking out, we made our way to the bus station in Västervik. Luckily, we met a nice bus driver who let us ride on the corresponding route despite knowing that our Interrail passes were invalid - which saved us almost three hours compared to taking the train.

After 55 minutes drive, we finally reached Vimmerby, the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren. After a brief stop at the tourist information office, we set off with our backpacks for the farm where the author grew up many years ago.

When we arrived, we met a nice young Swede at the ticket office who let us leave our luggage behind the counter before entering the converted cultural center.

Astrid Lindgren is mainly known as the author of the famous stories about Pippi Longstocking, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, The Brothers Lionheart, and many others.

An exhibition first provided information about her life, her motivation, and her commitment to the environment and people. There was a German audio guide, which even included a soundtrack for two short films. Overall, we were able to learn many new things about a fascinating woman who was ahead of her time and always kept a part of the child within her.

Then we entered the outdoor area, where many of the buildings that belonged to the Näs farm in Astrid's childhood days - incidentally, one of the largest and most beautiful in Sweden at the time - are still located. Here, we visited her birthplace, the family later moved to a neighboring, larger house where descendants still live today. In addition to various garden areas, each with its own theme, there were also sculptures made of natural materials by various artists, all designed to be touched and often played with.

We quickly realized where Astrid Lindgren got the ideas for her books. The old tree that served as a model for Pippi's lemonade tree is still standing on the farm grounds, as is Michel's (in the original his name is Emil) carpentry shed, and Astrid and her three siblings served as inspiration for the children from Bullerby. Growing up on Näs must have been like living on an adventure playground, of course in addition to helping out on the farm. Astrid herself had the same opinion.

Again and again, the various offers in the garden area awakened the child within us. We swung on tree swings, climbed in balls made of tree trunks, arranged pictures made of tree bark and rose hips, and drew a picture of Ronia the Robber's Daughter with chalk. Boards repeatedly established a connection between the respective location and Astrid Lindgren.

We had a lot of fun this afternoon.

After a short visit to the shop, we picked up our backpacks and made our way to today's accommodation. In the guest area of 'Astrid Lindgrens Värld', we are now staying in a small log cabin, where we will sleep in sleeping bags (no, not on the floor, but bedding was too expensive 😅). On the grounds, there are even holiday homes laid out like a small town with a marketplace.

After dinner, which consisted of instant noodles again, we're going to relax a bit before heading to Stockholm tomorrow.

Good night from the children from Bullerby!