Day Four - Road Tripping to Karlstad
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(Click to Enlarge)Taking the metro back to Centralstation, I located the nearby car rental office and picked up my VW Golf and was soon on my way west. Driving out of Stockholm was easy enough, and other than a whole slew of roundabouts to deal with, it was a pleasant drive through the country.
My first destination was Västerås, Nick Lidstrom's hometown. I figured any place that produced the best defenseman in the galaxy was worthy of a visit. I had also hoped to visit Stars and Bars, the bar Nick owned with Tommy Salo. Unfortunately, upon arriving in the city, I learned the bar had recently closed. Bummer! Still, it was a very nice town to walk around and I was sort of looking for anyone who might be Nick's parents to hug and kiss and thank over and over for giving us Lidstrom.
Back on the road, I very much enjoyed the scenery as I made my way toward Karlstad. The landscape was bright green and the skies bright and blue, with scatterd clouds. I noticed that every country home looked very similar, with the house built into the trees and all of the buildings being the same color red. There were several Moose Crossing signs along the way, but unfortunately I did not spot any.
I learned the hard way not to use Google Maps in this region. The freeways were all listed fine, but the exits and smaller roads were not even close to being where they should be. Finding the hotel was quite the project. When I did, however, it was well worth it. The Elite Stadshotel in Karlstad was an excellent place to stay.
Karlastad has some historical significance for Scandinavia, as the Treaty of Karlstad was signed here in 1905, granting Norway its independence from Sweden. On the 50th anniversary of the treaty, the Monument of Karlstad, which is a statue of a woman with a broken sword, standing on a dismembered head, was placed in the town center, commemorating the treaty.
