I am very excited to take you today to yet another country, the last missing in my list in the Scandinavian Peninsula - Sweden. We will visit today a nice little town called Västerås, located in central Sweden, some 100 kilometres from the capital city of Stockholm.
We will take from the airport a nice highway running next to many lakes.
You will quickly notice that the houses next to the road look all the same - wooden, painted in dark red colour (it even has its own name - faluröd), with white windows.
The buildings in Västerås are also red, but this is because they are mainly made of brick.
There are two major brick-built buildings in town. The first one is the gothic cathedral, dedicated to Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.
The tower is 92 meters, it does not seem to be as high as in some of the gothic cathedrals in the South of Europe.
Inside you could find the tombs of some of the Swedish kings. Unfortunately, we arrived in the evening and the church was closed. So we can only admire saints on the reliefs on the outside walls.
Let's move to the second important building made of brick. We need to cross the river Svartån. Like in Paris and Wrocław, the couples put padlocks as proof of their devotion.
Quickly, we will arrive to a very nice park, located next to a small lake. The building in the back is the Town Hall.
We need to pass next to the town's theater.
Finally here comes the second major building made of brick - the royal castle in Västerås. Actually it does not look like a castle at all. It was built in thirteenth century and rebuilt in sixteenth century. Nowadays it looks like a large residential building.
Those of you who are a bit tired can have some rest on one of these funny benches.
I propose we cross the lake to take a closer look at the Town Hall again.
As we approach the bridge, you will notice that there is a little water tourbine on the river, generating electricity. It is hidden in this nice little house.
Or to be more precise, next to it.
Next to the Town Hall there is a statue of a golden bull located on a high pillar. I have no clue what it represents but it reminds me vaguely of the golden calf that the Jews have made when Moses was getting from God the Ten Commandments.
The Town Hall, just like the cathedral, is distinguished by the tall tower.
I just noticed that in the middle of the lake there is a fountain! In the back you will recognise the theater.
I was at first surprised that this theater is so small but I was later told that the main cultural events take place in a new concert hall.
The truth is however, that Västerås is basically an industrial town. Vasteras is the town where the apparel retailer H&M was founded.
It is also the birthplace of ASEA, a large manufacturing company operating in the electrical industry. Nowadays ASEA is part of the ABB Group, but its Swedish headquarters are still in the historical ASEA building.
Next to the entry, you can even spot a monument of its founder.
But ASEA has given to Västerås one more monument and I must admit that I like it much more. These are the Aseaströmmen, a monument that commemorates thousands of ASEA workers that were coming to work on their bicycles. The name of the monument is a mixture of the name ASEA and strömmen meaning current or flow. This current filled the streets of the city each time the shifts changed at the factory.
I hope that you liked this little tour of Västerås. I propose we take a last and final look at the river Svartån, bordered by houses painted in Falun red.
We will take from the airport a nice highway running next to many lakes.
You will quickly notice that the houses next to the road look all the same - wooden, painted in dark red colour (it even has its own name - faluröd), with white windows.
The buildings in Västerås are also red, but this is because they are mainly made of brick.
There are two major brick-built buildings in town. The first one is the gothic cathedral, dedicated to Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.
The tower is 92 meters, it does not seem to be as high as in some of the gothic cathedrals in the South of Europe.
Inside you could find the tombs of some of the Swedish kings. Unfortunately, we arrived in the evening and the church was closed. So we can only admire saints on the reliefs on the outside walls.
Let's move to the second important building made of brick. We need to cross the river Svartån. Like in Paris and Wrocław, the couples put padlocks as proof of their devotion.
Quickly, we will arrive to a very nice park, located next to a small lake. The building in the back is the Town Hall.
We need to pass next to the town's theater.
Finally here comes the second major building made of brick - the royal castle in Västerås. Actually it does not look like a castle at all. It was built in thirteenth century and rebuilt in sixteenth century. Nowadays it looks like a large residential building.
Those of you who are a bit tired can have some rest on one of these funny benches.
I propose we cross the lake to take a closer look at the Town Hall again.
As we approach the bridge, you will notice that there is a little water tourbine on the river, generating electricity. It is hidden in this nice little house.
Or to be more precise, next to it.
Next to the Town Hall there is a statue of a golden bull located on a high pillar. I have no clue what it represents but it reminds me vaguely of the golden calf that the Jews have made when Moses was getting from God the Ten Commandments.
The Town Hall, just like the cathedral, is distinguished by the tall tower.
I just noticed that in the middle of the lake there is a fountain! In the back you will recognise the theater.
I was at first surprised that this theater is so small but I was later told that the main cultural events take place in a new concert hall.
The truth is however, that Västerås is basically an industrial town. Vasteras is the town where the apparel retailer H&M was founded.
It is also the birthplace of ASEA, a large manufacturing company operating in the electrical industry. Nowadays ASEA is part of the ABB Group, but its Swedish headquarters are still in the historical ASEA building.
Next to the entry, you can even spot a monument of its founder.
But ASEA has given to Västerås one more monument and I must admit that I like it much more. These are the Aseaströmmen, a monument that commemorates thousands of ASEA workers that were coming to work on their bicycles. The name of the monument is a mixture of the name ASEA and strömmen meaning current or flow. This current filled the streets of the city each time the shifts changed at the factory.
I hope that you liked this little tour of Västerås. I propose we take a last and final look at the river Svartån, bordered by houses painted in Falun red.
