One of the joys of travelling around to see new places is the chance to sample the local speciality foods of the different regions. And Öland has some foods that are unique to this island. This called for a little shopping excursion to seek out what was available.

First stop was to pick up some traditional bread from Sörens Bröd on Södra Långgatan, where they have been baking bread since 1910. The flagship of the company is Ölandslimpa which is a flour/sour dough mixture spiced with whole carraway seeds. But I decided to be a little different and chose a loaf of Ölandsgrova, which is also a sour dough mixture with carraway, but in addition, it contains dark malt making a very rich and tasty bread.

To accompany this, I then bought some cheese from Ostbutiken. The local cheese (Ölandsost) is specially aged for between three and eight months and flavoured with cognac (Kvarngubbens Cognacskubbe) or carraway and cloves (Ölandsfåk). I chose the latter one. And to wash it all down, the local svagdricka, which is a light and somewhat sweet brewed malt based drink. I'd describe it as a cross between cola and beer. Sounds a bit naff, but it goes well with bread and cheese.

However, this was merely the appetiser. What I wanted to try was the infamous kroppkakor (literally "body cakes"). So that meant moseying around to Ängsgatan to Ölandskroppkakan where they are made.

Despite the somewhat off putting name, they are not a strange type of cannibal food but potato dumplings filled with a spiced pork mixture, served with lingon jam (a bit like cranberry sauce) and butter. And washed down with milk!



I have seen recipes for kroppkakor, but I believe they are not easy to make. It is a mixture of raw, grated potato, mixed with a little potato starch and flour. This is then shaped into balls and filled with a mixture of minced pork, finely diced onion, pepper and allspice. You then put the kroppkakor in a large saucepan of boiling water and let them simmer for about 30 minutes. Voila, they are ready when they float like happy icebergs in the water!

The trick seems to be getting the consistency of the potato mixture right. If they are not made correctly you end up with a mushy mess at the end of the boiling. It seems far easier to buy them ready made and simply do the boiling bit yourself. And they were very tasty. The people in Småland also make them with a slightly different flavouring to the pork mixture and each region swears that their kroppkakor are the best.´I like them all!



We survived the body cakes and after a good night's sleep, we took another of the forest paths through slottsskogen and on to the king's summerhouse at Solliden. It is another very warm, almost summerish day and it is great to be out in the fresh air. Lambi also tagged along for the ride, though as you can see she is not my faithful friend, preferring to wait for her pappa instead.



Solliden Palace is around two kilometres away from the harbour area, just south of Borgholm Castle. It was built in 1906 as a summer residence by the current king's great grandmother, Victoria. It had been suggested to her that the fresh air, mild climate and sunshine in Öland would be good for her health. She commissioned this Italian style white palace, surrounded by extensive parkland and gardens and since then it has become a summer oasis for the Swedish royal family.



The gardens are immaculate and looked wonderful, especially on such a warm sunny day. The minute that we paid our entrance fee and went inside the gate, Lambi started begging to be carried. Fortunately, Lars-Göran had brought his backpack with him, so he put her in that. We were both puzzled as we were sure that she'd enjoy sniffing around in the grounds, but she had other ideas. Just as we were wondering if she was okay, we heard the unmistakable sound of snoring emanating from the backpack. The little rat was asleep! So Lars-Göran had to carry around the snoring backpack all afternoon. I guess she is feeling her age.

Close by the palace, we saw a beautiful little thatch roofed wooden cottage.



This has been used by the royal children as a playhouse, but before the palace was built, this was a crofter's cottage where he lived with his wife and seven children! The mind boggles at where they would all have slept in such a tiny house.

Next to the palace, quite appropriately, was a small scale Italian garden. It wasn't something that appealed to Lars-Göran, but I loved it! Memories came flooding back to me of the beautiful renaissance gardens that I visited several times in Italy, especially Villa Medici in Rome, Villa d'Este in Tivoli, Villa Lante in Bagnaia, Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati, Boboli in Florence and Villa Farnese in Caprarola. Such gardens are very formal and geometric and based on a classical style developed in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries.



There are a number of features characteristic of the Italian style that are present here: water features, geometrically-shaped beds, sculpture and the contrast of sun and shade within the pergola that stretches along the edge of the garden. Another feature of Italian gardens is also the lack of flowers with the plants being primarily evergreens for texture and shape, often in manicured topiary. I think Lars-Göran found it too formal, but I found it to be a delight. I recalled the words of the famous Renaissance architect-scholar Leone Battiste Alberti (1404-1472): "There (in the garden) you may sit and enjoy clear brilliant days and beautiful prospects over wooded hills and sunlit plains, and listen to the murmuring fountains among the tufted grass." Just beautiful!



A little further on and providing a strong contrast to the Italian garden was an extensive area set out as an English park. My favourite trees here were the big London plane tree (the same ones that line Frome Street in Adelaide). There were also lovely copper beech trees and in keeping with English tradition, this park provides light, open views of the entire area. In contrast to the formality of the adjacent Italian garden, this area showed a deliberate lack of any kind of symmetry and a restrained wildness.



The water feature that we saw in the Italian garden area earlier continued down the slope and culminated in a cascading waterfall that was a gift from the Swedish government to the king on his 40th birthday. It was lovely to stand there and listen to the gurgling water, hear the sound of your footsteps on the gravel path and look up to see the formal garden and the clear, classic lines of this Italian-inspired villa.



On the edge of the English park we followed a pathway down through the garden to a secret garden enclosed behind a hedge and found ourselves in a beautiful perfumed and sunny rose garden. This is known as the Dutch Garden as it was a gift from Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands in 1926. The roses were in bloom and the fragrance was wonderful.

I am a great lover of roses and here were a select but very fine collection of bush roses, hybrid teas, miniatures and climbers. I recognised the clear yellow, large petalled Peer Gynt, the classic Queen Elizabeth as well as the pretty cascading Ballerina - all of which I had in my garden in Adelaide.

Of the varieties that I didn't recognise, I was very taken with the velvety dark red, highly perfumed Ingrid Bergman (a gorgeous hybrid tea rose) and the elegant pale pink Queen of Sweden (a beautiful old fashioned rose from David Austen). Again, it was such a joy to be here.



We walked arround looking at the croquet lawns, the rockery and enjoying coffee and cake out in the sunshine. You won't be at all surprised to learn that the white fluffy member of the wandering trio actually sprang to life when she sensed food on offer. But as soon as the cake was gone, she made a beeline for the backpack. What a lazy animal!

We rode back to town along the esplanade (Villagatan) and admired the elegant turn-of-the-century homes with their large gardens. I wonder what one of these would set you back? They used to have a lovely view across the bay, but now there is an extraordinarily ugly hotel built on the beach, so they get to see the service entrance of that instead.



A walk through the centre of town to the main square brought us to the church, a large and rather striking building dating from 1872 with it's high tower and pointed spires.



We then wandered down various streets, looking for a post box. You could buy postcards at every second shop in Borgholm, but the post boxes seemed to be well hidden! The town boasts many beautifully restored and well cared for larger villas. Many of them are now bed and breakfast places but there are still some that are family homes. I really liked the tower in this home - and the cute little porthole windows on it.



It's been a great, sunny stay here in Öland. Tomorrow we are heading back to the mainland. The forecast wind direction is south-west and we are not in the mood to beat against a strong headwind, so we are thinking of heading back north again across Kalmarsund and this time taking the inner route behind Dämman and see where we end up.

Now I'm off to cook some more body cakes.