0km cycled, maybe 5-10km walked
Max speed: very slow
Terrain: cobbled streets and shiny tiled shopping malls
Weather: overcast but not raining (probably would have been great for cycling...)
After a lazy sleep in, we roll out of bed enthused at the thought of cooked breakfast and tourist information, being that we've reached our current destination with no further maps to lead the way and only a vague idea of where we're headed. We check out of the hostel and put our panniers in the storage room but intend on making full use of the facilities at hand and decide to hang around for breakfast after check-out. Having decided to take the morning off before a late cycling start, I head to ICA and pick up a few goodies to create a take-off of Sassy's poached eggs on rye, complete with wilted spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes - the girls are suitably impressed! Ali is chomping at the bit to fill her brain with more Swedish info and, disappointed she couldn't get in before breakfast, rushes off after the first morning coffee. Hazel follows and I'm left to my own devices in the hostel!! After an hour long chat with Dad (much to the displeased look of the receptionist sitting 2m away) its pretty much lunchtime, and the girls return from the stroll about town complete with leggings, inner tubes and new Sverigeleden maps! Buzzing from the coffee, they've been comsuming there's a little indecision about lunch - should we go to McDonald's?? We settle for an all you can eat salad buffet and pizza, which serves as both lunch and dinenr as we fill up on salad, and take half the pizzas with us!!
A trip back to tourist information follows, and we then head to the library so that I can try and finally post some photos before stopping for coffee number three to re-evaluate.
By this time its 4pm and the thought of packing up the bikes to go wilderness camping after a couple of hours cycling is becoming less and less appealing....our bodies are in rest day mode and we conclude that another night in the hostel then a big day tomorrow is probably a better option (or you could just call us lazy!!) Decision made, we check back into the hostel, and leaving all our bags in storage, hit the shops again in an attempt to sate Ali's need to purchase new items...we strike gold with Natur kompaniet, an outdoor shop that stocks Fjällräven (with which Ali is strangley intrigued despite the fact that she still doesn't own any of their products!). A few more stops for sports clothes, water bottles (as Hazel has managed to leave hers in a bus stop) and food for tomorrow's journey, and we're back in the hostel enjoying our cold pizza. Ali and Hazel post a few things home, and Ali makes friends with the neighbouring corner storeman, who is from Chile, and practises her Spanish. We retire to our empty room, which we all thoroughly enjoy after the usual mess of panniers, food and damp clothes, and hit the hay with thoughts of completing 100miles tomorrow....
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