How our connection to Sweden began: Our son-in-law, Benny, grew up on a farm in southern Sweden, near the small village of Broby. Our daughter Brittany met Benny in Cookeville, Tennessee, where they both attended Tennessee Tech University. A few years later in 2002, they got married in New York, informing family on both sides only after the event. But there were follow up celebrations. Brittany’s father, George hosted one in New York and Benny’s family planned one marvelous celebration of both New Year’s Eve (December 31, 2002) and the B&B marriage. They invited us to bring our whole family to spend Christmas and New Years at the farm in Sweden.
What a wonderful time we had, enjoying Swedish hospitality through the holidays. Since we arrived in Sweden a day or two before our luggage did, we needed to shop. So our hosts took us to the nearby town of Kristianstad. It was beautiful with Christmas decorations and the white blanket of a recent snowfall. It’s still one of our favorite travel memories, for we were welcomed as family, to share all of their holiday traditions. No doubt, this visit to Sweden back in 2003 inspired our growing love of travel.
Since then, we’ve often visited with Benny’s mother, Carin, and his siblings, on their visits to the states.
Brittany and Benny now have three children: Bea, Beck, and Baxter. [Can you guess why we call their home the B-Hive?] Benny’s father has passed on, but his mother, Carin now lives in her own lovely apartment in Kristianstad. The farm has passed on to Benny’s sister Ulrica and her husband Anders. Benny’s younger brother, Andreas, lives just up the road from the farm.
Since Copenhagen is a short train ride from Kristianstad, Sara and I wanted to enjoy a few days with our Swedish family. Carin arranged for us to enjoy the guest room in her complex, she provided breakfast each morning, and she drove us around several towns in southern Sweden. She was a wonderful host.
We so enjoyed spending time with Carin, with Ulrica & Anders, and their daughter Nana, and with Andreas & Maria.
Highlights of our time in Sweden: Kristianstad is in Skåne, the southernmost of Sweden’s provinces.
- Just enjoying Kristianstad: We stopped for coffee at the town square, just to enjoy people watching in this lovely setting. Add in a little shopping, as Sara looked for new sunglasses and Evan sought to find the quintessential refrigerator magnet for Sweden.
- Naturum Vattenriket Biosphere Reserve. A short walk from the center of town is a great nature preserve along the River Helge. There are lovely walkways through the wetlands and a beautiful, modern Visitor’s Center offering exhibitions and guided tours.
- At the local shopping mall, a short walk from Karin’s home, we watched the newly released film, Openheimer.
- Karin was such a great host, happy to share the sights in Sweden. She drove us to visit some of the other towns in the Skåne province.
- On one such visit, we met the whole family at a marina to enjoy a great seafood restaurant. Sara and I were treated as welcome guests.
- A Return to the Family Farm: We especially enjoyed our visit to the family farm in Broby – where we stayed with the family years before on our first visit to Sweden. Ulrica and Anders have remodeled the farmhouse very nicely. Andreas and Maria live just up the road.
We loved our time with Carin and the family, but now it was time to move on. Next stop: England where we’ll spend a week sharing my favorite city, London, with our granddaughter, Bea.
