Youth Exchange To Sweden (Sverige): The Svensson's

Due to unfortunate and unforeseen complications within the Ejlertsson family they were no longer able to host me. As a result, with only 20 hours notice, I was moved temporarily to the Svensson family in Björkhagen (10km north of Ängelholm). I will be here for two weeks before moving on to the Sandberg family in Skälderviken.

Anders Svensson is a member of Ängelholm Rotary club and he, his wife Ann, and son Jacob have been very receptive. They live in a beautiful house by the water of Skälderviken bay.

On Sunday the Svenssons took me for a drive down the coast and up to the southern headland of Skälderviken.

(Anders Svensson, Jacob, and Ann on the edge of Sweden)

Jacob attends a school in Helsingborg called Nicolai and he specialises in music playing drums, and both 7-string guitar and 5-string bass.

We took a walk down the cliffs to the little lighthouse (about 300m away and 100m down from where the last photo was taken from)

(Silver Grotto; just a long strait tunnel carved into the cliff face)

(The view of Mölle coming down from the headland)

After our hike around the headland we drove down to the small summer village of Mölle for lunch before heading back to Björkhagen.

(Mölle as seen from the road down from the headland. Denmark and Helsingborg can be seen in the distance)

(The wharf at Mölle)

(View from the granny-flat)

As you can see, the house is very modern and stylish. I have been put up in the guesthouse out the back which is primarily for when Anders and Ann's older children come to stay.

(Formal living room)

(Formal dinning room)

(The essential swedish fireplace)

(Very modern kitchen)

(Upstairs lounge room)

(View of the garden from upstairs)

(Private zen garden)

This painting confuses me every time I see it. The detail is incredible.

The house is like a private art gallery with all sorts of displays from paintings to sculptures.

Ann told me over dinner that this urn and it's twin out of sight to the left we owned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand who's assassination started WWI.

(sitting room in the centre of the house)

On the 31st of April Swedes celebrate the coming of Spring with Valborg. For this Jacob took me to Lund to celebrate at the university students party before moving on to the amusement rides set up in Helsingborg.

The next day Anders and Ann took me for a drive up the coast in the convertible to the town of Torekov where we took a walk around the wharf and marina.

We then moved on the Båstad where an anual tennis tournament is held in summer. Torekov and Båstad are very popular summer destinations for the residents of Stockholm and the northern regions of Sweden to visit over the summer break.

The rest of the week was pretty normal save for the extra long bus ride in and out of town to go to school.

On Saturday I was invited by Rotary to Lindab Hockey Arena (Rögle) where a large convention was being held where many local businesses had stores set up out on the dries out ice rink.