I have decided to take at least 1 day every summer to go for a drive in my own country.
There is a lot of thing to do here but for some reason I have not taken the time to see my own country

Early in the morning on July 28th, me and Yvonne started on a trip around Mälaren.

Our first stop was not far from home. After about 40 minutes driving we came to Mariefred.

Welcome to Gripsholm

We were early, nothing was open so we had a little walk
around this beautiful castle.

Gripsholm castel is one of the most famous castles in Sweden

It was a little bit chilly in the air because of the early hours.
But the sun was shining and it was lovely to walk along the water
and see the sunray glitter on the surface.

Gripsholm was built in the 16th century by King Gustav Vasa. But this site has
been very important before that. An older castle was built here in the 13th
century, it is now gone. And they have also found Viking settings at the site.
It is near the water and for the Swedish Viking "The Ruser" the sea was very important for their trips to the far east.

The castle is now a museum, housing a massive collection of paintings of
Swedish kings, it takes hours to see them all.

You never lose sight of the castle while you walk into the small town
of Mariefred

We had a coffee and a cake before we continued our trip

This Viking runestone is located outside the entrance to Gripsholm Castle. It is of pre-Christian origin. A mother lost her son on his trip to the east.

"Tola lät resa denna sten efter sin son Harald, Ingvars broder.
De foro manligen fjärran efter guld och österut gåvo örnen (mat),
dogo söderut i Särkland."

tula : lit : raisa : stain : þinsat : sun : sin : haralt : bruþur : inkuars
: þaiR // furu : trikila : fiari : at : kuli : auk : a : ustarlar : ni :
kafu : tuu : sunar : la : a sirk : lan : ti

þæiR foru drængila
fiarri at gulli
ok austarla
ærni gafu
dou sunnarla
a Særklandi