And everywhere looks like Connecticut. Look at the picture below and tell me where you think we took it?  (Click on it to get a larger version.)

I think Rein’s is around that bend. Of course it is not; this is the E4, a major highway through Sweden, heading toward Stockholm. But there surely is a McDonald’s around the corner, because the McDonald’s of Sweden is… McDonald’s. They are everywhere, along the highway and in the towns. Driving through Sweden is like driving through any state in the US, but particularly like Connecticut. Rolling hills, big sweeping turns, lots of trees plus occasional businesses clustered around the larger junctions (called trafikplats here.)

Not that we’re complaining; we had a great day. We drove 679 km (422 miles) today over 7.5 hours including stops. This is the most distance we’ve every driven in one day. The car just eats miles, or here, kilometers. We drove two hours shifts and felt fresh after each one. And, we stopped at McDonald’s for lunch because they have gluten-free salads and they are so damn convenient.  And the countryside really is beautiful.  We saw some awesome lakes.  Plus each town puts a lot of creativity into the sign that welcomes you as you pass through. 

Dinner was  interesting. We ate at Rolfs Kök, a classic Swedish restaurant. They were all over the gluten-free thing including serving bread they bring in from a gluten-free bakery in town. We will find that tomorrow and check it out. Traditional Swedish food seems to include fish, sausage, cream sauce and at this time of year, asparagus.  And no, it doesn’t really all taste like chicken.

When we traveled in Germany three years ago we ate a lot of traditional German food until we finally became all schnitzel-ed out after two weeks. From that point on it was Italian! This time we have only had one traditional German meal and now one traditional Swedish meal. We’re feeling a little lighter on our feet!

Our hotel is also more traditional that what we’ve seen so far. We’ve had a Marriott, a Westin and the Australian version of the Residence Inn (in Copenhagen.) Big rooms with big bathrooms. Our hotel here is tiny. Photos coming soon.

We walked around just a little after dinner. It was ten pm and the sun was just setting. The town looks interesting; we will do some exploring tomorrow.