Sverige – ToBatheOrNotToBathe

Wedding Day in Östersund

Östersund is the only city in Jämtland County, and the fourth largest city in Norrland after Umeå, Gävle and Sundsvall. Originally, the area was populated by Norwegians, but it has been Swedish since 1645. The town was founded by King Gustav III in 1786. One reason was military strategy. As Sweden now was no longer an imperium, it could be useful to have a fortified city up north, in Jämtland. The most important reason, however, was the desire for stronger control over the trade. The creation of a city in Jämtland was supposed to increase the supply of goods to Sweden’s east coast, which had been short of supplies for a long time. In addition, it was said that the Jämts spent so much time on long trade journeys (to Norway) that they neglected their farms. Not good!

Östersund. Trade is still a very important business.

The Jämts ran an extensive and profitable trade, and they did not think it was a good idea that the state should channel all trade to the new city. The expression ‘bällt du luur’n‘ (did you manage to trick him) is supposed to come from the Jämt’s inveterate struggle to avoid paying customs duties on goods imported from Norway. The result was that Östersund remained a small town for a long time, while the village from the Viking Age at Frösön, retained its place as the county’s largest settlement.

There was no significant population growth until the arrival of the railway in 1879, but from then on, Östersund has had the role of not only beeing Jämtland’s Centrum, but also Sweden’s (geographical) centre. The name comes from the location by Frösön’s eastern strait.

In 1993 (after our wedding in the Student Society’s Big Hall in Trondheim), we went to Östersund for our honeymoon. We thought it was great! From a tip at the hotel, we went to the fondue restaurant ‘En Liten Röd’ to celebrate the following day. Of course, we had to repeat the operation 30 years later, in 2023. No doubt.

It is a little risky, though, stepping down old tracks. In the meantime, we have introduced our own fondue dinner at home – just as we remembered it in 1993. But is it really the same? We have tried several times to copy dishes from restaurants we have visited – and when we return, we have often been disappointed! After all, we adapt the dishes to the way we like the food best.

There shall be red wine fondue on the wedding day.

But Yes! It was good to be back again! Different from our home fondue, but very, very good. NB! If you even consider making red wine fondue yourself, you MUST mix oil and red wine BEFORE you start heating. We know someone who threw a glass of red wine into the oil while it was heating up, and that was certainly not a good idea. The newly washed kitchen – ready for Christmas Eve – suddenly covered with oil and red wine. NOT recommended.

Tobatheornottobathe wedding day bath. Frösön in the background.

On the wedding day, a warm SPA bath is just right after the red wine fondue. Hot bath (over 42 degrees celcius!) outdoors in minus 10 degrees Celsius, that’s splendid! And the unique Östersund Palm Tree seems to be doing quite well, despite being completely covered by ice.

New Years Bath at Frösö

Frösön (Frøy’s island) in Storsjön (The big sea) was the center of Jämtland for about 1,000 years, from the 8th century to 1879. It was here people met in ancient times for trading and to join the Norse cult. The Jämtland’s parliament, Jamtamót, was held at Byneset, on the east side of Frösö. It is unique in the Nordic countries to call the parliament ‘Mót’ instead of ‘Thing’. The word mót comes from Gothic, and is also used in Great Britain (eg Witenagemot). In Christian times, Jamtamót was held the week after the Gregorian Mass (March 12^th). It had both judicial, legislative and administrative functions. The old tradition of a winter market has been taken up again since 1986, under the name Gregoriemarknaden.

Badhusparken in Östersund. The statue ‘Father and son’ by Olof Ahlberg. Frösön in the background. A straight line from the statue through the middle pillar of the bridge ends in Surfbukta, which is mentioned later in this article.

From Frösön, Åsbjørn Gudfastsson built a bridge over to the mainland (current Östersund city) around the year 1050. This happened in connection with the Christianization of Jämtland. The events were marked with the carving of a rune stone, the so-called Frösöstenen.

The Frösö stone by Hornsbergkyrkjan (the Hornsberg church), east Frösö.

A large cross and a snake-like ribbon (Midgardsormen? Storsjödjuret?) are engraved on the stone. This was a turning point, at the transition between paganism and Christianity. The text in English is this:

Östman, Gudfast’s son, had this stone raised and this bridge built, and he had Jämtland Christianized. Åsbjörn made the bridge. Tryn and Sten carved these runes.

The Frösö stone is Sweden’s northernmost rune stone, and the only one that mentions the Christianization of an entire region – Jämtland. This is the first time Jämtland is mentioned in writing as a specific area. The Frösö stone has never been a tombstone. The stone has been moved 100 meters from its original location to make space for today’s road with the Frösö bridge over to Östersund.

Frösöstenen. Östersund in the background.

South-west of Frösö bridge you can find Surfbukta (the Surf Bay). Here you can take a winter bath! Today’s tip: Join the FB group ‘Vinterbad Östersund’, to arrange swimming together with others. NB: Do not bathe alone! We in Tobatheornottobathe are already 2 people, so all we needed was the tip where to find the hole in the ice. And we got what we needed.

The first day of the year 2023 was quite cold (-10 degrees Celcius), but we had woolen clothes and swimwear ready, so this would be very easy, we thought. Only to discover that Knut’s wool trousers were in the hotel room, and Idun’s wool socks in the car. And none of us did bring wet gloves or extra mittens for the bath. It got cold! But great! And a little scary to go up again, since we could feel that more than a few seconds grip with wet hands on the metal rails and the hands would have been stuck there until spring!

Not very easy to get clear pictures of the tobatheornottobathe bath in the dark.

Anyway – a New Years’ bath at Frösö was just right!

Happy New Year from Jämtland

When you see the flat, slightly hilly landscape by Storsjöen east of Trøndelag, it is easy to imagine that the word ‘flat’ is the origin of the name Jämtland (Swedish “Jamt” means something like “continuous, repeating”).

Smooth and flat landscape in Jämtland. The picture was taken from the observation tower on Frösö.

But no. The area was populated from the west (Trøndelag) 6-7,000 years ago, primarily for hunting. Towards the end of the 8th century, a wave of Norwegian settlers arrived: runaways from the Norwegian King Harald Hair Fair’s harsh rule. Snorri Sturlasson mentions in ‘Håkon the Good’s saga’ a man called Ketil Jemte, who founded a settlement in Jämtland. The nickname ‘Jemte’ comes from the Old Germanic ’emat’, which means diligent/hardworking/persevering.

Kjetil Jemte, son of earl Ånund from Sparabu (in Trøndelag), went east across the mountains, with a large herd and had his cattle with him. They cleared forests and built settlements there; it was then called Jemtland. (ISBN Volume I: 82-445-0068-9)

From the 8th century until ‘the Jämts’ lost their freedom to the Norwegian King Sverre (in the Battle of Storsjöns ice, year 1178), the Jämts had their own parliament, Jamtamot. They were in an intermediate position between the Norwegian king and the Swedish king. The assembly was held every year on Frösö (the Norse god Frøy’s island, in Storsjön (the Big Lake)). A number of archeological founds have been made on the island, especially a lot of bones at Frösö church. These suggest that the church site is actually an old pagan court, where they offered animals to the Norse gods.

Frösö church from the 13th century, with the bell tower from 1754.

Frösö was the center of Jämtland for 1000 years. It wasn’t until 1879, when the railway (Mellanriksbanan) reached Frösön’s eastern strait, that Östersund (literally: the Eastern Strait) took over the role.

With a recent corona infection (Cov-Idun) and a bad back (Prolapse-Knut), it was a downscaled New Year’s celebration 2022/23. We chose Jämtland’s old center – Frösö! With SPA. This was a good solution for both her (with a weak voice) and him (with back pain). There were cold and warm baths, saunas with or without steam and in general a nice place to be.

A hot outdoor bath on New Year’s Eve was really just right.

Some extensive dansing after midnight may have ruined some of the back relaxation effect, but it was very fun!

Happy New Year from Tobatheornottobathe!

Gamla Stan

Stockholm lies on both sides of the outlet of Lake Mälaren, as well as 19 islands. Due to its proximity to water and all the bridges, the city is often called the ‘Venice of the North’. The origin of the name Stockholm (Timber Islet) has not been fully agreed upon. It comes either from the collection of timber by the islets between lake Mälaren and the Salt Lake (Baltic Sea), or because the oldest settlement was secured with timber palisades.

The old town in Stockholm is called Gamla Stan and is located on Stadsholmen (the City Islet). The streets from the Middle Ages are beautifully curved in the terrain, with narrow alleys down towards the sea. It’s beautiful here!

After visiting the many small shops in Gamla Stan, it is a good idea to ‘fika’. The word originated as a backslang of the word ‘kaffi’, i.e. the letters were interchanged. A fika is a pause in work that typically consists of coffee, coffee bread and a relaxing conversation. These breaks are part of the paid working time and were mandatory for factory workers in the old days. The idea was that a break would give the laborers new energy in their work, and that the coffee conversation would ‘force them’ to get to know each other. Surely a very good thought!

Old town. On a daily basis, it might be better ‘to have coffee without wine’?

After a fika, a bath is just right. We went northwards from Stadsholmen across Helgeandsholmen (island of the Holy Spirit). The name comes from the Helgeanshuset (the Holy Spirit Hospital) that was located there in the Middle Ages. Helgeandsholmen is 3 hectares in size, of which the Riksdagshuset (the Parliament) covers one hectare.

The propeller ban by the Parliament (Riksdagen) did not bother us.

There is quite a lot of current by the Riksdag. This was too risky for us, so we didn’t swim there.

Too much current downstream of Norrbron (the North Bridge).

But at Vasabron we found a backwater with no current, perfect for a bath. The water in the canal was not disgusting at all – considering Stockholm’s 1.5 million inhabitants. It was quite shallow and an easy access at our bathing place, and a lot of sea grass. This autumn, Knut has had back problems and basically was happy to avoid extra challenges with climbing out of the water.

And we were not alone! A swan mother came swimming to us just after the bath. Angry or hungry? It is hard to say. Luckily we didn’t have to fight her in the water.

To round this off, we even could check out a little culture in form of a sculpture.

Vinden och Vågen (The Wind and the Wave)…and the photo bomber

It was a fantastic bath at sunset. As usual, we were very worried about being rescued. But there were no problems. The Stockholmer’s took our bath with stoic calm, and only wondered a little about the temperature. And after the bath – the hotel’s sauna was just perfect.

Tanto

South of Gamla Stan (the Old Town) in Stockholm is the district of Södermalm. The island, nicknamed Söder (South), has just over 100,000 inhabitants spread over 571 hectares. Until the Viking Age, this was an island, but the postglacial uplift caused it to connect more and more with the surrounding land, before it was again separated as an island when the Hammarby Canal was excavated in the 1930s.

From the south side of Södermalm there used to be a winter road across the strait (Årstadviken), on the ice. The road was closed with a toll barrier. This bar is mentioned in Bellmann’s ‘Fredman’s epistle no 53’. These were hard times!

Tantolunden beach, with the allotment gardens above.

We had been recommended Tantolunden by Ulvhild, our eldest daughter. And yes, it’s nice there! Tantolunden is one of the largest park areas in Stockholm. Hans Tanto, mentioned in the census of 1676, was one of the first landowners here. Unfortunately, it was not a ‘strange old aunt (tant)’ who gave rise to the name Tantolunden. Work on the park began in 1885, initiated by Stockholm’s first city gardener, Alfred Medin. The plan for the park was inspired by Romanticism. People were supposed to stroll, wearing the finest clothes, under the most beautiful green trees. Ironically, the upper part of the park was a former waste deposit! The colonial gardens were established around the First World War, to alleviate the famine.

A lovely hiking trail along the water below Tantolunden. Årstabroarna in the background.

A popular activity at the beach is feeding the ducks, perhaps especially among older and younger bird lovers. But we also enjoyed it very much this Sunday in October, when we caught sight of this beautiful couple:

There is a sauna (badstu) at Tanto beach. We haven’t tried it! Tantobadstun was only open to members when we visited. But to the west of Tantobadstun, the floating jetties form a sheltered little bay, where it’s nice to have a bath. And – we were absolutely not the only guests out for the same business this day. Actually we were allowed to take pictures of these aunties (tantor) who bathed with hats:

The Hat Ladies (Hattetantorna) at Tanto.

The ladies could tell that this particular day was ‘World Swim Hat Day’ at Smedsudden in Stockholm. We didn’t know that! So then we had to go there, but not before Tobatheornottobathe had tried a sunny October bath at Tantostranden.

Nice spring weather at the end of october!

We had a very nice swim, temperature about 10 degrees. A bath at Tantolunden was just right!

World Swim Hat Day

In autumn 2020, Erika Sjöberg and Hanna Prage founded the ‘World Swim Hat Day’. They had been bathing by Stockholm for a long time, regardless of season: ‘The cold water gives me so much pleasure, and it makes me happy. And it doesn’t get worse if you also wear a funny hat‘. While bathing, not much of the outfit is visible, and then it is a good idea to make the most out of the headgear. Check here: World Swim Hat Day!

Since then, in just two years, this has spread to all the Scandinavian countries, Germany, the Netherlands and also has become quite big in Great Britain. As well known, they have a predisposition for extravagant hats…

Tobatheornottobathe was in Stockholm on the occasion of The Dirty Old Band’s annual autumn tour. We had received several tips about bathing spots in Stockholm, our eldest daughter Ulvhild has lived there for 4 years. But the coincidence of our Stockholm trip and the ‘World Swim Hat Day’ – who would have imagined that?

Knut is looking for the hat swim, armed with a suitcase and a bathing bag.

The only problem was that the hat bath tip came to our attention at 11 a.m. on the day of departure, during the planned bath at Tantolunden. And the flight had a departure time of 3:35 p.m. Could we make it? Was there any point in trying? But Tobatheornottobathe just couldn’t let such an opportunity be wasted, so we finished the bathing at Tantolunden, went back to the hotel to check out and then took a taxi to Smedsuddbadet (the Smith’s Cape Bath). Just another ordinary day…

Beautiful as October can be at Smedsuddbadet.

Smedsuddbadet is located close to Västerbron (the West Bridge) on Kungsholmen (the King’s Islet), with easy access 10 minutes from the subway. Originally Smedsudden was an island, called Marieskär (Mary’s Islet) or Smedsholmen (The Smith’s Islet). The name came from ‘glass smith’ Gustaf Hård and A. Röding, who lived here. At the end of the 18th century, the strait was filled in, and the island became a cape. The headland was bought in 1812 by chief inspector Abraham Fineman, who had ‘Sjövillan’ built (The Maison by the Sea). ‘Sjövillan’ burned in 1997, and now only the annex remains.

In the 1960’s, the water quality at Smedsudden was very poor, but sewage treatment from 1970 gave quick results, and on the 21^th of June 1973, mayor Thorsten Sundstrøm was able to inaugurate the bath. Here you will find a nice beach, floating jetty, changing rooms and several outdoor showers. Water quality can vary, but water samples are taken regularly.

Nice beach at Smedsudden. However, we couldn’t see the smith anywhere.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! The hat bathing was supposed to take place at 2 p.m, but we couldn’t wait for that. Instead, we took a bath for ourselves, half an hour before.

By the time we had finished bathing, a colorful group of hatted bathers was arrived, and we had time for a little chat.

Idun resents her own, all-too-simple hat. Hat trick next year, we hope!

We caught the plane with a good margin of several minutes, so we didn’t have to regret the bath this time, either.

Today’s tip for our readers: the World Swim Hat Day takes place on the last Sunday in October each year. Put on a hat and join us next time too, and follow the hat bath founders’ motto: ‘It must be allowed to have fun even as an adult‘!

Alternatively, you can join the ‘Stockholm Winter Swim Open’ in february/march. There they have a special competition, which consists of swimming wearing the most extravagant or funniest hat.