Norrland Sweden : Part 2 - Day 1 Afternoon: Brunflo Church, Skansen Alanas

Day 1 (Afternoon) of Norrland Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 1. 

15/6 Day 1 Afternoon: Continued from Part 1 (Last place was Swedish Midpoint) -- Brunflo Church with a Tower (locked) in Brunflo -- Skansen Alanäs (pronounced as 'Ah-la-nes') in Strömsunds -- spend the night in Fågelsjön

Must-Incur Costs

Only Petrol : As per Part 1

The Story

150618: The drive continued from Sweden's midpoint to Brunflo Church which is located in Brunflo. Prof Sweet Tooth selected this place because this church has a tower which is now a clock tower. It is locked. The tower is the only preserved in Norrland and is considered to be the oldest medieval building in Jämtland. Towers are rare in northern Sweden, which emphasizes the importance of the site.

This Old Church is dedicated to St. Olaf. It was built of stone with a central tower. In the Middle Ages, Brunflo was an important pilgrimage site for devotion both in the church and in the village of Lund. The tower is 30 metres high and was built by stonemasons from Gotland. By walking the St. Olaf Pilgrims' Way, you follow the path of the last journey taken by the holy Olaf. St. Olaf is a Nordic Saint. He was canonized shortly after his death because of the miracles associated with him. Source from the Signboard outside the church.

Next - Skansen Alanäs. I only know Skansen the zoo/museum located in Stockholm! Skansen means a forecastle and this is what we saw. Remains of a fortress that protected Sweden from Germany during 1940-1945. Germany never invaded Sweden anyway. This was a precautionary measure as Germany invaded Norway and Sweden feared that Germans may enter Sweden. We saw two underground rooms that looks like it could fit a single size bed. Some of the holes were already sealed up. The area looks unvisited as there was no clear starting path. I doubt tourists will purposely pay a visit to this place unless they love fortresses. This is not an exceptionally unique fortress to me, though.  

I wore my mosquito hat today. There were lots of mosquitoes and flies buzzing around me. It looks like a bee-hat. 

That was the last point of visit for the day. We spent the night in Fågelsjön (pronounced as 'for-gail-hwern' and it means Fågel = Bird and sjön = The Lake). I love the bottom photo of the sun peeking out from the corner. Those were strong sun rays and it was 9.40pm. Summer in Sweden = long light hours.