A good nights sleep does wonders and I felt a lot better this morning. While the botanists were busy tending their secret gardens, I saddled up the bike and left Station Linnee with a song and a whistle. The sun was shining and I made my way north, in the general direction of Stockholm.

Feeling lucky, I stopped over at a town called Oskarshamn for a coffee. And a cinnamon bun. Let me take a moment to wax lyrical about the Swedish cinnamon bun. Man, are they yummy. A perfect breakfast. Doctors should be giving them out as medicine.

After my medicinal treat(ment) I went for a short walk around the town centre. Oskarshamn boasts some prime examples of those picture perfect pastel coloured houses that dot Sweden's countryside. Lovely as a cinnamon bun.

Smaland, the region I'm currently traversing, is all-around pretty. It has all those beautiful lakes and forests that Sweden is known for. And the villages and small towns make for a relaxing visit.

But no stopping over for me anymore. I drove on to make it to Norkopping. It's still a Smaland town, but with a noticeably different feel. Dubbed 'Manchester of Sweden', it's an industrial town of the 19th century, with an impressive array of wool mills and textile factories, centered around the local river. Industrial acitivity ceased in the 1950s, but the buildings were revitalised in the last decades, with stunning results. Never saw such colourful factories. Check out the pics below.

I had a great afternoon there, but that almost came to an abrupt end when a car decided to cut me off at a crossing. Nearly fell over, but a forceful push with my right leg saved the day. My upper thigh muscles certainly earned their Schwarzenegger points today. Needless to say I was less than amused with the careless driver. For pokkert, as the Danes say (yes, I am definitely polishing up my language skills here).

So I speedily fled to my stuga. That's to say, my little Swedish hut that I've rented for the night. It's nicely situated at a lock on the Gota canal, which the Swedes are very proud of (the canal, that is).

While taking a much needed rest, I heard a commotion outside the stuga. I opened the door, to see a small car almost backing into my bike! Those damn cars, they've got it in for me today! As I sped to prevent disaster, I heard a polite 'ik houd ze wel tegen' next to me. And indeed, Dutchman Paul intervened to guide the car away.

Paul turned out to be one of the car's passengers. He and three other students from France and Scotland are on their way to Kiruna, to participate in a space technology masters program at the university and rocket launch facility. Yes, that's right, I bumped into another bunch of scientists again. Rocket scientists!

They definitely are a nicer lot than the botanists of Linnee station. They invited me to dinner and we shared a few good stories. Sweden was as new to them as to me, so we discussed possible itineraries and bear intensity maps (seems you can meet bears mainly near Kiruna university, which came as quite a shock). Well, they were good company. I wish them the very best.

Tomorrow I'll finally reach Stockholm and meet up with Mo and Ava. Can't wait!