July 20
We're here in Trollhättans to see a big lock on the Trollhättans canal. Well, we didn't see it - instead the annual "The Waterfall Days" festival is happening when we arrive. The roads are blocked so we can't get close enough to park and walk to see the lock. However, this festival appears to be a worthy replacement - so we check it out.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Foto: Reinhard Kraasch, Lizenz: CC-BY-SA 4.0 DE
"Welcome to Trollhättan and Sweden's oldest city festival with music, activities and competitions. Fallens Dagar or the Waterfall Days is held on the third Friday to Sunday every July since 1959 and offers great music, fun activities, entertaining performances and exciting competitions.
The Waterfalls of Trollhättan are of course the main focus of the festival with the waterfall gates opening several times every day during the festival. Near the waterfalls there is a wide range of activities for the whole family. There are activity tents with local attractions, associations and companies putting on shows and activities, see art exhibitions, join guided tours, listen to music and see dance performances and much more. At the city center there is a market during the weekend with both local and visiting vendors. Here you can also see street performers during the day and in the evening the main stage at Drottningtorget (Main Square in Trollhättan) will host performances from some of Sweden's biggest artists. "
We start out seeing a quartet of giant fiberglass eggs...
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The road we could not follow...
Here are the falls - usually pretty calm here, with the nearby canal using up most of the water headed downhill for operating locks on the fairly large shipping canal. But this weekend the big ships won't be able to travel as consistently with water being allowed to go down its historical path through this canyon.
We've staked out our spot on the bridge, now closed to traffic, and await the mayhem.
Our fellow festival friends are showing up in droves to watch it all literally go down as well.
INSERT MOVIE HERE
We then headed into the town proper to see what's happening...
Yes, indeed, the shipping canal is very quiet today.
Cool fountain on the square...
We then arrive at Rustic Haven Bed and Breakfast for the evening.
July 21
We awake and drive to our nearby hike around a lake.
We're following the orange line around the lake...
Wow, there's a pizza oven for public use at the trailhead.
The trail starts off a bit soggy across a wide bog that's tilted towards the lake.
The trail starts off a bit soggy across a wide bog that's tilted towards the lake.
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 The trail continues a bit damp and swampy here and there, as there were pretty good rains a few days earlier. |   |
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Ack! It's an adder snake on the trail...
"It’s the only poisonous snake in Sweden, but even then, it isn’t very poisonous. People can get allergic reactions from being bitten by an adder, but it’s usually their dogs that get bitten (and sometimes die). You’ll find adders among rocks and in tall grass. They usually avoid people, but you have to watch out if you’re moving through tall grass or bushes on warm days in the spring and summer. The Swedish name for this snake is ‘huggorm’. It’s best to get checked by a doctor, if you get bitten by an adder, but you don’t need to panic."
Almost done now at 6.5 kilometers...3/4 miles to go.
Now arriving at our spa resort lodging - "Dömle Herrgård".
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