Skeddie Sauce and other Delights: April 2025

There are 1000s of photos like this online. But now I was finally able to shoot not just my own photo but an actual video.

I was in California visiting family this past March. My phone rang. 1 ringy dingy. 2 ringy dingy. "Hi Eddie, this is Dan. We're going to Karlskrona, Sweden for Easter. Would you like to join us?" "Oh, Hi Dan. I'm in California right now. Sure I would love to go, but I don't have my calendar in front of me right now, so I won't be able to give you a final answer until I get back to Copenhagen."

When I got back to CPH, I called Dan and told him that, "I don't have any plans. What are the details?" He said, "Stephan, Jørn and I are going to Kalmar on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and return late Saturday so that we can be home on Easter Sunday."

"Oh, that sounds like a great plan," I said, "Yes, I definitely want to go. This is great because I can do something for the holiday weekend and yet still be home on time to spend Easter with Jens." "Yes, count me in."

"Oh, that's great Eddie. It will be a lot of fun for the 4 of us," Dan said.

"So.... are we going by train or by bus?" I asked Dan.

"Neither," he said, "You're driving!"

But but ?

No buts Eddie, you're driving and that's all there is to it!!

Hummmmm.........

I really didn't want to drive but Dan talked me into it. He said it would be cheaper by car and we could see more by car than by train or bus. We'll.... it's not like we would be saving $100 per person. We probably saved about 25 or 35 bucks per person. But it did allow for us to "hop on - hop off" of the motorway. We could stop along the way, do some sight seeing, drink some coffee and ok, yes, I guess it could be fun to go by car. I've always enjoyed the car trips with Jens in Europe and in western USA. So maybe a road trip with the boys could be a lot of fun.

Here is the basic direction we were headed.

Our first stop was in Lund, We stopped to take a

look at the cathedral and to have a bite and a coffee.

In Sweden, they decorate Easter with feathers.

After coffee, window shopping, and soul searching, it was time to find our way back to the car. We piled in and made our way back to the highway. Onward and forward. About 50 minutes or so later, we were in Kristianstad. Here lies the Holy Trinity Church. Built by Danish King Christian IV, 400 years ago. At that time, most of Sweden was of Denmark. It was really interesting to see C4 over the doors of this church and other buildings. 400 years old! Let that sink in your head for a moment.

Notice the C4 over the door.

It's for Danish King Christian IV.

Looking back now, I can see that we should have gotten coffee in this town. But Jørn had a plan and it was to have coffee in a countryside village. So, we got back into the car and drove on. After some time, Jørn suggested we get off "here". Jørn was our co-captain. He has been to Karlskrona a number of times so he knew where we could get our 2nd cup of coffee. The problem was - the places we went to - way out in the countryside - were not yet open. We were told we were too early in the season. Which we thought was kind of odd because in Denmark, Easter weekend is the season. But besides the cafés not being open, the landscapes and the countryside views made up for the lack of bean juice. We did stop in a few places and took a look, I had no idea where we were at, at this point. My GPS has a little screen and we could only see the area on the screen of where we were. Google maps is the way to go - but on a big computer screen of course, not a little car GPS screen.

I cracked up. Jørn was supposed to lead us to

a 2nd cup of coffee. The place was closed.

We looked around and I started to film the nature.

I had no idea of what was going on around me

as my eyes were focused on my phone screen.

And then I had a good laugh as my eyes

got a good look at what was in my view finder.

Jørn managed to find himself in the middle of

a group of young shirtless boys.

So funny -

but not funny was no coffee.

I wanted my coffee, Damn it!!

We got back into the car and hit the next spot

that was on Jørn's list. But it too was closed.

We really took our time getting to Karlskrona. We finally made it to our hotel for a late afternoon check-in. Here now, are a few shots from the town and our hotel. Just a 10-minute walk from our hotel is the huge square in the center of town. Among several buildings on the square is Fredrik's Church. It is from the early 1720s. It is an absolute gem in the heart of Karlskrona. The church's striking Baroque architecture immediately stands out - with its soft orange facade, grand towers and detailed stonework. You can see more at this link.

And this is - Church of the Holy Trinity.

Construction started in 1697 and was

built for the German-speaking population.

Click this link for more info.

Just across the street from the square we ate dinner at a

restaurant with a glass covered patio which offered

wonderful views of Fredrik's Church.

Yes, it was very cold.

We are inside with our jackets on.

After dinner, we took a freezing cold walk around the town.

Our hotel.

And the view from our hotel room.

Dan and Jørn aim and shoot in the lobby while

I enjoy their battle and my brew.

On Good Friday, we wake up, meet in the breakfast room, enjoy a full breakfast and hot coffee and then we get ready for a full day of adventure. Just across the way of the hotel, we take a walk to one of the near-by islands - one of many in the area.

Hey Pop - notice anything special about this photo?

I can't believe I don't have any photos from the actual destination island. It was a little summer-home area where all the cabins are painted red and there were only walking paths. No roads what so ever. It was so cute like a little fairytale land.

***Dan, Jørn, Stephan - send me a few pix so I can add them here.

Here are a few that I found on the net.

After our island walk, we hopped in the car

and took a drive to Kristianopel.

Then we made ourselves sick on this

complete sugar bomb. It was sooo

delish but one slice was big enough

for 2 or 3 people. We each had our

own slice. Just thinking about it now

makes me go mmm and yet I wanna

gag at the thought of it too.

I found it interesting that there was a

row of Danish and Swedish flags.

When we got back to the hotel and took a little refresher, we went out to the pedestrian street to find a place to eat dinner. What was surprising and rather disappointing was that the town was like a ghost town. Everything was open, but everything was near empty. We found a place that was 2 restaurants in 1. Downstairs very noisy and a bar atmosphere. There were a few people there. But we ate upstairs so that we could hear each other. They served tapas and it was kind of like eating in a circus environment. It was fun but a bit quiet. Too quiet. The food was tasty.

We ordered a cocktail that was supposed to change colors when you mix two portions. One glass was already changing colors before we added the bubbles but we couldn't see it. However, the camara reveled the color change already happening. Why one changed color before the other, I have no idea.

After dinner, we walk back thru the main square

and snap a few night views of the buildings.

And as we approach the hotel, we snap a few pix of that too.

So.... the trip to Karlskrona is coming to an end. The next morning we get up, shower, pack, make ourselves look as pretty as possible and go down to the ground floor to get breakfast. Coffee! Gotta have coffee now!! Check-out is at 11:00. Oh but Dan and Stephan want to go see the museum across the street. What? Now? We don't have time to go to the museum. Not now - I said to them like they were crazy. Which they are. And so am I. So naturally I followed them across the street. Dan and Stephan inquire about the free guided tour in English. We don't have time for that, you guys. We have to check out in 1 hour. I laughed at Stephan when he said - Oh it's ok, we don't have to check out right at 11. Well....... we did the tour but I left in the middle of it right at 10:55. Eventually Dan and Stephan followed Eddie the party pooper. Here are a few pix from the museum:

11:05 and we are back on our way to Wonderful Copenhagen. But the last half of the day would be full of sights and adventure. We made lots of stops. We got lost. And Jørn had a long list of hot spots to hit on the way back.

One of our stops was in the charming county village called Åhus. It's like the halfway point between Karlskrona and Copenhagen in a straight line. But in no sense of the word did we drive in a straight line. We were all over the place. At the entrance to this little town, we passed this little house and I was just amazed that the Absolut Vodka company was in the middle of nowhere. But why not? The Lego factory is also in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a potato field - really.

But Jørn brought us here to walk along the riverside and see St. Mary's Church. The walk turned out to be very quick and brisk because it was very cold. This is the main square. A very cold day and hundreds of people standing in line to buy ice-cream.