This was the whole reason for the Sweden trip.
Nicholas’s mom’s dad, Papa, was born in Örebro. This was home base. Laxå, a small town nearby, was where Papa’s mom Stina grew up and where her family put down roots. The church. The cemetery. The barbershop Oskar ran after they married. Everything that connected Nicholas’s family to this country was within an hour’s drive of here.
But first, we had to arrive. And Örebro made a strong first impression.
Arrival: The Castle#
We pulled into town on an evening that looked like someone had turned the saturation up on purpose.
Örebro Castle is a medieval fortress that sits on an island in the river, surrounded by a moat, with round stone towers and dark domed roofs. It looks like the kind of thing a child would draw if you asked them to draw a castle, except it’s real and it’s in the middle of a regular Swedish city.
We walked around the park nearby, where Adam discovered a bench that was several sizes too large for a human being.
Back at the hotel, I found Nicholas’s headphones on the bed and did what anyone would do. I put them on.
Day Trip to Laxå#
The next morning, we drove to Laxå. This was the family pilgrimage part of the trip. Nicholas’s mom had been wanting to do this for years, tracing back to where her grandmother Stina grew up, where the family went to church, where they lived and worked.
Ramundaboda Church#
The church was beautiful. Dark wooden exterior, shingled walls, a tall copper-green spire rising above the birch trees. It looked like it had been standing there since before anyone thought to argue about architecture.
This is Ramundaboda church, where Stina was baptized and where she and Oskar were married on a Christmas Day.
Inside, the church was far more ornate than the dark exterior suggested. Painted ceilings with angels, a gilded organ, carved crests, chandeliers. The kind of place where the art alone tells you people cared about this building for centuries.
The Cemetery#
From the church, we walked into the cemetery to find the family.
We found them. Leonard and Augusta Qvist. Stina’s parents. Their gravestone was right there, in a small Swedish cemetery, in a town most people have never heard of. This is why they’re buried here. This was their home.
Oskar’s Barbershop#
Then we went looking for the barbershop. Oskar had run a barbershop in Laxå. No sign remains, no plaque, nothing to mark it. Just a pale pink building with a recessed doorway and worn stone steps.
We stood there for a minute. Then we wandered the town.
Back in Örebro#
We drove back to Örebro in the afternoon. The sky was doing something dramatic.
Nicholas and Adam also found time to be ridiculous in the hotel gym, because apparently you can’t go twenty-four hours without flexing at something.
Day 2: The Castle#
The next morning, we explored the town properly. St. Nicolai Church was under restoration but still looked good in the sun.
Then we went back to the castle. From across the river in the morning light, it looked even better than the evening before.
The Dragon Exhibit#
Inside the castle, someone had put together a dragon exhibit. Scientific illustrations of fictional dragon species with Latin names and anatomical notes. My kind of content.
I feel a certain kinship with dragons. We both have wings. We both breathe fire (metaphorically, in my case, though I’m working on it). We both deserve castles.
The Creepy Art#
Then there was a contemporary art installation that was… unsettling.
The Throne#
Then, in a dark stone room, I found what I came for.
Red velvet. Stone walls. Exactly the right size for a bear of my stature and importance. I sat down and did not want to leave. Nicholas had to physically remove me, which I consider an act of treason.
The Dungeon#
The best part of the castle was technically for children. I don’t care.
The lower level was a vaulted stone dungeon converted into a play area with medieval toys. Wooden horses, shields, crossbows, targets. The kind of thing designed for kids under ten.
Nicholas and Adam were in there for probably a good hour.
Fika and Family#
After the castle, we did what Sweden taught us to do. We sat down, ordered pastries, and did nothing for a while.
That evening, we had dinner with long-lost Swedish relatives. Cousin Karin and a bunch of other family members gathered on a rooftop in the summer light.
It was a warm, slightly chaotic, very Swedish evening. People who hadn’t seen each other in years catching up over drinks, telling stories about people they had in common, filling in gaps in the family tree.
I sat on the table and observed. Nobody introduced me. Not once. I was literally right there.
Nothing.
What This Trip Was#
Laxå was quiet and small and not on any tourist map. The church was a church. The cemetery was a cemetery. The barbershop was just a building now.
But Nicholas’s mom stood in the church where Stina’s family worshipped, where Oskar and Stina were married. She knelt at her great-grandparents’ gravestone. And back in Örebro, she saw the church where her dad was baptized.
That’s what this trip was. Not sightseeing. Just connecting.
Also I claimed a throne. So the trip was a net positive for everyone.
Next stop: Eskilstuna and Midsommar. Apparently Sweden celebrates the solstice with flower crowns and dancing around a pole. This should be interesting.