Karl‘s fortress
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Karl‘s fortress

Once it was light enough outside, we crossed Lake Vättern to catch this day’s only opening of the Karlsborg bridge at 9 am. We made it *yipee* and we were the only boat that wanted to pass. By the few number of boats, we can tell that the canal season is ending. That’s why locks and bridges are only operated according to a fixed schedule now.

After docking at the Karlsborg marina, we visited the fortress on the Vanäs peninsula and went on a treasure hunt there. We solved little number quizzes, hidden in chests all over the grounds. In the end, we got a price – a treasure chest that said „dig your diamond“.

The fortress was one of the largest in Europe. It was constructed in the 19th century as the core of a central defence system, which involved building a series of inland fortresses. The royal family, the government, and the gold reserves were intended to be moved to the Karlsborg fortress in the event of war.

Within the ramparts, a town grew up with dwellings, a hospital and work shops. Nowadays, the fortress is used as a military training facility and 150 people live in the residences.

The garrison church and museum

In the fortress museum, we looked at many military outfits, rifles, listened to marches, and tried on tons of dresses ;oP

During our break by Lake Vättern, the ducks were so trusting (and hungry?) that they pinched our toes with their beaks ;oD

Knäckebrot in Swedish size and frozen fruits

For dinner, we brought our little grill to the beach, right next to our boat. The girls enjoyed playing with sand and wading through water, feeding ducks with our burnt bread and chasing them away from our food, in turns with eating sausages and bread with melted cheese, topped with roasted onions. One duck almost managed to pick a sausage from the hot grill. Alan: “Don’t you dare or I’ll grill you!” In the end, one duck did steal one last piece of sausage from a plate *crazy animals*

Back on the boat, we enjoyed some live music from the restaurant just opposite of the canal *nice*

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