The Swedish Rally was traditionally hosted by Karlstad, the town developed on the island in the northern side of the Vanern Lake which is the largest lake in Sweden. Karlstad is the capital of Varmland Country with the population of about 80,000. We have warm winter this year as our rally report says that there was little snow. The river in the city flows into the Vanern Lake froze out in the past years, but there seems no ice on the surface of the river this year.
Karlstad had suffered from several conflagrations. A readjustment of the town lots was executed after the last great fire on 2nd July in 1865, then the streets are set out neatly in a grid and every street are lined with trees. The wide avenues in the downtown were almost empty on the day I walked around. Maybe that was because it was weekday and it was cold. Eye-catching posters of the Swedish Rally were displayed across the streets.
Karlstad had produced several famous poets such as Gustaf Froding and Nils Ferlin. Some of you might know the poems of Gustaf Froding, as cerebrated composer Sibelius set some of them to his music.
The market was a bit crowded with people. Look, fillets of salmon ware piled up on the counter! You can also find caviar in a jar and salted cod roe paste in a tube. Many Swedes like fish. Though Sweden is a member of the European Union, Sweden has not adopted the Euro. Instead of Euro, Sweden Krona (SEK/SKr) is current here. There are 5 sort of bills; purple 20Kr, yellow 50 Kr, green 100 Kr, brown 500 Kr and 1000Kr and 3 sort of coins; 1Kr, 5Kr and 10Kr. 1Skr is about 0.11euro, 0.16USD, 0.08GBP on 18th February.
Would you like something to eat? How about tasty morsel of cheese with a glass of delicious wine? And please remember to prepare some snacks to go to see special stages! Few stores can be found near the stages.
