Celebrating My Mom With A Trip To The Swedish West Coast

My mom turned 70 earlier this week and I wanted to spend the day with her so I took the day off and asked her what she would like to do. She said she wanted to go to the Swedish west coast. I liked the idea since I don't think I have been there for at least 20 years (!). Growing up, our family usually went there every year. But I don't know, as a grown-up, I have spent more time traveling abroad, not thinking it's so exciting or special in Sweden. But honestly, I do appreciate Sweden and the nature here a lot. And I'm really enjoying this time of the year. I have been at my mom's for over a week now, taking daily walks in the forest and picking mushrooms. The colors have started to shift but it's still not cold. The weather is just very pleasant. It's also evident that I have more energy after a week spent in the countryside. I'm starting to feel more and more that it's hard to live in a city. But that might be a topic for another post. Today I want to write about the excursion to a nature reserve called Tjurpannan (which means bull's forehead).

It's a 2 1/2 hour drive one way from my mom's place. Once we arrived it felt like we were in a different country. The nature and landscape in Sweden really are varied. Something I don't think, or more accurately, don't experience so much anymore. The west coast is also very different from the east coast. The smell brought up so many childhood memories. It was the greatest feeling to arrive at the sea.

As you can see it was sunny and even though it was mid-September my face got slightly sunburned. I wasn't prepared and didn't have any sunblock with me. But it was ok, I was enjoying the sun so much.

We had prepared and packed some lunch and found the perfect spot. I call this lunch with a view 🙂 My mom laid down for a bit after having finished the meal. I felt like I could stay there forever. The pictures don't make the wildness of this place justice.

A lot of seaweed.

This plant is called Yellow horned poppy.

The vegetation is held down by grazing animals. And it's easy to enter the fenced areas, they have very smart tilted gates.

Tjurpannan has no protective archipelago and therefore free horizon to the west. This also makes it one of the windiest areas on the west coast of Sweden. The inshore channel passes close by and has always been one of the most feared passages for seafarers.

The area makes for a comfortable hike and there are marked trails that you can follow if you prefer. The rocky landscape is vast!

My mom wanted to swim in the ocean and went for a dip. I didn't bring my bikini from Stockholm, otherwise, I might have done it as well. It's not so common to still be swimming this late in the season. You can find some good spots for swimming but it's not recommended on a windy day.

Tjurpannan also has a small sheltered harbor for small boats. There are actually some cabins in the nature reserve and nowadays the harbor is mainly used by the owners of the cabins. (Not the buildings in the picture below).

From the parking lot, it's a 10-15 minute walk to the ocean. The nature reserve is about 500 hectares. We spent about 4 hours there and walked about 8 kilometers. (We had a rather long lunch break just enjoying the place and even though it's not a challenging hike, you don't really walk that fast on the rocks). Some parts of the area look like the picture below though.

Even though we had a rather long drive back home it felt like a perfect day. My mom really appreciated the excursion and said it was the best gift I could have given her. I felt I should go on more trips within Sweden. This was amazing.

And today we celebrated my mom's birthday once again. Tomorrow I'll go back to Stockholm and I'll do my best to keep this feeling of expansion. Nature truly is amazing. I feel so blessed and grateful.

Thanks for reading 🌸

Love and blessings to you all 💚