Centre Travel

Kylemore Abbey is an ideal day trip destination, Home to Benedictine ruins this 1000 acre estate has much to offer.  Experience the Victorian atmosphere of the restored rooms of the Abbey, gothic church and gardener's houses.  Discover the Victorian walled garden, woodland walks, play trail, guided mountain hikes and much more.   Enjoy home-cooked food in our restaurant and explore our craft shop. Open   All year   10.00 - 17.00  (winter)   9.00 - 18.30 (summer) Kylemore Abbey and Victorian Walled Gardens Kylemore, Connermara Co Galway Tel:   095 52001 W:    www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie

Meet Ulf, a merchant of Viking times. Around 1100 years ago, a man was buried in a boat at Valsgarde, just north of Uppsala. Those buried at Valsgarde  belonged to society's elite. This man was a Viking merchant.  With him on his final journey, he had useful, and for their time modern, objects, such as a set of scales, weights and a box with keys and a lock.  During the Viking Age, it was the weight of the metal that served as a currency.  Many coins and silver objects were broken up into smaller pieces, depending on how much silver was required at the moment. That is why the scale and weights were a vital part of the merchant's equipment. Engaging in trade involved a lot of contact over long distances with both sellers and purchasers.  Viking trade routes stretched across Europe and into parts of Asia.  The Swedish Vikings mainly moved towards the east. See the film and hear about Ulf and Valsgarde at    www.vikinguppsala.se

At Varpsund, 15 km from Sigtuna, a rune stone very nearly three metres high was erected in the 11th century in memory of Gunlev, who died in Ingvar's expedition. The stone could be seen far and wide. The site was chosen with great car, a high point of land beside a narrow channel.  It was a place where two routes met, both the waterway from Lake Malaren and on up towards Ekoin and Uppsala, and the over-load road past the royal estate of Hatuna and Skoklosterlandet.  There may have been a ferry berth right where the stone stands. This was a place passed by many travellers. There are at least another 24 stones in and around Malardalen honouring men who followed Ingvar east never to return,  One stone tells us that"They went manfully far for gold" they "gave the eagle food" and "they died in the south in Sarkland" (the Norsemen's name for the Middle East, Arabia or Muslim countries) A picture emerges of a spirited Viking expedition to the Ea

Meet Andvett, who can tell you about the last great Viking expedition. "Andvett and Kar and Blase and Djarv raised this stone in memory of Gunnlev, their father.  He was killed travelling east with Ingvar, God help their soul.  I, Alrik, carved the runes.  He could steer a knarr well" With these lines, Andvett and his brothers honoured the memory of their father Gunlev, who died in Ingvar the Far- Travelled's Viking raid east.   They had Alrik carve the runes and raised the stone in a place where many travellers would pass by. The Ingvar expedition is one of the first more or less historically proven events in Sweden.  The small population meant that most people were affected somehow,  directly or indirectly, by the failure of perhaps as many as 1,000 sons, fathers and brothers to return from this expedition  This was probably a social and economic disaster and a dominant topic of conversation on the farms for many years. The pictures and description of Andvet

Meet "  Grisma ", the rich Viking chieftain,s daughter According to legend, the ancient castle of Broborg may be linked to a Viking chieftain's daughter named Grisma.  Grismas's father is said to have died while on a Viking expedition, at which point Grisma inherited the castle and all its riches. One day a man came to the castle claiming that he was her brother and that the castle rightlfully belonged to him.   He commanded Grisma  to open the doors so he could claim his father's inheritance. Grism entrenched herself in the castle.  Rather than allow the unknown brother the take over, she set fire to the castle and died in the flames.  The fire was so intense that it could be seen as far away as Uppsala, 25 kilometres away.  Her "brother" buried her in a mound next to the castle.  Even tody there is a burial mound 350m southwest of the castle, known as Grisma's mound See the film and hear about Grisma and Broborg at  www.vikinguppsala.se

Activities Broborg -  Walk along a cultural interest path, around Broborg to the source of Grimsa's story, or to Vallbyasen       and Honsgarde More information about Broborg at   www.vikinguppsala.se Ideas for local visits -   The Kungshamn- Morga nature reserve -   Eda Lagergard and bathing For more information at     www.vivituppland.se The huge ancient castle of Broborg lies approximately 20 km southeast of Uppsala.  It is one of around 150 castles in Uppland and one of the best preserved. The first castles were built as early as the Bronze Age (c, 1800 - 500 B.C.) and remained occupied right the way through to the Viking Age. The castle situated on a mould about 45 metres above sea levels, consists of two walls, an inner and outer wall.  The inner wall measures around 85 x70 metres.  It is 8 - 15 metres wide and, at its highest, around 2 metres high.  The castle is defended to both the north and west by steep slopes and boulders. There are two entrances to t