"Champagne Breakfast" H.glenn's photos around Kristianstad, Sweden

• published: 05 Mar 2011
• views: 132

Preview of H.glenn's blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/h.glenn/1/1264451475/tpod.html This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Entry from: Kristianstad, Sweden Entry Title: "Champagne Breakfast" Entry: "Today I went on a student-mentor organized tour of Skåne, which is the region in which Lund is situated. The tour began at Lund Cathedral at 9, where we loaded onto two (quite superior) coaches and set off. The mentors did a really good job organizing the trip and even thought to organized various forms of entertainment and refreshments for the bus ride, for example before we reached our first destination of The Kronovall's Castle in Tomelilla, the mentors had served an assortment of breakfast pastries and juice. I had a fresh cinnamon roll, which have the potential to be highly addictive. Upon reaching the Castle, my group was shepherded into the wine cellar for wine tasting! Inside the cellar, which could more or less be described as a hole in a hill, a very round man in a chef uniform served us glasses of delectable champagne before explaining briefly and quite simply, the process of wine-making and how this differs from champagne and sparkling wine. In all honestly, I don't really recall a huge amount about wine-making as I was so ensconced in my champagne. After all, champagne at 10.30 on a girl's birthday is highly appropriate! Once the chef finished his spiel, he asked if his audience had any questions. Immediately a well-dressed exchange student raised his hand only to ask if there was anymore champagne! The chef laughed and poured more champagne for all who were keen. He told us that this would be the last time we tasted fine champagne for a while as this one cost around 500 SEK (~AU$80) a bottle. Holding onto our glasses we made our way back through the snowy grounds to the Castle. In imagining the castle, you need to think more of a stately mansion than a typical castle. Mind, it is a very elegant building, regardless. Inside the Castle, another chef-attired man served us sparkling wine (not as amazing as the champagne but still nice) and gave us a tour of the rooms while explaining the history of the Castle. Kronovall was originally owned by a Duke and Duchess but was donated back to Sweden and the Duke and Duchess now rent a wing of the building. The rest of the building has been converted into a wedding, dinner party and wine-tasting venue and boutique hotel. This tour guide even taught us how to open a sparkling wine without the cork exploding. He said it should open easily with a quiet hiss. I'm pretty sure that he described it as an "angel's ****"... charming, no? During the time we were given to explore the castle and its grounds on our own, we made our way through the hotel wing, sticky-beaking in all the rooms, which hadn't been made up yet since a wine-tasting party had only departed an hour or so before our arrival. I went outside to play in the hedge-maze garden which was covered in thick snow. I spent a while jumping in the snow to see how far my boots would sink in. All the Europeans think I'm crazy because I'm so entertained by snow. But then they always end up joining me and throwing snowballs. On the bus to our next stop, the mentors organized a bingo game. Their instructions were so convoluted that no-one was really sure what was required to win, which meant we had many a pre-emptive "bingo!". Our second stop was at a town called Åhus, which is a very popular summer town. Unsurprisingly it is a ghost town in winter as it is near the ocean and is absolutely freezing. We were chased back onto the bus pretty quickly by a bitter wind so it ended up being a very short walking tour. I imagine it would be very pretty in summer though. The next destination on the tour was the town of Kristianstad. Here, we had warming lunch break in a diner overlooking a main square. On the information sheet that the mentors gave us about the places we were visiting, the description for Kristianstad was: "The destruction of Vä in 1612 was desicive for the decision to replace the burnt-down town with a completely new one. Laying out and planning the town started in the spring of 1614 under the direction of King ..." Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/h.glenn/1/1264451475/tpod.html Photos from this trip: 1. "Kronovall Castle from the Gardens" 2. "The Kronovall Castle & Lake" 3. "The Wine Cellar" 4. "The French Champagne" 5. "Inside Kronovall Castle" 6. "On the grounds of Kronovall Castle" 7. "Snow Angel!!" 8. "The River at Åhus." 9. "Colourful houses at Åhus." 10. "Church of the Holy Trinity, Kristianstad" 11. "Fat Man Portrait..." See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00da-2656-e349?ytv4=1