Holiday Time In Sweden, 1950s

[Music] holiday time what a long way off it seems on this dreary late winter morning as people fight their way to work through the snow and slush [Music] but it's nevertheless vacation time for some people and in other places the winter looks much more appealing fast comfortable electrified she trains carry vacationers quickly to the north towards a fairy likee Mountain World At Last even the sparse Birch Woods disappear and there is nothing but a white expanse of snow this looks more like vacation time sure enough here is a gang of school children enjoying their Christmas freedom from studies these unbroken runs above the Timberline perfect sheing for mile after mile are a delight to Shear from all over Sweden and from many other [Music] [Music] countries it's no secret that you won't look as good as this the first time out on she but it's fun learning just between you and me you don't have to she it's fun just watching the breathtaking skill of others these lucky vacationers timed their trip to coincide with one of the annual shei races and can see the Swedish Elite some of them world champions on their home grounds Swedish shears are specialists in the long-distance events and the big race of the year in Sweden covers no less than 55 miles [Music] [Music] but winter passes the Snows melt away the world quickens with new life early vacationers move out among the first spring flowers into clear bracing air filled with a fragrance promising summer soon to [Music] come out of the city a ramble in this surrounding Countryside shows you an Awakening world the outdoors is within easy reach wherever you are a short trip by train car or bicycle and ins youth hosts and rest Huts await you here people take it easy and forget their everyday cares making new friends in a relaxed informal atmosphere the first VY days of summer another holiday time awaken the call of the sea and ships lovers of water travel have plenty to choose from a trip along the coast for example or through the rambling yta Canal across the heart of Sweden or an Excursion to Copenhagen aboard the hypermodern train Ferry Mal h summertime is vacation time everywhere our Magic Carpet carries us hundreds of miles straight North again to a region called harriad Daran where Hardy Little Mountain cattle summer Grazing In The Highlands add an authentic note to all the pastal beauty now we're on our way across FL on a Mountain Road located more than 2,500 ft above sea level June is honeymoon month and June vacationers whether Newly Weds or have long had a special affection for the highlands the Farms are close together if you're lucky maybe a friendly farm girl will offer you a bit of tasty fresh goats [Music] cheese now in the soft early summer vacationers scream to Stockholm the capital a modern bustling city of almost a million inhabitants Stockholm is a city of waterways Lakes canals bays and comfortable sightseeing boats offer The foota Wanderer a happy combination of new sights and cooling breezes enjoyed sitting down there are stately treelined boulevards medieval streets and of course numerous Bridges both large and small [Music] you travel through time as well as space first past modern apartments and the Magnificent City Hall then Glide past buildings which have mirrored themselves in the waters for centuries the Royal Palace the residence of the king for 200 years Stockholm is seldom too warm but if it is a regular Galaxy of islands in the archipelago offers quick and easy Escape these faithful steamboats carry Stockholm holiday makers out to Island sun and summer in the Baltic Sea every year racing has begun in the archipelago the Blue Waters of the Baltic form the background for a shifting irregular PKA dot of white sails a pattern that speaks for itself of careless days summer is here in Earnest we board the train again for the first leg of a long summer tour of vacation Beauty spots this time we roll through the fair landscape south and west of Stockholm you're never far from water in Sweden and a deep Inlet of the Baltic is visible from the train [Music] window We join up for a time with one of the state railway's modern sightseeing buses breezes Laden with the smells of forest and Lake blow in through the open roof the highway curves gently through the rolling [Music] Countryside a few hours more and the City of husana a modern manufacturing center stretches out beneath us veton the great indland sea is glimpsed in the distance back on the train or rather on a rail bus which whisks US quickly too quickly through the summer beauty of haland County along the Southwest coast halmstad and T sand are two of the best known holiday Resorts all the Summer Long people arrive from all parts of Sweden from other European countries and America to enjoy the sunshine and the Magnificent salt Breakers this popular region is usually called simply the West Coast a name that implies golden summer days our time is limited unfortunately and we make this lovely Coast in record time past summer Resorts clustered as thickly as pearls on a string between the sandy beaches of the South and the Ragged Rocky Cliffs of the north is the great Fort of Guttenberg Sweden's second largest city and her Gateway to the West gottenberg Harbor a veritable Jungle of ships from nearly every country is an international world of its own a floating United Nations in miniature the days when the big liners from America tie up are red days in gutenburg thousands of newcomers to Sweden descend on the city soon to spread out and disappear into the city's hotels and restaurants or vanish on board train plane bus or boat for other vacation spots we're on board a smaller boat now passing through a prehistoric landscape the outlying skes of guttenburg rocks of this kind are to be found all over the province this particular one cradles the entrance to the sutan canal a half natural half artificial passage blasted through the solid mass of rock you see fishing boats here and there throughout the scares but in the main fishing grounds they lie packed together in regular floating cities vacationers fortunately don't have to crowd together like the boats there are thousands of visitors here in the summertime but there's plenty of room the Tangy S waves seem to have a unique attraction and many people return here every summer like migratory [Music] birds swedes like to get outdoors in the summertime nearly everyone who can afford it owns or rents a little summer cottage which becomes the family headquarters for the three or four warmest months they swim and sunbathe absorbing Sunshine for the colder months to come but we must move on we have lots of this farflung land left to visit and many more vacationers to call on All Aboard for Sweden's Southland the mild smiling province of scor we stay on land for a while but it's not easy to keep away from the sea this is falabo one of the best known summer resorts in northern Europe golf has a growing number of faithful devotes that are good courses in or adjoining the principal cities and some of the holiday centers bouno course is the scene of international tournaments and sometimes you may see a member of the royal family there straightening out his drives or polishing up his putting [Music] we move eastwards and once more meet fishermen their long Nets hanging up to dry along the sea walls above the [Music] road Sim ham is an old idilic little town on the east coast of the province a consumit example of scor's pleasant peaceful Tranquility we sidestep Inland and churches and stately Mansions rise up over the rich Earth glimer Hoops Castle a National Monument is more than 450 years old this region is known as Erin favored by the gods celebrated in song and story we can enjoy its postural beauty the soil is exceptionally fertile and civilization has flourished here since the days when the Egyptian pyramids were being built it was from here that the Vikings once started their world tours it's time to breathe sea air again halfway across the Baltic to gotland on the aisle sung of in [Music] Legend we glide into visby Harbor the city of roses and ruins visby was once the financial capital of Northern Europe its well preserved imposing City wall part of it 800 years old is one of scandinavia's great historical treasures and there are more than 90 medieval churches this Enchanted aisle is a favorite restif forers many stay at snakyard Barden standing on a cliff in a magnificent position the purified water in its swimming pool is kept at a constant temperature [Music] from for Lighthouse on an island just off the North Coast you have a Grand View for miles in all directions you can't see all the way to the southern tip of gotland 111 M distant but we travel there in a second hurgen Lighthouse at the very southern tip is a favorite goal for cyclists you must pay your respects to the stern profile of the old man of hoberg before you ascend The Cliffs for a farflung view of the Baltic gotland has an unusually late Autumn and is famous with sunsets now we have the mainland under our feet again south Sweden midway between the East and West coasts we are standing on the summit of omber a Table Mountain below us the broad Plaine of earthland a fertile Province we may be lazy vacationers but for the people on the farms Harvest time is anything but vacation time here's one of the greatest of Labor Savers at work the combine depositing sack after sack of freshed grain the barmy summer comes slowly to an end with days of toil for some idle Sun worship for others but maybe you're one one of the happy people who saved up their vacation until August or September and can start off now when others are coming back to work it's Autumn a time of clear crisp days and we have suddenly been spirited north of the Arctic Circle a thousand miles from the sandy beaches of the South Coast this is the far north city of kir site of Sweden's largest iron or deposits yielding millions of tons of highgrade ores annually the city boundaries embrace the entire Province its area is larger than any other city in the world the unusual design of the beautiful Church based on the shape of a lap Hut is fully appropriate for a country which once belonged exclusively to the nomadic reindeer herders its beauty is reflected in the bright eyes of the lap children the T river is one of the broadest and most majestic of Northern Sweden's many rivers suddenly you may hear the rush of great wings and see the rare golden eagle out inspecting his domains the rivers are a Fisherman's Paradise salmon and trout abound in the Swift running water and it's a real art to land the big ones with a light fly rod for real Thrills try shooting the Rapids it takes skilled strong and steady hands of the oars to make this trip without a ducking the spray breaks over the boughs as the boat rushes [Music] along [Music] we board the train again for the mountains and the Wilderness Resorts abisco Bor Leen and Rick grenson rushed towards us decked out in brilliant summer autumn Splendor the water of these Mountain torrents is Crystal Clear there is space in every direction the bracing air of Lapland fills vacationers with a feeling of exhilaration [Music] old and young find a matchless Fascination in mounting hiking particularly in the riot of autumn colors and if you've never tried a dip in water melted directly from a glacia here's your chance it's not exactly warm but it is above freezing point not to mention that every drop is 100% pure drinking water winter spring summer autumn all the seasons are holiday seasons in Sweden people take their vacations when they choose and modern Communications bring them quickly to any part of the country many can split their holidays for perhaps a week of sheing in the late winter and a summer visit to the southern Seashore or maybe a return to the Wilderness for the glories of autumn alone or with old and new friends they enjoy the varied Gifts of this lovely land [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the