A Taste of Sweden in Kansas

January 9, 2024 at 8:00 am · Filed under international travel, sweden, tourism, travel and tagged: lindsborg, short reads, travel writing

By Linda Tancs

Dubbed “Little Sweden,” Lindsborg, Kansas, is a small town with a Scandinavian flair abounding in Swedish food, festivals, crafts and traditions. Retaining a strong immigrant population, it was originally settled in the spring of 1869 by a group of Swedish immigrants from the Värmland province led by Pastor Olof Olsson. Highlights include the Välkommen (Welcome) Trail, a 3.25-mile, all-weather bicycle and pedestrian trail created from the abandoned Missouri-Pacific and Union Pacific rail beds. You can also take a self-guided tour of the historic properties in the city, featuring Italianate, Neoclassical and Queen Anne architectural styles. And you can’t help but notice the colorful Dala horses all around town. Emblematic of the city, the Dala horse is a traditional carved, painted wooden statue of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna.

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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045. 

Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer.

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