Uppsala

We drove north today to Uppsala, home of the oldest university in Sweden and former seat of Swedish kings.
There are major burial mounds here and a great museum of artifacts. Also a historic church as this was also a bishop's seat.
Most Viking era funeral ceremonies included burning the body as well as the items placed with the body for the afterlife before covering with the earthen mound. But a few mounds were not prepared this way and they revealed artifacts of surprising detail and craftsmanship.
The church was rebuilt, smaller than the church it replaced, which was built over several other possible temples or worship sites. The altar stone is the grave stone of king (Saint) Erik, who was murdered here.
Walked around the new town of Uppsala, where Ulla-Britt and Janne met at the university. We learned of the spring raft race on the river; saw the street in front of the main building where students gather for the signal from the president to don their caps - signifying graduation - and then run for the celebration parties.
The Bishop's seat was moved here from the old town 5 km away, and the new church is huge, tallest in Scandinavia. After the Reformation, the Catholic symbols were removed. In the apse, the Mary Chapel was replaced with a shrine to King Gustav Vasa. An artist created a life like statue of Mary as Everywoman, staring into her former shrine.
As we were eating dinner later, noticed classic American cars gathering in the square outside. Sweden has more classic cars than the US, by some estimates, and 5000 more are shipped here each year.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to our Swedish daughter and family and finish our trip in London.