Västerås - Second OLDEST and Second UGLIEST in Sweden?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ค. 2024
- Västerås is a town one hour from Stockholm. It's the second oldest town in Sweden, and it's been voted the second ugliest town in Sweden. Does it live up to that reputation?
Founded in 990 AD, Västerås was an important trading town during the Viking age and in Medieval Sweden. It was the gateway for shipping goods out to the Baltic Sea, and maintained its prominence throughout the centuries.
These days it's often viewed as a small, unimportant town playing second fiddle to Stockholm. I decided to explore the town and its history, and tell you about the Cathedral that's burned down countless times, the Västerås archipelago, and why Västerås is called the Cucumber Town.
I also dive into the history of King Erik XIV who was imprisoned at Västerås Castle and died of eating pea soup. Or did he...?
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#västerås #sweden #vasteras
Superb video.. Enjoyed watching ur all videos! Thanks for sharing!
😊😃👌🏻
Thank you so much! Absolutely, will have a look too :D
definitely not an ugly town. Boat ride looked so nice. With everything you listed.. this town is probably the best town.
It really was quite lovely! And yeah I adore boat rides so this one was great 😀
Very cool bro😎 Its so cool that you can take a place like that and make it interesting 😃 great info 👍
Haha, I promise - the place was actually nice! I was expecting to make fun of it, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. Cheers! :D
Awesome and informative video!
Oh wow, thank you so much! Appreciate it 😀
So nice! I like this town, it isn't that ugly! I actually love exploring new places, I can see so much through your videos!
It was pretty nice wasn't it :D I was pleasantly surprised! And thanks - I love exploring as well so that works out quite well ;D
@@ThreeStarVagabond For sure!!! I really miss travelling a lot :( I remember when I was alone in Korea and HK, I was just exploring everything and it was SO FUN!!!!
@@LifewithMiu That really sounds wonderful! Travelling alone is scary for some, but I really like that type of trips so you can explore in your own pace.
@@ThreeStarVagabond It sure is!!!! I like discovering what’s around the corner! Most of my previous trips, I planned them myself. I didn’t want to be held down with tours and having them tell me what to do lol
@@LifewithMiu Oh absolutely. Most of my trips are just me booking a flight and a hotel night or two - and then seeing what happens. Or renting a car. Freeedooom!
Looks like a pretty nice place to me. Thanks for all the history and showing us around. Great video.
Thank you! I enjoyed that day much more than I thought I would.. Haha, I expected to complain a lot but it was really nice there
It is
I live here in Västerås, it's not ugly at all. Life is calm here, amazing place to live.
I had heard many people say that it was ugly, so I was really surprised by how beautiful the place was! I liked Västerås :)
This is a great video!!!!
Thank you! I think so too but no one takes my word for it 😀
Finally a blogger that looks into the camera while talking instead of the screen
Haha I guess it's hard for people to not look at themselves and look at the tiny camera blip instead 😀
Not so ugly at all 😃 Interesting and fun video as always 👍😊
Thank you! :D I actually liked the place. I thought I was going to make fun of it but I enjoyed it immensely instead :)
Like the others say, it’s not ugly at all!
Agreed! I was mostly poking fun at the vote - this town doesn't deserve it :)
you are such an amazing and knowledgable person!!
And you are an excellent judge of character! :D Nah, thank you so much! But I cheat by googling a lot too
@@ThreeStarVagabond haha, its STILL being knowledgeable
@@kritisharma1852 Haha, then thank you! Appreciate it :D
Hey that's my wife hometown....lol she loves it there. Went there last September and it was alright. Went to her childhood home. The people let's us in. Parts of Vasteras kinda reminds of Seattle. Went to that indoor Waterpark. But they need a better ventilation system because of the strong smell of chlorine gave me a headache.
I think I was a wee bit drunk the only time I went to the water park, so I didn't notice it. But yeah overall I enjoyed visiting Västerås! It's a nice little brown basically
Västerås was my hometown for almost 38 years, and I was born in the city. Västerås has many beautiful places and buildings. It is beautiful with the water and Mälaren. Areas along the water are nice just like the very old areas. One of them is located in the city and is the old town at Sweden's first high school Rudbeck. However, there are a lot of very ugly buildings from the 60s and 70s, which bring to mind the Soviet Union. Big and grey, sometimes brown concrete blocks. These destroy a lot. Västerås is an old industrial city, which of course also played its part. However, Asea's (ABB) head office is nice. I don't know if it is so but I would think that many of the architects who got their ideas and buildings through have tried to make the city something on the bohemian side. This combined with old beautiful buildings and what was built on later makes the city very "mushy". The new neighborhoods that were built a few years ago, as well as what is being built now, I personally think is finer architecture than that of the 60s.
That's an interesting observation, and much more insightful than what I saw myself. I guess I need to explore a few more areas of the city and discover e.g both Rudbeck and the ABB hq to see a bit more!
Thanks! Sent this to my American family. Hope they visit someday.
I recommend it in summer in particular! Unless they enjoy rain and slush and freezing 😀
Next time I visit Sweden I hope to run into you! You’re so funny!
Well it's actually not super rare that I run into people out when I'm filming, so you never know 😀
Bellisimo 🥰. Hälsning Från Västerås
Haha, lucky me that I showed off good parts as well right since a Västeråsian was watching :D Cheers!
Random fun fact about Västerås that many can relate to: H&M was founded here
Nice! I had no idea - was that two Västerås stores that merged then, Hennes and Mauritz? Or was it the first official H&M store that opened in Västerås?
@@ThreeStarVagabond "Hennes" was first founded here and only sold women's clothes. The owner then bought a Norwegian store owned by a guy named Mauritz that sold hunting gear etc. and with that introduced men's wear into his shops and then adopted the name for the full Hennes & Mauritz
(Paraphrasing Wikipedia basically)
Edit: actually the store wasn't Norwegian lol. Misread that part
@@DeJayHank Thanks! Haha, I guess I would've deserved a "let me google that for you" for that question. But awesome information - now I learned something new!
ICA and ASEA (A in ABB) was also founded in Västerås.
Nice! I think Västerås just keeps on growing on me - it's an interesting place really.
Guys, is there a chance to find motorcycle to rent here?
Oh yeah that shouldn't be a problem! I think just google for mc rental
Västerås is definitely not as ugly as people might think. When I was living in Sweden, I often heard that Västerås was among the ugliest towns, so it made me curious. I went there 2 times in summer and winter, and actually quite liked it. Yes, it has some ugly buildings and parts, but there are also a lot of beautiful buildings and areas. I've been to many places in Sweden. If you go to an average suburb of Stockholm, it looks way much more ugly than this. There are also a lot of smaller, lesser known towns with ugly downtowns. Västerås isn't that bad.
I had the same feeling! I was really expecting something much worse but it was such a pleasant day there 😀
The place is a good to stay
I thought so too! But people say that it's not that good in winter unfortunately...
So lesson learned: if you make a lot of enemies, don't eat peasoup.
Or just don't become king in Sweden maybe!
@@ThreeStarVagabond haha. Well, I don't think I'll be running the risk of becoming king of any country, anytime soon.
@@AmsterdamComicGeek Where are your ambitions! Marry a princess and hope for the best...
It's actually a beuatiful town. I guess some modernist buildings was not to the traditionalists taste
I thought there was a mix of ugly contemporary buildings and a lot of cute things in the town. Overall I was pleasantly surprpised, and I personally don't think it deserves to be the second ugliest town. But yeah tastes differ...
Doesn't look that ugly at all. May be I am wrong and its not so appealing when compared to other towns with beautiful houses and architecture in Sweden. By the way when you pronounce Västerås it sounds very mush like Westeros HBO's Game of Thrones.
I know! It was mostly because some people talked about how ugly Västerås is, but I really don't agree. Haha, it does sound pretty similar doesn't it? We had it first, so I blame G R R Martin for copying us :D
What you call ugly is far from, come to the former industrial towns of UK they are ugly, but ugly also has its own charm 👍🙏❤️, was that a rabbit ? Stay blessed and safe, your friend Traveller MIA 🇬🇧
Agreed, but I can think that there's a certain beauty in industrial cities too. Either way, I really should have a look at the UK - if only those borders open up some day. Haha, indeed! I spotted a field hare as I walked around the castle :D Cheers, and hope you have a great week!
@@ThreeStarVagabond Those hares are everywhere here. You might sometimes see other wild animals, especially a bit farther from the town centre.
@@TheBcoolGuy I love stuff like that! There are lots of hares in Linköping too...and rabbits in Solna. And I heard of a fox in central Stockholm not long ago.
And then you see kungsängen and you go ahaaaa i see now
Haha! I have never set my foot in Kungsängen so far... Maybe I'm missing something special there...
Even the ugly towns in Sweden look nice, especially compared to some on the towns in England.
I'm sure we have some really ugly ones as well 😀 And England has lovely spots!
@@ThreeStarVagabond yes we are blessed where we live in England. We have all the countryside and scenery right on our doorstep. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else in England. I would like to live abroad though and have better weather.
@@continentalcoxons Haha same here! I love Stockholm but the dark winters are horrible really....
@@ThreeStarVagabond I know, it would be nice to wake up to some warmth and sunshine in the winter
@@continentalcoxons Yeah... Or in summer sometimes too! Too much rain and cold here this week
This is my city. I lived there for almost 11 years and falun around 2 years ytterhugdal around a year. Cant remember that cause i was very young. We are arabs but considered us very swedish to be honest. We had many good swedish friends except the racists ones. We actually love the swedes they are kind hearted very nice people. Västerås People is kind of special in my heart!. Almost all people have seen each others like once on the streets. I consider it as a small compact city but maybe others no. Been to nearly all cities in the south and center sweden but never went north!. I suggest people to visit sweden it's a great summer there and good for tourism!
Really glad to hear you liked it that much in Västerås! It was a lovely town to visit. I've lived in a few towns in Småland and in Linköping as well, and there are some very nice places in south / mid Sweden. Summers are really good...but I don't really like the long cold wintes personally... Agreed that more people should visit towns like Västerås! :)
@@ThreeStarVagabond waw that's really good to hear!. Småland is also good malmö especially the weather there is almost perfect. Having lived in Kuwait for since I left Sweden. I almost dont bare the cold too! Its very hot in Kuwait
@@abdullakc I'd love to live somewhere really warm actually... Maybe I'll get to move somewhere like that and see how it is some day
The story of the "cucumber-town" is not that interesting... and then you proceed to tell it anyway 😆 Thanks! I'm more interested in why Erik de 14th didn't wear any pants... 🤔
Haha! I just thought it was so silly that I had to convey it either way :D And well.. He was getting paranoid. Maybe he thought there were assassins in his pants? :)
@@ThreeStarVagabond maybe! Anything is possible in cucumber-town!
@@arewethereyet000 Ooh.. That should be their new slogan!
Västerås is beautiful along the river with the old wooden houses, but most of the city center is a mess of ugly 1960's architecture.
Agreed! But it really is gorgeous along the river, and at the harbor, and in the parks. Quite a lovely city.
"voted second ugliest" where was this vote?
At Arkitektupproret: www.arkitekturupproret.se/2020/04/07/lista-vilka-ar-sveriges-fulaste-stader/
@@ThreeStarVagabond Tack!
@@SuchAFolkebrant Man får ta det med en nypa salt! Men jag bara tycker det är en rolig sak att nämna
You only go to Västerås if you have to. I go to the more nice looking town Örebro.
I think both are pretty nice places actually! I like these mid sized towns as long as there water somewhere
Ugly??
Haha I agree - it's not ugly at all. But it was voted that
vem har sagt att denna är UGLY?!
Jag fick faktiskt höra flera som sa det när jag gjorde en video om Borlänge (som blev röstad till den fulaste staden)! Men jag håller med - det är riktigt fint i Västerås
@@ThreeStarVagabond Jag flyttar till Västerås om 2 veckor och ska läsa vid MDH . Jag ser fram emot att upptäcka staden. Tack för videon :)
@@mazenal-hakimi8908 Hoppas det går bra med studierna! Västerås var jättehärlig att besöka, så jag tror du kommer ha det toppen där!
For real ugliest town if you have been else where you know
I was really expecting a lot worse though. Some pretty nice spots there after all
I’m bored just watching this place. No thank you.
Imagine the people who live there in that case 😅
👎👎
I sense some negativity here! Turn that frown upside down, and I'm sure your life will become much more enjoyable