My holiday to Sweden Part 3

I've been trying to think of a way to describe how quiet and peaceful it was out in Sweden, but I'm struggling for a comparison. We're so used to sound being around us constantly that we're not even aware of it. If you were to go out in to your garden right now, I can wager that it won't be completely silent. You might consider it to be quiet if it's night time, but then there will be the noises that we've grown so accustomed to that we don't even notice anymore. Even in the day time, say, when all the kids are at school, it's never completely silent. The distant rumble of cars, a far away siren, a dog barking somewhere, birds singing in trees... it's never completely quiet. Maybe that's why it was so shocking to me, the silence that I heard (if that's the right word?) in Sweden. I'd grown accustomed to hearing all that background noise that we take for granted, that it was overwhelming not to hear it out there. And yet, at the same time, it was comforting. To be able to get away from everything, just the silence of the trees, punctured occasionaly by the squawking of a bird of prey (I discovered that this was why I couldn't hear any other birds!), was an amazing feeling. I'd never been to a place that offered complete escapism before. Holidays before have always been to hotel resorts or to cities. Now, there is nothing wrong with this. In Cuba, at times it felt like there was no one else, just me, the beach and the crystal blue sea stretching on forever. But even there, there was the constant noise of activity in the hotel. As much as I enjoy resort holidays, I have discovered a new love for completely getting away from it all. For the all pervading silence.

And with views like this, who can blame me?