Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an industrial diamond, broken off, and ground and polished smooth. When
the piece is finished, it's set in a special oven to cool gradually—over a
few hours for smaller pieces, or a day or more for large items.
The workday ends around 15:00, when the raw materials for the next
day's glass are dumped into giant, custom-made clay pots and placed in
the ovens. Overnight, these will gradually melt down to the molten medi-
um the glassblowers will need by tomorrow morning at 7:00.
The last stop is quality control. Only the best pieces are deemed “first
quality”
(1:A Sortering)
—you'll pay a premium for these flawless items.
Some items, deemed “second quality”
(2:A Sortering)
, have minor imper-
fections that bring the price down substantially. When shopping, pay close
attention to these labels; if you don't need your glass perfect, you can save
by looking for second quality. Quite a few items are simply too imper-
fect—these are dumped into a bin and disposed of. Sorry, budget travel-
ers—these “factory thirds” are trashed, not sold.
Information:
The
Glasriket/Kingdom of Crystal
magazine (available at
any TI) and the region's official website (
www.glasriket.se
)
describe the many
glassworks that welcome the public. The 95-kr
Glasriket Pass
includes free
entry to exhibitions and hot shops, and discounts on tours, shopping, and
hytt-
worthwhile only if you're visiting several hot shops and doing some serious
shopping (10 percent discount at certain shops, often with a 500-kr minimum
purchase). Note that in Swedish,
glas
is glass, while
glass
is ice cream.
Planning Your Time
Though you can take a bus from Växjö to Kosta, the glassworks aren't worth
the time and trouble unless you have a car. Train travelers should instead take
a careful look at the glass exhibit in Växjö's Smålands Museum, and then go
straight to Kalmar.
With a car, the drive from Växjö to Kalmar is a 70-mile joy—light traffic
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