Sunday 9.20.2010
Out to Sea
It's up and at 'em this morning. We have a 6:00 AM wake up so we can toss down some breakfast and be at the T-Bana station when they open at 7:30. Very relaxed hours for them on Sunday. We take the subway to the central station in the new city and then hike about a mile to the ferry terminal in Nybrovikin for our day on the water.
We are catching a Cinderella boat through the Stockholm Archipelago and are to find it at berth 14. The ferries are all lined up in the numbered berths, but no boat in #14. We are still early so we decide to sit on a nearby bench to wait, but the bench is still damp from the rain the day before. Across the street is a bench inside of a covered bus stop so we go over there instead. To kill time Mary is looking at the city map on the wall of the bus shelter and points out that we are on Waxholms-Batarna, not Nybrovikin. Oops, our boat is on the next canal over. We hustle the few blocks, find berth 14, and sure enough there is the lovely Cinderella. The moral of the story is that if you sit on a wet bench, you will miss the boat.
The Stockholm Archipelago consists of over 2000 islands, most uninhabited, that stretch 80 miles out into the Baltic on the way to Finland. These range from near-in "suburb" islands where Stockholm commuters can get to work in the city by ferry or bridge, to outer islands reachable only by boat that serve as rich city dweller vacation getaways. Our ride this morning takes us to the out-island Sandhamn where you can finally see the open water of the Baltic. This is the final day of operation for this ferry line (yes, we did know that beforehand) so the summer vacation season is officially over for the Swedes. We make several stops along the way at Vaxholm, Grinda and others where some passengers are perhaps returning from a weekend in the city.
The entire Archipelago offers a gorgeous mix of tiny red cabins and sprawling seaside estates, sail boats, power boats and jet skis, trees, rocks and water, water everywhere. We are moving from clouds to sun and as the morning warms we see more pleasure boaters and a few fishermen coming out for the day. We reach Sandhamn just before noon. It is a picture perfect little seaside Swedish village with all-red little cabins, gardens, shops and a substantial marina with more-substantial luxury boats. We take a leisurely stroll around the island peeking into yards and seeking out sea views from the higher ground. There are only little paths through the cottages, no roads, and no cars.
At one end of the village we find a cemetery with graves dating back to the 1800's. While nosing around we hear some shouts from a nearby grove of trees and sneak over to investigate. We find about a dozen young folks walking along ropes strung between the trees while blindfolded and feeling each other's faces when they bump into each other. Of course we wonder why, on a fall Sunday afternoon, they are not on a couch watching football and drinking beer.
We make our way back down to the waterfront for lunch at the recommended Sandhamns Vardshus. Finally! Finally we get some Swedish food. Mary has the assorted cold herring platter with four different fish presentations and a small bowl of boiled baby potatoes, and John has the fried battered herring with buttered mashed potatoes and lingonberries. Perfect!
A short stroll around the Marina and the attached resort after lunch and we are ready to get back aboard the return of Cinderella. The boat is packed as weekend and longer vacationers catch this almost last regular boat of the season (there is one more later this evening). We doze and watch the folks playing on the water on what has turned out to be a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
When we get back to Stockholm at 4:00 we decide to walk back. When we cross back to our island of Sodermalm we give in to one of our guilty pleasures and decide to find a few of the sites from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." We did find Mickaels apartment, the coffee shop, and Lisbeth's second apartment. We claim that we only read those books to acquaint ourselves with the culture of modern day Stockholm.
It is almost 7:00 when we get to our apartment so we take a short break and then hit the tiny restaurant we couldn't get into on Friday. We're tired and lazy so we have a bottle of wine, and share some crabcakes, a sausage plate and bread basket. A very good day.
Today's Weather: Early clouds giving way to sunny. Low 45, High 60.
Out to Sea
It's up and at 'em this morning. We have a 6:00 AM wake up so we can toss down some breakfast and be at the T-Bana station when they open at 7:30. Very relaxed hours for them on Sunday. We take the subway to the central station in the new city and then hike about a mile to the ferry terminal in Nybrovikin for our day on the water.
We are catching a Cinderella boat through the Stockholm Archipelago and are to find it at berth 14. The ferries are all lined up in the numbered berths, but no boat in #14. We are still early so we decide to sit on a nearby bench to wait, but the bench is still damp from the rain the day before. Across the street is a bench inside of a covered bus stop so we go over there instead. To kill time Mary is looking at the city map on the wall of the bus shelter and points out that we are on Waxholms-Batarna, not Nybrovikin. Oops, our boat is on the next canal over. We hustle the few blocks, find berth 14, and sure enough there is the lovely Cinderella. The moral of the story is that if you sit on a wet bench, you will miss the boat.
The Stockholm Archipelago consists of over 2000 islands, most uninhabited, that stretch 80 miles out into the Baltic on the way to Finland. These range from near-in "suburb" islands where Stockholm commuters can get to work in the city by ferry or bridge, to outer islands reachable only by boat that serve as rich city dweller vacation getaways. Our ride this morning takes us to the out-island Sandhamn where you can finally see the open water of the Baltic. This is the final day of operation for this ferry line (yes, we did know that beforehand) so the summer vacation season is officially over for the Swedes. We make several stops along the way at Vaxholm, Grinda and others where some passengers are perhaps returning from a weekend in the city.
The entire Archipelago offers a gorgeous mix of tiny red cabins and sprawling seaside estates, sail boats, power boats and jet skis, trees, rocks and water, water everywhere. We are moving from clouds to sun and as the morning warms we see more pleasure boaters and a few fishermen coming out for the day. We reach Sandhamn just before noon. It is a picture perfect little seaside Swedish village with all-red little cabins, gardens, shops and a substantial marina with more-substantial luxury boats. We take a leisurely stroll around the island peeking into yards and seeking out sea views from the higher ground. There are only little paths through the cottages, no roads, and no cars.
At one end of the village we find a cemetery with graves dating back to the 1800's. While nosing around we hear some shouts from a nearby grove of trees and sneak over to investigate. We find about a dozen young folks walking along ropes strung between the trees while blindfolded and feeling each other's faces when they bump into each other. Of course we wonder why, on a fall Sunday afternoon, they are not on a couch watching football and drinking beer.
We make our way back down to the waterfront for lunch at the recommended Sandhamns Vardshus. Finally! Finally we get some Swedish food. Mary has the assorted cold herring platter with four different fish presentations and a small bowl of boiled baby potatoes, and John has the fried battered herring with buttered mashed potatoes and lingonberries. Perfect!
A short stroll around the Marina and the attached resort after lunch and we are ready to get back aboard the return of Cinderella. The boat is packed as weekend and longer vacationers catch this almost last regular boat of the season (there is one more later this evening). We doze and watch the folks playing on the water on what has turned out to be a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
When we get back to Stockholm at 4:00 we decide to walk back. When we cross back to our island of Sodermalm we give in to one of our guilty pleasures and decide to find a few of the sites from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." We did find Mickaels apartment, the coffee shop, and Lisbeth's second apartment. We claim that we only read those books to acquaint ourselves with the culture of modern day Stockholm.
It is almost 7:00 when we get to our apartment so we take a short break and then hit the tiny restaurant we couldn't get into on Friday. We're tired and lazy so we have a bottle of wine, and share some crabcakes, a sausage plate and bread basket. A very good day.
Today's Weather: Early clouds giving way to sunny. Low 45, High 60.
Mother--
ReplyDeleteLove the Blog. Keep em coming. Looks like Norway is not within my budget. Do you need a loan? Sounds like fun. Jose