Life is good in the archipelago
Trip Start
Unknown
1
12
130
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Lotto's Summerhouse
Norrtalje, Swedish Lakeland, Sweden
Sunday, July 8, 2012
For those who have never been to Sweden, the archipelago is a series of thousands of islands, large and small in the Baltic Sea just off the coast near Stockholm. One of the special thrills of arriving in Stockholm by boat is the amazing cruise through all of these island when you arrive or depart. Some islands are barely above sea level, while others are large, with hilly terrain and covered with vegetation and lovely small red cottages, and a few downright jaw-dropping houses.
In Sweden a summer house and a boat sort of come with the territory and if you have them, you share them with friends and family. Lucky us to have Lotta!
When we arrive in Räfsnäs we discovered quite a crowd of people at the harbor, there was a sea rescue demonstration and boats were churning up the water and a helicopter was flying low overhead. We stopped for a few moments to watch and then unpacked the car and settled in on the deck to watch all the people meeting the ferry to go out to their cottages. The ferry service is a lifeline in this part of Sweden and we often talk about taking the ferry all the way back to Stockholm...but it would be considerably slower than the 60 minute drive it took to get here.
Lotta and Lennart returned from the gathering in the harbor and started the usual summer cottage routines...maintenance in the form of fixing and lawn mowing being major jobs on their list this weekend. We felt a bit guilty watching all that labor so we took a short hike to check on the boat.
Later we returned to help prepare dinner. Mathias and his family arrived in time to join us for a lovely supper alfresco. Then some coffee and dessert inside as the light began to fade for the short nighttime in Sweden.
Comments
Kuddos to Lotta and Margo on the lovely table setting! Looks like a wonderful way to spend the weekend.