(click on the pictures to make them bigger)
We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day. This is the view from the guest house kitchen window. I noticed that most of the houses on the island have a Swedish flag flying. Very patriotic.
We had a lazy morning and after lunch decided to take the passenger ferry to the nearby town of Vaxholm. The ferry is a five minutes walk from N and C's house, and is the same ferry that C takes to work every day. Not a bad commute.
The islands and archipeligo area are really lovely. The water is very clean. Apparently there are more than 24,000 islands, islets, and rocks jutting out of the water. Lots of them are wild and deserted, attracting boaters for picnics and swimming. July is the peak vacation month, when yachts crowd the waters. The sailing in Stockholm must be wonderful (if you like boats).
The Vaxholm kastell. An old military fort, now a museum. It is on another island just 100 meters from Vaxholm. So many islands!
Click here for a short history of Vaxholm.
Ferries docking in Vaxholm.
Vaxholm is a 'bathing resort' (which I think means swimming). Artists and writers have traditionally been drawn to the area, and some hold exhibits during the summer, when the tourists quadruple the population. I'm glad we were there in April!
There were lots of cute little shops and winding streets. The wooden houses were built in the 1880's and are what I think of as the Scandinavian version of Victorian style. All of the wooden houses in Sweden (new or old) seem to be painted either yellow or red. Makes them very cheerful.
We returned to the island for Niklas' birthday dinner. Hans and N's mother, Viveka, came to celebrate with us. Niklas made salt-baked salmon with a creamy roe and onion sauce. SO GOOD! After singing the Swedish and English versions of 'Happy Birthday', we had cake. The birthday cake was a traditional Swedish cake called princess torte. It has layers of white cake with whipped cream and raspberries under pastel marzipan. One of our favorite Scandinavian desserts! It was another great day.
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