Archipelago

Am now back in Stockholm after our 24 hours out in the archipelago to the east of the city. The weather was very kind to us - the expected snow held off - in fact the sun shone most of the time and the wind was minimal - it was perfect and very beautiful.

We stayed on the island of Sandhamn, which is out at the far end of the archipelago virtually out in the Baltic Sea. We reached the island via a 30 minute drive and an hours ferry ride. Sandra had prepared a picnic for us to eat on the way, which inevitably included some salmon and dill salad and shrimps and reindeer and horseradish paste - at last, some genuine local food.

The whole archipelago is extremely beautiful - thousands of tree covered islands with traditional wooded houses dotted along their coastlines. It is a sailors and nature lovers paradise and the ferry service makes the whole area very accessible for those without their own boats and for visitors.

We took a fairly early ferry and so arrived on Sandhamn mid-morning and well before our rooms were ready. There really was nothing else to do other than take a walk and nose around, from a suitable distance, the mostly empty houses. There were still patches of snow on the ground but it was really quite warm in the sheltered sunny spots. We walked the whole length of one coastline and then back to the village of Sandhamn along the central 'road'. It was the longest walk I had done for a while - exhilarating, refreshing, tiring - we were all ready for a beer and some lunch when we got back, so we dropped into the island pub.

Fresh air, exercise, food and alcohol meant that an afternoon nap was inevitable. Sandra and Mats went off to the sauna, naturally - but we had forgotten to bring swimmies with us so we gave it a miss. I've heard about Swedes in saunas!

Later we drank cocktails in the bar and had a delicious dinner at the hotel and woke early to see the sun rise over the Baltic - well nearly - we looked out of the window at it before snuggling back down for a bit longer.

Back in town, Mats went off to do some work on his boat and Debrah, Sandra and me went off for a stroll and a coffee - 'fika' in Swedish - the art of socialising at a cafe - I love the way different languages have words that don't directly translate into an English word.