May 22, 2022 - Day 53 - Stockholm, Sweden

 Today was probably the best day of our whole trip. Maria owns a tiny cottage in the heart of the city and we went there for the day. She baked a quiche in the morning for our lunch and grabbed a bag of salad and some lemonade and stuffed it all in her backpack and we set off, on foot, for the cottage.

We passed a playground that is built to look like an old Swedish village.

This piano was very out of tune.

A bunch of old cottages on the lake that seem abandoned. We think the city might own them.

"Lake Mälaren, also called Lake Mälar, lake in eastern Sweden, located just west of Stockholm, which lies at the lake's junction with Salt Bay, an arm of the Baltic Sea."

 

You would never know that there is a group of cottages on a lake right in the city. It is surrounded by the woods on two sides, the lake on one side, and then if you walk a few minutes away from the lake you come upon apartments and city streets. The cottages are tiny and there are very strict rules about how large they can be, including any sheds or outbuildings, and the garden/land for each cottage is quite large in comparison. There is electricity in the cottage and a water spigot outside. If you need to use the restroom or want to take a shower there is a private building, with a lock, that you can use just a short walk away. It also has a full kitchen and meeting room.

Maria was on a waiting list for a long time before she finally bought a cottage from a woman in her 90's who had spent many years on the garden.

 

Maria and I trying to identify some of the plants.

Maria had told us to bring books as she was going to work in the garden for most of the day and we were to relax. We walked around and took pictures of some of the neighboring cottages.

Here you can see Maria's cottage with the flag.

Maria's cottage with the Swedish flag out front. There is a tiny porch on the front and a chair, Maria's favorite place to sit and relax.

Coffee in the sun. I brought my knitting besides my Kindle. It was so relaxing.

The cottage is just one small room with a sofa, a small closet, a tiny kitchen with a microwave and electric two burner cook top. Behind the cottage is an attached shed where Maria keeps the lawn mower and garden tools.

 

Maria heated the quiche in the microwave and we had that and a salad and lemonade for lunch. Later, a friend of hers biked over with traditional Swedish cookies that were called "Finnish Sticks" and we had a very lovely time, sitting in the sun and eating cookies, and talking. We also met more of Maria's friends and neighbors who live in the cottages.

 

I washed dishes while Maria did some last minute gardening.

The outdoor sink set up. I heated water in the electric kettle inside the cottage and then poured it into the sink and added water from the outdoor hose. The dirty dishwater and clean rinse water drains into a bucket and is used to water the plants.

On our walk back to Maria's home we passed this interesting sculpture in a park. If you look closely you can see it is a large metal belt that is made to resemble an armadillo.

We took a shortcut through the church graveyard.

We were all a little tired after the day of sun and gardening so Maria just heated up leftover lasagna and we opened a bottle of wine and that was dinner. A lovely end to a beautiful day!

May 21, 2022 - Day 52 - Stockholm, Sweden

 Today being a Saturday meant that Maria had the day off so she suggested we take a trip on a boat to the Artipelag Island. The boat ride itself is very nice:

"Travel by Boat to and from Artipelag.

Take a scenic boat trip to Artipelag aboard Strömma Kanalbolaget's 19th-century ship M/S Enköping or M/S Gustafsberg VII. This beautiful journey will take you through some of Skurusundet and Baggenstäket's stunning narrow passages."

The boat.

Maria and I on the boat. We all had coffees and blueberry muffins for a snack/late breakfast.

Leaving Stockholm.

Amusement park on one of the islands of Stockholm

We saw many homes perched on cliffs with stairs that led down to docks and boat houses and piers. I wouldn't want to go up and down so many stairs.

Enjoying the warmth and a beer.

Artipelag is an art museum with a cafe (where we had a wonderful lunch) and the island is a huge sculpture park.

Don spotted this tree with a curl in the trunk.

Don and Maria, looking at nature.

I love this natural bonsai.

There was a lot more to explore and we didn't even get a chance to visit the art inside the museum, because the boat only stayed on the island for about 2 hours that early in the season. I did take a picture of the bathroom, it's one of the best I've seen.

Just look at that sink setup! There were two of them in the woman's bathroom. I like the natural rock wall too. Don confirmed that the men's bathroom was not as fancy as this one.

Back in Stockholm we wandered around a park and looked for some ice cream. I mentioned to Maria that it was nice there was so much green space in Stockholm and she was surprised I said so, "You think so?"she said. After that, she really paid attention to her own city and had to admit that there were a lot of parks and green spaces that she hadn't really noticed. 

Most of the statues in Stockholm are pointing at something.

Ice cream nearby.

Like most cats, this one has claimed a toy for itself. Do not touch.

We saw many actual swans in Stockholm also.

Maria headed back to her place to rest up (she had a cold) and to start preparing dinner while Don and I just generally walked around and looked at the city.

Homes on the historical register, close to Maria's place.

So many bridges!

We wandered into Gamla Stan or "old town". We had forgotten how commercial and touristy it was from our last trip, lots of old buildings and narrow cobblestone streets, but tons of shops, bars, and restaurants. I did stop at a candy store to buy a bag of peppermints, I could smell the peppermint as we walked by. I also bought a tourist shot glass for my sister to add to her growing collection of shot glasses from around the world.

We walked back to Maria's place and had a delicious dinner of vegetable lasagna (I guess I like eggplant, especially in lasagna!), a green salad, and a bottle of wine.