We were up early this morning, 6 am in fact, in order to have enough time to walk to the station, catch the metro, and then walk to the area where the Waxholmsbolaget ferries leave for the different islands and pieces of land, in the myriad of waterways that make up the outer area of Stockholm.
The weather was glorious, brilliant blue skies and sunshine. It was a great feeling to wake up briefly at dawn, which was sometime in the early hours of the morning, and know the day was going to be fine. The wind was a little nippy, I must admit, but there were no complaints, the sun was shining. Even the poor but expensive cup of take away coffee, that we drank while waiting to board the ferry, did not damper our spirits.
The ferry was a magnificent boat, similiar to the one behind Walter. Luxury. We felt as if we were going on a short cruise, only 1 1/4 hours long sadly.
A view of the buildings on the island opposite the port.
And finally out onto the wider waterways. A cruise ship indeed. All the land we passed had houses on them, some very large, plus an abundance of woodland. The land was not of any great height, small hills really. But it was very picturesque. The ferry pulled into a few little jetties to let people off.
Finally the town in Vaxholm, came into view. Vaxholm is attached to the mainland and we could have caught a bus back to the centre of Stockholm, but we were keen to continue our cruise.
A few facts about Vaxholm, according to the brochure. Vaxholm consists of 70 islands and has about 11,000 inhabitants. It is often referred to as the capital of the archipelago, outside Stockholm.
In 1548 King Gustav Vasa ordered a fortress to be built on the little island and a village started to grow on the opposite side of the strait. By 1647 it had became a town.
Part of the old town, with a lovely restaurant/cafe at the end. A perfect place for lunch, except it was too costly so we decided to look elsewhere.
One of old gun emplacements, minus the gun. One of the kings blocked off all other routes into Stockholm, so ships had to come past Vaxholm.
A rather large country home, hiding in the trees.
Vaxholm Fortress, on the little island, was still used by the military until 1944. So with the fortress on one side of the waterway and gun emplacements on the other, Vaxholm was very well fortified and could attack any enemy ships that tried to come into Stockholm. The fortress is now a defence museum.
We ate a really lovely lunch, sitting on the verandah, in the sun, of a restaurant overlooking the harbour. The lunch cost us about £9 each, and included a main course, salad from the salad bar, a soft drink and a filtered coffee. We chose the large meatball and creamed potato dish. Apparently the meatball was made with mince, cream and egg, then rolled in breadcrumbs and probably baked. We forgot to ask what type of meat was in the meatball. Best not to know at this stage. There were tiny redcurrants on the salad table, and we were advised to take a few soonfuls to eat with the meatball. Delicious.
We followed lunch up with a very large ice cream from the shop along the street. So we then sat on the benches, in the sunshine and contentedly ate our ice creams.
We noticed a ferry approaching, but it was not the luxury one we arrived on. This one was a steamer, built in 1908. Oh dear. Just wooden benches, inside and outside, unless one planned on having a meal in the restaurant.
We hopped on board. It had not finished its run yet, as there were still two more stops to go before it returned to collect the passengers to take them back to Stockholm. We enjoyed this part of the trip the most as the ferry sailed close to the shore and we could see the houses and woodland easily.
A view of a house with its sauna by the water. Quite a steep climb down.
I managed to find a little saloon on the ferry with a comfortable bench, and had a little post lunch nap. When I woke up, I was surrounded by other passengers, who were also trying to find a comfortable and warm area to sit in. I hope my mouth was not open, and I was not snoring. Very embarrassing and undignified.
Stockholm again. And a beer/food feast seemed to be in progress, plus some entertainment.
It was all very jolly, in the sunshine, with an assortment of beers on offer plus different food. It would have been great to linger for a while but we were still full, after our big lunch. And it was time to travel back to our lovely caravan.
But first an appreciative look at the art work in the underground station. No posters on these walls, just designs and patterns built into the tiled walls. Quite a feature and people visit the underground station just to admire the tiles.
So sadly we have said our goodbye to Stockholm. A truly remarkable city.
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