The picture-perfect sunset view from Mefjärd, on Stockholm's archipelago. Photos by Robert Corkery.

On Friday, we went to visit friends at their summer house. The live on Mefjärd, an island at the southern end of Stockholm’s archipelago that you can only reach by boat – we took Waxholmsbolaget. There are no cars on the island, no roads, stores, cafes or bars. Just nature at its finest. The position of Marilyn and Kjell’s house on this narrow portion of the island could not be more perfect – you can look out at the Baltic Sea from either side.

A rainy view of an archipelago home on the way back into Stockholm.

Of course, we finally got to the archipelago on what turned out to be two of the coldest days so far this summer. But we had a fantastic time anyway, hanging outside to enjoy the views. We even got to go to a concert on the island on Friday night: it was a Swedish folksinger named Bertil Olsson who seemed to enjoy telling tales as much as he did singing and playing the guitar.

Every time we visit the archipelago, Robert and I wish that we had our own little stuga (cottage) there. I feel so good when I’m on one of the islands.

American women: For our 4th of July picnic on the archipelago, we even had a very patriotic tablecloth thanks to Judy!

After going to three apartment viewings Sunday, we traveled out to the archipelago again for another break. This time, we drove to Ingarö and Ola and Judy picked us up on their boat there to head out on the Baltic.

The view from our island.

Swedish Ola even put up an American flag for us on his boat.

Ola scouted us out a prime spot on one of the islands and then Jody, Doug, Marilyn and Kjell all boated out to join us for a 4th of July BBQ. Everyone brought food to share and the guys took care of the grilling.

While we had no parade or fireworks, we had good food, conversation and wine. I thought the day was simply amazing.

Why did the moose cross the road?

As we were driving home from the archipelago Saturday night, we saw a moose. While we have seen them from a distance before, this was our first up-close moose sighting – he passed directly in front of our car and did not seem at all bothered by us. Just before that, we saw a young male deer as well as a fox. It was around dusk and all the animals were out on the hunt. Very cool indeed.

Looking out over the swimming pool and the Baltic.

Today was gorgeous, as was yesterday. And we spent way too much time organizing and clearing out our apartment storage. Robert and I felt efficient, but deprived. By 3 this afternoon, we couldn’t stand it anymore and took a break to enjoy the weather.

Anna and Robert by the pool.

As we had a rental car to help with our organizational downloading, we drove to a friend’s dad’s house in Nynasham. It was an amazing place that had an amazing view – apparently Jamie Oliver filmed a crayfish party there last summer. I could see why. The house was right on the Baltic and the heated pool was carved into the rock. Every way you looked, there was a magnificent view. We spent the evening laying in the sunm chatting and swimming.

The sun setting on the archipelago.

Sunset on the archipelago as seen on the ferry from Ljusterö.

This time of year, sunsets don’t last for the hours that they do in the summer. But they are no less beautiful, particularly so when you are out in the archipelago and  have all that Baltic water picking up on and reflecting the colors. The sunsets  seem to take on a magical glow.

Or maybe it’s just that living with so much winter dark makes me appreciate the light more?

The Kaffe Stuga at Wira bruk.

On Sunday, Robert and I again took a road trip out of town, this time with our friends MB and Rich. When we first moved here, we took a lot of these mini excursions, but it has been a year since we rented a car. So it somehow felt rather luxurious to this former drive every day American to be in a car again.

Like Saturday, the day was perfect and our first stop was Wira bruk, a historical town just north east of Stockholm. From 1635 until 1948, Wira bruk made most of the Swedish army’s swords, rapiers and bayonets. While the iron works are no longer in operation, the buildings feel as if the workers could have just left yesterday.

One of the old buildings at Wira bruk.

The next stop was for brunch, right on the Baltic at Furusunds Vardhus. We ate outside and lingered over our meal – which was very good, enjoying the sunshine. Next we caught two ferries to Blido and did a mini tour, again stopping to pick and eat a few blueberries before making our way back to the city.

A charmingly Swedish scene at Hästedegård on Ljusterö.

Saturday, Robert and I decided we needed to get out of town. We have been having some gorgeously sunny fall weather, so we rented a car and drove to the  northern end of Stockholm’s archipelago. It was interesting to drive instead of boat to the archipelago, but it was a great way to get there. The island of Ljusterö is one of the largest islands on the archipelago, so the best way to explore it was by car and then by foot. We took a  car ferry across to Ljusterö. (For those of you who have not been here, the transport system between islands is amazing. Large drive-on car ferries are free and for the island we went to, they ran every half hour until 11pm, at which time they ran ran every hour. It is a very convenient way to island hop by car.)

Kayaking on Östra-Lagnö

Some of the leaves are just beginning to turn – the birch leaves are becoming yellow and the maple red. And it is starting to smell like autumn too – that earthy, decomposing sort of smell. Mushrooms were everywhere – but we dared not eat them without knowing which were poisonous. We did sample lots of forest blueberries, however. It was perfect to be out hiking in the woods and hanging on the rocks and docks by the harbors. Temperatures were close to 70 * F (20*C) and this kind of weather is rare this time of year.

One of the miniature rock islands located off of Utö. Photo copyright Robert Corkery 2009.

There’s no better way to explore Stockholm’s archipelago than by kayak. There are so many islands – somewhere around 24,000 – that you can easily hope from one to the next.  And thanks to Allemansrätten, you are also free to stop and picnic or camp.

One of my favorite trips was a few years ago with our friends Annelie, Jaakko, Durk and Naomi. The six of us  rented kayaks on Utö, then paddled our way out to an island about an hour south. Robert and I intended to camp and had our gear packed into the kayak with us. And our friends were just going to spend the day paddling with us. But soon they were having such a great time that they all wanted to spend the night too. So the four of them paddled back to Utö and spontaneously bought tents, sleeping bags and some other gear so as to stay with us.

Meanwhile, Robert and I scouted out a deserted island to camp out on. After we located a spot of our own with a gorgeous beach, we text messaged our GPS coordinates to our friends. They then joined us there and we had a fantastic evening, everyone pitching in to cook dinner, share drinks and make a fire. Conversations by the fire covered every topic and went in every direction: I was the only American, Robert the only Aussie and there was one Finn and three South Africans.

The night was gorgeous and special. As it was early July, the sunset lasted for hours. And the next day we swam and hung out on our own private beach, then moved on to the next island. It was a magical experience.

Another gorgeous sunset on the archipelago.

On Friday, we boated to a small island on the archipelago and set up for a long evening with friends. There were eight of us and we spread out a pot luck BBQ on the rocks, everyone chipping in to help with the preparations. The day was gorgeous and warm and truly just perfect. It’s so wonderfully Robinson Crusoe-like to be able to just tie up your boat and stake out your space on an island – being able to do this is one of the things I love most about living here, in fact. As a resident of Sweden, it’s actually my right to be able to do this.

Hanging out on the rocks with Judy, Rich, MB and Marilyn.

It’s all thanks to allemansrätt or the right of public access. Part of the Swedish constitution,  allemansrätt gives everyone the right to access, walk, cycle, ride, ski and camp on the land. You can do all of this most anywhere except within sight of someone’s home. Basically, allemansrätt means that everyone has the right to enjoy nature. It’s so wonderfully Swedish to have the enjoyment of nature as a right.

Alléviken: The ancient striped rock (gneiss) on the beach at Utö.

When I moved to Stockholm, a surprising number of people asked if I would be living anywhere near Zurich. They honestly confused Sweden for Switzerland. At the time, I smugly felt superior in my geography knowledge and told them to look on a map. But I also thought it was rather funny that I was moving to a place that so many Americans did not seem to know about. Then after living here for a while, I thought it was rather sad that people did not know how beautiful Stockholm and its archipelago was. But now in a perverse way, I’m also happy as I would prefer that the archipelago stay in the same pristine, non-developed state that it is now.

The forests, beaches and rocks are so lovely that it’s easy to imagine what this island looked like 100 or even 1,000 years ago. As we rode along the quiet forest paths on our bikes, we were pretty much on our own, although we did see a deer and her fawn at one point. And we also had the beach to ourselves even though it was a sunny day in July. But perhaps best of all, we only had to cycle a a few kilometers back into town to be able to hang out by the harbor and have a beer while we listened to live music. I feel so fortunate that I get to experience this magical place.

Along one of the many forest paths in Utö.

Hanging out at the Seglarbaren on Utö.