Travelogue, Days 10, 11 and 12: Ljusterö, Sweden

N.B.: This post ended up covering a bunch of days and was not initially intended to, so the timeline is sort of screwy. It doesn’t much matter, you’ll find, if you read that far…

When we left Turku, I was slightly misinformed about where we’d be spending the next few days – I knew we’d be on an island near Stockholm, where Christian’s cousin and her family live, but we’re actually about 65km away on a beautiful, rustic island full of gorgeous forest. If I understand correctly, only a couple of thousand people live here full time, though tourists bring the number to 20,000 in the summer, much to the residents’ dismay, because the first thing the rich tourists do is fence off access to the sea for the local residents when they build their big houses.

It’s a shame, too, because Ljusterö is gorgeous. We won’t really be getting to see Stockholm after all, and I’m sure Stockholm is nice, but after a while big cities start to look like big cities, and one doesn’t get to go swimming in the sea or lakes with the locals very often.

I haven’t taken many pictures, because really, I am much more interested in seeing things, and we’ve been busy with family. I’d never met Christian’s cousin or her family before, but they are really, truly lovely. We’ve been staying in a little guest house their teenage daughter has been living in up to now (she just left for a year in America the day we arrived), and the three of us have been very cosy. The main house is a cheery bright yellow house with lots of warmth and love (and dogs) inside, and outside there are lovely berries and trees and… well, it’s just a wonderful place.

I have to say, more importantly, that I really enjoy the family – the kids, Flo and Fabi, are really sweet and kind, and Claudia and Wolfgang are really enjoyable and welcoming. I’m so glad they let us come visit – Torsten absolutely loves it here, and I think everyone loves him, which is awesome. I wish we lived closer, because really, this has been wonderful, and I really like everyone a lot.

Yesterday we went to a nearby lake to swim, and it was absolutely delicious. Beautiful forest all around, right up to the water, and the water was cool, clean and refreshing. Torsten didn’t like it much at first – it was cold and he’s a baby, after all – but at the end he was happily splashing his hands and feet in it. Truth be told, it’s the first time we’ve had him naked outside in the water, since the sun in Denver is so brutal. Christian played with Flo in the water, and Claudia and I had a nice coffee and chat after we got out.

Mmmmm.

Fantastic.

Today is Flo’s birthday, so we celebrated that this morning, and Torsten,
Claudia and Christian are now off for a walk in the rain. Did I mention rain? Yes, glorious, cold rain. Mmmmm. I didn’t feel like going on the walk because I wanted to write, and I’m really exhausted from speaking so much German (the quality of my German deteriorates a little every day when I use it so much, I find, at least at first) – also, my warmer clothes are still wet from washing, so I really didn’t want to go out in my shorts and freeze. Picky, picky I know, but I must admit, I love to write inside when it’s rainy and cold outside. A cup of tea or coffee and I’d be set – pretty view, peaceful setting, wet and cool outside… perfect for writing.

(By the way, thanks to the family for having us – it’s been an absolutely
wonderful few days)

Anyway, tomorrow we’re back to Stockholm for the train to Copenhagen, where we’ll stay for a night before arriving in Germany. Whee…