Almost More Blueberries Than I Could Ever Eat, Almost
After 22 days of traveling, we realized we really didn’t need a decent amount of the stuff we brought, and decided to streamline our bags a little. We packed up a box, shipped it home, and my back has been thanking me ever since.
With a few hours to kill before meeting up with our second Servas hosts – Ylva and Lars-Ake (we never really figured out how to pronounce that name, or any other Swedish word really, despite help from Ylva) – we checked out the sad story of the Vasa.
It was built to be the greatest ship in some Swedish king’s fleet, but the overzealous Swedes loaded it with too many cannons at the top and too little counter-balance at the bottom. During its maiden voyage it only managed to stay afloat for 22 minutes. She sat at the bottom of the sea for over 300 years before archaeologists brought ‘er up, restored ‘er to ‘er former glory, and built a museum around ‘er. Near the Vasa is the first open air museum in Europe displaying Swedish historical architecture and culture. We ate some pastries, found some wild pears, watched a glass blower, and saw some reindeer.
We were a little nervous about our first Servas stay because we really didn’t know what to expect or exactly how everything worked. Ylva and Lars-Ake immediately put us at ease. We all got to know each other over a meal before driving to Ylva’s summer house on one of the 22,000 islands in the Stockholm Archipelago. Her island, Orso, is very small and only reachable by boat (like most of the islands.)
Lars-Ake pulled his new Volvo – the national vehicle of Sweden – up to a remote pier lit by the full moon. Ylva’s oar powered John-boat was filled to the brim with luggage, food, and giddy Americans. The beauty of Orso by moonlight was only a precursor to the carefree days to follow. The sun revealed thick woodlands surrounding traditional rustred houses and gorgeous, stark blue water. As if it wasn’t already enough of a dream world, I quickly discovered the billions of wild blueberries covering the ground. This landscape was to be the backdrop for delicious home-cooked meals, wine-soaked conversations, and most importantly, blueberry pies. There really wasn’t much to do on Orso that wasn’t relaxing, beautiful, or delicious.
My prayers wishing to be marooned on this tiny island with our new Swedish friends and their endless fields of blueberries went unanswered. Eventually our ferry back to Stockholm came and we waved goodbye to Ylva and Lars-Ake. For the first time on this whirlwind tour of Europe our excitement to reach the next destination was outweighed by the melancholy of having to leave the previous.
Tags: Travel
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