We chose a sunny Sunday morning for our next excursion into the Stockholm archipelago. We were hardly the only ones with that idea. The ferry from Strömkajen was full of folks out for a day on the water or decamping to their summer homes for a month or more.
On the 90-minute trip to Vaxholm, the ferry stopped about a dozen times to let people off. For us it was a great way to get a better sense of the physical layout of the archipelago itself. We also got a peek into the way of life for people who live in the midst of this floating garden.
The water was very placid. David observed that compared to his days on the Maine coast, the tidal variation in Stockholm is very small — inches rather than feet. There is no tidal wrack line along the shore. As a result, the seas around the archipelago seem ‶full″ to the brim. As we journeyed out, we passed green islands with homes tucked into the trees, boat docks, and tiny swimming beaches. Lots of pleasure craft dotted the shores.
Finding our way to summer in full glorious bloom
After the summer-camp rustic charm of Fjäderholmarna, we were surprised to reach the end of the ferry line at Vaxholm and discover a busy harbor and a commercial area typical of any small oceanfront town. Chalk our surprise up to ignorance. Vaxholm is the largest community in the archipelago. Island dwellers need a place to shop, bank, and dine without having to go all the way back to Stockholm city. So even apart from its summer and year-round residents, Vaxholm is also popular with day-trippers. To be honest, we were initially a little disappointed. Our imagined quaint island community in splendid isolation seemed to be merely another suburb, albeit one with a watery commute.
Just point us in the direction of the party
We were still up for a good lunch. (When are we not?) So we asked a shopkkeeper which of several restaurants at the dock she would recommend. She had a better idea. Follow the harbor away from the commercial center, she told us. We would shortly be in the ‶old Vaxholm″ of wooden houses and pretty gardens. Then just follow the crowd to Vaxholms Hembygdsgårds Café (Trädgårdsgatan 19, Vaxholm, +46 8 541 310 01, facebook.com/vaxholmshembygdsgardscafe). We couldn’t miss it, she assured us. We didn’t really need further encouragement, but just in case, she pulled out her phone and scrolled up photos of the delicious lunch she and a friend had enjoyed just a few days earlier.
Before we knew it, we were in the midst of a joyful garden party. The restaurant had a good system to handle all the eager diners. At a counter, you can order from a menu of food to be prepared to order or select from an array of open-faced sandwiches and salads displayed behind glass cases. In either case, you also select as many pastries as you want from an incredible sugary buffet and pay for it all at once. Despite the many temptations, we managed to select only one sweet each, along with shrimp salad and meatball and beetroot sandwiches.
Then it was up to us to find a seat. We found a little table in the shade right at water’s edge to eat our sandwiches and sip an excellent French Sancerre. The pastries (lemon and almond tarts) were so good we debated going back for more. Over our shoulders we glimpsed a few swimmers — really teenagers doing more posing and flirting than swimming — and several kayakers enjoying the flat water of the cove. The Swedes have clearly perfected the enjoyment of a well-earned summer’s day.