A Refreshing Summer Swim In Varmdo, Sweden
This past July my husband, teen daughter and I were blessed with the opportunity to spend 2.5 weeks in Sweden, something I’ve beed dreaming of for years! As it turns out, this “lay over” on our way to the USA made my ticket even less expensive than the tickets of my boys, who joined us in the USA, so this vacation was truly a gift. If you live in Israel and go home to visit family in the USA, take advantage of the chance to see the wonders of nature in Scandanavia, for starters, you won’t regret it, especially in July or August, when Swedish summer is in full swing, ahhhhhhh.
So what can I tell you about Sweden? I loved it, every minute. And since summer is short, really only 2 months, the Swedes know how to enjoy it. For generations families have been going to their summer cottages (some families have one on a lake, one on the ocean…..) for weeks or even months each summer, and with 41 days mandatory vacation, taking a month off in the summer is truly part of life! Now I don’t feel guilty about my own 5 week summer vacation, if the Swedes can do it so can I! Ah yes and those twice daily coffee breaks, also up my alley, as is the whole aesthetic, the recycling, the love of nature, and Wasa crisp bread galore!
I’m going to share my travels with your chronologically, so we’ll start with our first stop in Sweden, a lovely little 1950’s cottage in the archipelagos of Stockholm, but reachable by car and actually only 40 minutes or so outside the city. We went straight to Ramsdalen, which is in a region called Varmdo, from the airport and discovered a lovely area with the best swimming ever. Care to take a dip?
Our rental was in Ramsdalen, a peninsula of sorts and while we had to walk 5 minutes or so to get to the swimming spots, it was throught a forest filled with blueberries and an occasional red mushroom! The water was on the cold side, but oh so refreshing and just a bit salty, as the largest freshwater lake in Sweden empties into the archipelago area.
Just lovely and so very few people, boats, or even noise.
This is actually the end of the line for the local bus, so theoretically one could take the bus to our little swimming spot, but don’t tell!
After the old barn, head throught the forest…….
And the most perfect swimming spot awaits. And that my friends is truly Swedish summer! More to come so stay tuned!
