The Splendor of Västervik's Archipelago

Serene and beautiful, Sweden's archipelago - the skärgården, they call it - is truly magnificent. During our week-long holiday in Västervik, we ventured out to one of the islands overnight - my first true island experience, you could say. I visited to tourist-riden Fjäderholmen, just 20 minutes by boat from Stockholm, 4 times last summer - and promised I'd go further than that first stop-off this year. And now I've done it - beyond Stockholm to Tjust skärgård!

The island was small - enough so that I could leisurely swim around it in about 15 minutes (Michael Phelps could probably do it in 5, tops). We spent the afternoon lounging on this dock (see photo), soaking in the streaming sunshine on one of the few gorgeous days this summer has brought, and taking a dip before we ever completely dried off.

In the evening, we re-located to the westward-facing dock, perched on a small cliff above the water, from which we sat with bar-b-qued pork and boxed wine, watching the sun set and the moon rise.

When the sky was nearly dark - around 1030pm - and our mosquito spray could no longer ward off the swarming bugs, we took a late-night swim before crawling into our bunk beds by candlelight (no electricity or running water on the island). Ahhhhhhh the Swedish summer!