Öland is Swedish for "island country" and that is exactly what this piece of land is: a skinny, 140 kilometer-long island of Swedish paradise located just off the southeast coast of the mainland. 

They say that at the beginning of time, Lake Vättern in the middle of Sweden was carved out by a giant, who grabbed a chunk of earth and threw it into the Baltic Sea to form what today we call Öland. To me, it makes no difference how this island came to be - I'm just happy to have finally been there after almost 4 years in Sweden. It's truly a magical place. 

We arrived last Friday afternoon, driving north for almost an hour once we crossed the Öland Bridge, headed toward the village of Löttorp. I expected to see the many windmills we passed (a trademark of Öland), but not the dozen camels we drove by. Who decides to start a camel farm in Sweden?

And there was more on the exotic-animal front: our accommodation - a quaint bed and breakfast-type place - was home to a gang of alpacas. A very welcome surprise, although they weren't so receptive to my alpaca calls.

On Saturday, NS and I explored tree-lined country lanes right out of a fairy tale. Stunning views of the Baltic backdropped green fields of cows. We borrowed bicycles from our B&B and discovered the most beautiful beach I've seen in Sweden - Sandby - with fine, white sand and sparkling blue water. 

At 4pm, guests from all over the country - the continent really - gathered in a gorgeous grassy garden for NS' cousin's wedding. It was ever-so-perfect, full of music and love. A pair of eagles flew over our heads before the ceremony and a rainbow appeared on the horizon after - it must mean a match made in heaven.

We ate and we sang and we drank, and late into the night, we danced and then we ate some more and by the end I was happy and tired and full and in love with this place and these people. I can only hope to return to Öland sometime in the not-so-distant future, hopefully for more than 2 nights next time.

Celebrating the start of "summer"

This past weekend, we bundled up and celebrated what is meant to be the start of summer. In such high latitudes, the longest day of the year - June 21 - is a big deal. 18 hours and 37 minutes of daylight is certainly worthy of pomp. Bring out the trumpets, let loose all reason. Will there be games? Yes! Should I have a whiskey at noon? Absolutely! Indulge to your heart's content - it's Midsommar!

And so we did - although under the most un-summer-like conditions. Clouds covered the sky for most of the day and the gorgeous island we were welcomed to was a wind haven. But no matter - we (15 of us in all) hunkered down in whatever clothing we could get our hands on and made the best of it, with a roaring fire in one of the three tiny cabins to bring back the feeling to our toes and fingers when we could no longer deny our numb digits.

a roaring start to my lap around the island

That fire was especially critical for me after swimming around the island on Saturday morning. The water was just under 60 degrees F (about 15 degrees C) and the air was a bit cooler, made more so by the rain spattering throughout the day. But I'd lugged my wetsuit all the way from Stockholm - 5 hours by bus, 35 minutes by car, and 10 minutes by boat - and by God it wasn't going to be for nothing. It's only about 500m around the island, but in such temperatures (and with the fear of whatever creatures could be lurking in those treacherous waters), it was a feat.

the sky just a bit before midnight

Thankfully the spots of rain let up in the evenings so we could sit on the north-facing deck and enjoy long dinners with this view. It is truly an incredible place to be in any weather. Now for some summer temps please!

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!