Time to rest is very important to Swedish life. And having appropriate time off means you can vary your activities. I've heard so many of my new friends talk about regular trips to many, many places in Europe. And it is also common to have a summer house, or at least know someone who does, and visit it regularly. I was very pleased to meet an American,
married to a Swede, who has a rustic summer house. He invited us for the day, and it was an easy train ride from Stockholm. His home had a tap with running water outside, and an outdoor shower. Inside, they carried in water for washing dishes. And the toilet was in an outhouse, though it was the fanciest outhouse I've ever seen. They had WiFi, so we were able to watch the Tour de France while we visited in the kitchen. Though it sometimes froze up. But not having great internet at a beautiful summer house didn't seem that bad.
This summer house was located on near Tullgarns slott (Tullgarn Palace), on the King's land. My friends house is leased from the company that manages the cottages near the castles.
The people who had it before them, lived there for 50 years. When my friends applied, they had to show that they wanted to help preserve the natural state of the land. So they have a big garden with flowers and vegetables, they are not allowed to change anything about the exterior structure of the cottage without permission, and the King's friends sometimes pass through the property, when they are out hunting!
We were served coffee and some delicious fresh bread when we first arrived. Then we went foraging for Chanterelle mushrooms and wild blueberries and strawberries. There were SOOOO many. Later we had fika with a cake-sized cardamom twist, that served two families (scroll through more food pictures here). For lunch, our friend smoked sausage and roasted beef cheek and pork.
After lunch, they led us on a bike ride to see the castle. It's only used for one day a year when the king's friends have a hunting party and a lunch inside. No one lives there, right now. Near the castle is a dock where our friends swim. There were small jelly fish in the water, but our friends assured us that these don’t sting. There is a building near the castle that the King's staff can rent. They also get a key to the bathhouse, on the dock. But commoners can swim there too. It was a rainy day, so we didn't swim.
But we did see a double rainbow!
You can see a video of the day, here.
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