oh sweden, you were so good to me. now we’ve been apart for 5 days and i miss you. your pastel skies & pale light. grey seas. thick forests. wild assortment of crisp breads. meatballs. fika. your coffee. the streets of stockholm. all the secret places i felt that i stumbled upon. night sounds. birdsong. the mariefred steamboat plying through the waters of lake malaren. your trains rolling through the countryside. scenes blurring past my window. cold swims in the skagerrak sea. strömstad. ingrid.
everything. every last thing.
yours truly,
m.a.m.
the photos are from a beautiful trip i took to mariefred, sweden. i left from stockholm by train, then caught a bus the last few miles and dropped off on the edge of town. a small fairytale swedish town on the shores of lake malaren know for its proximity to gripsholm castle. i walked and walked this day. so much to see. and places to rest along the way. on the way home i decided to see if there was room on the old steamboat bound for stockholm. there was!
i found the perfect seat outside on the top of the boat where i could stay warm against the engine. a little bench for life vests and girl reporters from los angeles who need to be outside feeling the wind on their face. watching the steam curl up over the top of the boat. best part of course was the fact that i had the entire outside to myself! i had dinner on board at a tiny table with the water as my dinner companion. i sketched, stared out the window, enjoyed my salmon, savored my hot coffee. listened to the clatter of dishes, and swedish being spoken, and the old engine chugging away. then headed back out to my special bench. an alert witness to a quiet world.
here in los angeles i am working daily in the travel journal. sketching from photos. i finished all the writing in sweden. trying to decide if i’ll add photos or not. thinking. in the meantime i draw and label and pull it all together. usually seems to take me about a month after a trip working at a snail’s pace to wrap things up. i work slowly because it keeps me in sweden longer. gradually i make my way back here to the city of angels. to moss cottage. one day at a time.
I know. I know. You just got back, right? But anyway, inquiring minds want to know: what’s next on your travel agenda?
Also: the wonderful Swedish lunch you had with your friends (the one with the herring) I duplicated here, in California.
Bought everything (including herring) in the grocery store, right here in town. It was delicious! So, even if I cannot travel to Sweden, I can still enjoy the delicious food! Thank you for sending all these lovely pictures to all of us. Thank you, so much! Sandy in California!
Did you mail any post cards from those post boxes?
visual delights…and then some, closing my eyes and sailing away 🙂
A steamship…I can practically breathe the damp air and feel the sea spray on my face as I read your account of the valiant little boat chugging its way through the sea. Clear sound of seagulls and the homely smell of ropes and teak deck; visceral and poignant is your dispatching, MAM.
Well put, reader Michele also – the place between worlds of the familiar and the siren call of the depths.
Take your time. I am in no hurry.
A whole suitcase full of thanks you’s MAM …
your beautiful photographs and your perfect choice of words
are such a gift of sharing, in the best possible way! ♥
Gorgeous!
Yes, everything that everyone else said…
And when you’re completely home, there are new episodes of Vera on AcornTV.
Your trip was enchanting and the way you bring yourself back to reality is sweet. Thank you for taking us along.
I want to ride on a steamboat! Wear your memories like a lovely garment. Savor them in the still moments.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful day.
the colors…
What breathtaking photos! Thank you so much for sharing the journey with us!
(ack! please forgive me if this is a double post – I hit post and it went out into the ether and went poof!)
oh! I don’t want your trip to end! thanks so much for sharing it with us and all your gorgeous photos and reportage. and I was nodding with recognition – I’m an introvert too. hate making plans, hate crowds, must have time alone to reenergize. can’t wait to see your travel journal. happy humperoonie day!
oh! I don’t want your trip to end! thanks so much for sharing it with us and all your gorgeous photos and reportage. and I was nodding with recognition – I’m an introvert too. hate making plans, hate crowds, must have time alone to reenergize. can’t wait to see your travel journal. happy humperoonie day!
Welcome home intrepid girl reporter……..what can I say…it was a glorious adventure!!! So stretch it out as long as you can.
Missy from the bayou
Heart-stirring beauty in your photos, the wistful remembering of your essay. This is so lovely, thank you. And I feel enormously glad, grateful, that you got to have these experiences. The universe invested itself well. xo
Beautiful photos and such great memories. Thanks for sharing your trip with all of us.
One lovely image after another….. So many interesting things to ponder and savor.
And our own (apparently) private yacht for the ride home to Stockholm!
Thank you for taking us along.
Enchanting. 🙂
What a lovely tribute you paid to Sweden. You have created for us such a wonderful time and place of sights and sounds and all the things that we could not experience in person But thanks to you we can get tempting glimpses. Little peeks. I have enjoyed this trip immensely.
Glad you made it safely back to Moss Cottage. Miss your Stockholmstory but “you`ll be back” soon with more wonderful stuff I am sure. Enjoy
Wonderful, just wonderful, looking forward to the travel journal :). You have made me want to visit Stockholm again (30 years since my last visit) :).
Sweet, warming, delicious! I can wait for your photos…go slowly.
Señorita Mary Ann vaya usted despacio que tengo prisa por verlo!
You are in that place, that place one finds oneself at the end of a wonderful holiday, that I call decompression. It’s like returning to the surface (home) from a great depth (the holiday locale) and it takes time to adjust properly. You “hang” there on the rope at 50 feet down and look up at the surface and the much loved people and familiar things shining in the light, and then down into the depths were you still can see-taste-smell-feel-hear all the little things that made the holiday so unique and special. I like being in that place and I try to nurse it along for as long as possible. It prolongs the trip. It helps me put it all into perspective.
Do you feel that way, too?
XO