We tried, we really did.
The Swedes, perhaps because of the long period of darkness and low temperatures throughout the year, really take a proper vacation. For the non-Swedish Europeans out there, Swedish July is like your August. For the Americans out there, Swedish July is like nothing you have ever known in your adult life. Well, for most of you. What I mean is that the Swedes tend to take their vacation in one large chunk. That chunk, happens to be the whole month of July. And even with that, there is still some time left over...maybe a week or so.
Many Swedes travel to their country house or find another spot to hide away, often with water nearby, nature, and quiet. They escape for the entire month. The streets of Stockholm are nearly abandoned, filled with tourists, expats, and a few other odds and ends. When people at work asked me about our vacation plans, I was told that I wasn't taking enough vacation. What?! But I was going to St. Petersburg for five days (weekend inclusive) and spending one week in the archipelago at a proper country house (and in July no less). In any situation I have previously known, that would be unheard of in such a short period of time...almost all of my vacation time swallowed up with nothing left to get me through the months where no public holidays granted me a free three-day weekend.
The point is not to rub into everyone's face that we get a crazy amount of vacation. Rather, I am still not sure about the idea of taking it all at once. I understand taking advantage of great weather and making the most of your time away...really disappearing and decompressing, rather than returning just as you started to relax. But wouldn't you want the disappearing and decompressing to happen when you can also escape the bad weather and winter gloom?
So, we are saving some time for when January and February start making us sad, moody, and ill-tempered (okay, maybe me. dave just gets quiet.) Perhaps because Stockholm is still a new-ish place for us, we don't mind having the quiet time to explore, with the sun shining and unencumbered by sweaters and coats. While we aren't necessarily giving all the time away to the country house by the water, we did spend time a little time at the archipelago.
For one week we holed ourselves up in a lovely house, on the water, without much in the way of phones or internet, but well stocked with books, board games, food, and drink. We rented a house in Ingarö with Dave's family - a relatively close location (30 minutes by car) but surrounded by peaceful wilderness (with a generous helping of ticks and other bugs).
A few photos of our getaway:
Zeke took his duties as protector very seriously, but also made plenty of time to run around, swim, and bark at the dog next door.
Stephanie, Eileen, and Ernie (in order from closest to farthest) heading out for a row in the lake. We had access to this lake directly from the back patio, with our own dock. As far as we could tell, only one other house had a dock on the lake.
Our ride.
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