Swedish Home Exchange: A Trip Report as it Happens
 

I thought I would report on our vacation while it happens. We are participating in a home exchange with a Swedish family. They live in a suburb of Stockholm, we live in a suburb of Washington, DC. We found them advertised on www.homeexchange.com in Jan., when I was fearful we could not afford a summer vacation. We thought it odd they would want to spend 3 weeks in DC during August (possibly the hottest place on earth), and I am sure they thought we are crazy for wanting to come someplace with freezing cold water (as my son keeps pointing out). We agreed to swap cars and that seemed to be pretty fair, they left us an old Saab, we left them an older Volkswagon. This is the first home exchange for both families.

We are a family of 4, with two boys (5 and 8), plus my mom. Our exchange family also has two boys, although they are a little older. We came to an agreement to swap houses pretty quickly and by mid-Feb. we had both purchased tickets. They wanted to swap for three weeks which was fine with us as we usually prefer longer, slower vacations anyway. After getting the kids use to a place it is too hard getting them to transition again. After that we had very little contact until July when we worked out specific points about the house and car, so both families knew what to expect. We also left detailed instructions for running appliances, chores, and information about our favourite restaurants and sites.

Most of our friends are rather wary of the whole idea. We talked to a lot of people who �knew someone who exchanges frequently� but we didn�t talk to many people with much first hand experience. We got lots of questions about what if they trash your house, or steal stuff � we just assume they want to travel as much as we do.

In future posts I�ll report on how it goes and what we are doing with our time in Stockholm.

Thanx, S.

Look forward to your reports.

((I))

I'm looking forward to more too sprin2.

I had a great time in Sweden for a week in 2002. It'll be fun to reminisce as you post of your adventures.

We flew out on the day the Swedish people landed so we did not meet each other. They landed at BWI at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday, I thought a jaunt on public transportation was asking a lot so we arranged for someone to pick them up. We also decided against (cheaper) public transportation because it was going to be two buses and a commuter train. They scheduled a taxi for us. Mr. Sprin convinced me that was too much for grandma and two boys with jetlag. When I saw the driver with our name I knew he was right.

We flew Continental from Newark. The kids’ meals came, they were nasty looking, chicken nuggets on top of tater tots. Neither looked well cooked. We were on a 757, no individual tv screens, bummer for the kids. The movies were super old, Miss Congeniality ONE, and Die Another Day (succeeded in turning the 8 year old onto James Bond).

This was our first trip without a stroller, diapers, or car seats. The Swedish people borrowed booster seats for the boys so we didn’t have to bring ours. It is great to be travelling light again. We have three bags small enough to carry on and our backpacks. Replacing the stroller and diapers are gameboys and comic books. We have a car charger for the gameboys and hope it works. Last summer in Italy we had a long fiasco trying to get a converter to work and ended up purchasing an English gameboy charger when we got to London. Guess you could say we are somewhat challenged in electrical matters.

The Swedish people arranged to have someone meet us to let us in their house and show us around. The house is really nice, spacious and clean. I can’t believe how much room we have, it is great! We spent the morning making beds and unpacking. The boys were happy to find a room of video games and toys, seems the Swedish boys had gotten some of their old toys down for our boys to play with. Don’t know if our boys will leave this room.

They left us coupons for lunch at their favourite restaurant so we walked to town. We bobbled in and stood in the entrance and after about a minute people began to walk by us. Seems at lunch it is cafeteria style, but since we don’t speak or read a word of Swedish, and we’re all a little groggy, we missed this fact. We quickly regrouped and feasted on pasta, veggies, and salad. Stopped by the market and went home to hang (and of course play those video games).

This is a lovely report. I'm so happy for you that you are having a great first experience with a home exchange. Your hosts seem to have been extremely thoughtful in preparing the home for you.

Looking forward to more!

Sounds like it's going really well and I'm sure your Swedish exchange family are equally grateful for your care in preparing their stay in your home...

Look fwd to reading more...

Hi sprin2, it is fun to read your trip report while you are living your trip!
I have always wondered about home exchanges. Except for one woman I know who reported nothing but misery with the house she got in Italy (but may I add nothing ever pleases this woman, LOL) I have heard nothing but good reports. Sounds like your Swedish family are kind and thoughtful as you obviously are also.

I sure look forward to more post from you. Have fun!!!

The hours of daylight are certainly interesting. The sun goes down about 9:30 and it gets light about 4:00. Mr. Sprin is getting extra time to read Harry Potter. Our boys always sleep very late their first morning overseas and we planned an easy day. At breakfast the younger one complained of an upset stomach and sure enough he threw up a little later. Over Christmas he threw up as the plane landed, guess this was better. I know we’ll use the washer lots.

We seek sites that combine my mom’s interest in art, our interest in history, and something active for the kids. Thought we’d visit Sigtuna and while going through literature I realized the Åberg Museum was nearby. This museum advertises as the only “art, comics and toy museum” and it was really interesting. It was created by Swedish artist / director Lasse Åberg and showcases his amazing collection of early Disney memorabilia, his art, and his collection of works by Lichtenstein, Warhol, Hockney, Picasso…, all with a comics theme. It’s not big and was really interesting. There is a kid’s Tarzan playroom with since he’s well known to Swedish kids. We had lunch in the sunny courtyard along with many other families. Ate salmon, ham and great fresh salads. All generations loved this museum.

Sigtuna was crowded, but it was a nice sunny day and we didn’t have much trouble finding a parking place. We strolled through town, peeked in the church, and fought monsters in a couple of church ruins, got ice cream at the harbour, walked along the water and played a rousing game of mini-golf by the lake. Each golf hole was sponsored by a local business and it was fun reading their signs. Grandma is a mean putter and soundly beat us all. There is a small sandy beach at the west end of town, but we opted for no swim today, trying to make sure no one was really sick.

On our way out of town we stopped at Viby, an undeveloped crofter’s village. You park at one end and walk down a lane. It was really tranquil and interesting to see the architecture and arrangement of the houses and support buildings.

Thank goodness there is a pizza place about two blocks from our house. It was nice to get home, eat our pizza and salad and relax. Oh, and the games had not been played all day so we had to give them a work out too.

The weather report calls for sun so we opt for another easy outside day. Millesgarden and Vaxholm was the decision. Being from DC we are always amazed at how easy it is to drive in Sweden. We were here two years ago to pick up a Volvo and still laugh about driving into Stockholm during afternoon rush hour. Mr. Sprin says the drivers are very courteous and actually acknowledge the speed limits. It is just a couple of minutes to Millesgarden and there is a small parking lot across the street.

Millesgarden, located on the island of Lidingö in northern Stockholm, has a wonderful setting on a cliff overlooking the water. It was the home of sculptor Carl Milles, his work is displayed on terraces and around fountains as you walk around the property. You also walk through parts of his house and workshop. We didn’t know much about him before we went, but loved exploring the sculpture and it was a good fit for our divergent interests. The kids especially loved his work and they got really excited picking out postcards of what they seen.

We decided to head to Vaxholm for lunch. It was a short drive and again we were able to park in town on the main street. There are lots of cafes and restaurants along the harbour and we chose one with self-serve sandwiches and salads, nothing special. After lunch we walked about and contemplated some pottery purchases. Vaxholm is quite nice and I’m sure we’ll return for dinner one night.

There are two swimming areas marked on Vaxholm island on our map and we look at both, but the boys aren’t ready to swim from rocks or a pier, without a beachy area. We couldn’t find that. So we spent about an hour driving around and finally found a park near Täby on a lake with a small sandy beach. The older one walks out on the pier, jumps in and is back out in a nano-second declaring it is really cold water. The younger one opts to play in the sand and barely gets wet. The park has a large tree stump that is carved like a climbing wall. It is about 10´ tall and very fat. Both boys spent a long time going up and around it – it is really cool.

The car charger we brought for the gameboys does not work. The lighter in the car is too large. We are now on a quest for a European charger to join our collection. We are going on the ferry to Visby tomorrow and they rent gameboys so hopefully they will charge ours, or who knows what will happen.

Hi sprin,

>...there is a pizza place about two blocks from our house.<

So, what's a Swedish pizza like? Wood burning oven?

((I))

Thank you so much for sharing your Swedish trip reports. I am enjoying reading all about your experiences and impressions. I love the idea of a home exchange - what a great way to settle into a vacation and really absorb the local sights, the people and culture.

I have recently met a cousin of mine from the Stockholm area while he and his son were visiting our part of the world (Pacific Northwest), so your story is of particular interest and I'm looking forward to more!

This is fascinating...and I'm dying to know how they're enjoying YOUR house!

Our little pizza place is nothing so fancy and offers Iialienska, Mexicanska, and American pizzas. It seems every tiny Swedish town has one of these pizzeria and salladsbar - grill and kebab spots. I'll keep my eyes open for an authentic Swedish pizza, we flipped for tarte flambe years ago in Alsace.

Having pizza so close is a good thing since we use it as a comfort food when traveling, especially good when we are just too tired to negotiate a foreign menu.

Have you heard from the Swedish Family at all? It would be fun to hear how they are settling in too!

We have just started emailing. They settled in fine and have visited the White House, Spy Museum, and Potomac Mills mall. They also went to a Nationals game, which they loved, Nationals won! I'll let you know more as we hear from them.

Two Nights in Visby

We got up early this morning to make the 10:30 ferry to Visby. We had a reservation, but have not paid yet which makes me nervous. The ferry company requires check in 90 to 45 minutes before sailing. We arrive in Nynashamn, about an hour south of Stockholm, in plenty of time and they have the reservation. Once you check in and are in the ferry line there is a waiting area and café, we settle in, playing War and Uno. We sailed on the smaller of the two ferries, the SF 700. All seats on this boat are assigned and the same price. Naturally it takes us a while to figure this out, and we’re sitting in someone’s seats. OUR seats are near the play area which allows the boys to go back and forth by themselves. They show cartoons there and the Flintstones really doesn’t need words. Another American family (actually Swedish-Irish from California) is in front of us and their boys happily play with our boys. They’ve been visiting family above the Arctic Circle for a month and are starved for English speakers. It is a quick ride, about 3 hours, and yes, the gameboy rental booth kindly charges one of ours for free.

The train station is right by the ferry terminal and public transportation to Stockholm is very simple for those without a car.

Unloading is fast and we are quickly on our way to the Hotel St. Clemens. I’m surprised Visby doesn’t have many pedestrian only streets and we are able to drive through the old town to the hotel with no trouble. The hotel is in a series of old buildings, beautifully renovated. The buildings ring two gardens and the garden backs up to the St. Clemens ruins, one of the many church ruins on Visby. It is also across from the Botanical Garden which we can see from our room. We are in a family room, upstairs in what looks like an old barn. We have a sitting room with sleeper sofa, bedroom and spacious bathroom. It looks like it was redone very recently. Grandma’s room is very small, but only $80, just a little bigger than her single bed and a small bathroom.

It is a beautiful warm day so we walk to the small beach by the harbor and hit the crowded playground in the Almedalen. After playing on the dock and jumping in the cold Baltic we walk through town. The hotel has beer and wine and it is breath-taking to have our drinks gazing at the ruin. Of course the kids are gazing at the tv, although they did remark they like the room and the hotel. We have dinner at Isola Bella, an Italian place not too far from the hotel. On the way home the older boy and I race up the stairs by St. Mary’s Church. At the top we turn back to the water and even my blasé 8 year old gasps and says how beautiful it is with the sun setting over the ocean, and the ruins and city. For those of you going to Visby without kids this is a great spot for a romantic picnic as the sun sets.

What a nice, unusual, and exciting report! I've stumbled over it today while at work, and just can't stop reading!

Who cares for Harry Potthead, give me the Home Exchange ;)

Wow, what a neat experience!! Thanks for posting. This is a very interesting trip report!

Thanks for sharing as you go along - it is great.
Happy travels!

I love reading your report. We just returned from a 5 wk exchange to Germany. It's great fun to read about other people's experiences and you do it so well, too!

Great report! We know the search for a way to charge the gameboy. We were in Italy for 2 weeks this summer and the Gameboy never charged. Friends of ours from the UK suggested we try the shaver outlet at our hotel in London and thank goodness it worked. The Gameboys charged for London and the flight home. We'd love to visit Sweeden sometime, so its good to know the Gameboys won't charge. Our boys are 6y and 9y.
Have a great trip,
Travelatte

travelatte, thanks for the tip on the gameboy charger! This trip is becoming the hunt for the gameboy charger although it gives Mr. Sprin something to do when we stop to shop.

Thanks for everyone's encouragement, we are having a great time and I'll post our Visby conclusion soon.

Visby continued

I think our boys (and us) have finally acclimatized, or else they are so tired they’ve given up. This is the first night they go to sleep quickly, like they do at home. It’s great since we’re in a hotel and we can sit in the garden, enjoy a Wisby Pils, brewed on the island, and gaze at the church ruin.

We woke up to beautiful blue skies, a change from Stockholm where our first three days were overcast. After breakfast we charged up to the wall to walk on them, but who knew the Visby wall is not like the York or Rothenburg walls, there is no walking on them, just alongside them. This detail didn’t bother us and we went around fighting dragons and other enemies, making Visby safe. Outside the wall is much warmer in the morning, but inside has that great view.

We stopped for coffee and snacks somewhere close to the Osterport. I am usually completely anal about knowing where we are on the map, but we were having so much fun that I slipped and of course don’t know where we ended up. It was just a summer spot selling breakfast and lunch with outdoor tables in a courtyard overlooking the town and the sea. Again, it was magnificent and we stayed a long time enjoying the morning. The kids had opened a lego xpod on the ferry and they carried them in their pockets today pulling them out at each stop to build new things.

Grandma toured the art museum while I shopped and the boys worked on legos in the museum’s forecourt. It is a small museum but she enjoyed it and they had a nice little shop. We decided against the history museum, too pretty a day. We ate lunch in the St. Hans café. They sell sandwiches and some hot lunches with tables set among the ruins of St. Hans church. The food was good and the atmosphere wonderful and the kids could explore while we ordered.

More Visby

After lunch we got our car and headed out to explore some of Gotland Island and a good thing since those gameboys hadn’t been played for over 24 hours. We had a list of potteries and decided to head south to visit some. We were most impressed with Etelhem pottery near the village of Etelhem. It is the oldest pottery on Gotland and their pots are both whimsical and well-potted. That they had a poster celebrating North Carolina pottery, where we honed our interest in ceramics, also helped. Both grandma and I loaded up, and we have 3 days of pottery touring scheduled our last week as well, hope we can carry it all! Thank goodness those children didn’t look up once to see the landscape or even the old windmill where we stopped to take pictures.

We wound back to Tofta Strand, a sandy beach south of Visby. It was windy and late afternoon, the beach was deserted. It was an ok beach, a long walk from the carpark, we heard that Åminne was a nicer beach, but sometimes you have to go where the pottery is. The boys enjoyed themselves (water still cold, and wind didn’t help) and got some icecream, obviously it is not THAT cold.

Drove back to Visby and parked at the Osterport and walked into town for dinner. We bumbled into Köpmannen II and had our first really good meal. The boys shared a pizza and our wonderful waiter split it for them. We had catfish with a yogurt sauce and potatoes and beans; Mr. Sprin got lamb which was extra tender and tasty. Too bad it was our last evening since we all said we would eat here again.

On the way back there is a large toy store by the gate. While we are browsing Mr. Sprin asks the clerk about chargers, sort of his multicultural icebreaker. The clerk sells him a charger for some other game system assuring him that it is a little known fact these work on gameboys. Naturally when we get to our hotel the charger does not fit a gameboy. It is 9:05 and we assume the store is closed. Mr. Sprin rushes to the hotel desk and the clerk is just great. She tells him the store is indeed closed but she will return it for him tomorrow (we are booked on an early ferry) and immediately gives him his money back, in cash. Did I mention that the St. Clemens Hotel on Visby is VERY nice?!

We loved Gotland and especially Visby. All of us said we will return here and spend longer next time. Just looking at the wall as we walked into dinner was breath taking, it is easy to see why it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Wonderful trip report!
If you plan to go to Uppsala one of these days, be sure to walk around on the University Campus! It's the beginning of the academic year and it's just full of students and freshman initiations and stuff. Really fun to watch.

We left Visby on the 8:50 a.m. ferry. We waited until early July to make our reservations and the later ferries were all full. This time we sailed on the larger boat, the SF 1500. There are different classes of seats on this boat, including private rooms. We had not specified a class and were seated in the unreserved seats in the restaurant. There seems to be a frenzy boarding ferries with people grabbing seats and getting food like they haven’t eaten in days. We were able to get seats together by a window. This ferry went fast and we docked at noon.

At the ferry terminal in Nynashamn there is a strip of small shops, cafes and restaurants. We decide on seafood for lunch and purchase a feast at the Nynashamn Rökeriet, a fish market with some sandwiches. It is right by the water and they have tables in front. We purchased salmon, mackerel, octopus salad, prawns in dill, bread, cheese and some authentic Virginia peanuts. The Rökeriet supplies plates and silverware. It was so tasty and fun ordering the different items we bought more to take home for dinner.

It was nice to return to our home outside Stockholm after our “vacation” on Visby. We took a walk around town, washed clothes and then spread out our banquet. This time we had more salmon, crayfish, a small lobster, and herring. It is crayfish season in Sweden and these are the first we’ve eaten. Yum!

sprin2

This is so interesting and I look forward to future postings.

I have been trying to think of things to take to pass the time on the plane in October for my 5 year old grandson but did not think he was old enough for comics. Which comics do 5 year old boys like.

Thanks.
Sandy

I think our 5 year old likes comics because he has an older brother, although maybe he likes them cause they have lots of pictures to read. I like the older ones like Casper and Richie Rich, but we tend to find the darker ones like Batman and Spiderman at Target and our local comics store.

He also likes to do weaving cards, and read and the Crayola Color Wonder kits are very fun. Good luck and I'm so glad you like the reports.

We go to Uppsala today, Stardust, thanks for the tip.

Uppsala

While it has been overcast at our house since we arrived, we woke to our first real rainy day. As we drove north to Uppsala the drizzle changed to a steady rain. At the outskirts of Uppsala we passed an IKEA and we all sang out to stop. It was probably out of habit as we visit our local IKEA on rainy, winter days at home. The boys happily went into the kids’ area to enjoy 30 minutes of the ball pit and tv while we wandered through the store. Most of the inventory was the same as in DC. After retrieving the boys, who looked very happy in the kids’ area, we had snacks and headed on to Gamla Uppsala.

Gamla Uppsala is the site of some large burial mounds from the Viking period. It is also an important site in the early history of Christianity in Sweden. The museum is new and very well done, with English text throughout. There is a hands-on room for kids and they were also making cardboard swords and helmets, and demonstrating how to make chain mail. The interpretation is excellent, probably because it is such a new museum, there are some neat artefacts, and there is a large window to view the mounds. We spent a long time in the museum.

We had lunch in the less expensive café at the Odinsborg Restaurant next door to the museum. It serves traditional Swedish fare – meatballs, salmon, shrimp salad – and was very good. The restaurant also looked very nice.

After our lunch we peeked in the church and then walked around the mounds. The boys had a great time and didn’t notice the rain. I told them the story of St. Eric (an early Swedish king) and they loved it, especially the part where he is beheaded. Grandma opted out of the walk and had a cup of tea at the museum’s snack area. There is a pottery next door and we browsed there before heading into new Uppsala.

We did not have a map of parking areas and our Swedish (or lack thereof) was challenged trying to read the parking meters. We were not ticketed or towed so I guess we did ok. I hate driving into a town with no idea of where to park though. The sun was shining by this point and Uppsala is a very pretty town on either side of the Fyris River. We visited the cathedral and the smaller Holy Trinity church, walked around the castle and university. At drink time we settled into the Yacht Club, one of the many places on the river. It was ok, the waiter was very nice. We had burgers and enjoyed the view. We sat outside and they had their heaters on to keep us warm.

Oh, and the best part of the day – Mr. Sprin found a charger, so now those gameboys are fired up and ready to go!

Bravo for charged Gameboys...I know how wonderful that can be.

Travelatte

Sprin2 -

I'm enjoying your report!

This morning just as Grandma was trying to make us her famous Rachel Ray boiled eggs the cultural differences in our appliances brought breakfast to a grinding halt – we couldn’t turn on the stove! Of course we had enjoyed boiled eggs a couple days before, and had used the oven, so we were confident that the stove worked. Well, we consulted the instructions from our hosts and found nothing about secret power switches (they had let us in on the trick to opening the stove—use a knife to pop the latch). We checked the fuses, which look like something out of the old Dr. Who series. So, we resorted to another technology (email) and wrote our hosts in Virginia and off we went for another day of touring.

Later that day (which was in many ways a quest), Grandma figured out that you had to turn on both the power knob (next to the oven control) and then turn on the individual burner. The Swedish people emailed that the power knob acts as a sort of child lock and they never use it. I guess it was in the on position when they left and we had turned it off and didn’t know to turn it back on.

Today we tried to go see the Viking city of Birka, I’ll report on that later.

I never knew ovens or stoves could be so complicated, yikes!!
Sounds like you all are still having a lovely time though. What a wonderful experience for your children

Texas Aggie, me neither! This was our first stove mishap after numerous rentals throughout Europe. As we are continually reminded travel is an adventure.

I've enjoyed your posts as well, we're another pizza loving family!

Sprin, reading your report is like reading a magazine - can't wait to get the next issue!!

The Quest for Birka or Our Wild Birka Boat Chase…

After visiting Gamla Uppsala we thought we would cruise out to the Viking city of Birka on an island in Lake Mälaren. It, and the neighbouring site of Hovgården, are another of Sweden’s world heritage sites. Armed with a good map of the surrounding islands we thought we would drive and take a boat from Rastaholm, rather than from Stockholm (we explained to Grandma that there are no roads to Birka). According to the web there are regular trips on a 100 person boat from Rastaholm.

Birka was a trading city, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe during the Viking age. Neighboring Hovgåarden was the site of the king’s residence. I read the book about Birka last night so I am full of Birka facts.

Another reason for driving to the Ekero Islands was to drop Grandma off at Drottningholm, the home of the Swedish royal family (and another world heritage site). I think she’d had her fill of Viking sites yesterday. After figuring out a meeting place at Drottningholm and getting her oriented, we found the marina in tiny Rastaholm. There was in fact a sign (in Swedish) with the times for the Birka boat and luckily one at noon. The dock is next to a pretty restaurant, Rastaholms Värdshus, which unfortunately did not open until noon. We amused ourselves for 20 minutes and began to wonder--where was the Birka boat?

Shortly before noon two other parties, a family from London and a Swedish couple, walked up waiting for the boat as well. After a couple of minutes when the boat didn’t appear the Swedish couple read the sign again and said the boat only comes on weekends in August. Bummer. We knew a boat sailed daily from Adelsö, farther out the islands. None of us had the times for that boat so we all ran to our cars and raced there.

A free ferry from Munsö services Adelsö every 30 minutes. It was fun to ride on this and the boys poked their heads up from the gameboys for a moment to check it out and to inquire about snacks or lunch. The café at the ferry landing was closed and the restaurant in Rastaholm hadn’t had any snacks. I think it shocked them that we weren’t getting out and that the crossing was only 5 minutes. We had just been on the big ferry to Visby.

Adelsö is just a short drive from the ferry and parking for the boat is well marked. It is a quarter mile or so walk down to the dock and we met our English friends on the way. Unfortunately there is only one boat at 11:30 to Birka from this spot.

All was not lost since we were at Hovgärden and we were able to walk around that site, but there is a museum at Birka that we had hoped to visit. We hiked back to the car and made the next ferry. There is a nice pottery about a mile from the Munsö ferry, set back in an old farm.

We decided the day at least deserved a nice lunch so after checking out the large golf club and hotel at Skytteholm we headed back to Rastaholms Vardhus for a wonderful meal! The restaurant is full of wood, as is so much of Sweden, with a beautiful painted ceiling and an expansive deck overlooking the lake. The service was excellent and our food some of the best yet. I had a fish stew with a tomato base. It had crayfish and a white fish and lots of vegetables. John had a white fish with broccoli, beets and potatoes and a brown sauce. The boys had a hamburger which they loved. Just gazing at the water and watching the boats made up for our poor planning. We had a tic tac toe championship while waiting for lunch and it seems that I am the family champ.

If you haven't already visited, you might like the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. It houses the Vasa, an early 17th century ship which sank in the harbor on it's maiden voyage out of Stockholm. I took an English language tour of the ship a few years ago, and it was one of the best descriptions of the rigors of pre-modern shipboard life that I've heard. And I think your kids would enjoy it.

sprin2

Thanks for your tips about the comics and where to purchase. I am going to give them a try with our 5 year old grandson.

Is there a secret to Rachel Ray's hard boiled eggs?

Enjoyed your comments about the stove. Keep including those little differences. Please tell us more about the house you are living in and the local shops.

Sandy

This is one fabulous trip report! Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with all of us.

Birka continued

Our lunch was lovely but we couldn't linger as we were already late for getting Grandma. She enjoyed Drottningholm, but frankly prefers Buckingham. It was such a pretty afternoon we decided to find a beach. We drove to Stenhamra on Färingsö and to the little beach there, Stockbybadet. The beach is sandy and there is a nice rectangular jetty with a raised area for jumping. Out in the lake there is a tall jumping platform and there is a rope swing tied to a tree over the water. There were lots of kids swimming and the boys had a good time here. There are some swings, a changing area and icecream stand, although it was closed. We mostly laid in the grass and enjoyed the late afternoon.

We drove home and decided to try our Chinese – Thai restaurant. We walked down and ordered take-away. While waiting we popped into the grocery and then headed home. The restaurant is run by a Thai and the menu was about evenly split between Thai and Chinese. It was quite tasty. We love to get Asian food in Europe because it is always slightly different. The spring rolls were very small an we had 5 to an order. They were especially tasty. We also got a chicken in basil which came with many vegetables and a thicker sauce than we expected.

Tomorrow we head to Stockholm!