For this year's trip, I wanted to do something different, though I know that I wanted to go back to Sweden.
Originally that plan was to spend a week or two in Stockholm. I had spent a week in Stockholm in 1996 after I finished my summer language studies at the Blekinge Läns Folkhögskola in Bräkne-Hoby, but at the time I was a poor student, with only 200 SEK in my pocket and on a shoestring budget. There were so many things that I wanted to do at the time which were simply not possible, because of money issues.
My pastor is from Stockholm, so I asked for his opinion on what fun things there is to do in Stockholm in the summer, and he recommended island hopping, something I had heard of, but which I never really considered.
So after much looking around, I found a nice island called Utö (more on this in a later entry). One of the interesting aspects of this island, is that you can rent little cottages (stuga) for a week, weekend, or per day. You can see a list of these cottages for rent on the Utö tourism website at: http://www.utoturistbyra.se/index_ns.html
Here is a list I made on the first day, with words I found on the form that I did not know, or forgot, but which are useful in looking for a stuga:
| Gender | Swedish | English |
| en | altan | terrace |
| ett | sovrum | bedrom |
| ett | våningssäng | bunkbed |
| badstrand | bathing beach | |
| ett | lakan | sheets |
| medtaga | bring with you | |
| belägen | located | |
| ingår | included | |
| helg | weekend | |
| vardag | weekday | |
| dygn | day and night (stayover) | |
| ett | spis | stove |
| ett | ugn | oven |
| ett | frysfack | freezer |
| ett | kyl | refrigerator |
| ett | säng | bed |
In the end, I found a gorgeous stuga at Näsudden, however we are coming in the high season, and it can only be rented by the week during that period. On the website, there is also mention that you can rent a bed and breakfast by the day if you are coming for less than a week. I therefore wrote to the host family if this was a possibility, but unfortunately the room was already taken. So my advise to anyone looking to rent a stuga on Utö for the summer: plan in advance, at least 2 months before the date that you plan on being there.
The host family has been very helpful, however, and rather than simply have the story end there - they were kind enough to send a link to another stuga, and provided me with a name and contact information of another place where I could stay. Ultimately this would prove to be the defining moment in the planning of this vacation, as I was able to secure a week in the Mariehäll-stugan (more on this to come)!
