Sverige

Utö, by Ove Nilsson

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:41:12 +0100

I just wanted to be sure that everyone can see the wonderful photos of Utö taken by Ove Nilsson and published on the Näsudden website at: http://www.nasudden.se/uto_stuga_galleri.htm

Stora Landsvägen, Utö (the main road)

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:58:12 +0100

Running along the Northwestern coastline of the island of Utö is the main road.

This road takes you from the very southern tip of Utö (even over the bridge to Ålö) to the northernmost tip of Uö, passing by Sprängabrygga, Mariehäll, and Gruvbryggan.

The entire route is effortlessly made by bicycle, and can be made in an afternoon. For example, from Mariehäll to Gruvbryggan it is only a 7-minute bike ride, and from Mariehäll to the island of Ålö it only takes about 30 minutes, and this at a leisurely pace, while taking photographs for your blog...

Kvarnen, Utö (the windmill)

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:36:17 +0100

At the top of the island is the famous windmill on Utö that can be seen from all around, and as you approach the island by boat.

If anything, I strongly recommend going up to the windmill to see the wonderful view of the northern coast and the outlying islands of Utö. I have included some breathtaking photos of the view of the island from the windmill in this entry.

Once again, I neglected to take notes on the windmill (contributions anyone?), however I do remember that it is of Dutch design, in that it can be turned so that it always points into the wind.

Gruvbryggan, Utö

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:28:35 +0100

The main harbour at Utö, and the place where you will find most of what you need for your stay on the island is Gruvbryggan.

There you will find a clothing store, a bakery, several restaurants, the tourist office, a bicycle rental shop, a children's playground, a grocery store and other shops as well.

I have taken some photos of the area, which will give you a good idea of what it is like, and what you can expect to see if you visit Utö, to help you plan for your trip...

Bodsundet, Utö

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:05:43 +0100

Guests staying at Mariehäll in Utö may (at the time of this writing) rent a small motorboat, with which the northern coast of Utö can be seen from the water.

I have taken some photos of the stretch of water from Gruvbryggan to Näsudden, which I will share with you here.

If you are interested in touring the island by small open motorboat, you should know that the waves are very large on the eastern coast, so you cannot go there, and you will not want to venture past Näsudden towards the West.

Utö 1900...

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:42:17 +0100

Visitors to Utö's famous windmill who venture inside and walk up to the second floor will see some photographs taken of people and places around the island around the turn of the 20th century.

I could not help but be struck by the contrast of then and now, as I am sure you will too, upon seeing these photographs. I took a pictures of some of them in order to share them with you, though I apologize for not taking note of the particular details of each photo (on the lower-right hand corner of the photos is a description of them). For that I can only recommend that you visit the windmill :)

I therefore will present you my reproductions of these photos, without comments. If you visit Utö and go up to the windmill, I would be happy if you could note the descriptions of the photos and share them with everyone here...

Mariehäll Stuga, version 0.9

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:37:50 +0100

So the stuga that I have chosen this year is called "Mariehäll". Initially, as I briefly mentioned in the first stuga hunting article, was set on a bed and breakfast near Näsudden, but being taken for that week, this would not be possible. However, two alternate possibilities were provided to me, one of which led to this cottage, the other was a really nice loft run by the Lien family.

This particular cottage is very well referenced on the internet, and a simple Google search will display quite a number of pages for it, notably http://www.utostuga.se/mariehall (this is the "homepage" of the cottage, with a description, practical information, directions (see mine) and booking information (in Swedish)) and www.sweden-holidays.com, where you can see some more information.

But here are some detailed photos of both the exterior and interior...

Planning for Utö: clothing

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:26:08 +0100

Such a simple question - so many consequences. Before I pack my bags, I first want to be sure that I bring just the right clothing for a week in the middle of July.

Word has it that Utö is famous for its sunshine.

But if there is anything that I have learned from my time in Sweden, or even from my Norwegian heritage, is that Scandinavians are quite fond of adding "the best in all the land" to just about everything! So my initial instinct is to place this claim along with others such as "The biggest festival in all of Sweden"...

So let's see what the weather really looks like - who knows, perhaps it will indeed be "the most sunny island in all of Sweden"!

Spränga Brygga, version 0.9

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:06:32 +0100

I have had some relative difficulty finding information on Spränga Brygga from the internet, though in the end, the pieces have started to come together, and I will soon be able to present quite a lot of interesting facts about this harbor!

This entry documents what I anticipate finding once I arrive at Spränga, which will be interesting to compare and augment with what I encounter at location.

One element that I find particularly interesting from the start is how such a small location can handle such a large number of tourists without being completely worn out. This is to the credit not only of the local inhabitants, though also the tourists that arrive.

Going from Stockholm to Spränga, Utö

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:04:56 +0100

So I have it all planned out - I will be interested in seeing how well my plan will resemble what actually happens once I begin this trip.

So I am presenting this as how one can go from the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to the island of Utö, though on a theoretical level, based on timetables and facts that are readily available on the internet.

Stuga hunting on Utö, part 1

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:44:27 +0100

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.

Sverige 1996 - 2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:16:48 +0100

It has been more than 10 years since I have last been in Sweden - it is time to go back!

The last time I was in Sweden, I was studying music composition at the Juilliard School in New York City under David Diamond, and taking a Swedish extra curricular course at Columbia University with Verne Moberg.

Quite a lot has happened in the twelve years since then, but some things never change.