We have had our first snow for the season, and while it hasn’t really been THAT cold, I couldn’t resist the exaggeration of comparing it to Siberia. We were sitting in the living room of some good friends and when I glanced out of the window in the late afternoon darkness and I saw the flakes floating gently down. It looked so beautiful and I gasped with joy and did a small mental happy dance. I dared not look too smug because Lars-Göran looked at the white vista outside and held his head in his hands, crying out “Noooooooo!” He informs me that he was already sick of winter last week. Oh dear.

We had a lovely day out in Stockholm with some good friends. The day itself was cold, clear and crisp and we all enjoyed being out in the fresh air (well rugged up, naturally!). We began the day in central Stockholm at the National Museum of Fine Arts at Södra Blasieholmshamnen. I was interested in seeing the exhibition The Dutch Golden Age, with paintings by Rembrandt, Frans Hals and their contemporaries. I have just finished reading Tracy Chevalier’s excellent book Girl With A Pearl Earring, which is set in Vermeer van Delft’s time, so I felt well and truly in the mood for more Dutch art.

It was a huge exhibition, with paintings gathered from galleries all over Europe. Some of the paintings I’d seen before at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and at the Louvre in Paris, but many were new to me and we spent a couple of hours admiring and discussing the paintings while wandering around the spacious rooms of the museum. I always enjoy coming here and admiring this beautiful nineteenth century building, with views from the big picture windows across the water to the Royal Palace.



We then drove around to Skeppsholmen and from there, walked across the bridge to the tiny islet of Kastellholmen, with it’s citadel built to protect the entrance to Stockholm, offering a fine view of Djurgården across the waters of Saltsjön.



Stockholm is a striking city in all seasons and well deserves its title of “the Venice of the north”. Water is such a dominant feature of life here and you are always aware of being in an island in this pretty water world. I also enjoy wandering around the city with Lars-Göran and Lennart because they both love Stockholm, know it intimately and can point out interesting places, facts about buildings and talk about the historical areas with such enthusiasm that it brings alive any excursion we take.

From Kastellholmen we looked back to Skeppsholmen (The Ship’s Island), another of the very historic areas of the city that used to house the naval fleet. Today, the island has a rich cultural life, housing several parks, museums, art galleries as well as being the venue for the huge jazz festival held here every summer. The buildings are well preserved and offer water views from every angle.



Turning slightly to our right, we can glimpse Strandvägen – considered the poshest address in Stockholm. And is it any wonder, with these glorious old buildings, situated right on the waterfront; and not on a dead piece of water, but one of the busiest and most lively trafficked stretches in the city. If you look at the shoreline, you can see that boats line the wharf and we were particularly interested in popping over to take a look at one of them, recently purchased by some friends.



The boat we came to see is moored in a prime spot just before Djurgårdsbron. It is an old fishing boat, built in 1931 and recently bought by a lovely young Swedish-Australian couple. The boat’s name is Matilda (how appropriate!) and she is bweautiful!



I just love her shape – there is a cosy, friendly and safe feel to her and she exudes charm and real old fashioned character. She is even more lovely in real life than in the photo and I can’t wait to go aboard when Anders and Beth take her over. We have been invited to tie up alongside any time we are in town and I know that this means we’ll visit Stockholm much more often with the boat as we have a guaranteed mooring spot right in the heart of the city. One of the reasons we avoid coming here in summer is that it is so crowded in the guest harbours, with no guarantee of even finding a place to moor. Of course, the other benefit is having the company of friends alongside to help you enjoy the summer. While I was looking at the information about her on the pier, I realised that we also know one of her previous owners – someone who now keeps a large sailing boat at our boat club. Talk about a small world.

After admiring Matilda, we drove around to another tiny island off the south of Djurgården, called Becksholmen. This is a real working wharf, with enormous dry docks, workshops, old wooden boats being restored and the intoxicating smell of tar, salt, rope, varnish and timber. And the world’s cutest gantry cranes in the shape of giraffes.



I really smiled when I saw them painted with the distinctive giraffe pattern, complete with head. Lars-Göran tells me that they are considered a heritage item and are not allowed to be altered. They do provide a gentle touch to what is seen as a quite industrial looking place. There have been moves by developers to have the whole place torn down and the waterfront island property turned into exclusive housing, but so far that has been avoided and a very vocal group has been formed to protect this historic working wharf. I always think it’s a pity when these areas are sanitised and turned into showcases for the wealthy. Some essential bit of the character and feel of a place dies out when that happens and you can never re-create it again.

By now, it was getting dark, so we headed to Lennart and Anna’s warm and welcoming home for dinner and relaxation before taking the train through the gently falling snow to Nynäshamn.