This morning we woke up to one of those magical winter days of bitter cold, frost and pale, cloudless skies. The sun shone, sending long shadows, but there was little warmth in its rays as the iceman had truly come. Outside of the kitchen window lay a white, white world with the leafless trees looking like black lace against that pale sky.




It was far too beautiful a day to languish inside, so we determined to rug up well against the biting chill and go out walking around the town and seeing what it was like in the snow. We were very fortunate as well to see this little fellow fly in and sit on a branch of the birch tree nearest our window, feeding on tidbits and trying to keep warm. He's a gorgeous bullfinch (domherre) and was a very welcome addition to our breakfast scene.




I've never seen one of them in the flesh before, though they are very common motifs on Christmas decorations in Sweden. And you can see why - they are instantly recognisable with their bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back and black cap and tail. Such a cheerful, busy little bird! I find watching birds out of my window to be really fascinating and so calming. It always brings a smile to my face and can banish any winter blue feelings instantly.

By the time we set off, some of the snow was melting, especially on the roads where passing cars created friction with their studded winter tyres. It made the conditions slippery and icy in places, but I had my halkskydd with me in case it was too slippery out. If it wasn't for them, I'm sure I would have broken my neck by now. We walked briskly towards the old railway station, near the castle.




The Christmas markets were in full swing today and the car park at the castle was absolutely jam packed with tour buses. A kind reader had already emailed me and warned me about the crush there on a weekend, so we determined to go during the week sometime when things are possibly a little quieter. For now, we stayed on this side of the moat and instead went and looked through a few of the smaller shops which were open for trade. My favourite was this lovely gallery called Frukthem.




There was an exhibition of work by local artists and illustrators Johan & Cathrin Hesselstrand. Their work was all inspired by Vadstena and the surrounding area and we both spent quite some time browsing around the gallery. I was particularly drawn to Cathrin's work. My favourite was a stunning view of the castle on a deep, dark, star filled winter night. There was snow all around, the moat was deep frozen and the lone figure of tomte was pulling his sled along the front of the building. It was beautiful and quite arresting. Lars-Göran was more drawn to the summer views of the streets with the rich, warm colours and the leafy vegetation. We are thinking about getting one of them, but in the meantime, I bought some of their Christmas cards with local scenes from Vadstena on them.

We wandered through the antique shop and handwork gallery near the old silos, then walked along the eastern part of the castle moat.




Feel free to click on the picture and see the lovely panorama shot Lars-Göran took of this stately building. Vadstena Castle was built by King Gustav Vasa in 1545 as a fortress and it has that sort of look, doesn't it? It was used as a royal palace until 1716 and another day I'll talk a bit more about what it is like inside. One interesting bit of gossip about the moat is the number of cars that must be fished out of there every year. Swedes are not so used to using handbrakes and the ground around the moat slopes, so scenes like this happen a half a dozen times a year. It makes me nervous about mooring my boat there in future.




But for now we looked at the moat, slowly turning to ice and then turned towards the main street of the town, which lies beyond the castle's gardens. The mood in centrum was busy and buoyant. The shops seemed to be doing a brisk trade, there were people out enjoying the fresh air, window shopping, greeting friends and the small coffee houses and restaurants were full of happy diners.




We stopped at the gallery and looked at some prints, browsed in the newsagent, checked out the window display of the fabulous little gourmet kitchenware shop Kopp & Kanna, the irresistible kids' clothes in Krusbär and went in to the equivalent of an Italian continental deli to savour the food delights. I loved looking at all of the cheeses, pastas, condiments and I couldn't resist buying a lovely Christmas panettone,which we are going to gobble down happily on Christmas day. I just love panettone!

I was looking out for some pointsettias to buy but didn't see any, so I'll wait until next week. I looked with longing at the beautiful straw deers in the florist window and at the colourful amaryllis flowers. I must get a bulb to grow again this year. One window sign in the local costume jewellery shop made me laugh:




The sign reads "Everything in the window 100kr" (that's about $18). Which was funny because there was nothing in the window! We chuckled to ourselves and kept walking along the street to the red tower and then turned towards home, where a nice warming cup of coffee and slice of bun awaited us.

Tomorrow we are off to Motala for their Christmas markets. I admit that I'm really excited as I am anxious to get Christmas on the road this year. I've been to the markets at Nynäshamn, Utö and in Stockholm, so I'm wondering how this one will compare to those ones. With the markets at Vadstena being so big, I'm thinking that Motala, which is ten times the size of our little town ought to have something really special. And only one more sleep.....