Helenelund and Ulriksdal

There are subcultures with every hobby whether it be bicycling, bass fishing, woodworking, orienteering, traveling, chess, wine tasting, or socializing. One of the favorite Swedish hobbies is sailing on the many waterways in the Stockholm archipelago. I visited a small communuty marina in Helenelund (or very nearby in Sollentuna) and saw people making a social event out of sailboating and they were on land! Now that I think about it, sailing combines the exercise and fresh air of a casual bike ride, the joy of woodworking, the intellectual challenge of chess, travel opportunities, and offers a perfect place to sip wine and to socalize. One could even fish. What a sport!

I also discovered something the Swedes call colonies, one shown in the photo here. They are a group of tiny houses with a small garden. Up close they look like quaint one room houses. I'm told they are just little getaways. People, apparently those that don't go sailing and those without a cabin in the archipelago, go to the colony for some summer weekend variety. I saw people, mostly older folks out in their garden and tinkering around there house. It seemed like a peaceful place.


The other thing I discovered just off the bike path between my apartment and work is the Ulriksdal castle. (There are plenty of Flickr folks that have nicer pictres than mine of the castle and grounds. Just do a search.) It's not a giant stone castle like you find in Germany but it is a large well kept estate - now a park. It always surprises me how taking a slightly different path can produce rewards.

You'll see a few of these shots on my flickr.com collection called April 15, Spring Sunday. Remember you can view as a slide show or individually if you want to see the a short description of each shot.