The Swedish summer is blessed with many beautiful things in nature that defies words to describe what the eyes can behold everywhere - from neatly landscaped gardens and parks everywhere, to friendly green forests with their treasures of berries and wild mushrooms, to the Swedish archipelago - big and small, near and far - to hundreds of blossoms on the wayside- wild and nurtured, in an array of colours and forms. It is a word-defying experience to be so close to so much beauty.
The trip to Ystad
We ( G. and I ) left by car for Ystad last July 19th, intending to spend some free days in the summerhouse in Bjäresjö - 10 minutes from Ystad. The trip - which included a 30-minute coffee stopover- took 6 hours and 30 minutes. The summerhouse is empty during most parts of the year, hence the grasses all-around were waist-high.
Some tiles on the roof had fallen due to a storm sometime ago and the water meter was out of order because it had frozen during winter. At the basement where this is located, the rats and frogs have also found their winter refuge. After a day of intensive work, life assumed some degree of normality. But Skåne where there are more sunny days than other parts of Sweden, the rain came everyday as though heaven has been crying over abandonement of the place.
This was no way to spend a short holiday. So we contacted our Danish pal in Cape Verde Claus Mogensen and took in his long-standing invitation to visit Bornholm and his 150-year old windmill. There is a daily ferry from Ystad to Bornholm - a Catamaran capable of carrying some 120 passengers. It takes one hour and a half to negotiate the distance. Bornholm -true to everything the brochures and travellers say, is a beautiful island, a summerplace for many Danes and Swedes as well as other Europeans who have discovered the quality of life the island offers its visitors.
Claus had rented a small car that took us around the island. He has even arranged for us to meet his relatives living in Bornholm and farming herbs and vegetables for domestic consumption. The windmill - shown in the picture above is magnificent, truly a landmark that Denmark should help preserve through some form of maintenance subsidy. It would function well as a cafe with books and souvenirs to sell to visitors. But sadly, that is not the case. Do we want to buy a piece of the mill, asked Claus. A very tempting proposition indeed but since we are in the process of simplifying our lifestyle, owning a windmill is not going to be simple.
The one-day tour of Bornholm was a memorable experience. The weather cooperated and gave us enough sun to brighten even our moods. The Bornholm food specialities consist mainly of smoked fish - salmon, herrings, mackerel and eel. The ingredients used vary from herbs to different onions, to the secret of smoking fish used by the restaurants, to the cooks who make each dish and their presentation. Most of all, the food tastes better in the company one has. Afterall, the sum of it all requires that each part of the composition harmonises with one another and that is to say - the people in the company, the food on the table, the drinks that fuel the joyous laughter and all the beauty one can absorb just by looking outside and beyond.
This is just one summer tale among many others. Next will be the trip to Finhamn, located in the middle part of Stockholm's beautiful archipelago.#
