Water you think about this? - Gothenburg Archipelago

Every now and then you get the perfect day, sometimes it's worth looking back on those days especially when looking towards another year ahead. Welcome to 2018 and to the Archipelago islands off the west coast of Gothenburg, Sweden!

Early one morning we took the ferry over to the island of Vrångö, on the way we saw many pretty sights of Swedes enjoying their afternoon on the waters kayaking, fishing and walking around the islands. You travel on the same ticket the whole way from the city, including the ferry we got onto from Saltholmen.

Vrångö is the most southerly island of the Gothenburg archipelago. Around 380 people live there the whole year round. The island contains a post office, shops, and schools, among other things. Fishing is still an important industry and the there are six working commercial fishing boats on the island.

The island is small enough to walk around in an afternoon and is covered in nature reserve so the majority is open to the public.

There was a beautifully designed cafe right by the water and the ferry wharf perfect for an afternoon lunch. It's called Skärgårdens Cafe and you can read about it here.

The Swedish red houses that you see scattered around the farmland had a resurgence in the 19th Century are painted a colour called falu rödfärg (falu red in English).

The paint consists of water, rye flour, linseed oil and tailings from the copper mines of Falun which contain silicates iron oxides, copper compounds, and zinc. This was a common way of maintaining wooden houses as the paint was relatively easy to make.

We did not see any cars on the islands and it looked as if the only way to get around was to walk or catch a boat or ferry. A very idyllic lifestyle if you ask me!

This day was the closest we had to the Swedish midsommar where Swedes young and old getting together to celebrate, either at large community events or smaller gatherings of friends and family.

Almost everyone gets to finish work early on midsommer’s eve, leading to a mass exodus from the cities and out into the countryside, often this will be accompanied with a party that goes most of the night as the light continues and there are only a couple of hours of darkness, or up further north there is no darkness at all!

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