We left our comfortable anchorage
opposite the Queens’s palace, Drottningholm, and set off to explore a bit more
of Lake Mälaren. It is the third largest lake in Sweden (we passed through the
two larger ones in 2013 when we came through the Göta Canal) and it spans 120km from east to west.
Most of Lake Mälaren’s islands are
wooded and amazingly empty – it is a nature reserve – but the ones closest to
Stockholm are quite well-populated with rather nice-looking houses with their
own jetties – something we would love to have!
For the night we stopped in a
delightful little bay called Gunnviksviken one of Sweden’s many natural
harbours, completely sheltered and about 4.5 metres deep over its entire area,
so an excellent anchorage which can accommodate many boats. Around the edges are wild yellow irises …
Here is Astraia anchored in the
middle, but it is also possible to tie up to trees around the bay, especially
for smaller boats …
We inflated the dinghy and had a
walk through the woods on the island in the evening sunshine …
… then I was tempted in for my first
swim of the year – it was a lovely, sunny evening and the water temperature was
a relatively balmy 16°C according to our thermometer. It was invigorating! But I managed 4 laps of the boat so it can’t
have been that cold!!
Charles is not a keen swimmer, but
anyway he had more important things to do on board!
The next morning we motored round
the corner to the beautiful little town of Mariefred …
… and moored in the marina right
opposite its fairytale castle, Gripsholm Slott …
We almost immediately set off to
tour Gripsholm before it started to rain!
We liked this cannon in the courtyard, designed to look like a dragon!
Gripsholm dates from the 1380s, but
the current building was built by Gustav Vasa in the 16th century
and contains furniture and artwork spanning four centuries. Since 1822 Gripsholm Castle has housed
Sweden’s National Portrait Gallery, the oldest national collection of portraits
in the world, featuring prominent Swedes from the 1500s until the present day.
The interior of the castle is
fascinating, the rooms taking you on a journey through its history. You can see different styles of décor through
the ages – walls of painted wood, plaster, canvas and hessian; wallpaper nailed
to the walls, painted silk and leather, textile wallhangings and tapestries.
This is one of the older rooms with
painted walls and ceiling …
Here are some of the earlier
portraits …
Intricately painted fireplace, door,
walls and ceiling …
… but still very much a fortress as
well …
The castle is a wonderful venue for
concerts, but unfortunately there wasn’t one on while we were there …
The decoration of the rooms
demonstrates the development of style from Medieval times, through the
Renaissance and up to the 19th century – I’m not sure we saw it all
in the right order!
A neatly concealed bed …
Flemish tapestry ...
… and gilded leather wall-covering
which was a symbol of wealth …
In 1809 King Gustav IV Adolf was
imprisoned at Gripsholm and signed his abdication papers there following the
loss of Finland to Russia and the threat of attack by Norway, France and
Denmark. Per Otto Adelborg’s sketch
shows the imprisoned king sitting at the 16th century iron chair and table in the foreground …
This room was completely decorated
with remarkable wooden inlay work – the walls and door as well as the furniture
…
More beautiful rooms and portraits –
the National Portrait Gallery has almost 5,000 paintings displayed at Gripsholm
…
The castle is massive to walk around
– the vast majority of the castle seems to be open to the public and the rooms
went on and on …
From this view of one of the towers,
you can see the brickwork effect is painted on …
From a distance, you don’t really
notice the difference – the tower on the left is painted, and the buildings on
the right are actual brickwork …
This is the Gripsholm dinner service
of Gustav III – it’s Chinese export market porcelain, hand-decorated after its
arrival in Sweden …
Gripsholm also has its own theatre,
rather like Drottningholm, which is still used today for regular performances. It’s semicircular and quite small as it is
situated within one of the towers, but the clever use of pillars and mirrors
gives the impression that it’s larger and grander!
It has wooden ropes, pulleys and
machinery under the stage for moving the scenery …
And finally, we moved into the
modern part of the Portrait Gallery with paintings of present-day personalities
…
The winding stairwell down has
plenty of window seats from which to admire the view …
… and we found ourselves back in the
entrance courtyard. We were very
impressed with Gripsholm Slott and would highly recommend a visit if you have
the chance!
Apart from the castle, Mariefred is a delightful little town
in its own right …
It has a fully operational
narrow-gauge steam railway with century-old trains and carriages …
… as well as the original station
buildings, shunting yard and turntable.
The track is only 600mm (2 feet) wide …
We also enjoyed a lovely long walk
in the deer park and saw plenty of deer – stags …
… and does.
The narrow-gauge railway also has
some diesel engines – the train looks like a model railway as we watch it from the
deer park …
Final view of Mariefred – Gripsholm
at midnight on 24th June – so much light still in the sky that this
photo was just taken with the same old camera on its normal daytime setting!
The following day we left Mariefred
to continue our journey through Lake Mälaren, past more lovely wooded
islands. This was one of the smallest
with only room for a little lighthouse and a single bush!
We stopped for the afternoon at
Birka, a Viking village on the island of Björkö, which grew up as a trading post
and was very important for a couple of hundred years from 700-900AD. The entire island has now been preserved as a
museum.
Björkö seems to have more farmland
and less forest than most of the other islands in Lake Mälaren which may help to explain why it was an important Viking settlement and port which had over 700
inhabitants …
The small but informative museum
gave us a good idea of what the Viking settlement would have looked like. It would have been hard to imagine otherwise
as there’s not a lot left! The houses
were either wooden or wattle and daub, with thatched or wood and mud roofs, and
they built jetties out into the water for their boats and other trading
vessels.
In the background you can see
Astraia tied up in what was the port area in Viking times, although the land
has risen since then …
We took a walk round the island
through meadows of wildflowers …
… and past old barns …
… to the Birka cross, prominent on
one of the islands rocky outcrops, which was erected in 1830 to commemorate
1000 years since Christian missionaries arrived on Björkö in 829AD.
The distinctive-looking church was
also built around that time, although Birka never actually became a Christian
society – here Christians and pagans lived side by side.
Inside the church is attractive,
light and airy with pastel painted plasterwork at the altar end …
… and tall wooden doors completely
filling the opposite wall, lined with metal and richly decorated with Biblical
paintings and gold …
There is still a small settlement on Björkö and some working farms, but most houses
are used as holiday homes nowadays …
This beautiful and completely white
cat was very friendly – but wouldn’t pose for a photo!
There is evidence of the Viking
settlement in the form of many burial mounds around the island …
These are some of the Viking
dwellings they have reconstructed …
… with dark, smoky interiors …
At the end of the 900s the settlement
of Birka was abandoned – no-one really seems to know what caused its sudden demise,
but probably the increased importance of other nearby towns such as Sigtuna.
Time to leave Lake Mälaren and set off towards Södertälje. This rather
strange container-like structure is the red buoy at the beginning of the
Södertälje Canal …
This is the start of the canal …
… which gradually gets less green
and countrified as we leave Lake Mälaren and head towards the town of
Södertälje, following the channel marked by these concrete beacons with yellow
numbers …
We timed our arrival perfectly – the
road bridge re-opens after being closed for the rush hour at 17.15 and we
approached it at 17.14 and could drive straight through and into the lock!
The marina is right next to the
railway station, but is a pretty enough spot – especially in the late afternoon
sunshine …
We walked into the quite pleasant
town centre …
… and admired this interesting oak
sculpture by ‘chainsaw sculptor’, Torbjörn Lindgren, who won a competition to
create a work of art from a tree which had been struck by lightning. It depicts people and scenes from the town of
Södertälje …
We also liked this old steamer, the Ejdern, built in 1880. It's the world’s oldest coal-fired, propeller-driven steamship with its original engine, and it's still in regular use today as a tourist
boat. Also amusing was watching the
hapless fisherman on the left trying to disentangle his hook and line from the
mooring ropes without falling in!!
An attempt at a night shot of Södertälje
… tomorrow we leave the Stockholm area and start our journey south.
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