Scenic and Serene Sweden

Scenic and Serene Sweden

During my last visit to Sweden in the summer of 2014, I hosted many posts on Sweden in the columns of my blog. Seeing the scenic and serene beauty of Sweden, I am enticed to sit and write yet again not as a travelogue but as titbits of day to day life. Ever since my arrival in Stockholm this time, I have posted entries on the traditional school graduation ceremony called Studenten and an historical church in Uppsala, Domkyrka.

In the week of Mid-Summer, the second most important and celebrated holiday and festivity after Christmas, yesterday, June 24, Anju and Naresh, my daughter-in-law and son took me and our visitors Bimla and Ram Saran, the parents of Anju, along with their family for a short cruise trip to a picturesque Finish island, Marieholm, a two hours leisure sail from Kapellskär in the north of the capital city of Stockholm on board the famous Viking Line’s small boat “Rosella” It was a heavenly drive from home to Kapellskär, an hour’s drive, in

On board 'Rosella'

the calm and cool morning with the vehicles talking with the air and the majestic woods of pine and flora on the Highway E-18. The scenic and serene beauty of Sweden with the lush-green and well nurtured forestry was impressive and comforting. Though my health was not too good owing to over-parting and change of weather yet it was a pleasure and gratifying to travel with our visitors, Ram Saran and family once again to Marieholm to add to our several earlier visits.

It was a fun filled and enjoyable day, though a bit tiring, wading through the beautiful countryside of Uppsala, for our early dinner engagement at Knivsta, a beautiful suburb of Uppsala,  on our way back from Marieholm. Our gracious hosts, Poonam and Inder - close family friends of Anju and Naresh, treated us to sumptuous feast of food and drinks along with other guests. Before I close, It will not be out of place to mention about a newly introduced Swedish drink, Mackmyra, said to be the the first and only single malt whisky of Sweden since 1999. Inder thoughtfully decided to share this with us as yet an another beautiful item of good living in Sweden. As a novice, I found it good with a noticeable difference from other whiskies that it may make you high little too soon with more than 46% volume as compared to about 40% in other whiskies. Sweden, and rightly so, boasts of Mackmyra as one of the finest single malt whiskies made from the crystal clear water, finest barley, matured and stored in the traditional Swedish oak. Skål - Cheers.