One of the excursions I liked best in Sweden was the boat trip we took to Artipelag.  The museum is located in the archipelago and you can get there by bus or car (20 min.) or by boat from Stockholm (1.5 hours each way).  We opted to travel by boat.  Bonnie & Kent were in Scandinavia a few years ago on a cruise and we remembered that some of the most beautiful photographs were ones they took as the ship travelled through the archipelago.  We didn’t get nearly the views that they did, but we also didn’t need to take a cruise to get the views we did.  So we’ll count this one as a win.  (tangent: there is something about cruises that I find off-putting.  I get that they are easy and that you just wake up in your next destination.  But you also are completely on someone else’s schedule and you only get a very limited number of hours in each city.  I don’t like the idea of that lack of control.  Plus, I really like to spend some time getting to know a place more than I want to run to a select number of pre-selected venues.  That’s just me.  I actually really like doing the research and planning part of a vacation.  I know that some people really don’t like that part of travel.  But the research is my favorite part.  It’s the actual travel that usually has me full of anxiety.  Sorry for the long tangent.)

When I was looking into Stockholm I came across Artipelag and some people had commented that it can be a pain to get there.  But everyone commented that it was worth the pain.  When I saw the photos of the location (and the fact that there was a huge boulder coming out of the floor of the cafe) I put it pretty high on my list of places that I wanted to see while in Stockholm.

We bought the boat tickets in advance, so I was SO HAPPY to see the sun shining when the day finally arrived.  Seriously, after the deluge of the kayak trip and the daily rain showers I was so ready for a good sunny day.

We arrived at the slip with plenty of time, which meant that we were able to snag a premium seat at the back of the boat with an unobstructed view.  I loved the look of the Swedish flag flying thru the bright blue sky as we traveled thru the archipelago.

There were many cabins along the edges of the water, some modern, and some more traditional.  We had all been commenting on how there seems to be two approved colors for houses in Sweden, red or yellow.  I was partial to the yellow.  Especially when combined with the orange clay tile roof.  Houses of yellow, orange and white with the added touch of greenery is a-ok in my book!

The exhibits in the museum were pretty good.  I liked the one featuring the shipping containers most.  But the museum itself and the views out the huge windows was the real draw.  I wanted to stay there longer so that we could have explored the trails on the grounds more, but we were limited to the schedule of the boat back (see what I mean about my hesitation about cruises?  It was nerve wrecking for me to know that every minute was clicking away on someone else’s countdown.  But that is a control thing and I am fully aware of the negative issues that a control freak deals with.  Believe me.  I do not claim to have this whole thing figured out for the best of everybody, just for the best of me.).

When we got back to Stockholm we decided to walk over to Gamla Stan and walk around the old city.  It was a mixed bag in terms of balancing the incredible architecture and the numerous shops overflowing with crap catering to tourists.  But I did manage to snag a pair of egg yolk yellow Swedish Hasbeens clogs at 50% off (maybe about $65. USD) and I am just tickled by these shoes!  After gamla stan we headed home and the rest of the family was there ready for dinner.  I went to bed that night feeling so grateful for that amazing day out in the archipelago and on that island.  The new shoes didn’t hurt.  They rarely do.