At day at Sandhamn

11.45 Sandhamn here we come
Even as we come closer to the harbour, you feel the excitement rising onboard. The tourists take out their cameras; the harbour must be photographed. Those that have been here before are just as eager to get ashore on this pearl of the archipelago. Bags are untagled, prams are everywhere, beach balls and beach mats are carted off from the boat and we are at last ashore!

12.30 Time for lunch
After wandering around for a while in the harbour looking at the boats, it's time for lunch. It's not easy to find a table in the restaurant outside, but we are lucky and find a seat at the inn; we find out that it is one of Sweden's oldest inns. Here, we could while away hours just looking at all the holiday-makers, but we have another agenda and after a good lunch we leave space for other happy guests who can sit down for a while.

13.30 Australia
A visit to Sandhamn is not worth mentioning if you have missed seeing the small, picturesque museum Australia. The house is from the 18th century and you can find objects you never knew existed, e.g. how about a large vat that you attach to the body so that you can smuggle alcohol? The museum is far from large, but there is much to see so we take our time there. We find out that the name of the museum comes from a ship that was shipwrecked outside of Sandhamn. The ship's name was Australia, and they believe that its home port was in Australia. No one knows what the ship was going to do in Sweden.

Just beside Australia, there is a customs house and since it was the customs officials and boat pilots who have meant most to the history of Sandhamn, it feels right to visit the customs house.

15.00 Strindbergsgården (Strindberg's Home)
Just next to the Inn is Strindbergsgården. August Strindberg spent a lot of time on Sandhamn and the nature and life there become a source of inspiration to the classics Hemsöborna (Natives of Hemsö) and I Havsbandet (On the Seaboard). August lived here once; however the house is now a café. The house has been christened after its previous tenant to honour the famous author. A comfortably small farm café where we promised ourselves that we would drink coffee the next time we came to Sandhamn.

15.01 Towards the Havsfruns (Mermaid's) Cave
Time to move on, so we head towards Havsfrun's (mermaid's) cave - a giant cave created by the inland ice. Here, we hang around in the sun and absorb all the impressions from the morning. Just think how much history this island holds, far out in the archipelago. It's fascinating!

15.45 Sun and bathing
Before it is time to return to the boat, we want to get in a few hour of sun at Trouville, the island's well-known beach. This is where we once again meet the beach balls and beach mats that we crowded with on the boat on the way out.

18.30 Journey homewards
After a full day at Sandhamn, we head once again towards the city. The walk along the harbour gives us a taste of the evening and night to come on the island. We make room for the full-fledged sunbathers who are already pumping up the music onboard. However, we will soon be back and maybe it will be the other part of the day we will investigate then.

By: Lisa, editor