thewallstreetjournal. the off duty spring 50 adventure...

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D8 | Saturday/Sunday, April 11 - 12, 2015 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

THE OFF DUTY SPRING 50 ADVENTURE & TRAVEL

As spring returns to Stockholm, so do theferries that carry those who relishadventure to the city’s archipelago

MOST NORTHERNEUROPEAN citiesstruggle throughlong winters, butStockholm’s is so

endless and light-starved that it makes“The Seventh Seal” look like a JuddApatow movie.

When the sunshine does return,the contrast is extraordinary: At thefirst hint of spring, little street-sweeper vehicles zip up and downthe sidewalks clearing away the win-ter grit, cherry trees burst intobloom on Kungsträdgården, thegrand allée by the Royal OperaHouse, and people sit outdoors atrestaurants and cafes, wrapped inblankets and soaking up the sun.

The surest sign that spring hasarrived, though, is the return offerry service to the archipelago ofsome 24,000 islands off the city’seastern edge.

One of my favorites is Utö—whosename rhymes with “pewter” (at leastwhen said with an English accent). Atroughly 18 square miles, it’s bigenough to have good restaurants anda shop that sells trendy clothes andhousewares but small enough that itsuncrowded swimming beaches arewithin easy walking distance of theferry dock. There’s even a bit of his-tory, with a windmill from 1791 thataffords great views over the island.

To get there, buy a combinedtrain-and-bus ticket at Stockholm’sCentral Station ($7) for the train rideto Årsta Brygga, a town 20 milessouth. From there it’s a 50-minuteferry ride ($8) to the island. Theferry stops at several harbors on Utö.Get off at Gruvbryggan, where you’llfind an assortment of wooden build-ings painted a cheerful red. Every-thing is close by and easy to spot.There are only a handful of streets,and few clearly visible street signs,so addresses don’t count for much.

Start your visit at Utö Bakgård(utobakgard.se), a small bakery thatopened in 2011 but feels like it’s been

BY STEPHEN WHITLOCK

MyBloomHeaven

I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD when my familymoved from Wisconsin to Holland. We arrived

in the dead of a Lowlands winter, the kind of bliz-zard-whipped December you only see on Christmascards and in Bruegel paintings. The canals wereglazed with ice and the gabled houses wore a cap ofsnow. But then the big April thaw came and suddenlyeverything was splashed with candy colors. The tulipfields south of Amsterdam ran in ribbons of red andyellow, bumping up against the sky, and our Dutchneighbors wheeled out on their bikes, one handsteering, the other holding a bouquet of flowers.

That ripe world was my first vision of pure, seam-less beauty. My second was the flower parade—theBloemencorso van de Bollenstreek—that rollsthrough the Dutch countryside for two days everyApril (the 24th and 25th, this year). Epic enough tomake Pasadena’s Rose Parade look weedy, the pro-cession of flower-heaped floats—titanic peacocks,towering windmills and every sort of fantasia—rum-bles 26 miles through the blooming fields, fromNoordwijk to Haarlem. My parents, determined toshow us everything, carried my sister and me intothe crowd of spectators in Haarlem. At first we onlyheard a rumble filling the central square. But thenthe floats rounded the corner, an explosion of tulipsand hyacinths. After they passed, the cobbled streets

were dusted with petals, so the whole town seemedpaved by flowers.

The flower parade started in 1947, not long afterthe end of World War II, when the Dutch neededproof that things would blossom again. The flowersthemselves are part of the Dutch DNA—particularlythe tulips. They fueled the 17th-century tulip mania,when burghers swapped whole tracts of land for oneprized hybrid. It was the tulip bulb that literally fedthe starving Dutch during the last months of the warand it is the tulip that appears like a horticulturalpinup in every second old master painting. Whileother European artists were churning out visions ofheaven and hell, the Dutch were painting the sensualbeauty of this earthy world. Heaven for them was al-ways the rope of pearls, the ripest melon and thedeepest plum-colored, flame-tipped tulip.

From the start, the Bloemencorso wasn’t just anemblem of seasonal renewal but the promise of a na-tional rebirth, a larger, collective spring after a verylong winter. My own recent winter was punctuatedby the death of my mother, and then my father. I’mplanning to return to Holland this month, and to tryto find the house where we lived that year. And then,I think, I will go to Haarlem, and wait for the paradeto round a corner, trailing blossoms, laying down acarpet of hopeful petals. —Raphael Kadushin

LOVE OF MY LIFE

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LUST OBJECT

Why we hate it: Oh, how we long forthe days when a vacation was seen as ado-nothing time and not a chance tobag more Twitter or Instagram followerswith our filtered and fussed-over photosof meals, ocean views starring our feet,and bath towels folded into swans. Peri-scope has just made oversharing eveneasier by letting us live-stream videostraight to our Twitter feed. Now we notonly get to see what our friends are eat-ing on their travels, but we get to see—and hear—them eating it. In real time.Why we love it: Are you kidding?Now that we can broadcast room-to-room tours of our ryokan in Kyoto, ourkid’s first encounter with Piccadilly Cir-cus street performers and the paradeof bikinis on Ipanema Beach, we can’tdownload this free app fast enough.Instagram is so Stone Age!

The Ultimate Frozen SafariFor a safari of a very different stripe,head north—way north—to the floe edgeof the Arctic Ocean on Canada’s BaffinIsland, where polar bears, seals, bow-head whales and sharp-tusked narwhals(aka “the unicorns of the sea,” picturedright) gather to feed in spring. ArcticKingdom leads small groups to this re-mote, mountainous region, where guestscan hike, snowmobile, kayak and evensnorkel, staying in a yurt-style camp justoutside Sirmilik National Park.Why you may need to love it fromafar: At about $11,000 per person for

seven nights, you’ll have to cough up thecost of a Chevy Malibu for two of you.But hitchhiking is a small price to pay fora week this wild (arctickingdom.com).

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LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP

TWITTER’SPERISCOPE APP

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Truman CapoteAuthor,1924-1984

When first we leased FontanaVecchia—this was in the spring, April—the

valley was high with wheat green asthe lizards racing among its stalks.It begins in January, the Sicilian

spring, and accumulates into a kinglybouquet, a wizard’s garden....

OLD FLAME

THE LOWDOWN // TWO OTHER ISLANDS WORTH A VISIT

FinnhamnFinnhamn, about two hoursfrom Stockholm, is a year-round destination with anauthentic krog (country inn)that serves traditional Swedishcountry food.Getting There: The quaintlynamed Cinderella(stromma.se) and Waxhol-msbolaget (waxholmsbo-laget.com) ferry companieshave service to Finnhamn.Staying There: Cabins on theisland can be rented by the

night. Be warned, though, thatthese are authentically rustic:They have electricity but norunning water; showers arecommunal (two-bed cabinsfrom about $75 a night,finnhamn.se).Eating There: FinnhamnKrog serves hearty fare andhas a surprisingly good winelist (+46-8-542-46404).

SandhamnSandhamn, a favorite islandof serious yachtsmen, is a

delightful spot year-round.It has a lively party scenein high summer, popularwith the offspring of themore affluent residentsof the capital.Getting There: The scenicride from central Stockholmon the Cinderella ferry line(stromma.se) takes just a littlemore than two hours.Staying There: The 79-roomSandhamn Yacht Hotel isone of the more opulentplaces to stay (from

about $275 a night,sandhamn.com). Forsomething more boutique,try the 19-room SandsHotell (from $220 a nightincluding breakfast,sandshotell.se/en).Eating There: SandhamnsVärdshus is open year-roundand is the best spot on theisland for a glass of Swedishbeer and a plate of freshseafood in a setting thathas heaps of charm(sandhamns-vardshus.se).

HAVE A BALTIC BALLClockwise from above left:Something sweet fromisland bakery Utö Bakgård;Tobias Bergstrand, one ofSweden’s top bakers;clothing and housewaresshop Hamnmagasinet is amagnet even for locals—assouvenirs, the pillows andapparel from its UtöCollection (emblazoned withthe island’s name) couldhardly be more appropriate;the Utö Värdshus is aclassic, 19th-century Swedishinn and restaurant and theposhest place to stay andeat on the island.

here forever. It’s run by Tobias Berg-strand, one of Sweden’s top bakers,and sells traditional breads, sand-wiches and pastries including the be-loved bulle—a bun spiced with cinna-mon and cardamom or filled withvanilla cream. Enjoy one at an outsidetable as you plan your day.

If you’re feeling energetic and wantto explore the rest of the island orsearch out a particularly isolated placefor a swim, Cykleboden rents bikes foraround $15 a day. But it’s an easy strollfrom the harbor to Rävstavik, a bath-ing spot on a natural bay with smoothgranite rocks that slope right downinto the gin-clear waters of the Baltic.To get there, just follow the steadystream of people taking the footpaththrough the pine forest with beachtowels tucked under their arms.

The walk to and from Rävstaviktakes you past the grandest place toeat or stay on the island, the UtöVärdshus, a classic, 19th-centurySwedish country inn that counts Greta

Garbo among its former guests. Therestaurant has plenty of outdoor seat-ing and is the perfect place to stop fora meal of Gotland lamb or butteredtrout on your way back from a bracingdip. If you decide to stay the night, theVärdshus has rooms in several historicbuildings and offers a dinner-bed-and-breakfast package (from about $185per person per night, utovardshus.se).

Before you leave the island, allowtime to pop into Hamnmagasinet,a clothing and housewares shop withsurprisingly fashionable finds. A poloshirt or hoodie from the Utö Collec-tion, a line of Swedish sports clothesbearing the island’s name, makes aperfect souvenir. It’s also a worthyspot to pick up an extra change ofclothes if, like a lot of people, youdecide to stay another day.

The 19th-century countryinn counts Greta Garboamong its former guests.

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A network of ferrieslinks Stockholm

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