Category: Castle of the month

What a lovely Saturday. Started with a sleep in and after breakfast my hubby  gave me a lift over to Body Care Center so I could have a massage. Mm. Nice. He was a star and picked me up afterwards and then we drove up to Bogesund to visit the castle we have chosen this month.

It was freezingly cold today and snow here and there but we strolled around the castle and took a look at the property. It was built by Per Brahe back in 1640. A residence behind the castle was built back in 1895, the Park Villa, for the head gardener and today the villa hosts a lovely café. I had a bowl of sweet corn soup served with freshly baked focaccia bread which was really lovely. Hubby had lunch with the boys while I had my massage so he chose a hot chocolate with a vanilla bun. A very nice little café well worth the trip. 

Picked up groceries on our way back home since we didn’t have time for that this morning. Now I’m preparing a nice Saturday dinner for the family. 

Time to visit the castle of the month – this time we chose Kristineberg Slott situated on Kungsholmen in Stockholm. Built back in 1647 and now classified as a property of highly cultural historical value. The main building is private properties now. The rest is a school since many years called Kristinebergsskolan and has students from pre-class to class 6. The castle isn’t open to visitors so we just took a stroll around the area. 

We couldn’t find a café that was open or not crowded so we ended up driving back home and enjoyed my homebake from yesterday along with hubby’s freshly baked bread instead. Not bad. 

Castle of the month this time was Nyköpingshus in Nyköping. It is a medieval castle from the Birger Jarl era mostly known for the Nyköping Banquet (Nyköpings gästabud) that took place in 1317.

The palace burned down with the rest of the city in 1665. It wasn’t re-built; in fact some of its bricks were used in the construction of Stockholm Palace. However, parts of the castle were sound enough to be used as county residence until the 1760s. The Kungstornet, that you can see behind us, currently house the permanent exhibits of Sörmlands museum and also a restaurant.

We took a long stroll around Nyköping and walked along the river before it was time to head back home again.

The day started with a dip in the ocean even though it’s been raining all night. But, this morning it was just windy so we went ahead. 17.6C in the ocean.

The weather forecast promised 18m/s today so we took the flag down and put the “vimpel” up instead. When it gets too windy it is very difficult to take the flag down. Me, my parents and oldest son went for a walk while my hubby went running. The others went grocery shopping etc in town.

Tonight I went to see Benjamin Ingrosso in concert at Borgholms Slott together with my sis w/ family. It was a great evening and Benjamin is really a very good artist and entertainer who charms the audience. And a very good live singer too as it turned out. I’m so glad I went! And Borgholms Slott is truly an amazing arena for concerts! “Vi har allt det vackra framför oss”

Since my hubby didn’t come along to the castle in Kalmar we visited another castle near by together instead. Sollidens Slott in Borgholm, Öland, where the royal family has their summer residence. 

The whole family went there for a stroll around the parks and enjoying this years exhibitions which were a bit extra fancy due to the 50 year anniversary our king celebrates on the throne. 

Next month I will visit another castle without my hubby and since it is right next to this one we took another selfie infront of it – Borgholms Slott. I will go there with my sis w/ family to see a concert next week. 

So – three castles for me this month! 

Tonight me and my sis first attested the annual meeting of the community and afterwards we all enjoyed a take-out dinner which here on the island means “kroppkakor” – potato dumplings filled with smoked pork, onions and seasoned with all spice. Yum!  

Field trip day down to Kalmar for some shopping and touristing with our guests. 

Castle of this month is Kalmar Slott even though my hubby didn’t come along for the ride. Maybe we’ll visit the castle once more this month. 

As you can read on its website – “Kalmar Castle is a symbol for Kalmar. Its history features international politics, court intrigues, fiery sieges and fierce battles. Today the castle is a vibrant and lively place, welcoming guests from near and far. Now it’s your turn to visit. Come write the latest chapter in its 800 years of history.” 

We are keeping up our tradition of visiting one castle per month. This year our king celebrates 50 years on the throne and our country celebrates 500 years since Gustav Vasa was elected king back in 1523.

Castle of this month was Ulriksdals Slott in Bergshamra. We took a guided tour around the castle and also visited the orangery which was included in the guided tour fee. The castle was built back in 1640 and was originally called Jakobsdals Slott after the man who had it built – Jakob De la Gardie. It was later sold to queen dowager Ulrika Eleonora who gave it to her grandson, Ulrik, as a christening gift back in 1684 and it then changed name to Ulriksdals Slott.

The castle café didn’t impress though so we had our afternoon coffee at home instead after a short visit to the Delicato outlet. Lol.

Mother’s Day and my boys greeted me with a present this morning. Aaah. Loved it.

After lunch we went on a small trip to Nykvarn and visited Taxinge Castle where they have a café serving 69 different kinds of goodies. Mmm. My youngest had to study for a presentation tomorrow but my oldest came along. And we had a great visit even though the two things we had picked out before the visit wasn’t on the menu today. Bummer. But, we found something else to choose so the visit was a success anyway.

Tonight we have bbq try tip served with veggies and fries. Mmm.

Our castle of the month in April is Gripsholm. Built in 1370 and situated about 60km away from us. We worked from home so we could get on the road as soon as our workday was finished. An hour later we arrived at Gripsholms Värdshus for our over-night adventure.

After a stroll around Mariefred we walked over to the castle for a quick view. Back at the inn we were treated a four-course dinner with bubbly and the food was really good. A lovely ending of a great day.

Sunday and time to turn the clocks into summer time. No summer in sight though with snowy weather and quite chilly outside. Brrr.

We decided to visit one castle a month this year as a fun thing to do. January we went to Sturehof castle with my parents for coffee. February we went to Sundbyholms slott with my parents-in-law for a murder-mystery-dinner and sleep-over. Now it is March and today we had made reservations for brunch at Häringe slott. A lovely trip to the place where we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary but the brunch itself left some to desire. But, overall we were happy with the visit and well fed when we left.

Now I have done my yearly tax declaration and don’t have to worry about that anymore. Had to pay a lot of money.. oh well. The rest of my family are getting some money in return so that’s always something.