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D8 | Saturday/Sunday, April 11 - 12, 2015 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. THE OFF DUTY SPRING 50 ADVENTURE & TRAVEL

18 NORDIC TACK Anetwork of ferries links Stockholm to the many Sneak Away islands in To aSwedish itsarchipelago. Island

As spring returns to Stockholm, so do the ferriesthat carry those who relish adventuretothe city’sarchipelago

hereforever.It’srun by Tobias Berg- BY STEPHEN WHITLOCK strand, one of Sweden’stop bakers, and sells traditional breads,sand- OSTNORTHERN wiches and pastries including the be- EUROPEAN cities loved bulle—a bun spiced with cinna- struggle through mon and cardamom or filled with long winters, but vanilla cream. Enjoyone at an outside MStockholm’sisso table as youplan your day. endlessand light-starved that it makes If you’refeeling energetic and want JOURNAL “The Seventh Seal” look likeaJudd to explorethe rest of the island or

Apatow movie. search out aparticularly isolated place REET ST

When the sunshine does return, foraswim, Cykleboden rentsbikes for LL

the contrast is extraordinary: At the around $15 aday.But it’saneasy stroll WA

first hint of spring, little street- from the harbor to Rävstavik,abath- THE R

sweeper vehicles zip up and down ingspot on anaturalbay with smooth FO the sidewalks clearing away the win- graniterocks that slope right down SKEL

ter grit, cherry trees burst into intothe gin-clear waters of the Baltic. HA bloom on Kungsträdgården, the To getthere, just followthe steady LINA grand allée by the Royal Opera stream of people taking the footpath House, and people sit outdoors at through the pine forest with beach HAVE ABALTIC BALL restaurants and cafes, wrapped in towels tucked under their arms. Clockwise from above left: blankets and soaking up the sun. Thewalk to and from Rävstavik Something sweet from Thesurest sign that spring has takesyou past the grandest placeto island bakeryUtöBakgård; arrived, though, is the return of eat or stay on the island, the Utö To bias Bergstrand, one of ferryservicetothe archipelagoof Värdshus,aclassic,19th-century Sweden’stop bakers; some 24,000 islands off the city’s Swedish countryinn that countsGreta clothing and housewares eastern edge. shop Hamnmagasinet is a One of my favorites is Utö—whose magnet even forlocals—as name rhymes with “pewter” (at least souvenirs, the pillows and when said with an English accent). At The 19th-century country apparel from itsUtö roughly 18 squaremiles,it’sbig inn counts Greta Garbo Collection (emblazoned with enough to have good restaurantsand the island’sname) could ashop that sells trendy clothes and among its former guests. hardly be moreappropriate; housewaresbut small enough that its the Utö Värdshus is a uncrowded swimming beaches are classic, 19th-centurySwedish within easy walking distanceofthe Garbo among itsformer guests. The inn and restaurant and the ferrydock.There’sevenabit of his- restaurant has plenty of outdoor seat- poshest placetostay and tory,with awindmill from 1791 that ing and is the perfect placetostopfor eatonthe island. affords great views over the island. ameal of Gotland lamb or buttered To get there, buy a combined trout on your way back from abracing THE LOWDOWN // TWO OTHER ISLANDS WORTH A VISIT train-and-bus ticket at Stockholm’s dip.Ifyou decide to stay the night, the Central Station ($7) for the train ride Värdshus has rooms in several historic Finnhamn night. Be warned, though, that delightful spot year-round. about $275 anight, to Årsta Brygga, a town 20 miles buildingsand offersadinner-bed-and- Finnhamn, about two hours these areauthentically rustic: It has a lively party scene sandhamn.com). For south. From there it’s a 50-minute breakfast package (from about $185 from Stockholm, is ayear- Theyhaveelectricitybut no in high summer, popular something moreboutique, ferry ride ($8) to the island. The per person per night, utovardshus.se). round destination with an running water; showers are with the offspring of the try the 19-room Sands ferry stops at several harbors on Utö. Beforeyou leave the island, allow authentic krog (country inn) communal (two-bed cabins more affluent residents Hotell (from $220 anight Get off at Gruvbryggan, where you’ll time to pop into Hamnmagasinet, that serves traditional Swedish from about $75anight, of the capital. including breakfast, find an assortment of wooden build- aclothing and housewaresshop with country food. finnhamn.se). Getting There: The scenic sandshotell.se/en). ings painted a cheerful red. Every- surprisingly fashionable finds.Apolo Getting There: The quaintly Eating There: Finnhamn ride from central Stockholm Eating There: Sandhamns thing is close by and easy to spot. shirt or hoodie from the Utö Collec- named Cinderella Krog serves heartyfareand on the Cinderella ferry line Värdshus is open year-round There are only a handful of streets, tion, aline of Swedish sportsclothes (stromma.se) and Waxhol- has asurprisingly good wine (stromma.se)takes justalittle and is the best spot on the and few clearly visible street signs, bearing the island’sname,makes a msbolaget (waxholmsbo- list(+46-8-542-46404). morethan two hours. island for a glass of Swedish so addresses don’t count for much. perfect souvenir.It’salso aworthy laget.com)ferry companies Staying There: The 79-room beer and a plate of fresh Start your visit at Utö Bakgård spot to pick up an extrachangeof have service to Finnhamn. Sandhamn Sandhamn Ya cht Hotel is seafood in a setting that (utobakgard.se),asmall bakerythat clothes if,likealot of people,you Staying There: Cabins on the Sandhamn, a favorite island one of the moreopulent has heaps of charm opened in 2011 but feels likeit’sbeen decide to stay another day. island canberented by the of serious yachtsmen, is a places to stay (from (sandhamns-vardshus.se).

20 LOVE OF MY LIFE LUST OBJECT My Bloom Heaven The Ultimate Frozen Safari For a safari of a very different stripe, head north—way north—to the floe edge of the Arctic Ocean on Canada’s Baffin Island, where polar bears, seals, bow- head whales and sharp-tusked narwhals (aka “the unicorns of the sea,” pictured right) gather to feed in spring. Arctic Kingdom leads small groups to this re- mote, mountainous region, where guests can hike, snowmobile, kayak and even snorkel, staying in a yurt-style camp just sevennights, you’ll have to cough up the outside Sirmilik National Park. cost of aChevy Malibu fortwo of you. Whyyou mayneed to love it from But hitchhiking is asmall pricetopay for afar: At about $11,000 per person for aweek this wild (arctickingdom.com).

21 Whywehateit: Oh, howwelong for the days when avacation wasseen as a LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP do-nothing time and not achanceto bag moreTwitter or Instagram followers with our filtered and fussed-overphotos (NARWHAL) TWITTER’S of meals, oceanviews starring our feet, and bath towels folded intoswans. Peri-

KINGDOM IWAS FOUR YEARSOLD when my family were dusted with petals, so the whole town seemed PERISCOPE APP scope has justmade oversharing even 19

CTIC moved from Wisconsin to Holland. We arrived paved by flowers. easier by letting us live-streamvideo

AR in the dead of aLowlands winter,the kind of bliz- Theflowerparade started in 1947,not long after straight to our Tw itter feed. Nowwenot G/ zard-whipped December youonly see on Christmas the end of World WarII, when the Dutch needed only get to see what our friends areeat- LBER

VA cardsand in Bruegel paintings. Thecanals were proof that thingswould blossom again. Theflowers ing on their travels, but we get to see— glazed with iceand the gabled houses wore acap of themselves arepart of the Dutch DNA—particularly and hear—them eating it. In real time. snow. But then the big April thawcame and suddenly the tulips.They fueled the 17th-centurytulip mania, Why we love it: Are you kidding? MICHELLE everything wassplashed with candy colors. Thetulip when burghersswapped whole tractsofland forone Now that we can broadcast room-to- TE); fields south of Amsterdam raninribbons of redand prized hybrid. It wasthe tulip bulb that literally fed room tours of our ryokan in Kyoto, our

E/HA yellow, bumping up against the sky, and our Dutch the starving Dutch during the last months of the war kid’s first encounter with Piccadilly Cir- OV

(L neighborswheeled out on their bikes,one hand and it is the tulip that appearslikeahorticultural cus street performers and the parade steering,the other holding abouquet of flowers. pinup in everysecond old master painting.While of bikinis on Ipanema Beach, we can’t That ripe world was my first vision of pure, seam- other European artistswerechurning out visions of download this free app fast enough. OUMANSKI less beauty. My second was the flower parade—the heavenand hell, the Dutch were painting the sensual Instagram is so Stone Age! Bloemencorso van de Bollenstreek—that rolls beauty of this earthyworld. Heavenfor them wasal- PETER through the Dutch countryside for two days every waysthe rope of pearls,the ripest melon and the AND April (the 24th and 25th, this year). Epic enough to deepest plum-colored, flame-tipped tulip. OLD FLAME

LIFE) make Pasadena’s Rose Parade look weedy, the pro- From the start, the Bloemencorso wasn’t just an MY cession of flower-heaped floats—titanic peacocks, emblem of seasonal renewalbut the promise of ana- OF

E towering windmills and every sort of fantasia—rum- tional rebirth, alarger, collectivespring afteravery

OV When firstweleased Fontana (L bles 26 miles through the blooming fields, from long winter.Myown recent winter waspunctuated Vecchia—this wasinthe spring, April—the

VRE Noordwijk to Haarlem. My parents, determined to by the death of my mother,and then my father.I’m FA

A show us everything, carried my sister and me into planning to return to Holland this month, and to try valley washigh with wheat green as the crowd of spectators in Haarlem. At first we only to find the house wherewelived that year.And then, the lizards racing among its stalks. MALIK heard a rumble filling the central square. But then Ithink,Iwill go to Haarlem, and wait forthe parade BY It begins in January, the Sicilian the floats rounded the corner, an explosion of tulips to round acorner,trailing blossoms,laying down a

IONS and hyacinths. After they passed, the cobbled streets carpet of hopeful petals. —Raphael Kadushin spring,and accumulates into akingly Truman Capote AT

TR bouquet, awizard’sgarden.... Author,

US 1924-1984 ILL

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