Katrina Gwynne-Jones

We flew out to Sweden on Boxing Day and we stayed there till a few days after New Year’s Day. It was truly a magical winter wonderland with the cosiest, most functional & picturesque home slapped right bang in the middle of the forest (almost like a scene that you have read/heard as a child, from one of the fairy-tale stories). It is so very peaceful, away from the hustle and bustle. The people there are very friendly.

It is so easy to get to, from the airport to visiting Stockholm. The supermarkets are nearby if you ever need something. We bought enough ingredients to make homemade Nutella cookies, raspberry muffins and even Steak & Guinness pie; and all next to the wood-burning fire, it is a home sweet home. We would play one of their games every evening with music playing in the background or even watch one of their numerous DVDs, that they have stored.

Helena Stahl (the owner/host), has been brilliant and quick to reply. (Here is the link to her home via AirBNB) She can speak more languages than I have fingers on one hand, so communication would not be a problem there. She had a hand-book on standby if you want to get to know a little bit more about the home, family or surrounding. For example, we did not know that a herd of deer would bark like dogs and YES, we would see them daily via our kitchen window some mornings or evenings before the sun set! (You will see that I have taken a picture of the two deers via the kitchen window.) What could be more idyllic than that?

The only real downside is that we didn’t get to see a proper flurry of snow although, the snow is already there waiting for us knee-deep and the lake has turned into (the most beautiful baby blue) ice, it was more than enough for us. 🙂 (And oh, Helena even had sledges out, waiting for us to have fun on it!)

And if that’s not enough, then they are building a sauna right next to their home. We would come back during one summer month and swim in one of the many lakes nearby, along with a picnic in hand. I, for one, can’t thank Helena enough (as I have been waiting for years to visit Sweden, and her home) and already, I can’t wait to go back.

Here is the video with our grand tour of their home (taken on the last day of our holiday and five minutes before leaving for the airport)… (Please excuse the noise & the slow tour!)

And here are the two short videos with the kids sledging…. one & two (Converting these videos from iMovie to Quicktime to Youtube are really pain-in-the-butt!).