The Castle Home: Finnhamn with friends

August 5-7, 2014

Disclaimers -

You may notice below there are mostly photos of the kids... no photos of the adults in their swimsuits. This is by design to preserve our friendships... also, what happens on Finnhamn stays on Finnhamn!

Additionally, so you don't get the wrong idea we had a great time on our archipelago adventure... it ranks in the Top Ten all time favorite days in John Dameron's experiences and in Jerilyn's Top Ten list from this vacation...

We arrived in Finnhamn in two groups via boat and ferry and checked in. For the kids and some adults it was a first exposure to staying in a hostel. We had three rooms with two sets of bunk beds each. Community bathroom... interesting to see who walks around in their underwear or towel. Showers and sinks were salt water, drinking water was available at the community kitchen sink.

'I regret agreeing to this' - Ella

'I can't wait to get to a real place with a real shower!' - Audra

the hostel

Dinner was at the only restaurant on the island - lamb, cod and fried pork (bacon) with potatoes, pancakes for the kids. The restaurant, thankfully, is excellent! After dinner each night our waiter was kind enough to give us a bag of ice for our nightcaps. We did get shushed one night (at 11pm) as we sat outside talking at a picnic table.... the kids thought this was funny. Breakfast at the hostel was typical European style - yogurt, fruit, breads, cereals, muesli, hard boiled eggs, coffee, tea, juice - from 7-10am.

first night dinner

view from the restaurant/bar top deck

Gordon had ordered linens for our rooms and had been told linens would be in our rooms when we arrived. We thought they had made our beds for us... until we realized (the next morning) that we had all slept on the mattress, pillow and comforter without linens. We immediately got proper linens at reception for our second night.

We spent our one full day on Finnhamn planted on the little sandy beach, swimming, talking, playing, picnicking. After a summer spent traveling and working it was the most relaxing, fun day! The second day Jerilyn was able to reserve four kayaks for a few hours (reservations should be made well in advance of your arrival).

Gordon, the girls and I returned to Stockholm on our boat for the next leg of our group adventure, Amsterdam. Gordon and the girls took a taxi to the airport. The rest of the group returned by ferry, I picked up Jerilyn, Dan, John, Ben, Ella and Zeke in the car and dropped them at the airport. Lynda, Jen and I had one more night in Stockholm before catching a 6:30am flight the next morning.

'I thought I was going to whine all day, but I'm not!' - Ella