Celebrating Seven Years

Seven years ago today, we married among family and friends in our church in Atlanta.  Yesterday, we sat together in the white table cloth, candle lit dining room of the Stadshotell in Trosa, Sweden and celebrated the wonderful life we have shared together. We have been blessed and have much to be thankful for.  Trosa could not have been a more charming setting for our celebration.

Tre Små Rum, where we stayed

Trosa, a former fishing village turned trendy upscale tourist magnet, an hour drive from Stockholm, was unknown to us when we began to  discuss where to celebrate our anniversary.  However, as our social circle expands, ideas and travel adventure stories are shared with fellow Americans who have long called Sweden home.  Trosa was suggested by one of Helen's friends from the American Women’s Club.

 

So we packed our bags, bought bus tickets and began our adventure to the truly charming and alluring town of Trosa. Trosa’s early history dates back to the 14^th century with its official founding noted in 1610.  A great deal of Trosa’s early charm was rendered to ashes when the Russians sacked and burned the city to the ground a century after its founding.  Spared, however, was the Trosa Town Church whose darkened wood steeple still stands today.

The Baltic fish trade that thrived into the late 19^th century no doubt gave rise to the contours of the city with its narrow winding streets and ubiquitous collection of painted red homes. Red paint, originally made from water, rye flour, linseed oil and the residue from the copper mines, has been a traditional Swedish color for cottages and barns.  The ingredients preserved wood in the harsh Swedish climate and had the additional characteristic of being cheap.  Mixed among the red homes were others painted yellow; the traditional color of the wealthy elite.  All this color coding raised a moot point, however, since Trosa is considered among the wealthiest cities in Sweden.  Clearly the switch from fishing to tourism was a wise and profitable choice.

Library and Tourist Center

Our tour of this tiny burg was based on the Heritage Trail map we obtained from the tourist office in the town library (with another saved tower on top). 

The Brewery Bridge

Following the map, we traipsed over the old brewery bridge (bryggarebron) that was once owned and operated by a brewery that produced beer and soft drinks until 1902.  We visited the town church that had been spared from Russian wrath and walked the now peaceful green graveyard grounds.  

Anton's Krog (Restaurant)

Across the Villa Bridge (Villabron) and down a wonderful tree-lined lane, we found Anton’s Krog. Now a most popular restaurant, the building was once the police and fire station and at some time in its past acquired the steeple top of the old town hall.  

Gröna Torget

We sat for a while in the Green Square (Gröna Torget) made possible by a fire in 1863 and a decision by the town to make a park of the open space in 1900.  We have come to fully appreciate the Swedish predilection to include parks and open space in their city environments. 

Trosa's harbor and boardwalk

We visited the harbor and walked to the end of the long pier. It was clear the harbor no longer catered to the needs of weather beaten fishermen, but more to the needs of gentlemen sailors.  In a world of instant communications and GPS navigation we knew the pier’s end point, called the “The Butter Bucket and World’s End,” didn't hold the same foreboding as it did for sailors generations ago.

The Butter Bucket

After a day of walking, we rested and then headed to the Stadshotell for a wonderful anniversary dinner.  It was the end to a perfect day and the start of another year together.