Join Helena Elm and her family on an excursion to Öland's eastern side.
They look at fishing boats and high waves in the picturesque harbor of Bläsinge, fly a kite by the beach and warm themselves with a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon rolls Gårdby Café and Country Store.
The other week we went over to the eastern side of Öland and had a coffee at our favorite place Gårdby Café and Country Store. The general store opened in 1923 and turns 100 years old next year! However, we have only had coffee here since 2007, after Marie took over the general store and opened the doors to the café.
Gårdby Café and Country Store is the perfect excursion destination; you can cross the island and get to the east side, which is just as beautiful all year round, and when you get here you can botanize in three different shops and then finish with a hearty coffee. Inside the country store, you can buy sweets, delicacies and edible gifts for yourself, among other things. Personally, I love the nostalgia candy with boxes in an old-fashioned design. Punch chocolates never go out of date!
The stores are actually one and the same store, you could say, but it is spread over three different buildings that are all different from each other, and just as lovely to walk into. I always look forward to going through each door and seeing what I will find this time!
Then we see all the different uses for things, which became especially clear when I found an electric candlestick I thought could be nice at home in the living room...
...while the girls thought it was a matter of course that the candles would be used for a spontaneous lucia procession.
Then it was coffee time! The children bought both cake and lollipop, Olof took their winter specialty cinnamon bun bread, and I went wild on the chocolate cake with whipped cream and raspberries that I always have when I'm in Gårdby and having coffee.
If it's February, you want hot chocolate, or what do you say? The ultimate sports holiday drink! Having coffee at Gårdby Kafé and Lanthandel is a perfect sports holiday fun next week when we have sports holidays here in the region. The cafe is not open on weekends, but on weekdays between 10.00 and 16.00.
What else can you do when you are near Gårdby then? You can go down to Bläsinge a few minutes from there and fly a kite!
The beach in Bläsinge is one of our absolute favorite places on Öland, and one of the places we most often go on an excursion to, all year round. In the summer we swim here, in the winter we let the kids and the dog gallop in the sand if the snow doesn't cover it, and in the fall and spring we also go here and just walk by the water or lastly - fly a kite.
Just when you come down to Bläsinge, I think the light is so beautiful, really regardless of the weather and what season it is.
Here, the light always appears so beautifully and is given free play over the expanses, the dunes and the sea. It is no coincidence that artists and photographers come here for what is called "the Öland light".
…or what do you say, surely it is beautiful?
Bläsinge fishing harbor is always as picturesque and charming, even this year when several of the boats are picked up on land.
The girls thought it was exciting to see what the boats looked like underneath and to listen to the creaking of the boats as they bobbed in the water...
…and to watch the waves that were really high when they hit the big rocks a little way out into the water. This day we saw no seals, but the seal I saw at the closest distance was actually here in Bläsinge.
For those who want to continue a little further down the eastern side, there is also Gräsgård's fishing harbor, which in many ways is quite similar to Bläsinge's fishing harbor in appearance. As the sun began to set behind the horizon, we slowly headed home again. On this particular day, the praline manufacturer was not open Miss Frankenstein in Gårdby, but we promised the girls to look in there the next time we go on this excursion, because it won't be long until the next time.
// Helena Elm, February 17, 2022
