Years ago, when Malte was just a young lad (and not the mature, distinguished and always well behaved doggie he is now), we thought it would be very neat to go have afternoon tea at Häringe castle - the unique thing, as far as Swedish life goes, with this afternoon tea was that you could bring the dog along. Which would have been great if one happened to have a dog with a *slightly* calmer disposition when out and about.
Malte was as usual one super excited loaf pup as far as the other guests and the new milieu were concerned - and the guests were pretty excited about him (for some reason being the only dog there) making it a *wee bit* non easy to relax and enjoy the tea buffet. Besides, the buffet completely lacked scones...! Hence we've never felt very inclined to return (with or without dog).
Häringe (built in 1654) might not be the prettiest of castles (although it does sport red window frames), more of a large mansion house (nowadays conference facilites, hotel, spa and open for private functions therefor all the red wooden house annexes on the property), situated in a very rural area (in a nature reserve) and the surroundings make for very nice walks. As we today happened to be blessed with yet another wonderful sunny, crispy, cold winter day here, it was of course perfect for a castle spotting/walking day (there might have been a dash driving involved) and we opted for a return to Häringe (minus dog and tea) ~
If you happen to be interested in having afternoon tea at Häringe castle, it's served again from Jan 16th every Sat-Sun 12-17 (12 pm-5 pm), at a cost of 225 sek. They do claim to serve scones these days. I don't know if it's still possible to bring well-behaved dogs. The castle is situated some miles south east of Stockholm, you drive road 73 towards Nynäshamn, then follow the signs. It takes about 30 minutes to get there by car from the city.
What a wonderful and humorous Ruby Tuesday post. I love you photos of the red buildings, and the gnomes - wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat I notice about the castle is the lack of formality. To me, the house itself has a style reminiscent of a farm house, bigger for sure, but with a farmhouse charm. The barns are in the ususal barn red, a perfect color.And we love ducks and waterfowl, so the farm birds are a nice touch!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Pia! It was fun to read.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ralph - seems like a large farm house and not a castle.
I loved the red buildings.
The last image of the ducks on ice was a great shot - poor little webbed feet. :)
What a scenic and charming place. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeletewhat a perfect way to spend the day! serene, rustic place...beautiful. those ducks seem cold.:D
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post and such wonderful photos! The buildings look so warm and inviting in spite of the cold - or maybe because of it. I love the little gnomes and the beautiful ducks at the end. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity of this place and I really enjoyed reading the story behind your visit. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos with Ruby Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely selection. Happy 2009.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to live somewhere where castle-spotting can be an afternoon's romp. It looks like you had a (cold but) delightful day.
ReplyDeleteJan - thanks for a sweet comment.
ReplyDeleteInside it looks slightly more castleish, Ralph, but you do have a point about it reminding of a farmhouse (albeit large). The pond was adorable and the duckies too!
Thanks, Your EGTG!
Thanks, Carletta, those duckies seemed quite content with their little pond, very chatty and sweet. Not a lot of open water around for them these days and here the water was even running:)
I love this collection of photos!!
ReplyDeletethe first one makes me want to be there right now - and the reds are perfect
Breathtaking views! What an amazing place to visit.
ReplyDeleteHi from sunny California. I love your shots and story. The images are so peaceful and serene. If I'm ever in Sweden, I'll have to make a point of going to this castle. I'm named after my Swedish grandmother, but haven't been to Sweden yet! Cheers, Linnea @ Photoblogista.
ReplyDeleteLots of beautiful photos!
ReplyDelete...and thanks for visiting, Dora:)
ReplyDeleteI always feel for the brids who don't migrate south during the cold winter season, Luna, but these duck were actually quite spoiled with the pond being open, the water constantly pouring and food too:)
Thanks for a lovely comment, Raven!
And thank you, The Arthur Clan, for swinging by with a nice comment.
Beautiful photos, as always, Pia. The gnomes stole my heart, though. :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Ruby Tuesday!
Thanks, ilanadavita, and the same to you.
ReplyDeleteI'm blessed with such days and ops I guess, Robin, and delightful it was:)
Thanks, Dianne, glad you liked the visit!
Izzy'N Emmy - thanks for stopping by!
A lovely collection of photos for Ruby Tuesday. I love the duck pond! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place, and your photos are wonderful. Thanks for taking us along for the trip!
ReplyDeleteI love your Ruby Red photos.
ReplyDeletePaz
Hi Pia K,
ReplyDeleteYou are really enjoying the fine details in life. Your tour is embracing the whole environment, the castle, the red barn, the ducks, the fields and the charming gnoms.
Thanks for making time ciceroning us around this peaceful area.
From Felisol
Hi, Linnea, glad you liked the post, although I must say if you find yourself in Sweden one day there are castles more well worth visiting before this one;) Nice to hear about your Swedish connection too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Babs!
Oh, thanks, Pagan S, and actually those gnomes are my favourites too. I have one from the same cute series (originally from a Dutch books about gnomes) hanging indoors in the winters and he's such a darlin':)
Pleased you liked the post and the duckies, napaboaniya!
Dear Pia K
ReplyDeleteI think that it is a perfectly grand castle.
Oh so homey with all that red wood.
I love these pictures and all of those ducks!
We have a lot of ducks here that should of migrated but the people feed them so they figure they have it too good.
They stay where the food is and decide just to stay put for the winter!
That little doggie of yours sounds like a real riot!
I don't blame him for acting up in a place that has no scones!
The nerve of it all!
Bernie has taken to eating burnt scones instead of burnt English muffins.
The only trouble is that most of the Tim Horton restaurants here refuse to put them into their toasters for fear that they will catch fire and burn the joint down!
This is such a great Ruby Tuesday post Pia K.....
Love Terry
MyMaracas, thanks for leaving a kind comment, much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteAh, that's sweet, Paz, thanks.
Felisol - as always, a kind, thoughtful and well put comment, thanks!
Thansk, Terry, for your funny comment! And gosh, yes, it's such a disgrace, not serving scones with afternoon tea, the idea...;)
The two gnomes, from behind look like Frederic. He walks around in the garden looking for his brothers. Now I can tell him stop this nonsense they are in Sweden.
ReplyDelete(I hope it is Sweden with the Europeans on never knows they hop all over the place!)
Ha, ha, yes, tell him that, Titania, although poor Fredric might be very lost without a companion, perhaps there's some way to find him a substitute he can be reasonably happy with...:)
ReplyDelete