Marholmen - total relaxation in the middle of nature
North of Stockholm in the middle of Roslagen is the Marholmen hotel complex. It is its own island and destination for relaxation and rest but also for food and nature experiences.
The sunis beaming in through the car window, outside the tree buds are bursting and the meadows along the road are coming back to life. It's early summer, which is by far the best time of year. We have everything ahead of us. All the warm days, all the swimming, all the summer evenings, everything. We also have a weekend on Marholmen ahead of us. The car whizzes over the bridge onto Marholmen. We have a tight schedule to get everything done during this 24 hours that we will spend here together with a number of good friends.
First on the agenda is a decathlon in the forest. We walk over small bridges and footbridges and finally arrive at a small island where the decathlon will take place. We are divided into teams and compete against each other in elaborate and well-constructed events. This is not a decathlon with a dartboard and tennis balls thrown at cans. Here we get to throw an axe, shoot a bow and arrow, saw off trees and play ghost ball against each other. A lot of fun.
Immediately after the decathlon, we stop at the cold bath on the way back to the hotel. Here, overlooking the bay, we will relax for a couple of hours with a cold bath, sauna and hot tub. I immediately hear how it starts to crackle around me. I quickly think "something is breaking here". But then I turn around and in a chorus, the whole party has cracked open a beer each and everyone is now on their way down to the spa.
After the cold bath, we go to our hotel rooms. We step into a hotel room with a fantastic sea view. We change for the evening's dinner at the hotel, but before we go down, we sit on the balcony. In silence we sit there and look at the water which is completely still. We are interrupted by the phone ringing. We have completely lost track of time and the others are now waiting for us in the restaurant.
We start dinner with an incredible cauliflower soup flavored with oysters, smoked cod, broad beans and radish. We continue the dinner with herb roasted lamb with herb parmesan, wild garlic butter, haricots verts, red wine sauce and potato puree. Finally,
we enjoy a dessert consisting of puff pastry with rhubarb, almonds, pistachios and vanilla cream. The evening ends with a conversation about life.
We wake up, draw the curtains and open the balcony door. We retire to bed. The morning sun shines in, while we can once again look out over the water.
The breakfast buffet is a real treat, with a wide range of everything. I go "all in" on salmon, yogurt with berries and granola. We take our breakfast out into the morning sun.
Before heading home, we play a round of golf on the adventure miniature golf course. One of the company is a golfer and even though it is miniature golf, it looks like he is on the PGA Tour. The course will be inspected and there will be a test putt next to the ball. Okay, he might win, but the margin to the rest of us is not in proportion to the commitment to the whole miniature golf round. We pack the car and leave Marholmen with great memories.
The article is written by Filip Jarl and was published by Affärsresenären and Kickoff magazine in June 2023. https://issuu.com/tidningenkickoff/docs/ar2304
