I'm back! Thank you for your patience! What was rare about my break this last week was that I was surrounded by a mixed group of fabulous women at various times, drifting in and out of the picture in Andalucía, and I had forgotten just how much I love that: cooking together, chatting for hours, sipping wine long after the sun had gone down. There’s something so restorative about female company. Warm, funny, wise. Do you ever come away from time like that feeling completely reset? Like you’ve remembered a part of yourself you hadn’t realised you’d been missing?
And of course, it was very lovely to come home to Per and the girls too - as always!
With one holiday over, there’s only one thing to do: start daydreaming about the next one, right? Although I won’t be able to make it there this year, one place I’ve been quietly drooling over lately is Sibbjäns on the Swedish island of Gotland. Have you heard of it?
Set on an old horse farm in southern Gotland, Sibbjäns is Sweden’s very first boutique farm stay. The story behind it is lovely too. Two families swapped the pace of city life for something slower and more meaningful, transforming a rundown farm into a place centred around sustainability, good food, craftsmanship and the rhythms of the land. What began as a simple dream of opening a small B&B gradually evolved into something much bigger: part hotel, part working farm, part gathering place.
They also happen to have impeccable taste and everything about it sounds right up my street: a beautiful interior with every guest room entirely unique, wildflowers blowing in the breeze, long farm lunches made from whatever is growing in the garden that week, limestone buildings washed in soft earthy tones, sheep grazing nearby, sea air drifting in from the Baltic, a soothing nature pool. It all feels wonderfully unfussy and restorative and there is something so appealing about places that feel more like a home from home.
Ready to dream?
What a beautiful place to stay, don’t you think? Needless to say, Sibbjäns has been widely featured in the press since it opened, including a piece in New York Times Magazine!
I especially love the look, and idea, of the nature pool. Having said that, there was one at a place we stayed at once and I remember climbing down the ladder only to hear a little “ribbit”… only to discover a big, fat, beautiful frog sitting happily on one of the rungs! It gave me such a fright at first, but he did turn out to be a lovely bathing companion. Have you ever experienced a nature pool before?
And while we’re on the topic of pools, you might also enjoy this feature I once wrote sharing inspiration for lovely small pools for every budget.
You may also like to tour more beautiful island homes too. Some are available to rent, some are private, all are dreamy:
A quiet cabin escape on a Danish island
Airbnb tip: The Stonecutter's farm
Elsa's inspiring cottage on the island of Gotland
A fairytale escape on 'happiness island'
Thank you so much for your patience while I've been away, I'm so happy to be back! See you later this week.
Niki
Photography: Mike Karlsson Lundgren, courtesy of Sibbjäns
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