It was cold but very still on the sea in Gothenburg's southern archipelago on 5th January. We used public transport - took the tram out to Saltholmen and then the ferry (part of the public transport system) to travel all the way out to Donsö and Styrsjö, and back. So cold on deck that we could only manage to be up there 10 minutes at a time.
The sun was low and bathed everything in a warm yellow light - so strong it turned the white-painted sides of the ferry yellow-ochre. But though it looked warm, it gave no warmth and the sea was so cold it was on the cusp of freezing. The ferry's passing churned up the sea immediately around, but the water seemed thick, like syrup, and the broken water quickly settled back into a bright reflective swell that caught the images of the surrounding islands or passing ships and distorted them as in distorting mirrors.
The moon was high and bright, the sun shone down by the horizon. Out there, beyond the outermost islands, the sea was so flat and reflective the islands, silhouetted, floated on their own reflections above the surface of the water and the horizon itself was erased. A magical journey.
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