9/18-and then you just hang in there for 10 hours until we get home at the same time we left Helsinki. Weird. Thanks for coming along on the ride. It’s been the best vacation and I hope you enjoyed it, too.
9/18-and then you just hang in there for 10 hours until we get home at the same time we left Helsinki. Weird. Thanks for coming along on the ride. It’s been the best vacation and I hope you enjoyed it, too.
9/18-We walked to the airport from our hotel. Can you imagine walking to SeaTac?!? After a panic when they changed our gate, we flew to Helsinki for a five-hour layover. Two things I love about Helsinki air bathrooms: bird songs and retract cloth hand dryers. Turn up the sound on the video.
9/17-We borrowed some bicycles from the IKEA Hotell and rode off to find the lake. After a few false starts we were off -and then it started raining. Fall has arrived in Sweden. We had a last lunch with Jon Eric and caught a train back to Copenhagen. Plane for Seattle leaves tomorrow at 9am.
9/16- Jon Eric also took us to the glass factory after lunch. The museum had beautiful glass pieces and we noted that one of the artists had been trained at the Pilchuck school in Stanwood, Washington! Afterwards Paul and I wandered in downtown Almhult with a rainbow welcome. Enchanting.
9/16-Jon Eric took us to Korro for lunch. This is a beautiful town with restrictions on buildings that keep it looking like a Swedish village in the 1700-1800’s. We had Wienerschnitzel and pork to die for! Our only regret was it was too chilly to eat on the deck near the river.
9/16-Jon-Eric took us to see Paul’s ancestors at the cemetery, the local church (beautiful!), and to meet his brother, Anders, and wife, Ingya.
9/15-today we travelled to Älmhult. Paul has a cousin who lives there. It is the birthplace of IKEA! We stayed at the IKEA Hotel (which is under construction), enjoyed the IKEA Museum, and got to see how much IKEA is the heart of the town. The founder’s picture (Ingvar) is made up of his employees.
9/14-after the boat tour, we just wandered in Stockholm. It’s such a beautiful city.
9/14- Today we took a boat tour through the archipelago outside of Stockholm. We were seated with a very talkative defense industry salesman, who kept us talking and not taking pictures. Here’s what I have.
9/13-Near the Vasa are all kinds of museums and an amusement park, as well as a sculpture park. We wandered through a huge park called Skansen until we got tired. Then we found a bus that took us right back almost to our doorstep. Love the Stockholm transit system!
9/13-Today we went to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a great ship ordered built by the King of Denmark. It was completed in 1623, launched to great fanfare, and then immediately sank due to bad design. They hoisted it up in the 60’s and began rebuild. Today it is 98% original parts and stunning.
9/12-The symbol for the king in Denmark is the lion. So lots of lion statues! Here, kitty, kitty….
9/12-Gamla Stan is the seat of Denmark’s government. Parliament, government offices, and the King’s palace are all here. Tomorrow is an Election Day, so we were treated to a politician’s speech across the street from his protesters-all in Swedish! The exhibit shows how a bill becomes law.
9/12-Time to explore Stockholm! As in Copenhagen, we purchased a metro pass that gave us access to subway, trains, buses and ferries. They gave us a senior rate! Our first stop was Gamla Stan (Old Town). Finding a toilet was difficult because they didn’t look like toilets!
9/11-We also had a beautiful view from our 5th floor windows. Lots of bicycles here, but not as many as Copenhagen.
9/11-Our new digs in Stockholm had an antique elevator that worked flawlessly (unless someone forgot to close the cage door after they used it).
9/11-Today we took the high speed train to Stockholm. It was very fast, except for the one hour delay when a bridge had to be repaired.
9/10- After the museum we decided to go on a troll hunt. Dambo had built two trolls near each other, Happy Anders to attract attention away from Moonmer, the mother of all trolls, who was obviously pregnant. To find them, we followed the bird houses, which we knew from his Seattle installations.
9/10-We took a train to Roskilde to see a Viking Ship museum. it was fantastic! They explained in detail how they found the sunken ships, how they salvaged them and pieced them together. Our tour guide is a marine archaeologist student. Her enthusiasm made up for her English deficits.
9/9-After the tour we found art in a park featuring giant ticks and the family law courthouse. The Tour de France started in Copenhagen in 2022. And we saw a giant thermometer. It doesn’t go higher than 30 Celsius And the girl on a bike is replaced by a girl with an umbrella when it rains.
9/9-We joined a food tour of Copenhagen for the day. Starting at another food market, we sampled cheese. Then to a bakery for cardamom cinnamon buns. We ate Smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches made with EVERYTHING!), beer, hot dogs, more beer, and chocolates. I highly recommend it!
9/8-Our final stop of the day was at the food market in Refshaleøen. This amazing place started with a pea patch garden specializing in mushrooms.🍄 We learned that a new favorite beer in Copenhagen is Yakima IPA. They thought it was Japanese. (Yah-KEE-muh)
9/8-We walked along the lake filled with Christiania homes until we reached the Amagar Baake. This amazing structure houses an energy production plant that uses garbage for fuel.. It also is home to a rock climbing wall and a ski hill “Copenhill”. From the top you can see a cable water skiing park.
9/8-Christiania has only recently made peace with having a police presence due to an increase in drug/gang activity. Otherwise it is a haven for funky art and unique architecture.
9/9-Today we took off to explore Christiania, an old hippie area in the heart of the city. You can instantly feel a different vibe when you walk the streets. The signs are everywhere! Be sure to look closely at all four signs on that black building.
