Vasa and Cousin Tuija and Family

Saturday, May 10, 2014    Nate, Tuija and The Vasa

     Today was jammed packed full of things!!  Drew has been traveling with a lacrosse buddy for the past 80 days.  We met up with Nate for one night in Copenhagen and today he is going to join us for the remainder of our visit to Stockholm and Norway!!  We are excited to see him and I know Drew will enjoy the diversion from his parents!!

     We started the day by taking the Metro to the Vasa.  This Swedish ship sunk during its maiden voyage in 1633 and remained under water over 300 years before being rescued.  I remember visiting the Vasa when I was in Stockholm in 1973 and it was jaw dropping.  Well, it still is!!  We had a wonderful morning exploring and learning the history and purpose of the Vasa, and all of nooks and crannies.  We also had lunch at the Vasa.  Drew had swedish meatballs for the 3rd meal in a row....he definitely is a Scandinavian!!  We also had tikka (coffee and cinnamon roll).  Lisa loves that!!

     After lunch we met Nate, who came in by train at the Harbor where we jumped on a boat for a three hour ride to the Archipelago islands.  I couldn't believe we were in Sweden.  It looks just like Minnesota on the north shore, or even Minnetonka for that matter.  Lots of islands and beautiful houses lined the waterways!!  Minnesota and Sweden are very similar!  Sweden is made up of 1/3 forests, 1/3 water and 1/3 land.  Well, that sounds pretty darn close to Minnesota!!

     Our evening plans were to meet up with my Finnish cousin Tuija who married Ulf and lives in Stockholm.  I have met Tuija two other times in my life, 1973 and 1979.  Tuija and I are third cousins, our great grandparents (Johan Rajala and Josefina Rajala Veijola) were brother and sister.  It was so exciting to hook up with her again!!  Her husband Ulf, a professor at the University, fetched us from the apartment and took us to their home for dinner.  It was the best lasagna we have ever had!!  The evening went fast as Tuija and I talked and laughed about our prior meetings and then analyzed family genealogy!!  It was the best evening ever!! Tuija is amazing!  Probably the sweetest and kindest person I have ever met and will always in be in my heart!!  He two daughters, now Drew's fourth cousins, Vilma and Greta, have a connection!!  We had such a good time!!  Thank you Tuija!! and Ulf!!!

    Tuija has a sister, brother and mother in Finland, however, we will not be able to hook up with them this trip.  But, I promise Soile, Heiki and Tuullikki that I will come back!!

I love Sweden!!

Stockholm-Oh Wonderful Stockholm!!!

After lunch we walked through Old Town, Gamla Stan!  Oh my, it was lovely, with no vehicles, only  cobblestone streets.  The stores were loaded with Swedish wares, from wool sweaters, clogs and Swedish painted horses!!  I could barely move from a window front just in awe of the colors, textures and art!!  My boys, not shoppers, only allowed me to look through the window fronts, probably one of the hardest things I have had to do on this trip!!  But they assured me there will be time to shop later.

     We walked and walked and walked....the people in Sweden are lovely!  Everyone walks or rides bikes, no one uses vehicles. Scandinavians are so fit and trim, all of them have very thin legs (toothpick legs as my mom used to call my dad's)...young and old.  I love to look in their eyes.  They are shy, but look strong.  The older Swedes have beautiful light wrinkles from wind and age.  Everyone smiles and are polite.  They dress in simple lines and are very fashionable.  Almost everyone is model material!  Not only are the girls/women beautiful, but the boys/men are too.  Unbelievable!!  Eat your heart out Ralph Lauren!!  Blonde hair and blue eyes!!

     After we walked for several hours we walked to the harbor and jumped on our hop on and hop off boat back to Sodermalm.  We had a hike to the apartment, collapsed and fell asleep!!  Lovely lovely dayyyyy!!

Scandinavia 2014

Sunday, May 4, 2014 - Monday, May 5, 2014

     Getting ready for Scandinavia was easy (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen).  We were quite excited to see Drew and packing was simple.  We had watched Drew pack for his 100 day trek across Europe and decided to be minimalist also.  One small suitcase and small backpack would do the trick, with washing half way through!

     The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam was an eight hour breeze.  Three movies and we were there.  Lisa watched chick-flicks and Paul watched murder-espionage-war movies!  We landed in Amsterdam and were surrounded by fresh tulips!  The one hour layover was spent smelling flowers and staying awake.  The next flight was to Oslo...Paul's stomping grounds.  When we landed and it was as if he was home, the motherland!  He walked with with a bounce in his step and high-fived every troll statue he saw!  Ufda!!  We will be coming back to Oslo, but this trip starts in Copenhagen.   We jumped on one more plane and since we had been up 24 hours, neither of us felt the take off or landing.  Upon landing we dragged ourselves to the hotel for a quick nap before Drew arrived.

     The reunion with Drew was great!  He looked healthy and wiser!  Drew has been on trains, planes and boats for 80 days.  From Russia to Istanbul, France to Germany, Italy to Spain, Morocco to Belgium and everywhere in-between, 18 countries and three continents.  We will help add to that list and by the time he gets home he should be around 22 countries in 100 days. Ufda!!  He has put on a lot of miles!!

     After a few beers and catching up, we retreated to our hotel room, the Bella Sky, for a great 8 hour snooze!!  So good to see Drew!!  We are happy and had a very restful sleep knowing Drew was in the same town!!

Tuesday, Copenhagen, May 6, 2014

     We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, a smorgasbord.  Lots of funky breads, cheeses and meats....and pickled herring!  We then had a short walk to the metro station.  This was a great way to get around town!  the Metro was a 10 minute trip into Copenhagen.

     My boys laughed at me when I recommend the hop-on and hop-off bus, so we compromised and took the boat tour, which was great.  The Netto company gave the tour in English and we got the lay of the land/canals.  We had a great morning learning the history and placement of the neighborhoods!!  We also toured City Hall, Stroget Pedestrian Street, Nyhaven Sailor Harbor and saw the back side of the Little Mermaid.

     Mid afternoon lite lunch included three types of herring and french cheeses.  We had a nice dinner at Nyhaven Harbor.  I had salmon, Paul had moules frites (mussels and fresh fries with a cream sauce) and Drew had veal and prawns!  Very good meal, topped off by Aquavit at the hotel roof bar.   We all slept like a baby....once again!!

Wednesday, Copenhagen, May 7, 2014

     Day two in Copenhagen and we had an agenda.  Usually we are loosey-goosey about agendas, but Paul and Drew had some must see!!  Today was Legoland, The Chocolat Hotel (okay, that one was for Lisa), Tivoli Gardens, Carlsberg Brewery Tour and the Meat Packing District for some chic food!!  Drew's friend Nate was also coming onto town and we were looking forward to hooking up with him and having dinner....Indian Food!!
   
     Drew bought me a Mother's Day gift...rum truffles...and I bought him a late birthday gift...whiskey truffles.  The Chocolat Hotel was fabulous!!

Thursday, Stockholm, May 8, 2014

     Today was a day of travel.  We had 1:30 flights from Copenhagen to Stockholm.  Flight pretty uneventful.  When we landed we took a taxi to the southern part of Stockholm, called Sodermalm.  We are trying an airbnb apartment with two bedrooms.  We will keep you posted.

Friday, Rainy Stockholm, May 9, 2014

     We got up s little late this morning.  Both boys are heavily into reading novels and since it was raining out, we were moving a little slow.  Since going into town would entail a few bus transfers, I suggested the Hop On Hop Off Bus and Boat. The boys agreed and we were off on an adventure!

     We walked a mile in the rain to the bus stop and didn't melt.  The bus was a double decker and we promptly took our seats on the top floor and immediately put out headphones on for the narration, in english, of Swedish history!  It was fabulous and very very interesting!!  We stayed on the bus for several hours getting the lay of the land.  We saw City Hall, Central Station, Skansen, Museums, King's Palace, Slussen and Old Town.  The rain stopped, so we jumped off and had lunch in Old Town.