Category: 2018 European Adventure

May 25

Well, faithful followers, this is the last day of our 2nd European Adventure. The train is pulling out of Sundsvall (so sad to leave Maria and Martin) and in a little over 3 hours we’ll be in Stockholm. We’re getting off the train at Arlanda and staying in a hotel near the airport. Since we have a 9am flight tomorrow it’s much easier this way.

What can we say about an adventure that’s lasted 3 months? It was a time filled with extremes. We went from almost 5 straight weeks of cold, rainy weather to the last 6 weeks of mostly sunny, summer weather. We literally went from the far southwest corner of Europe to only a couple hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. We pretty much crossed the entire western part of the continent east to west. If you draw a straight line south from Sundsvall it would go through the middle of Poland, Slovakia and Hungry. Of course, we did the trip on a northeast angle and flew from several points, so we didn’t see all of Europe, but we covered a lot of territory. We visited 10 countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway and Sweden and one British territory, Gibraltar.

We saw gigantic, beautiful cathedrals and small, but lovely churches. The Catholic cathedrals tended to be very ornate while the Protestant churches, while less ornate, were still beautiful. The smallest church we visited was in Nazere, Portugal. It was about 20 feet wide and just about as long.

Of course, there was beautiful art. We saw the French Impressionists, Italian Renaissance and Van Gogh in Paris

And the Dutch Masters in Amsterdam.

And in Paris we saw artists at work.

We visited just about every WWI and WWII museum, monument, memorial and cemetery in Europe. Well, probably not but we did see the biggest and most important ones along our route.

We saw the spot where the war to end all wars came to an end, and the document that ended the next war.

We caught a little of the Napoleonic Wars.

In Norway we went back even further to the middle ages.

And then there were the castles, palaces and chateaux; some over the top and some fairly stark.

We visited some of the biggest cities in Europe, some tiny but beautiful villages and everything in between.

We loved the outdoor cafes as well as the beer, wine and food that went with them.

For entertainment we…..

We saw windmills in Belgium and Sweden but not the Netherlands.

We traveled by plane, car, bus, train, ferry, cargo ship and wagon. We cruised the Rhine, the Seine, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. We went on canal rides in Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

In addition to many different Airbnb flats and hotels and one resort, we slept in a Chateau in France and a tiny cabin on the cruise down the Norwegian Fjords.

And over the last 10 days, we spent time with family.

Part of the reason for this trip (other than the fact that we had no place else to live) was to see if we might want to “winter over” in Portugal or southern Spain. The answer…. absolutely not. It’s way colder and wetter than we thought. Granted, just like everywhere else, they had an unusually bad winter, but it wasn’t warm enough to be someplace we’d want to stay all winter. Besides, the golf is way too expensive.

We had also toyed with the idea of selling virtually everything we own and becoming nomads for a few years. The answer…absolutely not. We moved out of our Chicago house on 9/15/17 and have been on the move pretty much ever since. While we’ve seen some amazing things, it’s just too tiring (not to mention expensive) to do that for any length of time. So far, the place we think is a best fit for us for winter is Green Valley AZ. But there are a few other places we want to check out so who knows what will happen.

So…..what’s next for us. After what is sure to be a long day of travel on Saturday, we started getting ready to move into our house. We get the keys on the 31st and have to get new carpet in the bedrooms, have several rooms painted and get the window coverings cleaned before we can move in. We’ve been living out of suitcases for the better part of 8 months, so as soon as we get the keys, we’re moving in. We won’t have any furniture but we have 2 air mattresses in the storage unit that are pretty comfortable so we’ll sleep on those until we can get the move done.

As for travel, we’ll go someplace close for our Sept 4th anniversary. We’d like to winter in AZ again next year, but as you can imagine the last 8 months of homelessness has been very expensive so we’ll have to see if the budget will allow another 3 months away from home next winter. Our next European adventure will be in 2019 when we head back to Italy. This time it will be south of Naples and Sicily. It’s 15 months away but it will be here before we know it.

So, until then dear friends, thanks again for traveling with us. We hope you enjoyed our adventure as much as we did. Love to all…. Lynn and Peter

May 23

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a workday at the summer house for the boys and spa day for the girls. Lynn and Maria had a wonderful time at the local spa enjoying cool pools, hot tubs, body scrubs (Maria), shrimp sandwiches and wine for lunch and a massage for Lynn. The massage wasn’t the most relaxing she’s ever had as the therapist was trying to relax the dozen or so knots, she had in her back. To tell the truth it was probably the most painful massage she’s ever had but she was able to walk this morning without the lower back muscle spasms she’s had for the last 3 days…. yeah! They spent about 5 hours at the spa and enjoyed every minute. The boys, on the other hand, didn’t have quite as much fun. They got the boat in the water and did some gardening. But the work got done.

Today (Wednesday) Martin had to go to work but Peter, Lynn and Maria drove back to Ostersund to spend a little time in the town before meeting Ruth (Maria’s mom) for lunch. It was a place she had taken Lynn and mom to lunch when they were here in 2008. It’s at the top of a tower and not only was the lunch delicious but the view was wonderful.

After lunch we drove around the area a little and visited Rudmar (Maria’s dad) at the cemetery. Lynn remembers Rudmar as a tall but gentle man who was a lot of fun, even if it was a challenge to communicate as he didn’t speak much English. Her favorite memory of him was after Rudmar, Ruth and Mildred went to a Cubs game when they visited in Chicago in the late 80s. After the game Rudmar kept singing “Take me out to the ballgame” but that’s the only line he knew so he sang it over and over. It’s a great memory and he is very much missed.

Then we headed back to Sundsvall, stopping at a very special spot along the way. We drove right past the house where Lynn’s grandfather was born and raised. It’s right on the lake and has a beautiful view. Unfortunately, now it’s also right on the highway but we were able to find a spot to pull over and take pictures. Maria remembers going to the house as a child when it was owned by Uncles Eric and Sven. Here’s video Peter took of the house.

We also drove past the spot where Lynn’s grandparents lived before they came to Chicago. The house no longer exists since the highway is where the house was, but it was cool to see the spot where it used to stand. It was right on a lake where the oldest child, Gustav, drowned when he was only a few years old. Maria never met Lynn’s grandfather as he died when Maria was only 5 months old, but she remembers seeing pictures of him when he visited Sweden. It was so cool that she remembered the aunts and uncles Lynn never met (Grandpa was one of 9 kids) and remembered visiting both of the houses, the one that still stands and the one that’s now a highway.

Once Martin got home from work, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and are now watching tonight’s move…. Red 2. We watched the first one last night and had a great time so we’re looking forward to the 2nd movie. It’s movie time so we’ll close for now. Have a great day everyone.

May 22

Yesterday (Monday) was a very relaxing day. We had a quiet morning at home before leaving for Maria and Martin’s summer house mid-afternoon. The house is only a 10-minute drive from the apartment, but it seemed like we were a world away. The house is about a 10-minute walk through the woods from where we park the car. Peter road with Martin on the 4-wheel but Lynn and Maria walked. Their house is amazing! The main house is quite large with a living room, bedroom and kitchen. What? No bathroom. Of course, there’s a bathroom but it’s in a separate building next door. It’s beautifully done with everything you need…. toilet, sink, cabinet and shower. There are several other buildings and a green house. Until 2 weeks ago there was a significant amount of snow on the ground, so M&M are just now getting it ready for the summer. They will move there in a couple of weeks, only going to the apartment to pick up mail, do laundry and check on the apartment.

The land is on beautiful Summer Lake and it’s the most peaceful place we’ve seen in the last 3 months. Once again, we were blessed with a gorgeous day, and we couldn’t see anyone, and the only sounds were the birds. Their two kids and grandchild joined us for a delicious BBQ, so it was nice to meet the other side of the family. Of course, 9-month-old Alicia was the star of the show; she’s a real cutie.

It was about 9pm when we started the trek back to the car but there was plenty of light, so we didn’t have any difficulty walking through the woods.

Today Martin and Peter are going back to work on the house while Lynn and Maria enjoy a spa day. It’s going to be wonderful!

May 21

Good morning faithful followers. It’s a sunny Monday morning and we’re finally getting around to posting the blog from the weekend.

On Saturday, we left the house without knowing where we were going or what we were going to do. We got a little nervous, though, when Maria put rubber boots in the car. We drove about 30 minutes outside of Sundsvall where they were holding the annual Koslapp or “Letting the Cows out” day. Apparently, the cows are in the barn all winter and once the weather gets nice, the cows are let out and allowed to roam the pasture. They go back into the barn for milking but then go back out. There were 700 people at this event, and it was really quite fun. Here’s a short video of a few of the big girls heading out to the pasture. We also had fresh milk with a homemade cinnamon roll…very delicious.

After the cows were all out, we headed back towards Sundsvall and to the North Mountain where there were old buildings, restaurants, shops and an incredible view. We had a shrimp sandwich for lunch (soooooo good; Lynn already knows how to make it so we’ll definitely have these at home) then walked around the park for awhile looking at the old buildings. The views from the mountain were spectacular. Here’s video that Peter took.

Then it was back to the house for rest before a very delicious dinner of homemade pizza. Lynn, Peter and Maria went out for a long walk after dinner and saw some of the markers that indicated the pilgrimage walk from Sundsvall to the Cathedral in Trondheim. If you remember from our posts about Trondheim, the Cathedral is where St. Olav is reported to be buried. It was cool to know that we were on the trail that thousands of people have walked.

Yesterday (Sunday) was our day to visit the family in Ostersund. On the way, we stopped at Jamtli, which was very much like North Mountain. It’s a beautiful park with old buildings, rides for the kids, shops and restaurants. We watched women making flatbread (oh, so good) and strolled the grounds for about an hour before heading to Maria’s mom’s house.

Our afternoon in Ostersund was wonderful. Lynn got to see her cousins, some of whom she hadn’t seen in 25 years. We had a delicious lunch and hung out in the backyard for the afternoon. It was another gorgeous day with perfect weather for visiting family. In addition to celebrating our visit, two of the cousins were celebrating birthdays. Morton (Maria’s brother) and Per Eric (Maria and Lynn’s cousin) both have milestone birthdays (50 and 60 respectively) so we sung a rousing chorus of the Swedish version of Happy Birthday. Click on the link to see that.

Ostersund is about 2 1/2 hours northwest of Sundsvall, so it was almost 9:30pm before we got home but since it stays light until about 11:30, it felt much earlier. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to go back again before we leave to see the town and have lunch with Ruth.

Today we’re having a quiet morning at home but are visiting Maria and Martin’s summer house this afternoon. It’s another beautiful day so we’re looking forward to it. Have a great day!

May 18

Today was a beautiful day in Sundsvall. We started with a workout at the gym. It’s been months since we’ve had a chance to work out, so we really enjoyed going with Martin to his gym.

Then we headed to the Sundsvall City Center for some lunch and a private tour. Maria had arranged for us to take a walking tour of the city center, or Stone City, as it’s known. We had a wonderful tour guide who gave us lots of cool stories about the city. Sundsvall has 3 major fires in its history that destroyed the town. After the 3rd fire in 1888, the buildings in the city were rebuilt in stone, hence the nickname.

The buildings are beautiful, and we had the chance to go inside some of them. It was a very enjoyable 90 minutes. After the tour we drove to a mountain overlooking the city for a gorgeous view of Sundsvall and the Baltic Sea.

We decided on Italian for dinner tonight. The boys made pasta from scratch while the girls made the caprese salad and the sauce. Lynn made Florentine Gelato last night so that was ready to go for dessert. The dinner was delicious, and we capped it off with chilled limoncello…very wonderful.

Tonight, it’s another movie on Netflix. Last night was Florence Foster Jenkins; Meryl Streep was excellent. To keep the boys happy this time it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow as Maria is keeping it a surprise. But she says we don’t need to bother with showering in the morning which has us a little nervous. We’ll let you know what happens.

May 17

Yesterday (Wednesday) was mostly a travel day but we had a few hours in the morning to walk around Stockholm before heading to the train. It was another beautiful day, so we really enjoyed strolling by the water sand shopping a little in the Gamla Stan.

Then we headed to the train station for our 3 1/2-hour ride to Sundsvall, where Lynn’s cousin, Maria, was waiting for us. It has been almost 3 years since we have seen Lynn’s cousin so there were a few tears on the platform. Who knew Peter was such a crier? Actually, it should come as no surprise that it was Lynn who shed a few tears as she was very excited to see Maria.

Today (Thursday) was a nice, relaxing day. We sat in our jammies until mid-morning when we headed to Ikea for brunch. It was actually quite delicious then we walked around the store and saw where Maria worked in the kitchen design department.

When we got home Martin (who had worked nights) was awake. After lunch and throwing a load of laundry in the wash, we headed out for a walk. It was cool but sunny, so it was a wonderful walk. We saw some archeological mounds that have been excavated for some of the best ancient ruins in Sweden. One of the mounds contained the large home of an ancient (500 years BC) king.

Tomorrow we’re off for a walking tour of Sundsvall so that’s something to look forward to. It was a great day with family and we’re so glad we’re here for the last 9 days of our European Adventure.

May 15

Today was a carbon copy of yesterday as far as the weather goes. We started the day by walking to the closest hop on bus stop which we took to the Nordic Museum. This museum highlighted life in Sweden from the early 16th century until modern times. We moved through it fairly quickly because it was similar to a museum, we visited in Gothenburg a couple of weeks ago.

Next, we visited the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was an early 17th century warship. It was an amazing feat of shipbuilding with over 700 sculptures carved into the ship. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very seaworthy. In fact, it never made it out of the harbor. On its maiden voyage in 1629, it tipped to the left side after a strong gust of wind hit the sails and water rushed in through the gun ports. The Vasa sunk less than 400 feet from shore killing 30 people. It remained in the harbor for over 300 years before it was finally recovered in 1961. It took many years to restore the ship, but it is now one of the biggest tourist attractions in Stockholm.

After the Vasa, we walked a short way to the Viking Museum. Unlike the one in Oslo, this didn’t have too much in the way of artifacts. There were several recreations used to tell the story of life as a Viking. The coolest part, though, was a Disney type ride that told the story of a man who went a-Viking to find silver for his family. It was very interesting but we couldn’t take pictures.

By this time Lynn was having a great deal of difficulty walking so we decided to take one of the cruises that came with our Stockholm Pass. It was a beautiful ride around one of the large islands.

After we were back on dry land, we had dinner and headed back home. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Stockholm; it is a beautiful city. The Stockholm Pass turned out to be a great investment. We paid 845 kronor for each pass but the fees for all the things we did was 1879 krona each. So, we basically had a buy one, get one free deal.

Tomorrow morning we’ll take Uber to the Central Station and store our bags. Our train for Sundsvall doesn’t leave until about 2:30pm so we’ll spend the morning seeing a few things in the city. Peter wants to spend some time in the parks so it will be a relaxing morning. Have a great night.

May 14

After a long day of train rides yesterday, we spent today visiting Stockholm. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and mid 70s. We decided to get the 2-day Stockholm Card which gives us free entry to over 60 attractions and museums. It also gives us the hop on/hop off bus and boat as well as several different cruises. We’ve had plenty of cruises, so we probably won’t do any of those, but we did get on the hop on/hop off boat for a couple of stops. Instead of getting a transit pass, our plan is to use the hop on bus as transportation. The pass paid for itself today so everything we do tomorrow is “free”.

We started our sightseeing with a 70-minute panorama tour of the city. We didn’t get off, but it was a nice way to get an overview of the city, especially areas we probably won’t get back to. Then we headed to the Gamla Stan (Old Town) and visited the Royal Palace. We got there just in time for the changing of the guard and then toured the state apartments, chapel and treasury. Compared to what we saw in France, this was pretty understated but still very pretty.

After the palace we walked to the Cathedral. Again, compared to other places we’ve visited this one is very small and simple, but it was actually quite beautiful. There is an amazing sculpture of St. George and the Dragon made out of things like oak and elk horn. It was gorgeous.

Then we sat in one of the squares for a quick beer and the sandwiches we brought from home. After strolling a few of the walking streets, we walked to the harbor where we caught the hop on boat. We only went a couple of stops as we wanted to catch the bus to take us as close to our flat as possible. Well, the bus didn’t stop at the #10 stop, so we walked to the #15 stop. We only stayed on for one more stop then walked home. It took longer than it should have as Lynn’s hip is really bad today, so the 20-minute walk took closer to 45 minutes.

We had a very special dinner tonight with Lynn’s cousins. A bit of family background…. Lynn’s maternal grandparents were both from Sweden. Mom was born in Chicago, but her brothers were born in Sweden before coming to the States with their parents in the middle 20s. So, most of mom’s family is in Sweden. The family in Stockholm is Lynn’s grandmother’s side of the family. Bengt and his son Bjorn took us to dinner at a lovely restaurant not far from our flat. Lynn took a walk on the wild side and tried a local dish, braised ox cheek cooked in red wine. It was delicious. Peter played it a little safer and had the spiny lobster. Lynn hadn’t seen her cousins since 1992 when she was stationed in Italy and spent the Christmas holiday with her Swedish family. So, it was good to catch up. Hopefully it won’t be another 25 years before we see them again.

Tomorrow we’re going to continue our tour of Stockholm with a visit to the Vasa Museum and the Skansen Open Air Museum. Not sure where else we’ll visit but we’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. Night everyone!