Monday, July 27, 2009
How 'bout some Helsinki?
I had no idea what to expect from Helsinki and I LOVED it. What a gorgeous city! We chose to do a bike tour of the city and I'm so glad we did, it was the perfect way to see Helsinki! We only had 4 hours here so it went by super fast! And the day ended with me, GOOBER of the day, totally falling off my bike and gouging my ankle. The scab just fell off and left a nasty scar. I'll remember it forever!
Back To Business
I'm back from San Diego now and ready to do some serious blogging. Back to Europe. After Denmark we went on a Baltic cruise which took us to Talin, Estonia, Helsinki, Finland, Stockholm, Sweden and St. Petersburg, Russia. This is Stockholm.
We only had about 5 hours in this gorgeous country so we took a two hour waterway tour, went to the Ice Bar, to the Pippi Longstocking Museum and to this amazing museum that had a ship from the 1600's found at the bottom of the sea, skeletons and all!
There were sailboats and ships all over the water, they said there was something like 400,000 boats in Stockholm.
The buildings were so gorgeous, we had such an amazing view from our tour boat!
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The Ice Bar was so fun! It is entirely made of ice inside, walls, seats, tables and glasses. They give you these really cook parkas and gloves and take you in and you can stay all day if you want! After our shots of cranberry juice we were freezing and ready for more exploring.
The boat museum. I forget what it was called. I love it though and really wished Johnny could have been there with me!
Pretty sight seeing!
The big boat is behind us...woops. Can't see it.
More cool views above. Junibaken (below) is the Pippi museum and looked soooo cute!! The author of Pippi is from Stockholm and the entire museum was a fun house dedicated to her, her books and PIPPI! We only went to the gift shop to get some goodies for the babes.
We only had about 5 hours in this gorgeous country so we took a two hour waterway tour, went to the Ice Bar, to the Pippi Longstocking Museum and to this amazing museum that had a ship from the 1600's found at the bottom of the sea, skeletons and all!
There were sailboats and ships all over the water, they said there was something like 400,000 boats in Stockholm.
The buildings were so gorgeous, we had such an amazing view from our tour boat!
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiEWsAI40fUBL0HTsGX8INSawtZ3rnm1MlEXbtxZIiGxJCv06_YcHEIXgQuqpsXyz0ZEPgc8T1TUgoVmxAtdCnJxJa2euUIgDO3Bk4Rx-oGcA_sVMuQaeo_zExvbTQRyjyOpYB1oUy1VmA/s1600-h/IMG_4577.JPG">
The Ice Bar was so fun! It is entirely made of ice inside, walls, seats, tables and glasses. They give you these really cook parkas and gloves and take you in and you can stay all day if you want! After our shots of cranberry juice we were freezing and ready for more exploring.
The boat museum. I forget what it was called. I love it though and really wished Johnny could have been there with me!
Pretty sight seeing!
The big boat is behind us...woops. Can't see it.
More cool views above. Junibaken (below) is the Pippi museum and looked soooo cute!! The author of Pippi is from Stockholm and the entire museum was a fun house dedicated to her, her books and PIPPI! We only went to the gift shop to get some goodies for the babes.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Part Two-End of Denmark, first day of cruise
Part two! The last part of the first part (are you following?) was spent seeing the "buried" church in Skagen, the random Dunes, a trip to see where Denise's mom's family is from (we found missionaries there!), more pretty churches, then we found Willestrup Manor where John's dad's grandfather worked and received his name, Willestrup which is his dad's middle name and Greg's as well. Then we drove across the country again to board our ship in Copenhagen.
All of these pictures are totally out of order...whoops.
Racing down the dunes!
The happy couple.
We found missionaries!
Another Danish church-hundreds and hundreds of these exact churches were built all over Denmark, I finally caught on after the 10th church looked just like the one before!
The buried church-I guess half of this church is buried under ground, it is very close to the dunes we saw next on our trip.
Willestrupveg i.e. "Willestrup Way". We thought we'd never find this street, it lead us right to the Willestrup manor, where John W's grandfather worked and received the name for being well-liked by the family. This is where John's dad and Greg got their middle name.
The Manor. A very wealthy family still lives there and said it has been in their family for over 500 years. It was straight out of a movie. A gigantic house, gardens, fountains, a lake, a mote, groves of trees, a church. Heaven.
Coffee and hot chocolate with Eva, Christian, Jonason, Pia, John and their brother and his wife whose names I've forgotten for the moment. It was so fun to get to talk to these people who knew grandma Tove and even remembered John's dad coming over when he was 15 months old and pulling their hair!
Our room on the cruise.
The men in the chestnut groves on the Willestrup grounds.
The pond/lake and the manor-seriously, isn't that gorgeous!?
The huge suspension bridge that took us from one island to another.
Our first dinner on the cruise.
The girls on grandma's balcony...missing Becca!
So pretty.
All of these pictures are totally out of order...whoops.
Racing down the dunes!
The happy couple.
We found missionaries!
Another Danish church-hundreds and hundreds of these exact churches were built all over Denmark, I finally caught on after the 10th church looked just like the one before!
The buried church-I guess half of this church is buried under ground, it is very close to the dunes we saw next on our trip.
Willestrupveg i.e. "Willestrup Way". We thought we'd never find this street, it lead us right to the Willestrup manor, where John W's grandfather worked and received the name for being well-liked by the family. This is where John's dad and Greg got their middle name.
The Manor. A very wealthy family still lives there and said it has been in their family for over 500 years. It was straight out of a movie. A gigantic house, gardens, fountains, a lake, a mote, groves of trees, a church. Heaven.
Coffee and hot chocolate with Eva, Christian, Jonason, Pia, John and their brother and his wife whose names I've forgotten for the moment. It was so fun to get to talk to these people who knew grandma Tove and even remembered John's dad coming over when he was 15 months old and pulling their hair!
Our room on the cruise.
The men in the chestnut groves on the Willestrup grounds.
The pond/lake and the manor-seriously, isn't that gorgeous!?
The huge suspension bridge that took us from one island to another.
Our first dinner on the cruise.
The girls on grandma's balcony...missing Becca!
So pretty.
Where on EARTH do I begin?
How about Denmark!
I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude for my in-laws who took us on this trip and my mom for watching my babies for two weeks. It was the trip of a lifetime and I will never ever forget it!!
This is part one of about 10, Denmark Family Time- Part One is what I will call it. We left on a Monday morning and arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark on Tuesday at 7:30 am. We drove to a place called Randers where we stayed in a cute little hotel and had dinner with some of John W's (john's dad) family. The next day we were toured around the city by the family and saw some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Next day we drove to where John W's mom Tove used to vacation and then drove to Skagen, Denmark, the northern most part of Denmark, a cute little beach town and my favorite place. Skagen is also where Tove was born.
We're on our way!
Cheers, we made it!
Wild poppies grew all over the road side. I had to take a cheesy picture all by myself.
The streets of Randers were completely empty by 4:30 pm. What a life!
Dinner with the Danish family members who live in Randers. It was so fun to meet them and hear their stories. They all spoke English for the most part so that was sooo great!
Our first Danish church, they were gorgeous.
A REAL thatched roof. They were everywhere with people living in them!
It was truly a fairy tale land-swans and all!
Picture perfect.
Kirsten and Neils, they were so fun and were the ones who took us on the tour of Randers. We went to their home afterwards and ate the most delicious strawberries I've ever tasted. Yes, even better than the ones from San Diego. I promise.
Another Gorgeous church.
The harbor where Tove used to vacation with her family.
Aalborg, where Tove grew up. We stopped and had lunch here before going to her actual apartment building. I could have taken pictures of every single street we passed. The entire country looks like this.
The blue door is Tove's old apartment! How neat to see where she grew up. It was a really special day for the family!
Skagen! We rented bikes and went around the city! Our first stop was this old light house. The sights at the top were breath taking!
Skagen is at the very Northern tip of Denmark and Grenen is the actual tip where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. It's quite the tourist attraction!
I was all excited to be at the beach and maybe get a tan but the water was filled with C-cup jelly fish!
Our adorable Hotel.
Sunset at the beach in old Skagen. 10:50 PM. Yep, you read that right! The sun goes down at around 11:00 pm and comes up at around 3:00 am. Weird.
I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude for my in-laws who took us on this trip and my mom for watching my babies for two weeks. It was the trip of a lifetime and I will never ever forget it!!
This is part one of about 10, Denmark Family Time- Part One is what I will call it. We left on a Monday morning and arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark on Tuesday at 7:30 am. We drove to a place called Randers where we stayed in a cute little hotel and had dinner with some of John W's (john's dad) family. The next day we were toured around the city by the family and saw some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Next day we drove to where John W's mom Tove used to vacation and then drove to Skagen, Denmark, the northern most part of Denmark, a cute little beach town and my favorite place. Skagen is also where Tove was born.
We're on our way!
Cheers, we made it!
Wild poppies grew all over the road side. I had to take a cheesy picture all by myself.
The streets of Randers were completely empty by 4:30 pm. What a life!
Dinner with the Danish family members who live in Randers. It was so fun to meet them and hear their stories. They all spoke English for the most part so that was sooo great!
Our first Danish church, they were gorgeous.
A REAL thatched roof. They were everywhere with people living in them!
It was truly a fairy tale land-swans and all!
Picture perfect.
Kirsten and Neils, they were so fun and were the ones who took us on the tour of Randers. We went to their home afterwards and ate the most delicious strawberries I've ever tasted. Yes, even better than the ones from San Diego. I promise.
Another Gorgeous church.
The harbor where Tove used to vacation with her family.
Aalborg, where Tove grew up. We stopped and had lunch here before going to her actual apartment building. I could have taken pictures of every single street we passed. The entire country looks like this.
The blue door is Tove's old apartment! How neat to see where she grew up. It was a really special day for the family!
Skagen! We rented bikes and went around the city! Our first stop was this old light house. The sights at the top were breath taking!
Skagen is at the very Northern tip of Denmark and Grenen is the actual tip where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. It's quite the tourist attraction!
I was all excited to be at the beach and maybe get a tan but the water was filled with C-cup jelly fish!
Our adorable Hotel.
Sunset at the beach in old Skagen. 10:50 PM. Yep, you read that right! The sun goes down at around 11:00 pm and comes up at around 3:00 am. Weird.
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