I didn’t figure anyone would mind this interruption of the vacation photo postings. Below are three photos of Peter and Maria’s twin daughters – a family photo, then one of Maria with Lia and lastly Peter with Ella. Both girls are home and doing great. We paid them a visit last night and had an enjoyable evening getting to know our newest nieces.

After our time in Amsterdam, we boarded our ship in Rotterdam and had a relaxing day at sea that gave us time to familiarize ourselves with the ship, unpack and relax. Then our first stop – Helsingborg, Sweden. Our day in Sweden was our most ambitious day (well as ambitious as you can be while on vacation anyway), our tour made four stops in three different cities. First we visited Lund Cathedral, completed in 1145, it is one of the oldest churches in Sweden and the crypt of the cathedral is thought to be even older. Then we traveled to the town of Malmö and saw The Turning Torso building, the tallest building in all of Scandinavia that also happens to feature a 90 degree twist. Next we saw the Öresund Bridge which connects Malmö to Copenhagen, Denmark. The bridge starts in Malmö and crosses the Öresund Strait and appears to end on the man-made island of Peberholm. In actuality the bridge joins the Drogden tunnel on Peberholm and continues underwater/underground into Copenhagen.

Our third stop was at Häckeberga Castle for lunch. The property was once a stronghold back in the 1530s, but that was demolished and replaced by the castle in the 1870s. The castle is now a hotel with beautiful grounds and is surrounded on all sides by Lake Häckeberga. Our final stop was at Sofiero Castle and Gardens back in Helsingborg. This was a wonderful place to end our day. Previously it was one of the Swedish royal family’s country mansions, but in 1973 when King Gustaf VI Adolf died, he left it to the city of Helsingborg. The castle was a pretty building, but what really stood out was the grounds. There were beautiful gardens, some wild and organic, others formal and very well kept. There were outdoor sculpture gardens, labyrinths, wooded paths with winding steps and little bridges over the brooks. It was lovely. The above photo is of a stone labyrinth at Sofiero that was inspired by the fable The Lion and the Mouse. Next up, Copenhagen…

The first stop on Becki and my adventure was Amsterdam. We had two and a half days in the city and tried to squeeze in as much as we could. We did pretty well, but there is so much to see – we could have spent weeks there and still not seen it all. After a brief anti jet-lag nap at the hotel we went on a canal tour by boat – which enabled us to see a lot of the city and many of its over 1200 bridges. Afterward we tried out the city’s tram system and traveled across the city to the Anne Frank House. Although it was a somber place to start a vacation, if you ever make it to Amsterdam – this is not to be missed. For dinner we had pancakes and the dutch dessert – poffertjes – delicious!

The next morning we were up early to take a tour of Zaanse Schans, a village north of Amsterdam, where a number of historic wooden houses and windmills have been relocated. At Zaanse Schans we saw a demonstration of how wooden shoes are made, learned about the production of gouda cheese and got to go inside and climb up a functioning windmill. I loved this place. Next we traveled to Edam, a picturesque, small dutch city with old streets, quiet canals and lots of history. We walked through the city learning about the cheese market and the shipbuilding industry here. Then we traveled back to downtown Amsterdam and squeezed in a few more sites: Central Station, Church of St. Nicholas, Dam Square, The National Monument, The Royal Palace, The New Church and lastly Begijnhof. Begijnhof is this secluded, closed off courtyard in the middle of Amsterdam. It was originally built as a sanctuary in the 14th century for the Begijntjes, a sisterhood who lived like nuns, but still wanted to access the outside world.

We loved Amsterdam. After our fantastic, whirlwind tour though, it was time to pack up and get ready for the cruise ship.

Hi all! My Aunt Becki and I are back from a fantastic trip to Scandinavia (The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway). I have hundreds of photos to sort through, but just wanted to post this single photo for now as a preview to let you know I’m back. These are 3 of the windmills we saw at Zaanse Schans in Zaandam, The Netherlands. In the coming weeks I will post tales of our adventures and the photos in batches. Happy Summer.