We recently spent a fun and relaxing week on the island of Nantucket with our good friends Bonney and Patrick and their son Rowan. We rented a house on the beach and took advantage of the beautiful autumn weather. We spent lots of time outside on the back deck, down on the beach, exploring the island and took a hike in Squam Swamp. Aaron brought his kites and flew on the beach a couple of days. We windowed shopped (everything on Nantucket was island priced, which means it cost at least 20% more than usual), read books, played games and ran around with Rowan. We also visited a windmill on the island that was built in 1745 and is still used to mill corn. The island was beautiful, almost all the houses were covered with weathered shingles and no matter where you went the sea was never too far away. It was a lovely vacation and great to have the time with Bonney and Patrick, and Rowan.

A few weekends ago, Aaron and I met up with Bonney and Rowan in New York City. The weather was fantastic, and we spent a lot of the weekend walking around the city together. We visited the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier that is the permanent home of the Sea-Air-Space Museum. The flight deck of the carrier was filled with a variety of planes and helicopters. The carrier itself was amazing to see in person – we really enjoyed ourselves. We also visited Central Park, The Highline and of course did plenty of eating. My favorite meal of the weekend was at Kyo Chon, a Korean fried chicken restaurant – yum. We also ate Thai, Austrian (food truck) and a couple of good brunches. Oh and a thanks to Aaron who helped me label all the photos from the Intrepid – it’s amazing (and a little weird) to me that he can identify all the military planes and helicopters by name – but he did it quite easily.

Here’s the second half of the photos from our time at the shore. Peter and Maria and their girls came down for our last weekend as a surprise which was great. As our family continues to grow, I am grateful for any opportunity when all my siblings are together and for it to happen at the shore makes it all the better. Above the family on the point (a photo I borrowed from James and Chrissy :) and yes, my eyes are closed. And below a very proud Nana with all five of her grandkids. I think the joy in her face says it all.

Posting these photos is bittersweet. As many of you may know, Hurricane/ Tropical Storm Irene hit our beloved cottages on the Long Island Sound very hard a couple of weeks ago. Major damage was done to the entire property and as a family we are just starting to look into our options in terms of repair and/or rebuilding. It seems there is a long road ahead. However, this album of photos and the 2nd part (which I hope to post next weekend) were taken back in early August before the storm. Aaron and I were fortunate to enjoy a week and a half of pretty good weather, lots of family together time and a lovely break from regular life surrounded by the ocean and sand.

The city of Oslo, Norway was our last stop, and my favorite of all the cities we visited. It is absolutely beautiful, from the architecture to fjords – the history is fascinating and the people are lovely. The recent massacre that befell that city is impossible to comprehend, shocking and very sad. It’s hard to believe such a peaceful and tolerant city was the site of such a tragedy. It is truly heartbreaking.

Our time in Norway was spent in several locations. After a quick tour of Oslo, we traveled out of the city, through beautiful wooded countryside to the Hadeland Glassverk. The glassworks was founded in 1762 and is the oldest industrial company in all of Norway. While there we saw an interesting demonstration in the glassworks (including glassblowing and the use of ovens ranging from 1200º C – 1500ºC), explored the company’s grounds and checked out their shops. After our time at the glassworks, we traveled back to Oslo, and en route saw some of the beautiful Norwegian fjords I had heard so much about. The blue of this water was so rich and pure – it almost seemed fake. Once back in Oslo, we went to The Viking Ship Museum which was pretty amazing. It featured three different ships that had been dug up from burial mounds and date back to 800 – 900 A.D. I’d love to return to Oslo in the future to experience more of the city and to see more of Norway. It was a fantastic trip. Thanks Becki!

So in Skagen we decided to do something a little different and selected rural excursions. We started our visit at Eagleworld, a sanctuary and research center for birds of prey. There was a small education center with displays of feathers, eggshells, nests, photos and short videos of the various birds who live at the sanctuary. Then we were led to a large outdoor area with benches and the up close experience began. There were several handlers who brought out a variety of birds including falcons, eagles and sea eagles. You’ll be able to tell from the photos, we got to see these birds close up. I have seen eagles on television and I imagine I have seen then in person from a distance, but I had no idea they were so big. The staff at Eagleworld demonstrated exercises they do to teach orphaned chicks how to hunt (which involved swinging dead pigeons around on a string at a dizzying speed), they spoke about the historical practice of hunting with birds on horseback (and demonstrated that as well) and of course the birds flew around freely and we got to see how beautiful and powerful they are. It all was sensational to watch.

After Eagleworld, we went to RÃ¥bjerg Mile, a migrating coastal sand dune and moving conservation area. This area of Denmark has a history of many migrating sand dunes. Over the centuries grasses and trees have strategically been planted to anchor the sand and minimize the moving dunes, but RÃ¥bjerg Mile is a protected, government owned area. The dune covers about 256 acres of land and at its tallest point is about 115 ft tall. It moves 50 – 60 ft a year. Becki and I trekked up and up this sand dune and felt like Lawrence of Arabia. The view from the top was pretty incredible, obviously sand in every direction, but with a distant perimeter of green, which seemed quite odd. It truly felt like being in a mini desert. It was a truly unique site to see. After RÃ¥bjerg Mile we headed back to the center of Skagen and had a great lunch in an outdoor cafe where I managed to order us lunch from a Danish man who didn’t speak English. I think Becki was impressed :) After lunch Becki headed back to the ship and I walked around a bit on my own. At the end of the day we were sad to leave Denmark, but very much looking forward to Oslo.

Next up – Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the first things we saw sailing into Copenhagen was a Middelgrunden wind farm – we saw it from the ship while sailing into port – it was really cool to see – there’s something about wind farms I find mesmerizing. Our day ashore in Copenhagen started in Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park of sorts with rides, but with a strong emphasis on gardens. There were beautiful flower beds, fountains and gardens interspersed with the rides and attractions. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed exploring the park and even went on a roller coaster: The Demon. After Tivoli Gardens we visited a series of historic buildings including Christiansborg Palace, Børsen (Stock Exchange) which had a fantastic dragon tail spire, Nikolaj Kirke (photo above) and the post card image Copenhagen is famous for, Nyhavn district with its brightly colored 17th and early 18th century buildings on the canal.

Next it was onto Amalienborg Palace Square. The Amalienborg Palace is the winter residence of the royal family and is actually 4 identical palaces all facing a center courtyard. Although we didn’t see anyone, we were told Danish royalty was in residence as one of the palaces was flying the royal flag and there were royal guards on duty in the square. We also saw nearby Frederik’s Kirke and the Copenhagen Opera House. Our final stop was back at the Copenhagen harbor to see the Little Mermaid statue, which was based on the title character from a Hans Christian Andersen story. After a great day in Copenhagen, we headed back to our ship and were treated to a fabulous sunset at sea during dinner.

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.