We found a couple of odd signs while we were in Sweden. Here is our take on them. We’d like to see you r comments as well.
This one was outside the National Museum. Our guess is he wanted to go inside and see too.
We found this in the train station in Stockholm. Of course they were closed, we figured that they knew the Fro was on the loose.
We saw this at nearly every harbor and waterfront in Sweden. It looked like fun to us, but we couldn’t find any cars with in neutral and near the water.
Hi Everyone!
We have been spending time as I said before in Gothenburg with family. We have learned a lot of swedish in the last 4 days. We try to use swedish around the eating table and when we go out. This way we hear more and can pick up on pronunciations.
On Tisdag (Tuesday) the 17th we first went to the pier and toured a ship that has been built to duplicate a ship that sailed from Gothenburg to China and back in the 1700’s. We saw wood craftsmen and rope makers still working on the ship. They were also carving sculptures in wood to mount on the exterior of the ship. The ship plans to set sail and repeat it’s original course.
Then on to an older part of town so that I could see an old glass blowing shop. The shop was very hot inside. The young man working inside had 2 sides of his head shaved and what was left of his hair was pulled back. I watched him make 3 or 4 different items. Coloring the glass was interesting. They will pull the glass from the furnace or kilm, blow it out and roll it just a little and then roll it gently through one or several trays of color in powder. The glass bulbs, flowers and hearts were very beautiful.
On Onsdag (Wednesday) the 18th we went to see locks. I believe there were 3 locks in use. These 3 had been built to replace 10 to 15 ancient locks. On the way out we passed some Shetland ponies.
Then to a China Factory. We didn’t see any China being made but there was stuff to look at.
We went on to a Castle. Once again VERY INTERESTING BATHROOM or maybe I should be saying water closet. We were on the 4th floor and there was a door just like all the others. However on the other side was a small closet with a bench that had 2 lids on it. Lift the lid and look straight down below. What do you see… everything on the way down to the bushes. So say you had to go and you weren’t positioned correctly or centered. You could splatter on a window ledge below. I wouldn’t want a bedroom on that corner of the castle.
Besides this it was a very nice castle and there many rooms to see. The halls, bedrooms, dining areas, prayer rooms, chapel, kitchen, guest quarters and so on. There was furniture; one piece had to be sectioned into 3 parts because of the weight and size. There were many of these pieces and when the King would go to spend time at one of his other estates he would take just about everything from the castle with him. Many wall hangings (mostly of hunting and dead animals), guns, traps, furs, and stuffed animals.
The castle had a large garden outside growing many herbs and flowers. On the other side of the wall along the garden was a LARGE lake called Vatern. We had a late lunch, fed a pair of ducks, and a kitten showed up and joined me on a bench for a while.
We spent the evening with Annette’s mother in Nassjo. I couldn’t wait to get there and sleep. I caught a cold or virus right before leaving for vacation and went to the doctor for help. I told her I was going to another country and needed something strong. Of course what she gave me didn’t work. I had been getting worse over the last few days. So I was ordered to go to bed and rest with warm milk and honey. That was NICE!
So Torsdag (Thursday) morning Donna and Annette had to go to the pharmacy for me and get some medicine. Whatever they got kicks me in my butt. Plus I have really crazy dreams when I take it.
We got a late start on this day but we piled in the car to go to a cemetery. There were graves there of great great grandparents. It was very windy and I crossed paths with a nice man who began to comment on the wind. I not fluent in swedish didn’t understand but he thought I did because when I saw is dog I called it a hund (swedish for dog). Annette came over to translate for me. She ended up finding out this man was a neighbor to Gudrun. Gudrun was Mike´s grandfathers first cousin. Anyway, he pointed out where Gudrun’s grave was for us.
Afterwards we went to a Candy Factory. They make hard candy and there is a large window to watch. It looked as though the shop would hire teenagers for summer jobs making candy. To the folks at work…don’t worry I am bringing some back for you.
We the returned to Annette’s mothers to meet Lars and family. Lars is Annette’s brother. Lars’s wife Marselena made a sandwich cake. I think this sandwich cake had 4 layers but very tasty. You could make this with anything you want. Usually people buy them from the deli but the delis make them with shrimp always. Since I’m allergic to shellfish she was nice and made one herself so that I could also try it. Ours had cream cheese, ham, avocado, cucumber, cheese, caviar and sliced eggs. After chatting, pictures and coffee we had to head back to Gothenburg.
On Fredag we were to catch a train in the afternoon to Stockholm. However, we missed it by 10 minutes. Opps! So we returned to Annette and Lennart’s for another evening. This was actually a good thing because we got to play more kubbs with Faranza & Ravi. Ravi also had time to fix our charging unit for the computer. We blew the adapter out in Nassjo. While Faranza, Mike and I went to pick flowers for a head wreath and the parents went for a walk to see the sun set.
Lorsdag (Saturday) Mid summers day Plus Faranza’s birthday! We sang to her the american version of happy birthday. This day we will make our train and go to Stockholm.
Love to everybody! Jenny
Here is the order as they appear in the photo from left to right. Annette, Lennart, Marcelina (sister in law to Annette), Jenny (girlfriend of Magnus), Magnus (son of Marcelina and Lars), Ina Mai (in front), Lars (brother of Annette), Mike and Jenny. Whew.
Hope to see all of you real soon.
Bergen was once considered the 2nd most important city in Scandinavia, it was the largest port on the Atlantic Ocean for Sweden in 1898. This is stil a charming city built on 7 hills.
In this part of the world at this time of year the sun still sets only once every 24 hours, the difference is that it is only 3 hours till it rises again. Even Neil could stay awake that long. Needless to say the sky never really got dark either.
Orebro switched the outside defender that got schooled three times to the far side (once around the corner for a walk along the goalline and another on a sweet move in the corner of the goal area for a PK and finally a give and go that left him wondering what to follow) and were able to salvage their pride for the remainder of the half.
Award for BEST HOSIPITALITY goes to Annette, Lennert, Farzana and Ravi Rosell! You were great! Thank You for everything!!
June 22, 2003
Stockholm
We arrived in Goteborg Monday, at about noon, and were busy until we left on Saturday. Jenny’s cold, unfortunately, got worst while mine disappeared, so part of the time was finding something to make her feel better. She was ordered to bed a couple of days.
We stayed with Annette and Lennart Rosell; Annette is Ina-Maj Karlsson’s daughter. Annette and Lennart have 2 adopted children, Ravi and Farzana (both from India). Ravi and Farzana aren’t really children any more as they are 20 and 18 years old. Monday we spent getting settled and taking care of Michael’s soccer fix. The local team just happened to be playing Monday evening; Ravi was “good enough” to accompany Mike to the game while Lennart, Annette and I went to their garden house and walked around that area. Jenny and Farzana stayed home to compare notes. Tuesday we went to see the Goteborg III replica that is being built in the old ways.
June 15, 2003
Returning to Oslo
Digital cameras have revolutionized the way I think of photos, as it is so easy to take the pictures, download them, clear the card and start all over again. No film development costs and instant pictures if they are wanted. I took over 300 pictures since we left Olso yesterday (Saturday) morning. Yes, we left at 8:00 am and now it is 6:30 p.m. the next day, but that may give you some indication about scenery we had to look at. First, was the southern Norway hills and coastal fjords, then the mountains and the continental divide with the ice and snow. Last yesterday was the downhill ride beside the fjord. When we arrived in Bergin, the first chore was to find our hostel (5 KM) from city center—all up hill. Good thing we didn’t even think about walking. Roger, our receptionist in the hostel, said that he tried to walk down to city center and back once. It would have been a fast bike ride down, but a very slow, push your bike trek back up. If our room had been on the other side of the hostel, we would have been able to look down on the tree tops in city center.
Once we had found the hostel, made our beds, we were off to explore Bergin. Shops, fish market, old churches, city square, statues were the views, and where was up and down the hills. Bergin is built on 7 hills, but the flat area seems to be only one or two blocks wide. You go down to the pier, up to city center, and up much farther to hotels & homes. The roads (streets) are narrow, but not as narrow as the local streets in London. The bus up the hill to the hostel we stayed in had several expert ski slope angels, then around the corner and up again stretches.
Bergin’s past was dependent on the sea and shipping or fishing. Now the tourist trade is also important. Most of the fjord tourists start in Bergin. The buildings are older, some dating back 2 - 3 hundreds of years. Mike puzzled over how the building that the Egon Restaurant was housed in had been built. What is now the cellar level was a story below the street, with a newer building built on the old foundation. The taxi driver explained it the next morning–the land along the wharf had been filled in to expand the area for shops and more pier space.
After wandering the shops and kiosks, we stopped at Egon’s for dinner. I had a meal that even Jim would have liked. He teased me that in Scandinavia the food would be bland and would not be flavorful. The ocean catfish, with a sauce I wish I had the recipe for, melted in my mouth. Their coffee was also good. In London, we found Starbucks all over the place, but have not seen out since. The coffee you get in the breakfast line in the hotels is strong and not very flavorful.
Sunday morning, much to Jenny’s dismay, we were up early again, so we were ready to catch the 8:00 AM Express boat up the Sognefjorden to Flam. The taxi picked up a group from the hostel to take people to the train station. We had to pay extra to get to the wharf. The taxi was loaded with luggage from 9 people and the people, too. A taxi for eight was ordered, and an additional taxi for a separate group. The taxi was designed to carry 10 people, but had little space for luggage. So five of us, and the luggage crowded into the back with everyone holding their luggage. Those in the front and middle seats were faster and much more comfortable. The taxi fare to the station (5 km) was 270 nk or 30 nk for each passenger, or $4.50 each. We paid an additional 10nk each to go the seven blocks down to the wharf ($1.50). So the taxi driver made $45.00 for 5 km worth of driving. In London, a early morning taxi driver looking for a fare (which we should have taken and bargained with him to cover the extra as we had 20 pounds left at that time) wanted 25 pounds to go to Heathrow (exchange rate was about $1.70 to the pound) or a little less than $50.00 for a much longer ride. The bus fare to the hostel was 19 nk each (exchange rate was close to 7 to 1).
The fjord trip was amazing. Scenery is everything it is billed to be. See pictures for the explanation. There are many little notches and side canals with steep rock faces beside the water. Wherever there is a flat spot, there is a house and a field, with boat launch, of course. Anywhere you could build a house came with a great view. The farther inland we went, the more waterfalls cascaded down to the fjord. Then even farther in, and we saw the glacier. Snow had appeared on the mountain tops as soon as the mountains appeared, but the glacier obviously went much farther and covers much of the continental divide in Norway. The trip was
5 1/2 hours to Flam (with stops on the way). This was the express boat, meaning that we went quite fast when we were in the middle of the fjords, slower in the side channels. One stop was “midilefjorden” or in the middle of the fjord–The expressboat pulled along side of a ferry and put a gangplank across for 4 passenger to change boats.
Flam is at most inland point of Aurlandsfjorden (which is a fjord off the Sognefjorden). Its a small town with a famous railway, and our connection to the transfer point back to Oslo. Flamsbana is 20 km going from 0 m.o.h. (meters above sea-level) to 866 m.o.h, beside the Flam river. The train slows at appropriate spots for passenagers to take pictures of the river, the mountain view, and the waterfalls. There is a short stop to see the Kjosfossen Waterfalls, and to be saranaded by Hyranal(?), an elusive troll who appears at her wish to entice people away. The water falls at Kjosfossen so forcibly, that I think it would be hard to entice anyone into that water. The ride was 60 minutes, but was a fast hour. Even Jenny loved that train ride.
The first time we were in Oslo, the clerk at the Tourist Information desk said that they can make reservations for traveler in the evenings, finding unbooked hotel rooms for a discounted rate. (If we had only known this when we arrived, bur found out after I was getting my sales tax refund.) If you are ever in Oslo traveling, remember that. Mike searched the net before we left, and found very expensive rates in Oslo. We ended up with a very comfortable suite for 1/3 the cost of Friday night’s room. In Sweden, the towel rack was heated; in Oslo, the floor in the bathroom was heated–very nice to step out of the shower onto.
I have learned how to use my digital camera, and the connections are so easy with my new laptop. Yes, Lorna, I took your advice and got a Power Book G4. Mike is the main user right now for his website connection. He has logged on in Gothenburg and in Oslo.
Most people we have talked to in Sweden and Norway speak English, so we have yet to learn much of the language, but I tried out Dad’s saying from after dinner when we were little.. Tacks fur maten….The waitress said it means “Thanks for dinner,” so the old memory still works.
June 14, 2003
On the train from Oslo to Bergin
This route is billed as one of Europe’s most picturesque. I haven’t taken the Silverthorn/Durgano route so I can’t compare it ti that, but it has beautiful, green valleys which are wide, rolling hills (we haven’t really seen mountains yet) with many lakes, rivers and fjords (at the beginning of the trip).
Some of the valleys are used for farm land, the rest are forest land. There have been small towns in each valley.
Oslo, close to the fjord, is very pretty. There are islands in the fjord and evidence of lots of shipping. The area around the train station is designed for the tourist. Hotels, shops, and restaurants surround the station. It is easy to take a bus between the train station and the airport. We were surprised that the hotel rates (which are high) were higher for the weekdays than the weekend, implying that there are more business travelers than vacationers (?).
Today we will arrive in Bergin and tomorrow take a fjord cruise, an express boat up the fjord and back, getting off at Flam, take the Flam railroad to Myrdal, and then the train from Myrdal to Oslo. We will be arriving back in Oslo at 10:30, after a very full day. Monday morning, we go on to Goteburg to see Annette and her family.
Second opinion on London:
The old, name places in London were much more impressive than Mike let on, however, everything had a price tag to get in, so the outside was good enough. There seemed to be police men around more than we are used to. Those around Parliament had automatic weapons, probably to guard the protesters across the street.
While Mike was impressed with the Arsenal field, all we could really see was the title–not even a marque- and a big white and red fence. There were row houses built right next to the fence, the first was boarded up so as to not give a family a free view of the matches. What was a teasing point for Jenny and I was the route to the field. Mike figured that we needed to take the tube, catch a bus and then walk. There were no identifying signs with arrows, like for Buckingham Palace, so we had to ask for directions. Of course, we had to walk around the stadium, and what should we find on the second side…..an underground station!
This trip is one I have dreamed about taking. Grandpa Borgstrom talked about the
“old country” when I was small. Mom and Dad visited Sweden in 1985, and Dad was thrilled with their experience. Mom dutifully put the photos in the album and labeled everything. That album was where Lorna( my sister) got most of pictures for the family tree she compiled on her computer. I hope to update her pictures of family she and I have never met.
When I talked about going to Sweden this summer, my son, Michael, volunteered to go along. He had a very pleasant 10 days, chasing “The Cup” in California with a group of young men from Sweden he happened to meet when the Men’s World Cup was in the USA in 1994. They wet his appetite to know more about his Swedish heritage. He did a lot of the leg work, finding hostels, researching how to travel, finding flight deals, etc. Jenny is up for any vacation with Mike, although she wonders it this is really a vacation as we have gotten her up early almost every morning.
The trip starts in London, goes through Copenhagen airport/train station, and hits Norway in a Nutshell (a popular fast touch of Norway). Then we have 10 days in Sweden for family and history.
Hi everyone,
I’m currently in Gothenburg Sweden. We will be here four days. We are staying with family. Annette and Leonard are Swedish and they have 2 adopted children who are from India.
The first week of our trip has be very hectic. Of course you know we flew into London arriving Tuesday afternoon. On Thursday the 12th we had a early flight to catch to Copenhagen and then a train from the airport to Gothenburg. Then the afternoon of Friday the 13th we caught another train to Oslo. Saturday yet another train to Bergen. All the train trips have show us beautiful country and mountain sides. Many valleys and thick lush forests. A lot of farms with milk cows or sheep and kids.
Bergen was bright as mid day at 10pm has we walked the pier (full of yachts), old churches, graves and buildings dating back to the 1700’s. We did some shopping along the pier (Norwegian sweaters). After 11pm or so the sun finally started to fall but rose again only 4-5 hours later. Very difficult to sleep in places that don’t have black out curtains. In the morning we got on a boat leaving Bergen for the fjords. The boat trip would be 5 hours and would leave us in Flam to catch a train to Myrdal and then on to Oslo.
The fjords were breath taking. I saw some seals in the water but no whales like I had hoped. Always a waterfall coming down the cliffs and mountains into the fjord. Many were running straight off of glaziers. Waiting for our train in Flam we got to get much closer to a farm where they had sheep and kids. Eventually our trains arrived and we went back to Oslo for the night.
Woke up Monday the 16th and took a train back to Gothenburg. This train was carrying a car full of young students that were running and screaming up and down the train cars. Except first class (I think they got pushed out of there). There were about 5 to 6 teachers but the kids seemed to be unsupervised.
Now finally we slow down and relax in one city for four days. We had to rush before so that we could get to the opposite side of Norway than Sweden to see the fjords and to get back; so that we could spend more time with family.
The cars in Norway and Sweden are bigger than the cars in England. I saw a car named Smart (I think). It was smaller than the Mini Cooper!! Bathrooms vary from cities (some you have to pay to use). Many warehouses and stations along the rail tracks has elaborate tag. I have tried a few different chocolates and they are good. Breakfasts have been a little weird. Colds meats and cheeses, some fruit or odd casseroles. No fish with heads thankfully!! I have encountered some very nice people. One older woman on a train kept talking to me as fast as she could even though she knew I didn’t understand her. A woman at the pier in Bergen had a dog bigger than me when it stood. She says the dog is a Golden Brown Pry. The dog is bread to look like a tiger sort of. When the dog jumped up to stand on you it was very heavy and over your head. The family we are with now has a German Shepard with talks and sings a lot.
Tomorrow we are going to watch some glass blowers and do some shopping before lunch. After lunch we will go to see a ship that was originally built in the 1700’s, sank like a ton of bricks while coming in to dock. A new ship has finally been reconstructed identical to the first. On June 6th it opened to the public and next month tickets will be sold to make the original round trip voyage to China. Wednesday we will go to a castle and pic-nic and then possibly to a place were people hand paint china.
I most go and do laundry while I have a chance. Love, Jenny
Love you Missy Dog
Many problems got in the way, including a power surge which has knocked out our plug converter/transformer in a big fizz and puff of smoke. More ooohhhs and aaawwwhhs than the 4th.
Anyway, we got them up. Enjoy. There will be more soon … promise. We’ve got the kinks out now.
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