Tues. June 29: Helsinki to St. Petersburg

We got up early to catch a train that left about 7:30am. Our train car included a lot of friendly Germans, and their Estonian guide.

Mary and Bella met us at the station in the afternoon with fresh daisies for Frances. We piled our stuff into their little car and they drove us to their apartment near the center of town, where we met their dog and cat.

Later we went f0r a nice long walk in the city, through parks and over canals, and then to a Georgian restaurant where we ate eggplant and pomegranate and lamb kebabs, with sweet grapey wine. Yum! (I think I have a picture of the dinner, but I haven't added it yet.)

The pictures so far are Frances on the train, and the view out the window of their living room, where the three of us are sleeping.

Monday June 28 in Helsinki

The ferry pulled into Helsinki about 10am. We took a cab to the hotel, but they didn't have a room ready for us yet. We called Lumi's mother Marjukka on my European cell phone, and arranged to meet them at 5pm. Then we went off on a Helsinki walk that included a lot of shopping time for the kids at an outdoor flea market, a Thai lunch, and coffee and cake at a famous old cafe near the harbor and the city's central park.

A 3pm, when the room was ready, we had a big session of sorting our stuff into three categories, one for Lulu to take, one to leave in storage at the hotel, and one to take to Russia.

Marjukka and Lumi picked us up from the hotel at about 530pm, and took us for a walk along the waterfront, and ice cream. Marjukka showed us a little more of the city by car, and then drove us to a restaurant that she and her husband really like. Then we said goodbye to Lulu and the people who will host her for six nights.

Sun. Jun. 27 in Stockholm, and catching the overnight boat to Helsinki

Sunday we relaxed in downtown Stockholm. The big cathedral has a nice children's play area in one corner of its yard, and Lulu and Frances did laps on the balance beam. Then we took a cab to the ferry, and set out on a beautiful sail through the many, many islands outside of Stockholm, ate the famously huge smorgasbord dinner, and watched some clowns and acrobats peform. They invited Frances and other children to join them.

We sat on deck for a long time watching the islands go by. Finally, when it was really late (but the sun was still up) we went to our tiny cabin and pulled down the four fold-up beds. Our cabin was on a very low level, where you could hear some engine noise, and from time to time you could feel the ship rolling from side to side, so it wasn't quite as restful as a hotel, but it was good enough.

Oh -- I think the the tabloid newspaper cover is about how Sweden is the best country in the western world when measured by unemployment, GDP growth, etc.

Wed. June 30, St. Petersburg, and a trip to Peterhof

This morning we took care of some business in the city (securing train seat reservations for our Saturday return to Helsinki, finding an ATM, and getting our passports registered with the authorities, since we are staying more than three days). Then a friend of Bella's drove us to Peterhof, a huge place of palaces, fountains, and gardens, where we strolled the hundreds of acres with thousands of other people. We found a bench in the shade and had a picnic. Frances found lots of things to play with, including an orange squirrel that came right up to her hand, but refused to take any food.

We came back to the city via a hydrofoil that docked near the Hermitage. From there it was a 15 minute walk past a gold-domed cathedral to the apartment, where we had a tasty home-cooked fish dinner.

Sat. June 26, Driving to Stockholm

Saturday we loaded up the car and set off on the freeway from Linkoping to Stockholm. It was a national holiday (Midsommar) so Stockholm was pretty quiet, and it was pretty easy to find the hotel, and park right in front of it, even though it is only a few blocks from the main shopping/walking street of the city center (Drottningatan).

Then I set out alone to return the rental car to the Avis office in the city center. That was a bit of a problem. Central Stockholm is full of dead-ends and one-ways and unexpected overpasses and underpasses that mean you can see where you want to go, but you can't figure out how to "get there from here" in a car. Eventually I succeeded. But if I ever need to drop a rental car here again, I'll do it at the airport, and then spend the time and money to ride the bus or train back into town. (Later I read in a Rick Steves guidebook, "only a Swedish meatball would try to drive in Stockholm.)

In the evening the walking streets were thronged with tourists, and the girls got into the spirit, buying little moose things and Swedish flag things.

Today (Sunday) we catch the overnight Silja line boat to Helsinki.

Fri. June 25, Midsommar

I think the summer solstice was on Monday June 21 this year, but the Swedes celebrate it on a Friday, so they can have a three day weekend. A lot of people, including our hosts, Ed and Eva, go out of town for the weekend, so we're here in their house without them tonight.

Lars Alm invited us to the big public Midsommar celebration in the small town of Berg, near his home in Ljunsbro. We watched the raising of the pole, and then joined the crowd in dancing around it to funny folk songs where you imitate various animals.

Later in the afternoon we spent some quiet time at a nearby church that was first built in the 1100s. It's a place we remember fondly from when we lived here 18 years ago. Finally we drove out to another place with good memories, the castle at Vadstena on the shore of lake Vättern.

Tomorrow we drive to Stockholm, and turn in the rental car.

Thursday in Linköping

Another busy day, into Linköping to meet up with our friend Joanne Hoffsten at the "Golden Pavilion of Love" she designed for the city park. Michelle and I sat with her and talked for a long time and drank the delicious coffee she brought (and the homemade chocolate chip cookies) while the kids played in the park. Lunch at Gamla Linköping, then out to Ljungsbro to visit Lars Alm and his family, eat more delicious food, and go for a walk by the Göta Canal. Finally back to Sturefors to join Ed and Eva, watching Holland in the world cup (Ed is Dutch, so we all wore orange and rooted for Holland too).

Wednesday in Linköping

Wednesday morning we drove into Linköping to show the kids our old haunts. Alas, Michelle's favorite thrift store, UFF, was gone. Lulu wanted to buy souvenirs. Linköping does not have a highly developed infrastructure for foreign tourists. But we found a paperdoll cutout book featuring the Swedish crown princess and her new husband.

In the main square I found a woman selling both German and Swedish strawberries. We bought the Swedish ones, even though they were more expensive, and took them when we went to visit our old friend Åsa, and her children, Adsam and Sofia. We spent a really pleasant afternoon and evening with them, before finally driving back to Sturefors, where Lulu and Ed and I played volleyball in their yard.

From Storfors to Sturefors

Besides the reindeer, the hotel owners also have miniature horses. Tuesday morning, after we checked out, we drove with them a few minutes out to their place to see the horses. More fun for the girls; pictures to come.

Then off across the Swedish country side, stopping at a lake for a picnic and wading (along with hundreds of Swedish sunbathers), and finally to the little town of Sturefors (not to be confused with Storfors), just outside of Linköping, where we were greeted by Ed and Eva, and five of their combined six children (one teenage daughter had just left for a summer vacation on Malta, in the Mediterranean -- that's the kind of thing you can do easily when you live in Europe). They have a nice big old house on a dead-end street, remodeled with many small bedrooms for their many children. The girls are enjoying having playmates their own age, and a chance to just lay around and play board games and watch tv.

Mon. June 21, from Oslo to a little hotel in Värmland, Sweden

Monday morning we said goodbye to cosmopolitan Oslo, and took a train into Sweden, where we picked up a rental car. Lulu was excited to have access to a car radio, because her iPod had conked out. It was interesting to me for awhile. Swedish pop radio plays about six songs over and over, just like the American pop radio I remember from the 1960s. Lulu knew most of the songs already, but for me it was new to finally find out what Lady Gaga sounds like. And there was one somewhat interesting song that they played over and over that Lulu had never heard before: a woman with an unidentifiable accent, and the refrain

Love, my aim is straight and true
Cupid's arrow is just for you
I even painted my toe nails for you
I did it just the other day

(Later back in Portland I searched the internet and found out that it was Lena Meyer Landrut, with the winning song from Eurovision 2010.)

When we were back in Portland I had used the internet to search for a hotel for Monday night in the Värmland region, and there had been very few places that had room for us. I ended up reserving a place in the small town of Storfors, and it turned out to be just right.

The hotel is run by two Dutch couples (twin sisters and their husbands), and sits amid lawn and woods down by a small stream and an old mill. But best of all, they have pet reindeer, including a baby, only about two weeks old. They provided hours of entertainment for the girls, especially Frances.

Sunday in Oslo

Most stores in Oslo are closed on Sunday, but the window shopping was great. There are lots of dress stores near our pension.
We walked about 30 minutes to Frogner park, full of sculptures by Vigeland. It is an incredible place.
We also went to the National Gallery and saw a bunch of Munch pictures, strolled down the main street and ran into a Salvation Army band, and then walked on to the Gronland immigrant neighborhood to have a tasty dinner at an Indian restaurant recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook.
After all of that walking, some of us were pretty tired, so we took a taxi back to the hotel.

First night in Oslo

We caught a train at a small station near Gunnar and Solveig's town, and rode eight hours to Oslo. The Scandinavians put a lot of their resources into children. The train had a special car for families, with a built-in play structure, and a DVD player showing kids' programs. Lulu and Frances spent several hours in it.

Oslo is beautiful. We're staying in a pension (shared bathroom down the hall) right across from the park that surrounds the royal castle. It was great for Lulu and Frances to run around in the park after the long train ride. For dinner we had sandwiches at a deli down in the heart of town, which was thronged with people dressed up to go out on Saturday night. When it came time for ice cream, we each ordered only one scoop, butt the clerk gave us extra big ones.

Up the fjord and into the mountains

Today (Thursday) we took the 2.5 hour tourist ferry up the Lysefjord, and then drove the 27 switchbacks up to the top of the plateau, an eerily beatuiful windswept treeless rocky place, with many snowpatches remaining. It's the sourthernmost place in Europe where wild reindeer live. We didn't see any on the hoof, but Lulu used about 30 dollars of her money to buy a nice soft furry hide to bring home. As with yesterday, we have lots of pictures, but I haven't picked any out yet. Tomorrow we leave here, and take the train to Oslo.

Visiting the relatives on Fogn

On Wedndesday Gunnar traded cars with one of his kids so we had a van with room for all six of us. Then we drove to the island of Fogn, the place that Gunnar's and my common ancestors come from. It's less than fifty miles from here, but you have to go through three tunnels under fjords, each several miles long, and then take a ferry ride. It's a small rocky island of small farms, with a total of about 320 people. And it's not much of an exaggeration to say that almost everyone there is related to us. We visited five different families.

The first family we visited has the actual farm with the Varland name (a high lookout point in Viking times) name. She runs a laying chicken and sheep operation, while he has a small commercial electrical business that mostly serves the nearby salmon farms.

The second farm belongs to Gunnar's sister. She raises greenhouse tomatoes and raspberries.

The third family had dairy cattle, and a granddaughter Frances's age.

At the fourth family we had wonderful vension stew, and then went out on the deck for stewed blueberries with vanilla sauce. Lulu and Frances wandered off to the next-door sheep pasture where they collected lots of loose wool, which they cleaned while they rode in the car today (Thursday). As I sit here writing this, they are downstairs with Solveig, who is teaching them how to make it into felt.

The father in the fifth family we visited on Fogn had given up farming years ago, but spent 20-some years working in an office in downtown Stavanger, which was only a 30 minute commute by boat. We've got lots of pictures, but I haven't sorted them out yet.

Norwegian emigration celebration

Today in Stavanger there was a ceremony honoring Lars Larsen, who built a rather small boat in 1825 and used it to take 52 of his fellow Norwegians to America. By chance, the local governor recruited Frances to help unveil the new plaque. (Her picture may be in the local paper tomorrow; we'll see. ) Then we joined the crowd of about 200, and marched down to the harbor for more speeches, followed by the christening of a replica of the boat. The Queen Mary II was moored nearby, and blew its very deep, loud whistle to honor the little 50 foot sloop.

Coffee in Norway

We like to sit and drink coffee and talk. Lulu took these pictures.

Trolls in Norway

Today we came across some trolls. Later we practiced making troll faces, and had a troll-drawing session that included Gunnar and Solveig and several of their grandchildren. Lulu and Frances each took some of these pictures.

Visiting some Varlands near Stavanger

Harald Gunnar Varland picked us up at the airport, and took us home to meet his wife, Solveig. Later we walked about ten minutes and visited one of their daughters, her husband, and their three kids. Along the way I spotted a dead hedgehog, which Solveig picked up and took to show the kids!

It's still really bright outside, which makes it hard to comprehend that it's almost 10pm, but my tiredness tells me to go to bed.

More later,

Leif

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

It's only a seven hour flight from Seattle to Reykjavik (latitude similar to Fairbanks). The problem is that you get there about 7am, and your hotel room won't be available until 3pm.

So we started our Monday morning jetlag recovery program by taking walks in Keflavik, then by taking a taxi to the Blue Lagoon for a soak (clever idea for getting extra use out of geothermal powerplant outflow) and applying the famous white mud.