My grandparents were all from Sweden and Norway, and I finally travelled there. It was a welcome respite from the extraordinary heat in Florence this June!
Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo and Bergen were the cities we visited. The food was fantastic and the shopping interesting. I was forced to do quite a bit of shopping since my luggage went missing!
We visited the Vasa Museum in Stockholm to see the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. It is 4 stories tall! We ate traditional Swedish cardamom buns and smorgas in the museum restaurant.
From Stockholm we took the train to Gothenburg, where my grandmother was born. We were blessed with sunny cool weather and took a boat tour around the city.
From Gothenburg, we took a 3 hour train ride to Oslo, and after a few days there, a 7 hour train ride to Bergen. It was very picturesque with snowy mountains and fjords. We splurged on a compartment, which was really comfortable!
The highlight of the trip was a boat tour through the fjords in Bergen. Midway we pulled into a cove with sheer rock on both sides and waterfalls. As we went right up to one of the waterfalls, the loudspeaker played, “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” It was very dramatic!
Breakfast in Bergen was fabulous! Two rooms of food with everything imaginable, including three kinds of pickled herring, smoked salmon, eggs cooked three ways, sausage, fish cakes, bacon, pastries and more.
Chia and I will spend the summer in Seattle, where the weather is sunny and cool. Back to Florence at the end of August for the fall shopping season!
What an amazing update i your travels!! I smiled thinking of you both “living the life”! It sounds spectacular and your blog truly brought it to life!! Thank you “so much” for sharing!! Chia looks like a million bucks always smiling!! Such a world traveller your little lady is!! If you’ve never been this way, come visit. You have a place with Mick and I!! ?? ? ?