At the Beach

Today, Aunt Bit and the boys and I went to the beach with one of the boys' friends. I went in the water, despite the many colorful descriptions of exactly how cold the water was. It was ok, once you got used to it. I mean, I didn't die. And it was, like Uncle Pontus' father says, quite refreshing.

Tomorrow everyone leaves for Switzerland, and I'll be there for a week. I won't have a computer I can use there, so I'll just put the blog on hold and put up my entries when I get back. Bye!

Kronborg Slot

Today Aunt Bit and I went to Kronborg Slot, which means "Crown Castle." We took a tour of the king and queen's area, then explored the servants', soldiers' and prisoners' area by ourselves. The castle had originally been built so the king could enforce a tax on all ships going through the sound, but was later used as just a home for the king and queen. It is the setting for Shakespeare's "Hamlet", and has seen many renditions of this play.

Tivoli

Today Aunt Bit, Uncle Pontus, the boys and I went to Copenhagen to go to Tivoli, which is like Six Flags, but with more food and shops. It was awesome! We visited the bumper cars several times and I got up the courage to try the drop tower...twice. I figured I should do it twice because I couldn't remember most of the first time, and I'm thinking it's because I blacked out a little... Anyway, Uncle Pontus and I rode a ride called Daemonen four times, and the picture from one of them was just too good to pass up. The boys had their first ride on a roller coaster, and several more rides after that...they passed up the Daemonen, though. It was an awesome day with tons of screaming and fun!

Fredriksdal, an Open Air Museum

Today Aunt Bit and I went to Fredriksdal, which was basically a museum of early Sweden. There were houses from the 1800s and earlier, with authentic antique furniture and tools. It was so interesting to see how people lived back then. There was also a spot where there were graves from the Bronze Age.

 There were various kinds of farm animals to help show which animals the people had.

Midsommar Festival

 Today was the Swedish festival Midsommar, celebrating the longest day of the year. And to show you how long, I took the picture below...just in case the clock doesn't show, that picture was taken at 11:23. PM.

One of the traditions of Midsommar is that the girls make flower wreaths and wear them in their hair. Then, if the girl is young and single and looking for a husband, she puts the wreath under her pillow that night, and she will dream about her future husband. Needless to say, I will be trying out this tradition.

In the afternoon, families gather in the park where a Maypole is put up, and there is dancing around it, first by the regular folks, and then by traditional dancers in traditional Swedish garb.

 Here are some cute shots of Mattis and Anders in crowns...

 Anders found an opportunity to wrestle with a friend. And just so everyone knows, it may seem like the boy in white has a tail, which Anders seems to be grabbing. But in fact, Anders is holding a rubber snake. I just didn't want any confusion.

 I found a cat to play with! Go figure. His name is Tigger, and he has a brother named Björn, which means Bear, so they are Tigger and Pooh Bear! So cute!

And yes, Aurora, I had my first Swedish meatballs. Just for you.

Sofiero

Today Aunt Bit and the boys and I went to a castle called Sofiero, which means Sofie's Peace. It was a really pretty place, with gardens that looks enchanted and lots of paths through the woods. We're having dinner with the family later, and tomorrow will be the huge Midsommar festival, which celebrates the longest day of the year.

The aquarium

Today we went to the aquarium in Helsingör. They had all kinds of wierd fish that live in the bay, including a funky looking jellyfish that reminds me of the aliens in The Abyss. They had this little petting zoo of sorts, and I touched a crab and Aunt Bit MADE me touch a starfish...it was so groooss!

A HUUUGE day

 Today was a huuuge day. Aunt Bit and I took a ferry to Denmark, where we toured Copenhagen on foot. First, we walked down by the dock and had lunch in a sidewalk cafe.

 Right when we finished, these guards with the funky hats marched down the street and everyone oohed and aahed.

 Did I mention I had my first ever alcoholic drink at the cafe??? It was nasty.

 After that, we walked ever farther down the dock and saw these great ships. Then we saw the famous statue of the Little Mermaid, which was really pretty.

After that, we toured a castle where the queen sometimes stays, and the ruins underneath. There are ruins there because the people just couldn't figure out fire safety, so the palace burned down twice. It was really wierd...just like a cave or the Cave Dwellings. Then, we took a train to another town and went to a modern art museum, where we ate dinner and I fed birds. After getting trapped in the exhibit that showed how artistic and deep it was to show naked people, which was really wierd, we finally made it back to the train and to the long journey home. It was a really fun, really full day!

A tour of Helsingborg

Today after breakfast (and after I slept for 14 hours) Aunt Bit and the boys and I walked around Viken and went on the pier. Later after lunch we toured some of Helsingborg, which is about half and hour by bus from Viken. After walking around for a bit, we stopped at a cafe called Fahlmans where we had pastries and I had a delicious raspberry mousse (did you hear that, Aurora?). After that, we went to a beautiful church called Maria Kyrkan and an old castle called Kärnan, which we couldn't tour but saw the outside.

When we got home, Aunt Bit and I took another walk around the neighborhood to the shore, and now that I'm home and we've eaten dinner, I'm going to have a frozen strawberry drink called "yummy virgin margarita." :)