Dala Husby, Sweden

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Our last few days were spent seeing friends in their summer home in the small town of Dala Husby, about 2 hours north of Stockholm. Vera, her parents, Leandro and a family friend from Switzerland and a couple of dogs, good wine, cheese and gooey yogurt, a tranquil boat ride, a lovely dinner and good cheer made for a great finale to our trip. Thank you Vera and family for your kindness and hospitality. We enjoyed everything!

Stockholm's Nordic Museum

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I love a good museum, and this was one of the best I've seen. So, what is there to see at the Nordic Museum?
* Fashion and garments from the mid 18th century until the present day.
* Table settings from the 16th century to circa 1950.
* Photographs of Swedish life in the past.
* An exhibition of Sami life.
* household objects of all kinds, including toys.
* an exhibition about traditions and festivals.
* shoes from the 17th century to the present day.
* examples of Swedish interiors and interior design from 1870 to 2000.
* a gallery with textiles.

Stockholm's Vasa Museum

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Vasa Museum houses the world famous 17th Century warship which sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. It was found and raised in 1961 after 333 years lying at the bottom of the sea under severe weather conditions. The ship set sail with 150 sailors aboard and as many as 50 sailors perished together with the ship. The ship was decorated with hundreds of beautiful carved sculptures and most of them are still intact. Incredibly more than 95% of the ship is original. It is the only 17th Century ship known to have been salvaged by mankind. The ship has three masts and is 69 metres long, 52 metres tall and weighs 1,200 tons. A visitor can walk around the ship and view the whole ship from many angles. This 'must-see' museum is the most visited museum in Scandinavia.

Stockholm, Sweden

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Stockholm's Nobel Prize Sites: Concert & City Hall

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This completed our whirlwind tour of Nobel Prize sites in Scandinavia that started in Oslo, Norway, two weeks earlier. In Oslo we toured their Nobel Museum and City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year. The five other prizes are awarded in Stockholm at the Concert Hall. The celebration continues at City Hall with a fancy banquet and party, with dancing to Abba!

Copenhagen 2:The Little Mermaid, Icebar, World Cup & Sightseeing

These photos and captions speak for themselves.


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Copenhagen: Christiania, Harbor cruise, Tivoli, Diana Krall concert, Sailing

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What a great city! We arrived around 10pm from our short flight from Bergen. Kirsten took a cab to her cousin's home to stay with their family for a few days. Mitch and I took the metro to our hotel near Nyhavn, the colorful 17th century waterfront. The next day we met up with Kirsten and her family on their sailboat for coffee. It was very sunny and warm and the forecast for the week was good. Rasmus is a swashbucklin sailor who lived on a boat for two years while attending theater school in Copenhagen. He has two adorable daughtes and a pretty Danish girlfriend who was born in Christiania. They recently traveled to Bali and live in a converted church at the edge of the city.

After coffee we explored Christiania, which is a free community established in 1971 when hippies took over abandoned military bararks. It is both a controversial social experiment and a thriving community. We had a picnic with some smoked salmon we bought in Norway, and some Tuborg beer we bought at a friendly bar in Christiania. Photos are not allowed, but we walked around for a bit to explore. Cannabis grows everywhere, and there are restaurants, a famous bike shop, stores and art galleries. People were doing their own thing and seemed to be happy. *See excerpt below from a Rick Steves article, or read the chapter from his book Travel as a Political Act. I find it fascinating.

Later we took a 90 minute harbor cruise which was a great way to sightsee from the water. That night Mitch and I explored the Stroget, the longest pedestrianized street in Europe full of shops, street musicians, cafes and food vendors. Every block had ice cream, waffles or crepe stands so the air was saturated in sweetness.

Jazzfest is going on all week, there are bandstands set up throughout the city. Outdoor venues are free, and there are some top names at the larger indoor venues. We thought we'd try to get tickets to see Diana Krall at Tivoli Tues. night. We got lucky and got seats in row 30, center of the orchestra. Tivoli itelf was amazing, but to see one of our favorite singers was beyond belief. Tivoli is an amusement park built in 1843 long before Disneyland. Its charming and full of rides, restaurants, lakes and gardens. At night everything is lit up, giving it a magical glow. We had a very nice dinner at a Danish restaurant, and explored Tivoli more after the concert. Elvis Costello performed the night before and we were hoping he'd come out and perform an encore song with Diana (they are married with kids), but that didn't happen. She did sing a song he wrote the lyrics to. Our favorites that night were I'll String Along with You, Dancing Cheek to Cheek and a soulful Tom Waits song. Diana with her 3 piece band was amazing live.

The next day Kirsten and I went sailing with Rasmus, Liev, Lil (5 yrs), Coco (1 yr) and Pearl, who they were dog sitting. It was a great day, and the girls and dog were so cute. We sailed out beyond the huge windmills and could see the bridge to Sweden. It was very calm on the way out but the wind picked up as we came back in. Rasmus is a skilled sailor and quite amazing. At one point he had his baby asleep on his lap while navigating into the harbor and pointing out interesting sites to Kirsten and I. He's one cool Dane!

That night we watched the Spain-Germany world cup game. There is a huge screen on the pier that was packed with fans which we could see from our hotel window. At one point I had Danish TV on mute and the espn audio feed in English streaming on my laptop, but the audio was about 1 minute behind real time so I cut the audio and listened to the Danish commentary. I'm so happy Spain won and look forward to watching the final against Holland on Sun. Go Espana!


* "In 1971, the original 700 Christianians established squatters' rights in an abandoned military barracks, just a 10-minute walk from the Danish parliament building. A generation later, this "free city" still stands — an ultra-human mishmash of idealists, hippies, potheads, non-materialists and happy children (600 adults, 200 kids, 200 cats, 200 dogs, 17 horses and 2 parrots). There are even a handful of Willie Nelson–type seniors among the 180 remaining here from the original takeover. And an amazing thing has happened: The place has become the third-most-visited sight among tourists in Copenhagen. Move over, Little Mermaid." -- Rick Steves

CPH Museums: Danish Design Center, Carlsberg Brewery & National Museum

During our eight days in Copenhagen we visited a few great museums. The Danish Design Center, National Museum and the Carlsberg Brewery.



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Martha Wainright Sings Piaf at Jazz Festival

We just saw this concert at the Copenhagen's Royal Theater:
http://jazz.dk/en/copenhagen-jazz-festival/event?eventId=2489

Martha captured Piaf's beautiful & haunting sound and we really felt the emotion despite not understanding all the French lyrics. She also played guitar for one of of her own songs and sang few her late mother wrote. She came out for 2 encores after a standing ovation. We really didn't know much about Martha, but I really like her style, range and complex powerful voice. She's got chops!

She has a new album of a selction of Edith Piaf songs - see video below for a taste.

Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record promo video from Martha Wainwright on Vimeo.

Days 6-9: Bergen

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We arrived in Bergen around noon on the ferry from Balestrand. Mitch found us a great deal on a hotel - another hard to pronounce Clarion - the Havnekontoret, located next to Bryggen the old German wharf. We were lucky because the Tourist Info office said all rooms were booked due to high season and a John Fogerty concert that night. Doh! Anyway, we had an incredible time in Bergen. Highlights:

• Funicular to Mt. Floyen with incredible views of Bergen and surrounding fjords
• Bergen walking tour and museums
• Incredibly warm weather - 70s but very cool in the shade
• Great nightlife with almost midnight sun
• Picnicing and getting food from the Fish market
• Getting really goofy in a tacky souvenir shop (see photos)
• Meeting some nice locals and a sweet family from Spain
• *Private tour of the Oleana factory and saving 50% on our purchases in their outlet
• **Private tour of the Salhus historic knitwear industry factory & museum

We decided to change our itinerary to get to Denmark as the 17 hour overnight ferry from Stavenger had no sleeping cabins available. So, we got a cheap flight on Norwegian Airlines direct from Bergen to Copenhagen, saving us lots of time and kroners.



* Inspired by Norwegian folk costume tradition, the Oleana garments have their place in the long history of Nordic knitting traditions.

From the originally simple sweaters in black or in white made in the 18th century, more intricate patterns evolved over time, resulting in today's contemporary design, such as the richly patterned knitwear of the Norwegian company Oleana.

Designer Solveig Hisdal joined Oleana in 1992, and is responsible for many prize-winning designs. For her recent collection, she has found inspiration in Chinese ornamentation traditions, illustrating how patterns and materials know no borders.

Traditionally, knitting was an important task for young girls to know, and was also linked to love. The romantic aspect of knitting is still present today. Oleana is a company that has built it's creation on the belief that women need less, but more beautiful clothes, made in a sustainable way.



**The Salhus Knitwear Factory was established near Bergen in 1859 by a young entrepreneur from Slesvig. Knitted textiles were a product of the modern times, and Salhus was Norway’s first fully mechanised knitwear factory. Underwear, swimwear and socks bearing the Krone-Makko brand name were some of the products that were shipped out from the small fjord-side harbour. Salhus quickly grew to become a small commercial town, where the director’s residence had a prominent place. The owners exercised patriarchal authority over the small community, meting out equal measures of fear and care, and there were few labour conflicts. The factory withstood several crises, but by 1989 it had become unprofitable due to international competition. The Norwegian Knitting Industry Museum opened in 2001.

Days 4-5 Balestrand

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We arrived around 4pm in Balestrand after our long travel day on 2 trains and the fjord ferry. Balestrand is a small town (pop 1600), mid-way through the Sognefjord. The Balestrand Hotel was highly recommended by a guy we met at Norway day, and also by Rick Steves. The owners of the Balestrand hotel have 2 kids that go to Cal. They will visit I-House when the spend their winters in CA.
We splurged on a traditional Norwegian dinner buffet at the fancy Kviknes Hotel. It reminded us of the Wawona hotel in Yosemite. On our 2nd day it was so warm we sunbathed by the fjord. Kirsten actually got a sunburn! We didn't think we needed to bring sunscreen to Scandinavia, but we are doing like the locals and taking in the sun when it is shining.
We loved taking strolls in this town and getting to know some of the locals. There are lots of artists and it felt like Tiburon. It was a nice relaxing break between the bigger cities of Oslo and Bergen. I spotted what I thought was a dolphin, but it was a Minke whale, which swims through the fjords.

Day 4: Train to Myrdal & Flam, Fjord ferry to Balestrand

We caught a 6:30 am train from Oslo to Myrdal. Rick Steves said its the most spectacular train ride in northern Europe and we can see why. It crosses Norways mountain range, first through woods, farms and lakes, then windswept glaciers as it climbs up to its peak at 4266 ft. At this Alaskan latitude it is far above the tree line. This electric train goes through 18 miles of snow sheds, tunnels and bridges.

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At Myrdal we transferred to the Flambsana railway, a 12 mile drop that descends from 2800 feet to sea level at the fjord town of Flam. 55 minutes through 20 tunnels, passing by waterfalls. The train stopped at a large waterfall and let everyone come out to get close and take photos. Legend has it that a maiden hides behind the waterfall, and sure enough, we saw one appear through the mist dancing to mystical music that suddenly began as the crowd drew close.

Flam had a giant P&O line cruise ship in port, so it dwarfed the tiny harbor. We had a nice lunch at a micro brew pub built to look like a stave church. We boarded a ferry to Balestrand and enjoyed seeing the Sognefjord and waterfalls.

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Oslo Day 3: Nobel Peace Center, City Hall, The Scream & The Opera

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While Kirsten did her own walkabout in Oslo, Mitch and I decided to check out the Nobel Peace scene. First we to went to the Nobel Peace Center museum, which has exhibits of all the Peace Prize winners and a history of Alfred Nobel's* life. They had interactive displays, artwork and the current exhibit on Obama. Next we went to the Oslo City Hall where the Nobel peace prize ceremony takes place. This is where the winner addresses the audience, with the Norwegian royalty sitting front and center, including Haakon Magnus, the crown prince of Norway who lived at I-House Berkeley. The interior of City Hall has big colorful frescos of life in Norway and some with full-on nudity- something you would never see in civic buildings in America.

Then we went to the National Gallery where we saw J.C. Dahl's artwork of landscapes in the naturalist style. The highlight was an exhibit of Edvard Munch's (1863 - 1944) artwork, Norway's famous and troubled painter who pioneered the expressionist style using lurid colors and wavy lines to "express" inner turmoil and angst of the modern world. We couldnt take photos inside, so I did my best scream near a poster of "The Scream" outside of the gallery.
We enjoyed a local Ringnes beer at the lively Scotsman pub, and had a nice dinner at our hotel. Then we went to the Oslo Opera, built in 2008. This is probably the most amazing building we have ever been in, or on top of. There is a sloping plaza that allows people to walk up the sides and onto the roof. Its all white marble, and in the afternoon sun it was quite bright on our eyes, even with dark sunglasses. Inside had beautiful acrhitectural design, with vertical wood slats rising up around the central stairway and lots of light from all the windows. It sits right on the waterfront, and at the top you can see a great view of the Oslo fjord, and the big HolmenKollen ski jump.

*A pacifist at heart and an inventor by nature, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. However, the invention that he thought would end all wars was seen by many others as an extremely deadly product. In 1888, when Alfred's brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper mistakenly ran an obituary for Alfred which called him the "merchant of death."

Not wanting to go down in history with such a horrible epitaph, Nobel created a will that soon shocked his relatives and established the now famous Nobel Prizes.

Oslo Day 2: Vigeland Sculpture park, Viking Museum

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It was a sunny and warm Saturday and the streets in our area were full of costumed teenagers dressed up for a Japanese Anime festival. We decided to do a Hop-On Hop Off bus tour of the city to get a good overview of Oslo. We spent some time at Frogner Park to see all the famous sculptures of Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland was also in charge of the design and architechtural layout of the park. More about park. It was very warm - around mid 70s so the locals were sunbathing on the grass wearing next to nothing.
Kirsten stayed to go to the Vigeland museum, and Mitch and I hopped on the bus and hopped off at the Viking Ship museum at Bygdøy. It had 3 viking ships that were excavated from burial mounds. Intricate wood carvings and other artifacts. More info.
We continued the tour then met back at the hotel for dinner and went out for a long walk around the city. We had drinks at an outdoor bistro near an area where they were showing the US vs. Ghana World Cup game on a huge screen. While we were sad the US didn't win, its very cool for Africa that Ghana will advance. Many people were celebrating the victory.

Oslo Day 1: Exploring, Aker Brygge & Pride party

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We arrived in Oslo around noon on Fri. June 26. Groggy and jet lagged but happy to be here. It was about 66 degrees and partly cloudy. Took the fast train "Flytoget" from the airport to Oslo's central station. Walked about 4 blocks to our hotel, Clarion Folketeateret. Checked in early, showered and took the essential 3 hour nap to minimize jet lag. The hotel is rated #1 on Tripadvisor, and we can see why. It opened Oct. 2009 and has a modern posh feel. Not only is the breakfast included and an evening buffet with the traditional salmon, salads, breads and a hot entree, there offer free waffles at 3pm. Free and fast wifi throughout the hotel and free capuccino machine in the lobby.

After a satisfying dinner we walked down to the main street, Karl Johan's Gate, which is pedestrianized, full of shops, outdoor cafes, hotels and restaurants. Walked to the Royal Palace and went to the top of the Radisson Blu hotel for drinks in their bar that boasts the best view of Oslo. We tried different akavits and had a great time and enjoyed the view. Skal! We walked down to the waterfront around 9:30 pm and it was still very light outside. Aker Brygge zone is lively and full of restaurants with outdoor seating and views of the harbor. The TGIFs had the Spain-Chile match on big screens and people were partying.Viva Espana! We stumbled upon a fun gay pride festival that had great dj and an Ab Fab bar serving cocktails with Absolut vodka. We couldnt believe we were here in Oslo, dancing to house music across from City Hall and the waterfront. Went home around 11:30 and it was just starting to get dark. What a great way to start our trip in this great city! Photos will be posted soon.

Itinerary (somewhat flexible) CHANGE OF ROUTE - FLY FROM BERGEN TO COPENHAGEN

Fri, Jun 25 10:40am Arrive Oslo Clarion Folketeateret
Sat, Jun 26 Clarion Folketeateret
Sun, Jun 27 Clarion Folketeateret
Mon, Jun 28 Train to Myrdal & Flam, Balestrand Hotel
Tue, Jun 29 Balestrand Hotel
Wed, Jun 30 Express boat to Bergen
Thu, Jul 1 Bergen
Fri, Jul 2 Bergen
Sat, Jul 3 Bergen
Sun, Jul 4 Bergen 8:25 pm flight to Copenhagen, Denmark
Mon, Jul 5 Copenhagen
Tue, Jul 6 Copenhagen
Wed, Jul 7 Copenhagen
Thu, Jul 8 Copenhagen JAZZ FEST!!!
Fri, Jul 9 Copenhagen
Sat, Jul 10 Copenhagen
Sun, Jul 11 Copenhagen WATCH THE WORLD CUP!!!
Night ferry or train to Stockholm
Mon, Jul 12 Stockholm
Tue, Jul 13 Stockholm
Wed, Jul 14 Stockholm
Thu, Jul 15 Train to Hedemora - 2hrs north of Stockholm
Fri, Jul 16 Vera's lake house in Dalarna for a few days
Sat, Jul 17 Vera's lake house in Dalarna for a few days
Sun, Jul 18 Stockholm
Mon, Jul 19 6:50am Leave Stockholm

Norway Day San Francisco

Norway Day SF with Kirsten, and photos from one of her amazing smorrebrods. Full slideshow at: http://picasaweb.google.com/laurieandmitch/NorwayDay

Things to see and do

We're thinking about doing the following:

• Norway in a Nutshell
• Copenhagen Jazz Fest
• IceBar & IceHotel
• Tivoli Gardens
• Borrow a bike in Copenhagen
• Farm stay in Sweden or Norway/Denmark
• Carlsberg brewery tour and tasting
• Akavit in Aalborg
• Original Ikea
• H & M store
• Abba, the museum
• Midnight sun & northern lights
• Picnicing on trains, ferries and parks
• Sculpture gardens
• Scandinavian designs
• Museums

What else? We welcome your suggestions to add to this list!