Djurgården

Wow, what a wonderful city Stockholm is! We have both really enjoyed experiencing what this place has to offer, even if only for a couple days. First, to wrap up Norway...

When we last wrote we were preparing to head to Flam via ferry. We got to see the area of the Sognefjord upon which Arrendelle from Disney's Frozen was based. You can definitely see the resemblence between this area of the fjord and the artistry in the movie, though there wasn't much snow at the time. Notably, the animators really did something right with the imagining of the trolls in the movie by combining the look of the traditional troll character in Norway with the distinct colors of the moss and rockface in the fjord. Rachel was waiting for the boulders to break out in song at times. Anyway, we spent a nice afternoon in Flam. However, we discovered that there are limited options for affordable activities there. We were interested in kayaking but it turns out that without a Norwegian kayak license, you are required to hire a guide, which made the cost prohibitive. We searched the (very small) town for other boat rentals and eventually found the one canoe that is for rent in town; none of the motor boats in the marina were rentable, apparently (though we would've loved to explore the fjord in one of those). The canoe was on the smaller side, so the group consensus was for Cindy and Nick to have some mother-son time and go out on the canoe together while Scott and Rachel stayed on dry land. Nick had a great time exploring the fjord with his mom and getting back to nature. They returned just in time to see the giant cruise ship leaving the small harbor; it was possibly bigger than the town itself.

The following day we rode on the scenic Flam Railway and then continued back to Oslo. The Flam Railway was really fun and beautiful; we highly recommend it! It connects you to the Oslo-Bergen lines so is easily accessible if you are seeing the country by either train or ferry. We met a pair of Norwegians who were taking the train up and then doing the three day hike back down to Flam. Many visitors also bike down the trail which is a one day trip. This sounded like something that would be fun to do if we can make it back to Flam one day! After arriving back in Oslo, we went to Vigeland Sculpture Park, the largest park in the world where all of the sculptures are created by the same artist. We brought a picnic and joined the Norwegians under the trees (it sprinkled on and off) to enjoy the evening. It was very beautiful and a must-see for anyone going to Oslo.

The past two days we have been back in Stockholm, Sweden. It has been very cool to actually get to see the city (we were only here for about 8 hours overnight at the beginning of this week). We checked out the Vasa Museum on the day we got back and learned the very interesting story of a formerly lost ship that was eventually found and extracted from the sea floor in the 1960s. It was quite intriguing to learn about the errors made in building this ship and the historical context. As amateur students of art, culture, and archaeology, there were many displays that interested us. The museum included a free guided tour as well as free audio guides if you bring your wifi-enabled device and headphones. Very cool.

Yesterday was definitely a highlight of the trip. We got to sleep in (which is always nice!) and then went on an adventure with Cindy and Scott on their last day in town. The four of us rented bicycles and rode around the Djurgarden area of Stockholm. There is a ton of green space as well as many trails and marinas to explore. It was a very bike-friendly as well as pedestrian-friendly park with so much to see, including forests, fields, old houses, canals, geese, ducks, cows, and horses. We got ice cream at one of the marinas and talked to some of the Swedes about their dogs (everyone seems to have a small pet dog they bring everywhere!). We really enjoyed the afternoon. For the evening, we found a small pub with decent happy hour prices right on the water in Gamla Stan, in/near the old town area of Stockholm. We snagged some seats on the front patio and watched the sunset over the canal with dinner and drinks. It was really a lovely evening, and we were lucky to have a lot of quality time and conversation with Cindy and Scott. Thanks for a great trip in Scandanavia, you two!Read more