Since Copenhagen (Denmark) is just a bridge away from Malmö, we decided we couldn’t miss a day trip to at least get a feel for it as so many people have told us what a vibrant city it is. We’d visited Copenhagen many years ago with our kids but neither of us have clear memories… Read more

When we travel outside the US, I am always enthralled by the centuries of history and culture that are evident even as modern society encroaches and in many cases overtakes precious remnants of a colorful past. I am thrilled when treasures of ancient history and progressive architecture and inventions of modern era can amicably live… Read more

After our couple of days refueling in Taby we set off with Kathy and Louis for the last chapter of our Swedish adventure. An extra treat was to meetup with our niece, Kayla, who was starting her post-graduation (from UC Santa Cruz) travels. Kayla will be traveling to a number of Nordic countries as well… Read more

Andrew and I flew back from Lulea – we couldn’t face another overnight train, to be honest.  It was great to be back in Taby, do some laundry, and reunite with Kathy and Louis who had used the few days we were up north to do some heavy Stockholm exploration. When we do these home… Read more

After a great buffet breakfast at Camp Ripan (a complete ‘180’ from the lunch buffet in town) we got onto the four-hour train ride to Luleå – also in the Arctic Circle but much farther south. Luleå is the largest city in Swedish Lapland. The train this time was super modern and very comfortable –… Read more

The next leg of our trip we parted ways with Kathy and Louis so they could explore Stockholm (which we’d done already with the young squad), and we were heading way up north to the Arctic Circle – to Sweden’s Lapland.  Andrew and I decided that since we were headed to a 15-hour overnight train… Read more

On our last full day in Gotland we knew we had to take the ferry back to Stockholm from Visby so we said farewell to our hosts in the countryside and rented bikes to explore Visby. Visby has spread out from the central and still very much intact walled city – very reminiscent of walled… Read more

We spent the next day exploring the southern end of Gotland and the recommendations our ferry friends made were spot on. Along the route down the island we happened upon a very unusual grave site (called Gannarve) – a boat shaped set of stones that apparently housed the remains of ancient folks from the area.… Read more

We were very lucky to hit stellar weather while on Gotland – and actually aside from a day here and there the weather on our trip overall has been great…Sunny and warm (maybe mid-70’s during the day and 50’s at night) and light breezes when close to water. No complaints. At the recommendation of our… Read more

When we were planning this Swedish adventure we asked a number of people for suggestions of where we should “not miss” along the way. A few – including the family we are exchanged with – mentioned Gotland. Knowing that Stockholm was really an archipelago of connected islands, I suspected that Gotland would be one of… Read more