Arrival Stockholm airport at 8:14 am local time. That’s six hours ahead of New York time. Landscape coming in was filled with lots of water, lakes, and islands.

Slept OK off and on in our first class pod beds.

4:30 arrived at AirBnB. Very challenging to find. Day did not got as planned.

At immigration booth it took over 10 minutes because Don’s fingerprints wouldn’t scan properly. Finally the head man let us pass through anyway. No checked baggage to collect.

Long walk in airport to get to rental car bus. Arrived at Avis desk, got a black Opel and then Drove 70 miles to Gävle. Stopped first at ICA Maxi Supermarket to use ATM. Then drove 3 miles to Centrum shopping area. Very plain buildings. We couldn’t figure out how to pay by plate parking. We decided to skip Gavle and Headed to Dalarna which was a 2.5 hour drive. Planned visit to Dala horse factory and Tallberg Viking village didn’t happen. We both have to pee so bad by the time we arrived in Dalarma that we stopped at a restaurant and had a glass of wine and a beer. Not a good idea on empty stomachs. We couldn’t find the factory or the village.

Headed to Airbnb and that was a challenge. Road signs all in Swedish didn’t help. Finally we stopped where we thought it was. A nice neighbor lady hanging out clothes helped us find it. It has great view of Lake Siljan but that’s about the only good thing I can say about it We have to pay extra for sheets and towels. 🤪Agreed to pay for sheets but they aren’t here.

5:40 pm We are both very tired but don’t want to go to sleep yet. Drove into Rattvik, bought ice cream cones at lovely little park and then walk out on 1/2 mile peer.

Came back to Airbnb, the 83 year old owner, Anders, was waiting for us. He gave us an hour long tour of all his items collected from India Africa, all over the world. They were located in three out buildings. He is an ordained minister and has gone on many trips to help people. It was interesting but a little too long and we were a little too tired.

8:45 pm-Don is in bed and I’m going to follow shortly. Hopefully we will both get a good night sleep

8:45 AM we left our Airbnb in Rattvik. Drove to Falun to tour the copper mine. It closed in 1992 after all the ore was gone. We had to walk down and up over 600 steps. It was a very interesting tour and I’m glad that we did it.

Before we went on the tour, we had a breakfast at a café located near the tour meeting place. We shared an open face sandwich with mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, and lots of little baby shrimp. Delicious!Also, I had a rhubarb strawberry croissant and Don had a cinnamon croissant. They were both very good too.

After we left the mine area, we drove to Sigtuna on Lake Malaren, the largest fresh water lake in Sweden. On the way to Sigtuna we stopped to see the largest Dalarna horse in the world.

In Sigtuna we had a very brief visit to the museum. It closed at 4:00 and we got there at 3:50 after that we walked down toward the lake. We found a little lakeside restaurant and had some cider and a hamburger that we split. Afterwards, an ice cream cone and then walked down the main street with lots of little shops. We found the smallest City Hall in Sweden.

We then drove to a Lidl grocery store to get Coke and pear cider. Afterwards we went to a gas station and paid almost $200 to fill up the tank of our little car.

Found our nice Airbnb and are now settling in for the night. It was a lovely day, but we are both quite tired.

8:00 AM Left Sigtuna Airbnb

8:25 arrived Atlanta airport

9:00 on Express train to Stockholm.

Some trouble getting to our hotel, took 40 mins; should have taken 10 minutes. Check in at 10:00 and left luggage.

Took tram to Vasa museum. Hugh ship built in 1600’s which sunk in there harbor on it’s maiden voyage. It was raised in the 1960’s. Picture shows a model of what it looked like originally.

Then we went to the Nordic museum, which explained the history from the 1500s through 2000’s. In the 1800s when my grandfather and his parents came to the United States, they were probably along the poor who did not have any land so they came to search out for a better life.

Don had tickets for us to take the hop on hop off the bus. We had a hard time figuring out where to get it. First we got on the wrong one because it looked like the right one and then we finally got on the right one and had a nice trip around the city. At stop number one we went over to the building to find out about taking a boat trip tomorrow which we plan to do.

On the way back, we stopped at a kiosk and had a special sandwich called “Ostermalmsrulle”. It’s it’s a wrap with a sausage surrounded by potatoes and a salad altogether. It was pretty good.

Then we took the underground subway one stop and got off and walked to our hotel. Arrived around 5:30 and decided to just rest this evening and head out again tomorrow we both had close to 12,000 steps in today and we’re pretty tired.

7:30 AM Complementary buffet breakfast at hotel. Very good.

Went to central station to check out where our train will leave on Sunday morning.

Took Bus 65 to area where we took 2 hour boat tour “Highlights of Stockholm”.

Walked to Royal Palace, went in, looked around for 45 Mins. King and celebrating their fiftieth anniversary.

We walked around the narrow cobblestone streets of Old Town near the palace.

Returned to boat dock and took a 1 hour trip our other islands. Stockholm sits on over 60 islands.

Went up in a tower that had a good view of the city. Ate dinner at a little restaurant near there.

We wanted to get back to our hotel. Both of us were tired. Took the subway the wrong way. Figured it out, got off, and got on one going right way to Central station. We were hoping to find a Lidl grocery store, but it was too far for us to walk. Anyway back to hotel and bed soon. 9:00 PM.

It was a great day in Stockholm. We didn’t have anything booked. So after a nice breakfast of waffles, pancakes and omelette, we headed to the bus stop.

Took the city bus to the hop on hop off stop. Wrote that to the Viking museum and the museum of wrecks.

The Viking Museum was excellent. Very well presented and ended with a little ride at the end. It told the story of a wife sending her husband off to bring back two buckets of silver. He was expected to return by the second summer. He ran into lots of problems, but finally ended up with six buckets of silver and was welcomed home by his wife and daughter.

The museum of wrecks was OK.

We took the hop on hop off bus again and stopped where we thought there was a Lidl grocery store. We found it bought some more pear cider and then stop at a restaurant for some Swedish meatballs, boil potatoes, and linden-berries. The meal was delicious.

We headed back toward the hotel on the subway. I wanted to get a bag that said “Normal” on it for Max because he always “normal” when we ask him how school was today.

Back in our hotel room 3:30 PM.

Looks like another beautiful, sunshiny day. High is low 70’s.

7:30 am - Delicious buffet breakfast at Clarion Hotel Sign.

8:15 walked to Central Station. It took about 15 mins. Train left for Goteborg on time / 9:12am. Arrival scheduled for 12:45pm.

Next train to Malmo, one more stop. Changed trains, on to Copenhagen.

5:00 pm arrival in Copenhagen.

Walked to Scandic Spectrum Hotel about 15 minutes. Very small room. King bed takes up most of room. Hard time figuring out how to turn lights on. No refrigerator.

6:00 pm Walked 15 minutes to Tivoli Gardens. It has beautiful flowers, amusement rides and game booths.

We enjoyed a lovely meal at Groftens.

We walked around the gardens some more. Tivoli was built in 1843 by Georg Kerstansen. There are beautiful buildings and tulips of every color.

Back to hotel and bed.

Eat a nice breakfast in hotel. Walked 20 minutes to hop on hop off bus stop. Rode the bus around to get tourist view of Copenhagen. We had a 10 minute stop by the little mermaid statue.

Got off the bus near the palace, but when we got there, it was a two hour wait so we booked it for tomorrow morning. Took in a couple more museums.

Don kept saying this city sucks and the F word several times because it’s hard to follow along with Google maps. We got lost a few times. Not a very fun day. His feet hurt and so do mine. Over 12,000 steps today.

Return to motel about 3:30 PM. We were both exhausted and napped until 6:30 PM.

Don went down to check on his laundry and found that since it’s a holiday the Ascension, they did not do the laundry. I don’t wanna walk any more today.

This will probably be the last trip like this that we take together. If I ever do go on a similar trip I will have hard copy maps.

We leave for Oslo tomorrow, but not until mid afternoon

8:00 am - Nice breakfast at hotel. Took bus to Rosenberg castle.It was built by King Christian IV in early 17th century. Tour started at 10:10. Castle was nice, but not like the ones in England. Although the Crown Jewels was magnificent.

Walked to the “Round Tower”. It was built by astronomer Ole Romers. The top of the tower was closed so we only walked about half way up. Walked to a church, but it was closed for a funeral. Walked back to hotel, about 46 minutes.

Stopped an Expresso shop for a “Fika” break, cinnamon roll and carrot cake cupcake. Then we realized it was at the far end of our hotel.

After Fika we retrieve our luggage and then took a bus to subway. A little trouble finding the right train but Don asked a couple of people for help. Arrived at ferry dock at 2:30, boarded at 3:15. Left bags in cabin and went up to outside bar. Finally left dock at 5:15.

Reflections of Copenhagen. Lots of bicycles, more homeless, not nearly as clean as Stockholm. Some lovely parks, most everyone speak pEnglish. Sidewalks are cobblestone. Yesterday was a holiday celebrating the “ascension” It was our Memorial Day.

7:00 am We both took a shower in our cabin’s compact, but adequate bathroom. The beds were comfortable and we both slept well.

7:30 - Buffet breakfast. Lots of delicious danish sweet rolls, hard boiled eggs as well as scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. Lots of cheeses and cold cuts.

9:30 am - Oslofjord

Landscape change to hills along shore and mountains in distance. Another beautiful day, high low 60’s.

Picture coming into Oslo.

Walked to a “First Hotel Millennia” about 20 minutes. Older hotel with real key to open the door. We will have one day here in Oslo.

We walked toward the harbor and found a ferry to take us to museum island. We went into the Fram Museum which housed the ship that took men to the North Pole and then to the South. Of course there were lots of dogs, ponies, sleds, and walking when the ship couldn’t go any further.

Then we went to Kon-Tiki museum. It was a raft made balsa wood.

We rode ferry back to city hall.

We wanted to have a nice meal. So we stopped at 3 different restaurants but prices were high and staff were not particularly welcoming. I saw an Irish pub, so we had fish and chip, and cider there. Bartender was very was welcoming and food was great. Met a Family from Florida who’s daughter just

Returned to hotel. Don was done in, his foot hurt a lot. I went out for a little walk and window shopping. Bought little wooden mouse for Luca. I had a moment that I was not quite sure how to get back to hotel, but I made it.

Went to bed about 8:00 pm

Day 13 - Saturday, May 30, 2026 - Bergen - Photos

Day 14 - Sunday, May 31, 2026 - Bergen - Photos