Hey, it’s Corey here. We are camping tonight in Luxenbourg, which was a last minute call after having been rained upon two nights in a row. We had beautiful days but rain soaked us each night and morning so we thought we would gamble against the weather one more night. The way we travel can be kind one moment and a nasty wench the next. I guess most travel can, but we learn by doing. We didn’t come with guide books, good maps or a list of “to do’s”. Noel and I often play a game of, who do we know who would enjoy this? Meaning who in their right mind would think this is enjoyable besides us? We stumble through quite a bit but always seem to have a good time. European road tripping also has been very interesting and has made some aspects for us challenging. For instance they do not sell ice for coolers which has made our cooler a storage unit rather than a make shift refrigerator. We have pieced together many a quick lunch of salami, bread and cheese…..which is a plenty here. Also on Sunday’s all stores are closed except for a few random ones that seem to have nothing we need. This past Sunday we rolled into a small Frenh village because Noel saw a sign reading “thermal” thinking we would find a hot spring, which we did not. Instead we found a lovely campground nestled within this old village. Everyone was so friendly and did their best to navigate the language barrier, making sure our bread order was in for the next morning. Bread order! I know crazy right? We strolled into town hoping to find a grocery store open….remember no ice for cooler so no back up food. All stores were closed…..the town was a ghost town. No one works on Sunday so I have pictured everyone In their house reconnecting or doing something very European. The only eating establishment open was a fast food place that oddly was very similar to another famous fast food joint that can be found everywhere. No one spoke English which made the whole experience a comedy routine. Off the tourist path we are seen as novelties and as soon as we tried to order a cheeseburger, to which the very nice French teenagers had no clue, it seemed all eyes were upon us. Noel pointed, pantomimed, spoke slowly and what the hell he threw in some Spanish words to help clarify, to no avail. The giggly teenagers grabbed anyone from the back room to try to help decipher our order, which seemed to make things worse. Cheeseburger was all we wanted. Fromage. Number #1. Point. Point. Finally a savior came and translated to them “cheeseburger”, exactly the way we had said it. For some reason now they understood. We took our food and made our way to our table wishing people would stop staring. Back at the campground, we had a delightful night having a beer, talking to locals and enjoying the closest to American camping as we have had. Today we drove away, after more rain, enjoying the house music that plays on every radio in Europe heading toward Luxenbourg. We got off the road and toured a castle built in 1460 and then Rehabilitated in 1944. Pure wonder. Tonight we followed out gps to what we thought was a movie theater hoping they were playing the minnions in French only to find a Spanish artsy movie was playing. Foiled. We headed back to our home and since campgrounds all have a restaurant/bar we drank local beer played cards and games until we got sleepy and headed to our tent hoping for no rain.

I often wonder what henna truly makes of all of this. As we walk through various places she is usually talking about her love of Greek mythology, different kinds of beetles, quizzing me, or having me guess a tune she is whistling. I am unsure of what she will take away, what will stick, does she enjoy the unplanned chaos of it all? I am not sure. Upon visiting the Anne frank museum, Otto Frank said something that really struck a chord with me of his daughter Anne and all the thoughts that she wrote in her diary. He said, “You really never truly know your children”. All I know is that my most favorite thing about our trips, on any continent is that I am with my two most favorite people. Spending this much time together gives me back all the time we are not together during the school year. I may not fully know what Henna is thinking or making of all this, but I do know that we laugh harder, talk more….and not all about what we are learning or seeing….and reconnect. So here’s to the unscripted journey……let us learn nothing but gain everything.

After Copenhagen we left Scandanavia for the continent. There we finally met some of the stereotypes of European travel. First the Autobahn (terrifying) and then the tight winding village roads (even more terrifying). In The Hague we had a very rude waitress and people have long since stopped greeting us with a friendly “hey hey.” At the same time we still make friends and when lost (which is frequent) there is always someone willing to help us out.  

We have had some rain too but also many memorable experiences like the Anne Frank Museum. Not enough time to discuss here but this was very moving. Now we are camping in a 5 star resort on a Netherlands beach that includes a bar, game room, pool and planned activities. Last 3 nights were at a place rated a few less stars. There we had to provide our own toilet paper. But they still had espresso and warm croissants each morning for purchase (this is Europe after all).

Henna’s first roller coaster was followed up the next day by her first trip to an open air drug market. This quaint leftover hippie community has just 3 rules; no running, no photos, and everyone has to have fun. Honestly the same rules as most day camps.

I have to say we were just one of many tourist families milling about pot plants and handmade jewelry. Jazz fest was going on in the city and in Christiania it was a real blast. Drug dealers tapped their feet to the rhythm, their face masks casually drooping below their chins. Whereas the rest of the city clapped politely, here it felt more like the way Kerouac described it in On The Road with wild hoots, the pungent smell of weed, and a lot of good vibes. After a little bit we got the hell out of there but it was a fun trip while it lasted.

A short walk from our campground through a forested path (a path we shared with dog walkers and, to Henna’s great delight, a lot of slugs) and a twenty minute train ride brought us to the world’s second oldest amusement park.  

 First opened in 1843, Tivoli Garden reportedly was favored by King Christian VIII as a way to distract the people from the messy business of politics. Given all of Chicago’s worries, I can see King Rham soon creating his own amusement park.

   Tivoli Gardens is really a whole lot of fun and a must stop for amusement park aficionados (among other things it was Walt Disney’s inspiration for his own parks).  Key attractions include the Rutschebanen roller coaster which has been operating since 1914 . To keep the car at a safe speed the coaster includes ride operators that apply hand brakes at key junctions. This was Henna’s first and, judging from her reaction, maybe last ever roller coaster ride. 

 Besides the thrilling, Tivoli also includes gardens that are lit up at night, concerts (like Snoop Dog who is rapping there in two weeks), carnival games, and the occasional firework display. You are also welcome to do what we did which was stand under the wilder rides to gawk at the riders being twisted upside down and then back again. Maybe next time that will be us.

So much to say about Copenhagen but let us start with our digs there. After losing a lot of land to Germany in the mid to late 19th century, Denmark encircled the crown city with forts. After WWI they decommissioned most of these forts and people now camp, bike, and picnic in the cannon shadow. Very cool place to stay in Copenhagen.

Felt guilty that the cannons were pointing toward Sweden

Looking for "quakers"

After thanking our Swedish hosts one last time we headed to Denmark via a short ferry. On the Denmark side is the almost mythical Kronborg castle which among other things was the setting for Hamlet.

Kronborg Castle

Rebuilt after a fire in the mid 17th Century the castle is a sprawling museum of tapestries, minimally lit crawlspaces some so dark you need a flashlight, and a statue that supposedly comes to life whenever Denmark is threatened. It even has a moat (how cool is that?).  With all that it is hard to imagine a Medieval Times doing well anywhere in Denmark.

After the castle we stumbled south toward Copenhagen. Like a fed bear we have lost most of our gathering instinct so it might take a few nights before we are able to feed ourselves. Until then does anyone know of any Danish relatives we can crash with?

In between eating, laughing, joking,  being treated like royalty (no, actually like close family who have been away for a long bit) and then more laughing we did a bit of sight seeing. Höganäs is truly a lovely, peaceful place with a bustling harbor, a small downtown and  a fun beach.  There used to be a lot of coal mining here and that produced a significant amount of clay which is now used for pottery.  Almost everyone here has a Höganäs made vase or flower pot. Some live in century old houses with straw roofs. Most have bikes and enjoy riding on the trail running parallel to the sea.  The people living here are all very nice and the ones related to us are even nicer.  Today our hosts Christer and Astrid asked if we should go swimming first then eat ice cream or the reverse. This was the most stressful thing we have had to contemplate since arriving here. We very much like Höganäs and love hanging with our Swedish family.

Höganäs

Peter of Kullabygdens Keramik at work

Berit, Hasse, Corey and Henna

Hasse holding a memory

Alice showing off her masterpiece

Traditional home with straw roof

"Heaven"

The edges around the city were grittier than we expected, but after two days we really fell for Stockholm. Stockholm is a lot of water interrupted by cobble stone streets, tight shopping quarters, and churches older than the U.S. of A. Mostly we walked and walked and walked only resting for ice cream and pastries. We also made good friends our first night camping with a Finnish family (by way of Scotland and Northern Ireland) who we hung with until the wee hours. The good times spent with new friends was a preview for the exciting and altogether awesome moments we were later to spend with family.

Single lane traffic, repressive speed limits, and traffic cameras everywhere make for slow driving in Norway. A little north of Lillihammer the traffic got better and then we were launched into a national park.

National Parks in Norway are a rugged, not so marked thing. What we saw via E6 though was pretty impressive. With a careful eye out for musk oxen (those suckers are mean) we walked to a birding tower and saw many bugs. Afterwards we took a short hike to an overlook. It was a bit of Wyoming smack dab in the middle of Scandinavia.

We then camped south of Trondheim and arrived in Norway’s 3rd largest city in the morning. It is a beautiful place of wooden houses on the fjord and a majestic centuries old castle peering down from above. That day we made two friends. The first was Lise at the Jewish Museum whose grandfather was one of the few Jews who returned to Trondheim after World War II.

Trondheim is home to the most northern synagogue in the world. The heartbreaking story of this community is ultimately one of resilience and involves, among other things, over one hundred thirty Norwegian Jews fleeing the Nazis by skiing ten days over the mountains to Sweden. My smart phone cannot do any justice to their story so expect more later.

We also were lucky enough to meet champion cargo bike racer Ola and his charming ten year old son Malte. Not only did Ola share with us enough insider tips to help us avoid the tourist traps he also gifted me a very cool Swedish military  knife. His genuine concern that we see as much quality Sweden as possible (along with his good humor) has been one of the highlights of the trip. Thanks Ola!

Then yesterday was work. A lot of driving, misadventures looking for camping, and then finally paying too much for a hotel where we ate salads for dinner. But Stockholm is near and armed with good advice by Ola we are ready for whatever the road gives.

Hee hee

Lillihammer, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, is one charming little town. Unfortunately Norway mostly closes down on Sunday (by law only restaurants, small grocery stores, and a few other random shops are allowed to remain open).  There also was a big bike race that circled and went through the town seven times which meant a lot of sudden street closures (as well as motorcycles and other support vehicles whizzing by at break neck speeds). But the giant ski jump area was mostly left alone and Henna and I walked 936 steps up before taking the lift down.

Norwegians know how to do charming

Looking down