The next stop on our Stockholm tour was Skansen. Once again, my reading had told me that this was a sight that we must see if travelling with kids; and after a wonderful day of fun I have to agree.  Today we knew where we were going and had mastered the public transport system so we arrived at Skansen without issue.

What is Skansen?  It is the first open air museum and zoo...

We didn’t sleep easily because the room was a little stuffy.  If we opened the window then we got to hear the local hoons in their cars roaring up the main road.  Nevermind. We set off into Stockholm. The hostel was a short distance from train station. We bought tickets for 3 for 75 krona to get just 2 stations away to T-Centralen!  When we arrived there we promptly bought...

I can’t help myself.  Everywhere I go I love taking photos of the flowers I see; everything from roses in Beijing, China; cottage garden flowers in England and wildflowers in Sweden. Here is a collage of some of my favourite flower photos. They are just so beautiful and make me happy!

Packed up and ready to hit the road.  We decided to walk into the small town of Valdemarsvik to grab lunch first. It was an easy stroll along a walkway bordering the water; although on the way back to the car it was starting to heat up.  We grabbed some more fresh strawberries and had our first experience of buying alcohol at the government run ‘Systembolaget’.  Now I...

A brand new day dawns.  With the camp packed up we ready to hit the road again.  Harris squeezed in a quick swim; quick because it was freezing cold. Patrick barely put his toes in before he decided it wasn’t for him.

We headed into nearby Karlskrona to have a look around. It is a beautiful old city. Without children we would have lingered longer, but they weren’t as keen...

We packed the car once again and farewelled our friends in Horby  as we commenced our road trip to Stockholm, Gotenburg and back to Horby.  I had a done a little research about places we should stop at along the way but as we headed north we had nothing definite planned and no accommodation booked.  Our LP guide, ‘Europe on a Shoestring’, only has a very small section on...

Ever since hearing Kinney talk fondly about Sweden’s Midsommar’s Eve 18 years ago, I knew that one day I would have to visit her and experience it for myself.  We were so lucky to be able to spend the day with her and her family for a fully authentic Swedish experience that’s revolves around food, drink and a midsommar pole with dancing!

We started the day at the farm (sign...

What did we do in Horby, Sweden in the week we were there? Well if you look at all the photos I have inserted, you would think all we did was eat and drink.  We did do a lot of that since we spent much of the week hanging out in Kinney’s house to keep out of the rain and to keep warm, even though it was supposed to be Midsommar (Midsummer)!  Our first day we enjoyed hotdogs...

We woke after a reasonable night’s sleep in the Danmark Hostel in Cophenhagen and made ourselves breakfast.  The sun was shining and we thought we were headed for a great day but as soon as we got into the car, the rain started again.  Nevermind. This was to be our last day of driving to get to Sweden. 

Why Sweden?  If we were going to travel around the world there was no...

We started the day with a German breakfast of eggs, bacon and pumpernickel bread in our Flensburg hotel. The kids enjoyed the pastries and hot chocolate!  We got the wifi working finally and I managed to book us a YHA for the night when we arrive in Cophenhagen.  Also called my best Swedish friend Kinney to chat about our upcoming arrival – the first time we had spoken in...