In April of 2016, Ben and I went with my mom and dad to Europe. We went to Amsterdam, Denmark and Norway. My dad went on a Mormon Mission to Denmark and Norway and I have always wanted to see it with him. We also went to see the tulips and the Dixie Chicks who were playing in Amsterdam.
Getting There
We had to take three planes just to get to our first country. There was a layover in Stockholm so of course Ben chanced things and took a train into the city to check it out. I wasn't willing to take the risk and neither were my folks.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam was very cool. I loved the feel of the city. Very fast paced and young feeling. Bikes and more bikes everywhere. The buildings are all very narrow and tall. It is interesting to look at them because they are all falling into each other at different angles and some are even tilted forward. The buildings were built on wooden barges and stilts and over time that foundation has crumbled and the buildings are no longer straight. The buildings generally have a windy staircase leading a person from the bottom to the top floor.Our Apartment
The apartment we stayed in is very typical for Amsterdam. We stayed in the top three floors of a five story building and had to make our way winding up a staircase that feels more like a ladder because of how tall and narrow it is. The family room/kitchen was on the third floor, mom and dads room was the fourth, and Ben and I were in the fifth floor attic. It was hard to get our suitcases (except mine since it was lost for three days) up let alone our own bodies. We laughed a bit as we tried. The apartment had a beautiful view of a canal and was above a pizzeria that was very good to eat at. It had a closet that turned into a small kitchen, but we pretty much only ate out.
Exploring the City
The city is really a fun, busy place. In the Dam Square they had a carnival going on. It sort of bummed me out because it took away from the city, but it was also cool to see a carnival in the middle of a major city. The cars and bikes are constantly in motion, but especially the bikes. More bikes than people are in Amsterdam and it shows. They had huge parking structures full of bikes.
While in the city we went to the Anne Frank house. It was really interesting to see and bring that book to life a bit. It was also very solemn to remember the horrors that she and her family went through to stay alive and to know in the end she was taken from the world.
We also explored the Rijks Museum. It was wonderful. I enjoyed seeing the paintings that were there of so many masters.
We walked along the streets and window shopped, got bites to eat, and tried some new foods like fries with different sauces, waffles with caramel in between called stroopwafle, herring, apple pie and croquettes out of a vending type machine fast food restaurant. It was a super fun city.
Zaanse Schans Windmill Village
We went up to a Windmill Village just a little bit away from Amsterdam. It was a little bit of a tourist trap area, but also very beautiful and interesting. They had a bunch of original and new working windmills. The windmills were still functioning doing things like cutting wood, making paint, and spice, and oil. We went on a tour of the wood mill. It was really cool to see how they made the windmill and then see it cutting the wood. They also had a tour of their wooden shoe store and a demonstration on how the shoes are made.
Dixie Chicks Concert
One of the reasons we went on this trip when we did was so that I could see the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks haven't toured in the US in over ten years. They have always been my most favorite band. Ben had been trying to get tickets to one of their shows for many years. He would often talk of driving up to Canada to see them at one place or another. He saw they were in Amsterdam and got the tickets. Interestingly, about six months after planning the trip the Chicks announced they would tour in the US in 2016. So I also have tickets to a show in September!!
The concert was phenomenal. I of course cried and sang every song. Ben cried at seeing me cry. It was all surreal and wonderful.
Keukenhof Gardens
Keukenhof Gardens were in full bloom. Perfect timing to see all the beautiful tulips and bulbs in bloom. It was so huge, I felt it impossible to actually show in pictures how beautiful it really was.
Denmark
After the Netherlands, we hopped on a plane to Denmark.
Our Apartment
We stayed in an airbnb while in Copenhagen. It was a very unique apartment owned by a very artsy person. Copenhagen is a city with lots of people and lots of apartments. The apartments have very unique and cool courtyards. The courtyard of our apartment wasn't as big or glamorous as some, but I loved the bright yellow. The outside was white.
Boat Tour
The first day we did a tremendous amount of walking, but luckily we started with a boat tour of the area. The last area we saw was Nyhavn. I loved that area so much. Ben and I even went back there the next evening.
Long Day of Walking
After the boat tour we started walking to see many of the things we wanted to see. The shopping district, known as Strøget. Tivoli area, although we didn't go into the amusement park, where we saw Hans Christian Anderson's' statue. Over to the Amalienborg palace to see the changing of the guards. Langelinie park to see the Little Mermaid statue, cherry blossoms, St. Albans church and the Gefion Statue. And lastly we tried to make it to the Rosenborg castle, but we were too late to go inside. The grounds were beautiful however.
Second Day
The second day we started off looking for a good pastry. I was so excited to go to Scandinavia because I wanted some yummy pastries. We looked in the wrong places. Nothing was what I dreamed it would be. So after a little breakfast we went to the Church of Our Lady to see the Christus Statue. Then we walked around and decided we loved the sculpture of the Christus so much by Thorvaldsen that we went to a museum showing all his sculptures. Hundreds of sculptures that were all so marvelous. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Ben and I ended the night by taking a little romantic walk to see the Nyhavn once again.
Norway
The last stop of our trip was to Norway. The land of my ancestors.
Bergen
We started our adventure with a flight into Bergen, Norway. We walked around and saw the town, got a bite to eat, took the funicular up the mountainside of Fløyen, and Ben and I hiked back down. We ate marzipan (the only time I saw any of it on our whole trip!)
Flåm Railway
After Bergen we took the Flåm Railway through Norway to Flåm. It had spectacular views. I took a ton of photos only to find they did the trip no justice. It was too grand to show in pictures. Just before the train trip, we went shopping and Ben tried to take us on a scenic byway, but at the top we had to turn around because of snow.
Overnight in Aurland
We stayed in Aurland, in a tiny little cabin on a glacial fjord. The cabins were so tiny, but the view was breathtaking. Ben and I basically slept with a ceiling inches from our face. While there we took a car ride up the mountain to a huge amount of snow. We also saw the Stegastein overlook.
Back to Bergen
At this point in the trip we were going to go to Oslo and part of the time we were going to take a ferry up the fjords. But sadly we found out that my dad left his passport at the hotel in Bergen. So we had to take our car back to Bergen then drive from Bergen to Oslo. Fortunately the drive was beautiful and we were able to see the Borgand Stav Church (an almost 1000 year old wood church), the Vorinsfossen waterfalls, and basically the most snow I have ever seen so maybe the North Pole.
Oslo
Oslo is a very busy city and was super scary when we got there because driving wasn't in our best interest. Luckily we soon ditched the rental and were back to using public transportation. In Oslo we went to a Viking Ship Museum, the Norway Resistance Museum, a boat ride over to an open air Norwegian Museum of History, Oslo City Hall, and our final stop was Vigeland Park before taking a plane back home.
