Dear Family and Friends ---
Velkommen! Välkommen! And Velkommen again!
No matter how we say it (the above are in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, respectively), you are hereby invited to come along with us on our 2011 Scandinavian Adventure.
Travel with us as we explore the pastoral countryside and islands of Denmark, the lakes and forests of Sweden and the mountains and fjords of Norway.
Join us as we follow in the footsteps of our ancestors. Three of Art’s grandparents were born in Denmark, and I, Barbara, proudly claim a Viking heritage, too. It’s true! This was a recent discovery and will be “proven” in a future posting.
And come along as we sample Scandinavia’s culinary delights: among other specialties, we’ll indulge in Danish pastries and beer (not necessarily at the same time), Swedish meatballs and lingonberries (definitely at the same time), Norwegian fresh salmon and Jarlsberg cheese (at any time). And yes, even though it’s difficult to believe, I WILL pluck up my courage and try some pickled herring. At least one bite. As long as I can wash it down quickly with some Carlsberg beer.
For practical reasons (Art loves to take photos and I love to write), Art and I decided that we would each have our own blog for this trip. Art’s blog ( http://arts-work.blogspot.com ) will focus on our adventure’s visual experiences, while mine (this one you are reading right now) will focus more on its historical, cultural and culinary aspects (in a light-hearted way, I assure you…after all, just look at the blog’s logo!). By viewing both blogs, we hope you will feel that you are right there with us, whether we’re in Arctic Norway staring in awe at the polar bears, or in Skansen Park in Stockholm celebrating Midsummer with the Swedes, or in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, the second oldest amusement park in the world.
We officially begin our adventure when we fly to Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday, May 25th. On May 29th, we will be boarding the National Geographic Explorer in Bergen, Norway, for a two-week expedition up the fjords of Norway and then on to the Svalbard Archipelago, north of the Arctic Circle. Our remaining six weeks in Scandinavia will find us exploring Denmark, Sweden and Norway in a rental motorhome. We are hoping that this adventure will give Art plenty to photograph and me plenty to write about. And we also hope that you’ll be our guests via our two blogs.
Finally, many thanks and lots of love to our son Nick – the real Viking in our family - for creating the blog artwork depicting a couple of merry vagabonds.
So, are you ready?
Then…
…lad os få dette eventyr i gang!
Translation from the Danish: Let’s get this adventure started!
