a week in aarhus, denmark

wanderessence1025's avatar August 20, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through Scandinavia from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Tuesday, August 11-Tuesday, August 18: We left Copenhagen on Tuesday morning the 11th and took the FlixBus 3 1/2 hours tthrough the Danish countryside to Aarhus, Denmark. The bus ride was rather cramped, with about the same amount of leg room as an Avianca flight, but at least there was a bathroom abooard and the ride was smooth and scenic.

Passing the town of Vejle, we saw Bølgen (The Wave), some of Denmark’s most expensive apartments. They sell for anywhere from 400,000 to 1.8 million euros. The architects were inspired by the surrounding hilly landscape and the Sydney Opera House.

Our Airbnb apartment: Strandparken 9 1th

We walked from the bus station about 17 minutes with our luggage to our apartment at Strandparken 9 1th, Aarhus, in the Frederiksbjerg neighborhood. This is the second place we’ve stayed so far where the host lives in the apartment and had to vacate for our arrival. We didn’t get to meet Lars, the host, but he was very communicative and welcoming.

I loved the aesthetic of this apartment and its location, although some of the things crammed in here are very old. It could use a good decluttering!

Strandparken in Aarhus is a residential housing complex consisting of 303 individual apartments ranging from 28 to 180 square meters. It sits on an elevated site near both the forest and the bay in central Aarhus. It is a Bauhaus-inspired functionalist complex, designed by architect Alfred Morgensen (who later became the city architect), built between 1935 and 1938. It was Jutland’s first “park-style” residential layout, featuring freestanding blocks surrounded by green spaces to maximize sunlight, fresh air and views of Aarhus Bay.

Wandering around and about in Aarhus

Aarhus dates from the late 8th century when it was founded as a harbor settlement at the mouth of the Aarhus River and quickly became a trade hub. It is the second largest city in Denmark and sits on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat Sea, about 187km (116 mi) northwest of Copenhagen.

We were on the go a LOT in Copenhagen, but we quickly realized that if we are traveling for 13 weeks, we cannot continue to expend so much energy. We need to build in some down time.

We loved the smaller city of Aarhus because it had things to do but there weren’t an overwhelming number of choices and we could take our time lingering in markets, resting at the apartment, visiting places at a leisurely pace. It was fun to feel a part of the neighborhood and to soak up its laid-back atmosphere.

Wandering around Aarhus, we found cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, fashionable people, and groups of university students riding bikes or striding along the street confidently. On one of our strolls through town, we met a cute dog with his head out the window. On the window was written: “Hi, my name is Kayo. I am the happiest dog in the world. If you take a picture of me then tag me @kayivinduet”. We were happy to tag Kayo and whenever we walked past her house, we looked for her in case she was out people-watching.

Street art in Aarhus

In a street art project titled “17 Walls,” international artists created large gable paintings inspired by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Dining out in Aarhus

We have made a goal to eat out dinner twice in each week and lunch 3 times in a week. We always eat breakfast in, though we often stop for a Danish and coffee during our wanderings. This week we did pretty well at limiting our meals out.

We had a lovely dinner at The Spice of India in our neighborhood, with me enjoying Palak Kofta (spinach-based dumplings simmered in a creamy, herb-infused sauce) and Mike Shahi Paneer (Royal style paneer curry made with cream, saffron and aromatic spices. Once again, Mike’s meal was better than mine. Luckily we had enough to bring home for leftovers.

While wandering through the Latin Quarter, we had lunch at Nori Bar, where we had a seaweed salad, Uramaki Spicy Tuna (tuna, mango, avocado, kimchi sesame, chili may0) and a Kaburimaki Red Dragon (shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, topped with chili mayo & yuzu sauce).

Markedshallen Nicolinehus

While on our bikeride through the harborfront, we stopped for lunch at Ma Phan House Vietnamese Food at Markedshallen Nicolinehus, the harbor market, where we enjoyed RISNUDELSALAT & Bao Combo, along with a limeade.

Markedshallen Nicolinehus has 12 unique food stalls from all over the world and a beer, wine and cocktail bar.

Drinks & snacks at Boule

We sat out on the sidewalk at Boule in our neighborhood and enjoyed watching the Danish families. We sipped on beer and prosecco and ate a snack of grilled padrones. The young Danish woman had knitted her sweater vest and her little boy’s sweater from yarn scraps. Across the street from Boule is a yarn shop.

Pizza at Via-Vai

On our last dining out experience, we ate a Spicy Pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh padron peppers, spicy salami) at the cozy Via-Vai a few blocks from our apartment.

Eating in

We knew from the onset of our planning stages that the Scandinavian countries would be expensive and we couldn’t eat out as much as we usually do when we travel. We figured that we would need to seek out local markets, either grocery stores or farmer’s markets, and eat breakfast in (which we always do anyway), make lunches in our apartment or make sandwiches to go, and cook most dinners in.

We discovered a Wednesday and Saturday market on Ingerslevs Boulevard. We wandered among flower vendors; seafood, sausage and meat vendors; and fruit and vegetable sellers in the middle of the Frederiksbjerg neighborhood. We sat and people-watched while enjoying a cardamom bun and a lemon cake, then bought sweet peas, smoked salmon, cherries and potatoes to make dinner in our apartment. I also bought a linen top from a woman selling clothing she has shipped from Italy. At the Saturday market, we bought more goodies for dinner, and I also bought a pair of red linen pants from the same vendor from whom I got the linen top on Wednesday, Solvar.

We prepared a number of light lunches and several dinners in the apartment.

Activities & Sights in Aarhus

Walk to Den Uendelige Bro, or The Infinite Bridge

One day, we walked 31 minutes south on a pathway along the beach.

Our destination on this endless walk was Den Uendelige Bro, or The Infinite Bridge. Originally, the bridge was displayed in conjunction with the Sculpture By The Sea event in 2015. The people of Aarhus fell in love with it so much that the municipality contributed to reconstructing the bridge as a permanent piece of art – and an infinitely beautiful pier. The bridge is removed every winter; it is rebuilt every April and stays up until October.

It was a beautiful, cool and breezy day. Mike was foolhardy enough to take a dip in the Bay of Aarhus. The neighborhoods we walked past on the way back and forth were stunning, with whitewashed houses and manicured gardens.

Observing the partial solar eclipse in Aarhus

After dinner we walked back to Ingerslevs Boulevard to watch the partial solar eclipse, the peak of which was at 8:03 with 1 hour and 45 minutes from first to last contact. Only about 84.1% of the sun was covered at the peak. Because the sun was going down, it actually wasn’t very noticeable. We didn’t have any eclipse glasses to watch it sadly, so it wasn’t such an event in Aarhus.

Den Gamle By

Before we figured out the rather simple bus schedules, we walked 2.1km to Den Gamle By (“The Old Town”), an open-air museum which opened in 1914. It was the first open-air museum of its kind, focused on town culture rather than village culture. The museum consists of 75 historical, mostly half-timbered, buildings collected from 20 townships all over Denmark. They were originally built between 1550 and the late 19th century and were dissembled and moved to Aarhus during the 20th century. The buildings are open to visitors. Rooms are decorated either in the original historical style or organized into larger exhibits with ranging themes.

We journeyed through 400 years of Danish history. The Old Market Town (1600-1900) represent a Danish town in Hans Christian Andersen’s time and earlier. From 1900-1927, the town became modern with pavement, street lamps, public telephones and color ads everywhere. From 1950-1974 the town represents the heyday of the welfare society, famous for broadmindedness, the women’s movement, and experimentation with new forms of living. The part of the town from 2000-2014 is our time.

Five gardens represent periods of time from the mid-17th to early 20th centuries. Spread throughout the small town are six shops including a bookstore, a post office, and a bakery to add to the illusion and feel of a real town. There are also five diners and cafes offering food to visitors. People walk around in historical costume, reminding me a bit of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, except the buildings there weren’t moved to that location; they were originally built there.

Latin Quarter & Åboulevarden

The Latin Quarter is the oldest part of Aarhus and is itself part of the inner city. Some of the oldest houses date back to the 16th century. Here we wandered among cafés, restaurants, boutiques and department stores.

Aarhus Cathedral

The Gothic style Aarhus Cathedral, also known as St. Clement’s Church, is the longest and tallest church in the country at 93m (305 ft) in length and 96m (315 ft) in height. Construction began in the 12th century. A number of fresco paintings date from 1470-1520.

As is the custom in many parts of Denmark, a ship hangs at the crossing as a reminder of those lost at sea and of Denmark’s close connection to the sea. The cathedral’s ship is the Enigheden (“Unity”) and might have been built in Holland.

Møllestien

Møllestien (“mill path”) is a narrow lane of 28 small colorful cottages edged by hollyhocks. The lane predates the 1200s. Though the lane today looks idyllic, its history is full of witch trials, infanticide, poverty and prostitution.

Salling ROOFTOP

At the top of the Salling department store, an Aarhus institution since 1906, is an urban space on the roof with room for reflection. It has gardens and art installations, a 360 degree view of city, sea and sky, and food and music experiences. The 2000 sq. meter, 175 ton urban space opened in 2017, the same year Aarhus was named European Capital of Culture.

We wandered up the rooftop and all around to enjoy views of the city and the sea.

Renting bicycles and riding around Aarhus Ø: the harborfront and Isbjerget (Iceberg)

From Salling, we rented two Donkey Republic bicycles, Tomas and Vanilla, and rode around Aarhus Ø (Aarhus Island), the docklands neighborhood in Aarhus.

We first enjoyed views of Isbjerget, the Iceberg, an iconic residential neighborhood that mimics the shape of an iceberg. Designed to maximize sea views from its 208 rental apartments, the building is broken up in a criss-cross pattern, evoking the sight of icebergs breaking up. The rooftops rise and fall in peaks and valleys. All 208 apartments are different.

Havnebadet (Harbor bath)

After our lunch at the harbor market, we went to Havnebadet, the harbor bath. It is impressive in size with four pools, a sauna (not open in summer), outdoor showers, toilets and good changing facilities. The pools include a 50 meter pool, a children’s pool with a sloping bottom, a pool for juniors and a diving pool.

We hung out here for some time. We took turns dipping into the icy harbor water, which I thought was rather jolting, although Mike didn’t consider the water that cold. We relaxed on the deck for a while, with me falling asleep and Mike waking me when I started snoring! Ouch.

ARoS Kunstmuseum

The ARoS museum has five galleries and an entire floor dedicated to immersive installations. It has a great collection for Danish and international art, some 8,000 works from the 18th century to the present.

We began by walking around Olafur Eliasson’s “Your Rainbow Panorama” at the rooftop of the building, enjoying the city and harbor views in technicolor. This is a permanent work of art consisting of a circular 150m-long and 3m wide circular walkway in glass in all colors of the spectrum.

We especially enjoyed the “ARoS Collection – Human Nature” which revolved around the themes of life: nature, religion, philosophy and science.

The “ARoS collection: 1960-now” was also interesting and showed art since 1960 in a diversity of artistic experimentation.

“Svend Wiig Hansen (1922-1997) – Walking, falling, standing” reflected the dark post-war period and posed questions about what it means to be human in an increasingly chaotic world.

We were a bit confused when we walked into “The Populace” by Nina Beier and John Miller. The large number of staged mannequins stood face to face with photos of portrait paintings from forgotten archives on the wall. At first no one was moving, but within a couple of seconds a man walked out of the mannequin set, making it seems as if any one of the mannequins could come to life.

“Boy,” Ron Mueck’s oversized sculpture (4.5m in height and 500kg in weight) showed a great attention to detail: the surface of the boy’s skin has veins and hair follicles clearly marked. The figure’s crouching posture draws inspiration from Australian aborigines vigilantly scanning the plain for game.

We finished our visit by relaxing under the sky as a pure field of color: “As Seen Below – The Dome, a Skyspace by American artist James Turrell.”

Moesgaard

On Sunday, we took a bus 30 minutes south of Aarhus to Moesgaard, an architecturally intriguing museum that covers the history of humankind. It covers the steps of evolution, the Stone Age, The Bronze Age, The Iron Age (including Grauballe Man), The Viking Age (including the Gokstad boat), and The Middle Ages.

One of the highlights of the museum is Graubelle Man: On 26th April 1952, Grauballe Man was discovered in a bog in central Jutland. In the Iron Age, more than 2000 years ago, his life was given to the gods in a plea for fertility and a good harvest.

The bog locks the earthly remains of all living things in a dormant state, where the biological clock comes almost to a halt. Year after year, the bog archives everything that lands on its surface, and remains from landscapes going back to the Ice Age are preserved here.

The Gokstad boat is a small boat found on the deck of the large Gokstad ship in Vestfold, southern Norway. The Gokstad ship is one of the most famous and well-preserved vessels from the Viking Age. A chieftan, killed in battle, was buried in the ship in AD 900-905, a time when Danish kings periodically ruled over a realm that also included southern Norway and Sweden.

A bikeride to Aarhus Botanical Gardens, through the Latin Quarter and to Aarhus Street Food

On the final day of our stay in Aarhus, we rented Donkey Republic bikes, called Tomas and Bruno, for 3 hours and rode through downtown, to the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, and through the Latin Quarter. We made a stop at Salling department store to look for a jacket for Mike, but he didn’t find one. I, however, found a cute top that will be a birthday present for me in October. Finally, we stopped at Aarhus Street Food, an industrial-style food market near the bus station.

Mike got a blonde beer called Chimay Jaune from Punk IPA and we got an order of Za’atar fries with yogurt sauce for a little snack. Mike found out Chimay Yellow is a unique beer made by Trappist monks at the Abbey of Scourmont in Belgium. The monastery also makes four varieties of cheese.

As with all Trappist beers, the beer is sold only for financial support of the monastery and good causes. The majority is distributed to charities and for community development around the region. As of 2007, sales figures for Chimay products exceeded $50 million per year. The beer is transported to the bottling company 12 km away, which can fill 40,000 bottles per hour. The beer is then refermented in the bottle for 3 weeks before being shipped around the world; 50% of Chimay beer production is sold on the export markets.

Homebody stuff

We are trying to continue our normal routines on this trip, usually watching an hour-long TV show and one 1/2 hour show every night unless we go out. Back at the apartment in the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, and Trying. We started a new series set in Copenhagen, The Killing, and another set in NYC, Furious. In Aarhus, I’ve been reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. I find I’m not making as much time as usual to read, as I usually spend most of my time editing photos, writing my blog, reading up on places we visit, and keeping touch with the family at home. We also have been taking a lot of naps, as we’re often exhausted after our outings, especially those to museums.

Aarhus is a town where I could easily live. It has all the things Mike loves too, like a local swimming pool, the Aarhus Svømmestadion, which has an indoor 50-meter pool and an outdoor pool with diving boards and platforms. Both of us really love the biking lanes and the flat landscape for biking; Mike loves it even more than I do as he is an avid biker. And the local market is fabulous. We love the chill vibe of Aarhus. The only thing we might not love are the cold winters and super short winter days. Summer days here in Denmark, and probably spring and fall, would probably be our perfect place, if not for being so expensive!

On Tuesday morning, the 18th, we left Aarhus at 7:20 a.m. on the FlixBus to Copenhagen, where we caught a flight to Helsinki on FinnAir at 1:55 p.m.

a week in copenhagen, denmark with forays to roskilde, helsingør & koge

wanderessence1025's avatar August 13, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through Scandinavia from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome. 🙂

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

Monday, August 3: Our day in Virginia was hot and humid so I didn’t bother going for a walk. Mike made us salmon with pasta nests and broccolini for lunch so we could use up the rest of our food at home.

Allie had just woken from a nap when we were leaving at just before 5 p.m., so she refused to let us hug or kiss her. She’s such a grump after she wakes up. I think she’s going to miss us for the next 3 months. She’s going to have an extra hard adjustment since Jandira just got offered a new job and Allie will have to go to day care full time. Jandira is thrilled because the job is not in sales and she’ll work Monday through Friday, so she’ll have weekends off. She’s never had a job with weekends off, and she and Alex really need that kind of schedule for their family life.

Alex drove us to Dulles International Airport and we got checked in easily. We had a 7 hour 50 minute overnight flight ahead on SAS Airlines which would be sure to wreak havoc on our bodies.

On the plane I watched 1 1/2 hours of the 2 1/2 hour Project Hail Mary. I found it rather slow and boring and never finished the last hour after a vegetarian pasta dinner interrupted my watching. After dinner and a glass of wine, I took a half a Valium and ended up sleeping uncomfortably next to a solid Latvian guy for about 3-4 hours until the flight attendants woke us for breakfast, a heavy egg and cheese breakfast biscuit.

We started to land but the pilot aborted the landing and circled around again because air traffic controllers told him he was too close to the plane in front of us. Soon, he landed the plane in one of the smoothest landings I’ve ever experienced. The flight crew on our SAS plane were all extremely polite and orderly.

August 4-11, 2026: Copenhagen

Tuesday, August 4: We had to stand in line in Copenhagen for an hour to have passport control take our fingerprints and photos for the new EES system. The most boring man, originally from Baltimore but now living in Lithuania, stood in front of us in line telling us every airport and transportation dilemma he’s ever encountered.

It took us a while to find our luggage since it had taken us so long in passport control that they had removed our flight number from all the boards. Finally someone helped us find our bags and we made our way to the train, which we took to Copenhagen Central; there, we switched to a train to Sydhavn Station. From there it was a three minute walk.

Our apartment is on the 1th floor of #51 on Johan Kellers Vej in Sydhavn. It is minimalist Scandinavian style but the owner’s belongings are super organized in every available space.

Lunch at Wild Horses Cafe

We dropped our bags and walked to Wild Horses Cafe, a cute cafe where we shared “horses granola and yogurt with lemon curd and fresh strawberries” and a grilled sandwich with smoked cheese, chili jam, pickled red onion, pickle and mayo. It was a delicious but expensive ($35) lunch. We were serenaded by Connan Mockasin singing “Charlotte’s Thong.”

It was rather gloomy and sprinkling a bit but we walked back to the apartment, stopping at the convenient Netto market for some groceries.

Like we did when we went to Venice in 2023, we napped for 1-2 hours after lunch, despite the advice never to nap due to jet lag. It seems to work well for us to do that after having lunch. In the evening, we were still full from the heavy lunch, so we had a light snack of crab salad with ØGO crackers. We tried to watch Grantchester but we both kept drifting off.

Wednesday, August 5: We ate scrambled eggs with cheese and green onions. Mike had brought some exercise bands along and suggested we do some exercises in the apartment before heading out each morning. I was a bit grumpy about that idea as I don’t like to exercise with Mike “coaching.” If I exercise, I want to do my own thing and no more than 15 minutes. After all, we always do a lot of walking on our travels, so that is enough for me. No matter, I did some arm exercises and planks and then showered and headed out for the day.

Marmorkirken, The Marble Church, also known as Frederiks Church

We took the train to Marmorkirken, The Marble Church, an historic Evangelical Lutheran church. It features a massive copper-green dome spanning 31 meters and is the largest church dome in Scandinavia. It was designed by Nicolai Eigtved in 1740; King Frederik V laid the foundation stone in 1749.

The church is not made of marble, although that was the original plan. After the original architect’s death in 1754, the 1770 original plans were abandoned completely. For over 100 years, the building stood as a half-finished ruin. In the 1880s, industrialist C.F. Tietgen and architect Ferdinand Meldahl took over and because of a tight budget, they were forced to switch from marble to limestone. It was finished by Tietgen and Meldahl, finally opening in 1894. It was heavily inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Designmuseum Danmark

We stopped in to visit Designmuseum Danmark since we had a lot of time to kill before the changing of the guard at noon at Amalienborg Palace. This museum was founded in 1890 and opened to the public in 1895. It moved in 1926 to its current location in a fine rococo building, former Royal Frederik’s Hospital. The hospital had the original goal of offering penniless patients free care. The Grønnegården garden in the courtyard center gave patients access to sunshine and fresh air.

The former sickrooms were designed as long galleries. The garden is now used as an exhibition space. The museum is one of Scandinavia’s leading exhibition venues for Danish and international industrial design, applied arts and craft. Its main goal is to communicate the idea of quality within design and is a source of inspiration for people working in industry.

We enjoyed the collections of ceramics, snuff boxes, table settings (“Little Table, Cover Thyself”), posters, chairs and contemporary furnishings.

The Designmuseum recognizes Japanese influence on Danish design and crafts since the end of the 19th century.

One exhibit at the museum was titled “Japan Modern Poster.” It introduces the history of Japanese graphic design through a selection of unique posters. During the 1940s and 1950s, while Japan was recovering from the ruins of war, many Japanese designers studied modern Western design and then established styles that reflected their individual sensibilities. The 1960s brought about major changes in Japanese society and graphic design flourished. At the same time, posters emerged that reflected the darker sides of society, such as war and environmental problems. Of course digital technology influenced design in the 1990s, and designers explored new forms of visual communication in the information society of the 2000s.

“Hokusai Japanese Woodcuts” exhibited about 40 woodcuts created by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), one of Japan’s most significant painters and printmakers; he helped make landscapes an independent genre of woodcut art.

Japanese woodcuts had their golden age during the Edo period (1603-1868). The genre, known as ukiyo-e (‘pictures from the floating world’) originally portrayed scenes from the entertainment districts of the time. Later, the artists expanded their thematic range to include landscapes, travel scenes and aspects of everyday life.

Ukiyo-e was a popular art form that was widely accessible and was not considered high art. It involved a division of labour from the drawing of the image to its transfer to a woodblock, the carving of the woodblock and, finally, the production of the multi-color print.

Popular images could be printed in hundreds or even thousands of copies, which contributed to the broad appeal of the genre and is testimony to the public interest in this art form.

After our foray to the Designmuseum, we walked down the street to Amalienborg Palace, where we passed Aleksander Nevskij Kirke, the only Russian Orthodox Church in Copenhagen. It was built by the Russian government between 1881-1883 on the occasion of Princess Dagmar of Denmark’s marriage to Alexander Alexandrovich in November of 1866 and their subsequent coronation as Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna.

Amalienborg Palace, the Royal Residence, for the changing of the guard.

The Royal Family lives in Amalienborg Palace, which consists of four identical palaces surrounding a square with the equestrian statue of Frederik V from 1771. The palace dates back 150 years to Christian IX and Queen Louise. Today the Royals are King Frederik X and Queen Mary, an Australian woman who met Frederik at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney; they married in 2004. When a flag is flying, one of the royal family is staying at the palace: today 82-year-old Princess Benedikte, the King’s aunt, was present in the palace, as shown by her flag flying above her quarters.

The Palace is known for the Royal Life Guards. The changing of the guard takes place every day at noon. We stood in a crowd to watch but because I’m so short, I could barely see anything over the tall Danes in front of me. Mike, being taller, was able to get a few decent photos.

Hot dogs at Emmis Place & Coffee at Espresso House

We had to try some of the famous Copenhagen hot dogs, so we stopped at Emmis Place at Kongens Nytorv for the traditional hot dogs. I have to say they were just okay. Then we stopped at Espresso House for coffee and a chocolate cookie.

Nyhaven

Nyhavn (New Harbor) is one of Copenhagen’s most visited tourist attractions. The harbor dates back to 1673 and started as a busy commercial port. It was excavated from 1671-1673 by Danish soldiers and by Swedish prisoners of war from the Second Carl Gustav War. The area was notorious for beer, sailors, and prostitution and for many years was considered a seedy neighborhood.

Poet Hans Christian Andersen lived in three of the houses over a 20 year period.

Today the harbor is lined with sidewalk cafes and restaurants. The northern side has brightly colored townhouses built of wood, brick and plaster. The oldest house, #9, dates from 1681.

Canal ride on Netto Boat

We took the Netto Boat Tour from Nyhavn, sailing past Holmen, the naval base of Copenhagen for 300 years. We saw The Little Mermaid from the backside, and though Mike was adamant he had no interest in seeing it, I said I wouldn’t mind seeing it from the front side with the water behind. (He relented and we ended up going the next day.) We boated past Amalienborg Palace, Church of Our Savior, and many other sites, including an apartment building that holds the most expensive apartment in Copenhagen at $10 million. The front steps of this building along the harbor were lined with sunbathers, as if it were a beach.

We sailed through the Christianshavn canals with its many boats bobbing in the sunlight. This amazing maze of canals was built from 1617-1622, partly to protect the fleet of the Royal Danish Navy. We saw Amager Bakke (aka Amager Slope or Copenhill), a combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant opened in 2017. It is also a recreational facility with a dry ski run, a hiking trail, and a climbing wall; this opened in 2018 and has 42,000-57,000 visitor annually.

An evening in our apartment

We returned to our apartment around 3:30 and relaxed, after walking about 5.3 miles all day. We made a dinner of fish cakes and pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto, broccolini and garlic, and drank a Carlsberg beer. We watched the first episode of Season 4 of Ted Lasso and promptly conked out, exhausted from our day of travel and our busy first day.

Thursday, August 6: Even though Mike insisted he didn’t want to make the trek to see The Little Mermaid, he changed his mind after we saw the backside of her on the Netto Boat Tour. Plus, he knew I wanted to see it, so he agreed to make the trek.

The Little Mermaid

We got a rather late start and headed to The Little Mermaid, a statue famous because it serves as the ultimate national and cultural symbol of Denmark. Unveiled in 1913, the 4.1 ft. bronze statue connects the city to Hans Christian Andersen and his poignant 1837 fairy tale. It is also a symbol of Copenhagen’s resilience due to numerous meticulous restorations after frequent attacks of vandalism: multiple decapitations, severed arms, and paint splatterings by political activists.

St. Alban’s Anglican Church

Leaving The Little Mermaid, we walked past St. Alban’s Anglican Church, Copenhagenk, an example of Victiorian ‘Early English’ Gothic Architecture. It’s the only Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Denmark and was consecrated in 1887.

In front of the church is the Gefion Fountain which features a group of animals being driven by the legendary Norse goddess, Gefion. She was the goddess who ploughed the island of Zealand out of Sweden. The Swedish King Gylfe offered the goddess as much land as she was capable of ploughing in one day and night.

Strøget: La Glace and Ann Ricci Boutique

We took the metro to Strøget, a 1.1 km pedestrian shopping street established in 1962. We stopped for pastry and coffee at La Glace. Across the road from the expensive cafe was a shop, Ann Ricci Boutique, with a bohemian vibe. We were amused by the two little dogs who kept peeking out of the shop windows and getting the clothing caught on their long ears. The clothes in the shop also featured the shop’s dogs in graphics. I went in and found 2 tops and a scarf for reasonable prices, so I bought them.

We happened upon a craft market where we could have been tempted if we had any room in our suitcases. We had discovered that this week was Copenhagen Fashion Week, so we took pictures here and there of women flaunting their Scandinavian style.

After our stroll down Strøget, we took the train to the apartment and rested a while before going out to Tivoli around 6:30 p.m.

TIVOLI

In the evening, we went to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen. It opened on 15 August 1843 and is the 2nd oldest operating amusement park in the world after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, also in Denmark. With 4.25 million visitors in 2024, it is the most visited seasonal amusement park in Scandinavia and the 2nd most visited in the world after Europa-Park, a theme park in Rust, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.

We planned to go in the evening as the sun set and the lights came on and to enjoy dinner in one of the park’s many restaurants or the food hall.

Entrance to Tivoli

The buildings at Tivoli are in the style of an imaginary Orient and include a theatre, restaurants, cafes, flower gardens and mechanical amusement rides. After dark, colored lamps illuminate the gardens. It is a magical and whimsical place to visit, especially at dusk when the fading and blue light and the colorful lights and buildings make it seem otherworldly and exotic.

In 1943, Nazi sympathizers burnt many of Tivoli’s buildings to the ground. During WWII, several landmarks were bombed by Nazi saboteurs in June 1944. The government made sure to restore them quickly, just 25 days later.

We wandered all around the park and soaked up the atmosphere. In the Food Hall, we ate dinner at the counter of Wakha, a Moroccan food stand. I enjoyed a Vegetarian Moroccan flatbread with roasted aubergine, tomato glaze, goat cheese, walnuts and pomegranate seeds. Mike had a Lamb flatbread (tajine, raisins, mint yogurt, toasted almonds).

The park is best known for its wooden rollercoaster, Rutschebanen, built in 1914. I was most mesmerized by Svingkarrusellen, the swing carousel, with its pretty setting in the midst of gardens and ponds. Mike and I made the mistake of riding it (our only ride) after we ate dinner, not a wise move for our stomachs!

We returned to the apartment around 10:00, exhausted from a day of walking 6.8 miles. We managed to watch an episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine, and promptly fell asleep.

A DAY TRIP TO ROSKILDE

Friday, August 7: Today we took a 30 minute train west from Copenhagen to Roskilde to see Roskilde Cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum. First we walked through the charming town and enjoyed pastries at Lagkagehuset: Kanelsnegl (cinnamon snail), Kardemomme Snurre (cardemom buns), and Spandauer with a custard filling.

Roskilde Cathedral

Roskilde Cathedral, an early Scandinavian brick Gothic cathedral, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. It has numerous unique royal chapels which reflect changing European architectural history over 800 years. It serves as the final resting place for 40 kings and queens. Altogether, there are more than 1000 graves in the church.

Built in 1200, the cathedral was Scandinavia’s first Gothic edifice. The Gothic pointed arches, vaulted ceilings and exterior buttresses enabled construction of light and lofty churches with large windows.

It was originally Catholic but since the Reformation in 1536, it has been Lutheran. Pews were installed after the Reformation because, unlike in early Catholicism, the congregation is a vital part of the services.

The King’s Door (2010) shows the Bible story “Journey to Emmaus.” After Jesus’ death, two of his disciples met a man they shared a meal with. When he broke the bread, they recognized the resurrected Christ. Only the royal family may enter through the door, but others may leave through it.

The pulpit is from the 1600s and depicts the four evangelists. The cathedral’s baroque organ is known as Raphaël’s Organ. It has a unique vintage tone. After Reformation, church music became important; the congregation joined in singing and sang hymns in Danish. The altarpiece was made in Antwerp, about 1560. The elegant Renaissance piece is of oak and depicts the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

According to plaques at the cathedral, the Royals of Denmark over the ages have been quite a mixed bunch. They either meddled in politics and turned the people against them, rode through Copenhagen on horseback daily to give hope to people during the German occupation, built buildings such as Rosenborg castle, expanded trade and colonial settlements, waged destructive wars, or conducted witch hunts. They inherited strong kingdoms and then devastated them, lost the race to Sweden to become the strongest Nordic power, were the center of scandals, or were notorious for wild parties, loose relationships with the truth, and divorces. One, Frederick VII, introduced democracy with a constitution, which won him widespread affection among the people.

Viking Ship Museum

We walked to the harbor to visit the Viking Ship Museum built in 1969. Its main focus is the permanent exhibition of the Skuldelev ships, five original Viking ships excavated nearby in 1962.

Around the year 1070, five Viking ships were deliberately sunk at Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord in order to block the most important waterway and to protect Roskilde from enemy attack by sea. The five meticulously excavated ships ranged from cargo ships to warships.

After returning from Roskilde, we made dinner in and watched Sommerdahl and The New Adventures of Old Christine. Our neighbors in the apartment below us were having a party. It wasn’t noisy but it sounded like the group of young people were enjoying themselves until late Friday night.

Saturday, August 8: This morning, we took the train to Copenhagen Station and rented two Donkey Republic bicycles for the day. The bikes had names on them; mine was Richie and Mike’s Edinburgh. We stopped along the harbor to watch a kayak polo game in progress and admired the Havnebadet Islands Brygge (a harbor swimming pool) and Christiansborg Palace, which tells the history of Denmark’s monarchy and houses the Royal Danish collection, across the harbor.

We rode over bumpy cobbled streets through Christianshavn on the isle of Amanger, where we admired the boats along the canals. King Christian IV built the canals from 1617-1622 partly to protect the fleet of the Royal Danish Navy and partly to increase trading with merchants from abroad to level extra tolls from their ships.

We arrived just in time for lunch at Reffen Copenhagen Street Food, a colorful and cosmopolitan container city on the waterfront with narrow alleyways and beachy spaces. The complex features small street vendors from all over the world and was designed to blend with its maritime and industrial surroundings. Most structures are made from recycled materials and all permanent stalls are old containers that could no longer be used for shipping. More than 75 used shipping containers, four old German fire trucks and several worn-out vans make up the main building blocks of Reffen.

We ordered lunch from different food vendors. From the Japan-Easy vendor, I got shrimp and chicken gyoza ramen, and from an Afghan vendor, Mike enjoyed Borani Bonjan – deep fried aubergines with tomato sauce and yoghurt dressing with garlic and dry mint served with warm bread. Mike’s was much better than mine!

I ordered a Hugo Spritz from Kajen Bar and we sat on benches at this waterfront oasis with a chill vibe, watching sea planes land, boats zipping by, and people riding bicycles, pushing strollers, running and walking along the harbor front. We were serenaded by Wizkid singing “Blessed (feat. Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley) and David Astri singing “Safe & Sound.” This was one of our favorite days in Copenhagen.

After our laid-back afternoon, we rode our bikes back, stopping to admire the opera house and the busy harbor with Nyhavn in the background, then we returned the bikes to the train station.

After riding 10.9 miles, we were exhausted, so we took the train home to Sydhavn and relaxed in our apartment for the afternoon and ate dinner in. We watched The Split and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Sunday, August 9: This morning we took a trip north to visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and the town of Helsingør, home of Kronborg Castle and the filming location for the Sommerdahl Murders. We first got off at the Humlebæk station, and walked 13 minutes to the museum.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is considered one of the most beautiful museums in the world due to the harmonious architecture and scenic location. Since its opening in 1958, the museum has conveyed international art and culture of high quality to its guests in Humlebæk. The aim has been – and is – to reach a large and diverse audience with an equally broad and varied selection of art and culture from the 20th and 21st centuries.

It was such a pleasant experience strolling through this museum. We walked through exhibition spaces with large windows to the green exterior, courtyards with views over Niva Bay, and green spaces that serve as a sculpture garden. There were numerous exhibits here (the museum is huge), too many to cover in much detail.

  • Sophie Calle (b. 1953): her original works tackle big questions of existence and human emotions with warmth, humor and poetry.
    • On the Hunt (2017-2024): A catalogue of the qualities most desired in women by men, and in men by women, drawn from a selection of personal ads published between 1895 and 2019.
    • The Blind (1986): “I met people who were born blind. Who had never seen. I asked them what their image of beauty was.”
  • Giacometti Gallery: works of Alberto Giacometti (1901-66): sculptures that appear at once strangely modern and very old fashioned. He draws on a tradition of Etruscans to create works that resemble something that has been through the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, creating associations with people in a post-nuclear wasteland.
  • Lucian Freud (1922-2011) : Works show his lifelong preoccupation with the human face and figure. “Everything is autobiographical and everything is a portrait.”
  • 700 Nimes Road: Photos by Catherine Opie from the home of star Elizabeth Taylor.
  • House Beautiful: This exhibit includes “House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home” (1967-1972) in which American artist Martha Rossler combines images of homes in lifestyle magazines with images from the Vietnam War.

Leaving the museum, we got back on the train heading north to Helsingør.

Helsingør

Helsingør, known in English as Elsinore, sits on the narrowest part of the Øresund strait. It is a ferry city, with frequent departures (70 per day in each direction) connecting Helsingør with Helsingborg, Sweden, across the Øresund.

During WWII, Helsingør was among the most important transport points for the rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population during the Holocaust. Hundreds of civilians hid their fellow Danish Jewish citizens in their houses, farm lofts and churches until they could board them onto Danish fishing boats and ferry boats. Over 3 nights, Danes smuggled over 7,200 Jews and 680 non-Jews across the Øresund to safety in Helsingborg and Malmö in Sweden.

We wandered around the streets and stopped for lunch of smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches) at Café Kaiser. I had a Potato: Boiled potatoes, mayonnaise, homemade pickled red onions, radishes, chives and grated Vesterhavsost, a Danish aged cheese. Served on organic rye bread. Mike had Minced beef patty open faced sandwich (Minced beef patty, crispy lettuce, soft onions and a fried egg. Served on organic rye bread). As seems to be the case lately, Mike’s was better than mine. We also had chicken tenders, jalapeño poppers, and mozzarella sticks.

After lunch, we popped into St. Olaf’s Church, Helsingør’s red-brick Gothic cathedral built in 1559 on a site that had a church since the 13th C.

We didn’t have energy to go inside Kronborg Castle, but we strolled along the waterfront for a view of it. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed castle was built around 1420 as a fortress to help collect tolls from ships entering or leaving the Baltic Sea.

It is also the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Immortalized as Elsinore in the play, Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe.

We were exhausted after our long trip so we got home and crashed, barely eating much for dinner, and watched the last episode of To Love, To Lose and Love Life.

A day around and about Koge

Monday, August 10: On Monday, we were lucky enough to spend the day with a Danish man named Jorn Ravnholt who went to graduate school at Penn State with Mike’s friend Louis in the 1980s. Both of them were getting Masters degrees in Sports Psychology there. Louis recommended that Mike contact Jorn and when he did, Jorn happily offered to drive us around the countryside south of Copenhagen from his hometown of Koge. We took the train to Koge and met Jorn and he spent the entire day driving us to various sites, going to lunch with us, showing us around the town of Koge and finally inviting us to his house to meet his wife Kirsten and to enjoy coffee and cake. It was one of the most relaxing days we’ve had so far, having someone to show us around in an area not only that he knew well, but also an area from where his family originates.

Gjorslev Gods

The first place Jorn took us was an old cruciform medieval castle called Gjorslev Gods. Originally owned by the Bishop of Roskilde, it is considered one of the most well-preserved examples of Gothic secular architecture in Denmark. Though not open to the public, Jorn wanted to show us the house where his uncle lived and worked as operations manager for the castle. Jorn remembered many Christmas holidays spent in that house and then long drives with the family through the countryside after dinner.

Stevns Klint

He drove us to Stevns Klint (Cliffs of Stevns), a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2014) because of its exceptional fossil record. It is a white chalk cliff stretching 17 km (11 mi) along the coast and is of geological importance as one of the best exposed Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundaries of the world. Though complicated, one of the layers in the cliffs is fiskeler enriched in iridium, a fact used in the hypothesis that the worldwide Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction was caused by the impact of an asteroid. This mass extinction occurred about 66 million years ago; during the event three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth were extinguished. It caused the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs and most other tetrapods excepting some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians.

The Old Hojerup Church stands at the top of the cliff and dates from the year 1200. As a result of erosion, a landslide in 1928 caused the chancel to collapse and fall to the shore below.

We drove through the town of Rodvig and then expansive farmland. Jorn then took us to a summer cottage that is for sale and that he and Kirsten are hoping to buy. The cottage is about 35 km from their house in Koge and it is about 500 meters from a nice beach.

In the summer cottage town, we had a nice lunch at Hjortholms Bistro No 1. I had fish and chips and Mike had a pizza. We also had some interesting and colorful refreshing drinks.

Jorn had no shortage of places to show us. He took us to a large limestone quarry, Faxe Kalkbrud, from which many buildings in Copenhagen are built.

Next up was Vallø Castle, which houses unmarried, widowed and divorced women of noble descent. The grounds are quite beautiful and Jorn said he and Kirsten walk there quite frequently.

Vallø traces its history back to the 14th century. The castle was devastated by fire in 1893 but restored largely to its old design between 1893 and 1904.

Lastly, Jorn took us on a walkabout of his town, Koge, which was quite charming with its medieval timber houses, lively market square and a modern waterfront.

To wrap up the beautiful day, Jorn took us to his house in Koge where he and Kristen served us coffee, a lemon mousse cake and other sweets and we talked about the political, environmental and other challenges we face today. We all shared our hatred of the current U.S. administration, and then talked about how our children seem to be losing all hope in the world and the direction it’s going. We tried to also inject humor and hope into our conversation. It was truly a lovely way to cap off our time in Copenhagen.

Tuesday, August 11: We checked out of our Copenhagen Airbnb and headed to Aarhus by FlixBus, a 3 1/2 hour trip.

anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia

wanderessence1025's avatar August 3, 2026

Monday, August 3: For the next leg of our “Living Outside of the U.S.A. for 75% of the four-year span of our current fascist administration,” we are visiting the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden for the 89 days we are allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone. We will be moving slowly through these countries, most often staying a week in each place with some exceptions in Finland and Norway.

Of course we timed our trip to be back in the U.S. in time to vote in the mid-term elections on November 3. If Democrats don’t take power in both/either the House and/or the Senate, we’ll be seriously considering moving out of the U.S. more permanently, though we will likely always have a small home in the U.S. for various financial and medical reasons.

It is my understanding that the true “Scandinavian” countries are Denmark, Sweden and Norway, while the “Nordic “countries also include Iceland and Finland. Since we’re including Finland but not Iceland on this trip, I guess you could call it our Nordic trip. However, some people broaden the definition of Scandinavia to include Finland and Iceland. Thus, I will call it our Scandinavian trip although it’s not technically correct.

I have been dreaming of visiting these countries for ages. I love the cold, although I don’t know how much I’ll care for the rain during the shoulder season when we are going, from August 4- October 30. I love the idea of “hygge” in Denmark, the coziness factor that is practiced by the Danes: cozying up under blankets with candles all around and drinking hot cocoa, playing board games with friends, cooking with others, curling up with a good book. I have always been enamored with Denmark due to the many television series and movies we have watched, especially the political drama Borgen. I am a real fan of Danish culture. I also look forward to exploring the fjords of Norway and the lakes and cool landscapes of Finland and Sweden.

INSPIRATIONAL T.V. SHOWS & MOVIES

Below are some of my favorite Danish shows and movies:

  1. Denmark
    1. Borgen (TV series 2010-2022) *****
    2. Rita (TV series 2012- ) ****
    3. Dicte: Crime Reporter (2012-2016) ****
    4. Copenhagen (2014)
    5. Bron/Broen (The Bridge) (2011-2018) ***** (& Sweden)
    6. Skruk (Baby Fever) (2022- ) ****
    7. The Nurse (TV Mini series 2023) *****
    8. Families Like Ours (Familier som vores) (TV Mini Series 2024) *****
    9. Sult (A Copenhagen Love Story) (2025) ****

We also have favorites from Norway, especially Okkupert and Pørni (Pernille):

  1. Norway
    1. Okkupert (TV series 2015-2020) *****
    2. Home for Christmas (Hjem til jul) (2019-2020) *****
    3. Atlantic Crossing (TV Series 2020) ****
    4. The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske) (2021) *****
    5. Pørni (Pernille) (TV Series 2021 – ) *****
    6. Sentimental Value (Affecksjonsverdi) (2025) *****
    7. The Wrong Track (2025) *****

And from Sweden:

  1. Sweden
    1. As It Is in Heaven (2004) ****
    2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) ****
    3. A Man Called Ove (2015) ****
    4. Bron/Broen (The Bridge) (TV series 2011-2018) ***** (& Denmark)
    5. Bonus Family (Bonusfamilgen) (TV series 2017 – )
    6. The Restaurant (Vår tid är nu) (TV series 2017 – ) (Stockholm)
    7. Midtsommernatt (Midsummer Night) (TV Mini Series 2024) ***
    8. Släpp taget (Let Go) (2024) ****
    9. Diary of a Ditched Girl  (Halva Malmö består killar som dumpat mig) (TV series 2025-  ) ****

INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS

Below are books set in each location. The ones with star ratings I have already read, the green ones I own and plan to read, and the others are suggestions for future reading.

  1. Denmark ↓
    1. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
    2. The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
    3. The Midnight Witness by Sara Blaedel
    4. The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen: Childhood, Youth, Dependency
    5. The Tenant by Katrine Engberg
    6. The Summer of Ellen by Agnete Friis
    7. The Dinosaur Feather (Søren Marhauge #1) by S.J. Gazan ****
    8. The Arc of the Swallow (Søren Marhauge #2) by Sissel-Jo Gazan *****
    9. Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
    10. The Murder of Halland by Pia Jaul
    11. The Boy In the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl, Agnete Friis (Kindle)
    12. One of Us Is Sleeping by Josefine Klougart
    13. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
    14. The Copenhagen Affair by Amilya Malladi
    15. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors
    16. To Siberia by Per Petterson
    17. The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
    18. The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking ***
    19. Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson (Mike’s Kindle)
    20. Lonely Planet Denmark & the Faroe Islands
    21. FAROE ISLANDS
    22. GREENLAND
      1. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Here is my list for Finland:

  1. Finland
    1. Juha by Juhani Aho
    2. The Railroad by Juhani Aho
    3. Art in Nature by Tove Jansson
    4. Fair Play by Tove Jansson
    5. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (Kindle)
    6. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
    7. The Girl and the Bomb (Metro-Trilogia #1) by Jar Järvelä
    8. Ellen’s Song by Ben Kalland
    9. The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes by Mia Kankimäki *****
    10. A Fool’s Paradise by Anita Konkka
    11. My First Murder (Maria Kallio #1) by Leena Lehtolainen
    12. The Colonel’s Wife: A Novel by Rosa Liksom (Kindle)
    13. Unknown Soldiers by Väinö Linna
    14. The Most Dangerous Game by Gavin Lyall
    15. The Girl in Gray by Annette Lyon ****
    16. The Manila Rope by Veijo Meri
    17. Norma by Sofi Oksanen
    18. The Howling Miller by Arto Paasilinna
    19. The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
    20. Berlin Poplars by Anne B. Ragde (Kindle) ****
    21. The Maid Silja: The History of the Last Offshoot of an Old Family Tree by Frans Emil Sillanpää
    22. The Summer House by Philip Teir *****
    23. The Winter War by Philip Teir
    24. Manrape by Märta Tikkanen
    25. The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen
    26. The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen ***
    27. The Moose Paradox (The Rabbit Factor Series #2) by Antti Tuomainen
    28. The Parson’s Widow by Marja Liisa Vartio
    29. The Wednesday Club by Kjell Westö
    30. Lonely Planet Finland (10th edition) ****

Books set in Norway are listed below:

  1. Norway ↓
    1. North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah (Kindle) ****
    2. Eva’s Eye (Inspector Sejer Mysteries #1) by Karin Fossum ****
    3. Don’t Look Back (Inspector Sejer Mysteries #2) by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
    4. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
    5. Lonely Planet Norway by Gemma Graham ****
    6. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson *****
    7. The Last Light Over Oslo by Alix Rickloff  ***
    8. The Fellowship of Ghosts by Paul Watkins ****

And finally, my list for Sweden:

  1. Sweden ↓
    1. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman ***
    2. Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman
    3. Us Against You (Beartown #2) by Fredrik Backman
    4. The Winners (Beartown #3) by Fredrik Backman
    5. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman ***
    6. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman ****
    7. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Mike’s Kindle)
    8. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman **
    9. What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde (& Iran) ****
    10. Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson
    11. Black River by Will Dean
    12. Dark Pines by Will Dean
    13. Femicide by Pascal Engman
    14. Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson (Kindle)
    15. The Details by Ia Genberg
    16. Antiquity by Hanna Johansson
    17. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
    18. The Singularity by Balsam Karam
    19. Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Kindle)
    20. The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg
    21. Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius
    22. The Saga of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf
    23. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson *****
    24. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson *****
    25. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium #3) by Stieg Larsson
    26. The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Millennium #4) by David Lagercrantz
    27. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium #5) by David Lagercrantz
    28. The Girl Who Lived Twice (Millennium #6) by David Lagercrantz
    29. The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons (Millennium #7) by Karin Smirnoff
    30. The Girl with Ice in Her Veins (Millennium #8) by Karin Smirnoff
    31. The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You by Margareta Magnusson ***
    32. Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi
    33. To Cook a Bear by Mikael Niemi
    34. Malma Station by Alex Schulman
    35. W. by Steve Sem-Sandberg
    36. Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Soderberg
    37. Lonely Planet Sweden (8th edition) ****

OUR ITINERARY

Our itinerary focuses on living like a local as much as one can in a week. Ideally we would have stayed three weeks in each of the four different countries, but then we would have missed a lot of places in each country. Our goal is to live about a week in each place with daily excursions, giving us time to relax, cook in, and explore neighborhoods at a leisurely pace.

Here is our itinerary:

  • August 4-11 (7 nights): Copenhagen, Denmark
  • August 11-18 (7 nights): Aarhus, Denmark. See Aarhus City Guide & Explore the Aarhus Region.
  • ON AUGUST 18: FlixBus from Aarhus to Copenhagen, then flight to Helsinki.
  • August 18-25 (7 nights): Helsinki, Finland
  • August 25-30: (5 nights) Tampere, Finland
  • August 30-September 4 (5 nights): Vaasa, Finland
  • September 4-10 (6 nights): Turku, Finland
  • ON SEPTEMBER 10: train from Turku to Helsinki and flight to Bergen, Norway
  • September 10-17 (7 nights): Bergen, Norway
  • September 17-19 (3 nights) : Hurtigruten cruise from Bergen to Svolvær, Norway, with stops in Alesund, Trondheim and finally at Svolvær in the Lofoten Islands.
  • September 20-23 (3 nights): Lofoten, Norway.
  • ON SEPTEMBER 23: Express boat from Svolvær hurtigbåtkai to Bodø hurtigbåtkai 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tickets on REIS app.
  • September 23-25 (2 nights): Bodø, Norway. See Things to do in Bodø, Norway.
  • ON SEPTEMBER 25: 10-hour train ride from Bodø to Trondheim.
  • September 25-28 (3 nights): Trondheim.
  • ON SEPTEMBER 27: Rent a car to explore around Trondheim and drive on the 28th from Trondheim to Geiranger (5 hours 41 min).
  • September 28-October 1 (3 nights): Geiranger, Norway.
  • ON OCTOBER 1, drive 4+ hours from Geiranger to Lillehammer, Norway. Return rental car in Lillehammer.
  • October 1-3 (2 nights): Lillehammer, Norway.
  • October 3, take a train 2 hours from Lillehammer to Oslo, Norway.
  • October 3-10 (7 nights): Oslo, Norway.
  • October 10-17 (7 nights): Stockholm, Sweden.
  • October 17-23 (6 nights): Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • October 23-30 (7 nights): Malmö, Sweden.
  • ON OCTOBER 30, Fly home from Copenhagen to Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.

Most of the time, we will be using public transportation, especially trains between destinations, except for the cruise and the car rental in Norway. We will also take buses. It is possible we may rent a car for short stints in Aarhus, Denmark and Tampere, Finland.

I have created two journals I’ll take along, one for Denmark and Finland, and the second from Norway to Sweden.

journals for Scandinavia

the july cocktail hour: an abundance of family time, along with worrisome challenges

wanderessence1025's avatar August 1, 2026

July 31, 2026: Welcome to our July cocktail hour. Let’s have a nice summer cocktail like a Gin & Tonic Sgroppino, with its scoop of refreshing lime sorbet. It has been miserably hot and humid here for most of the month, so maybe we’ll stay inside in air conditioning. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see the Buck Moon on the 29th. Sunset in Virginia is at around 8:25 in July and we can mingle and sip, while wallowing through damp layers of heat.

I have a variety of soda or seltzer water for those of you who don’t drink.

July marked our second of two months back in the U.S. before we leave for Europe. We started the month with Adam having surgery in Managua to drain and clean out an infection on his left hip and Mike spending time with him in Hospital Militar Escuela for 12 days. This made for a heavy and worrisome time for our family as we all pulled for Adam to get healthy again.

Homebody stuff

On the 1st of July, I had my stitches removed from my Mohs surgery. I also had quite a bit of bruising under my left eye that eventually cleared up. After the stitches were removed, I treated myself to a pedicure and did a little shopping so I wouldn’t sit around worrying incessantly about Adam.

We spent a lot of time simply hanging around at home and playing or interacting with Allie. We have needed to replace our refrigerator for some time, so on Thursday the 16th, Mike ordered a new one. On Saturday the 18th, we had a big thunderstorm and both Mike and I nearly jumped out of our skin when a bolt of lightning hit a tree in our neighbor’s yard, sending a large branch crashing into our yard. Another day, Mike got stung by wasps from a wasp nest beside the garage, so he bundled up in protective clothing to attack the nest with spray.

Mike and I took Allie to the pool at Oakton Swim and Racquet on the 14th, where she jumped around non-stop and then zonked out for hours afterward. We went again on the 19th, this time with Alex, while Jandira was at work. On Wednesday the 29th, Mike and I took Allie to the playground at Crossfield Elementary School, where she had a grand time chasing other children, climbing ladders, swinging, going down slides, and “cooking up” a birthday cake with wood chips.

I finished 6 books in July bringing my total to 40/48. I especially enjoyed The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millenium #2) by Stieg Larsson;  The Arc of the Swallow (Søren Marhauge #2) by S.J. Gazan; and The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking. While Mike was in Nicaragua, I watched a movie Alex recommended, Crazy, Stupid, Love during which I fell asleep; I had to continue watching it the next day. I also watched and enjoyed Voicemails for Isabelle, The Devil Wears Prada 2, and A Tourist’s Guide to Love. We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: Broadchurch; The Moonflower Murders; The Marlow Murder Club; La Stagiaire (The Intern); The Gift (Atiye); Trying (S5); and Las de la última fila. We finished watching Your Friends and Neighbors (S2); Imperfect Women; and Alice and Steve (S1). We continued watching  The Four Seasons (S2);  AnotherSelf (Zeytin Ağacı) (S3);  The Bear; Sommerdahl (S1); Marriage; Thank You Next (Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti) (S3); Grantchester  (S6); Wallander  (S2); Love Life  (S2); Old Money (Enfes Bir Aksam) (S1); and The New Adventures of Old Christine  (S4).

Independence Day and America’s 250th Celebration

I have always hated the 4th of July in the U.S. I don’t enjoy fireworks, BBQs, 100 degree heat and humidity, gnats and mosquitos, the idea of American exceptionalism, and people wearing and waving the obnoxious colors of red, white and blue. Every day of the interminable weekend, the weather service issued extreme heat warnings. Not to mention that it was the 250th celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, an event hijacked by the orange goon and made into a partisan event that attacked the majority of American citizens. I despise this embarrassing and ridiculous timeline. I abhor our despicable president and everything he stands for, as well as the bunch of cronies and ass-kissers he’s surrounded himself with and the asshats that continue to support him. This July was simply the worst of a long line of horrible Julys in the history of this country. I refused to celebrate it in any way, and I mostly stayed indoors in air-conditioning all weekend.

Alex, Jandira and Allie went to a celebration in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Mike was still in Managua with Adam. So in a stroke of luck, I had the house all to myself. Pure heaven. I love nothing better than solitude: reading good books, watching movies and dreaming of travel. And I was lucky to be able to do all of those things without having to put up with macho displays of bravado and “patriotism.”

Dining Out

On Thursday, July 2, I took Alex, Jandira and Allie out for Korean food at Maru Ramen & Korean Cuisine. We had a lovely time enjoying Bibimbop, Bulgogi, hot sake and Sapporo.

On Wednesday, July 8, I went to Cinema Arts Theatre to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. I enjoyed it because, though I’m not fashionable, I find fashion interesting. Plus Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep are just so cool! After the movie, I went to P.F. Chang’s where I sat at the bar and sipped a Prosecco and ate shrimp dumplings that weren’t very good.

While Mike was in Managua, I went with the family out to Tsunami Sushi.

Once Mike returned home from Managua, we went out to eat at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Ariake, on the 14th.

On Saturday, the 18th, Mike and I went to our favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant, Woodlands. We’ve been eating at this establishment since the boys were young. I enjoyed my favorite Malai Kofta (green peas and cheese cooked with tomatoes, onions and Indian spices) and Mike tried a new dish, Paneer Mirch Ka Salan (A favorite dish from Hyderabad. Cottage cheese and Jalapeno Chilies cooked in sesame seeds gravy and Tamarind sauce). Of course, we also enjoyed garlic Naan.

On Monday, July 20, we went out with the entire family to Mazadar, where we enjoyed Meat Mantu, Lamb Shank, Lamb Kebab, and Shrimp Biriyani. We always love the food and vibe at this cool Mediterranean restaurant with Afghan and Middle Eastern influences. Allie, once she woke up from her nap, enjoyed playing in the restaurant’s fountain.

While Mike met up with his old friends in Ohio, I went out one night to Anita’s Mexican Restaurant where I enjoyed a margarita and my favorite Chile Relleno.

Finally, we went out to dinner with our friends Karen and Michael on Thursday the 30th at Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge at Reston Town Center. It was great to get together with them and find out about their travels and the trials and rewards of being grandparents to their little granddaughter Fiona. Of course Karen and I kept our tradition of having dirty martinis whenever we get together.

Walks

My walks have been miserable this month with temps near 100, high humidity, gnats and mosquitos. At least I encountered some pretty blooms.

Mike stays with Adam in Nicaragua during his surgery and recovery

Adam checked in to Hospital Militar Escuela in Managua, Nicaragua at 5:30 p.m. on June 30th. There the doctors examined him, did blood tests, and later took him for an MRI. The MRI determined the infection from his left hand, which he thought was healing after being infected (and drained several times) when he got a splinter in it, had settled into his left hip and he would need surgery to drain an abscess that had formed between his femur and hip; the surgeon would also explore the hip for early signs of anything else to clean up. Adam was terrified as he had never had a serious surgery before and was afraid he would never wake up. The whole operation, surgery and recovery, would take 6 hours.

He was diagnosed with Septicemia, commonly called blood poisoning, a serious and life-threatening bloodstream infection caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. It triggers an extreme body-wide response that can lead to low blood pressure, organ failure, and death if not treated immediately. The Septicemia led to septic arthritis, when the bacteria travels through the blood and settles inside the fluid and tissues of a joint, most commonly the knee or hip. This spreading infection causes severe inflammation, rapid cartilage damage, and is a critical medical emergency requiring immediate hospital care. Staphylococcus aureus (staph) is the leading cause of both conditions followed by streptococcus bacteria.

Mike arrived in Managua late Tuesday night the 30th after his American Airlines flight from Miami was delayed for 2 1/2 hours due to a gate change, which led to a delay in catering for Business Class. He was extremely frustrated and angrily told the flight attendants that if his son died before he could get to Managua due to this stupid delay, he would never forgive them. It was so ridiculous that they held up a whole flight for a few spoiled business class passengers who might not get to eat or drink for the duration of a 3-hour flight.

The doctors took Adam to surgery early in the morning of July 1 and drained an infectious abscess in his hip and cleaned up another developing infection in his hip. The surgery went well without complications. But he would have a long and slow recovery as he stayed hooked to an IV with antibiotics, with blood tests every two days to make sure the infection was abating and didn’t spread elsewhere. At least Mike was there with him, as Maria had to go home to take care of the children on Wednesday. Adam had to take things a day at a time and follow the doctors’ orders religiously. We hoped he would begin to heal and wouldn’t encounter any setbacks.

The doctors said Adam would need at least a 10-day recovery time in the hospital to heal the wound and to continue getting antibiotics through IV. He wouldn’t be able to put weight on his left leg for 4-6 weeks. Slowly, day by day, he increased his food intake to regain his energy. He got up using a walker to both go to the bathroom and take a shower. Despite not being able to put weight on his left leg, the doctors expected him to do daily movement exercises with his leg and to get up and move around.

Mike stayed in Adam’s hospital room the entire time Adam was hospitalized.

On Saturday the 4th, Adam asked for a barber to come in and cut his hair. He hasn’t had short hair in ages, so I was surprised by this. He said having it short is simply easier to take care of. I think he looks handsome with short hair, but he’s handsome no matter what.

It was a long slow process with nurses and doctors coming in at all hours to take Adam’s vital signs, to jab him with more needles, and to administer the antibiotics and pain meds. He had several more ultrasounds and EKGs and another MRI to make sure nothing else was going on. He had a period of time where he had trouble breathing and found his lung had partially collapsed; this required him to do breathing exercises.

Mike had to go out to a food court to eat his meals but wasn’t allowed to bring food into the hospital. He became friendly with the guards and managed to sneak in fruits and smoothies, which Adam felt he wasn’t getting enough of. One time he was stopped and his backpack was searched, so he learned to be more cunning when he approached the guard. He would walk in as he was finishing up a drink and then would ostentatiously throw the finished drink in the trashcan as he walked by the guard. Thus the guard assumed he had finished his drink and didn’t search his backpack, which contained a smoothie or fruit for Adam. Once he figured out that this method worked, he used it repeatedly.

Mike slept every night in the hospital on a pull-out bed. Most nights were restless as nurses were in and out constantly. When Adam started to get off of the opioid pain meds, he started having night sweats and was utterly drenched. He felt the doctors should have weaned him off slowly because his body wasn’t handling the withdrawal well. Mike patiently helped him to change out of his drenched hospital gown, dry him off with a towel, and change the sheets.

On Saturday, July 11, the doctors agreed that Adam could return home to Ometepe as long as he followed certain protocols for his recovery. The infectious disease doctor said he would prefer to have Adam stay a couple more days, but Adam felt he could recover better at home being with his family. He took a taxi for around 3 hours to the port in San Jorge, where Maria met him with a wheelchair provided by the ferry. This newer ferry also had a room where he could rest for the 1 1/2 hour ferry crossing to Ometepe. Adam finally made it home late in the evening on Saturday, July 11.

Meanwhile, Mike moved out of the hospital room and checked into the Best Western across from the airport so he could catch an early flight home on Sunday, July 12. He enjoyed dinner and two beers while watching the World Cup, topped off by a Tres Leches dessert. He hadn’t been able to have a drink the whole time he was in the hospital with Adam.

Adam has been home since July 12 and is slowly recovering, having periodic blood tests to make sure the infection has cleared, getting his staples removed from his surgery, and doing exercises to build strength. He gets exhausted easily but knows when to take it easy. He’s supposed to be able to put weight on his left leg on August 5. He said he has learned a lot from this experience, which has humbled him considerably.

Mike’s annual “Ohighlander“ get-together in Dayton, Ohio

On July 22nd Mike headed out to Centerville, Ohio for his annual July “Ohighlander” get-together with eight of his George C. Marshall High School (Falls Church, VA.)  class of ’72 and ’73 buddies.  They have been gathering here since 2004, descending on Mike Chanatry’s house from seven states and the UK.  A four-night scotch tasting competition, local beer contributions, backyard cookouts, City Barbeque and Skyline Chili fare, a golf outing, a disc golf outing, backyard games, trivia games, and a set of Casey Chanatry’s music at a local club kept the old guys busy and thinking they were young for four days.  Mike missed last year’s gathering because both of us were living in Costa Rica.He enjoyed reconnecting with his mates.

He sent some photos of the gang now compared to when they were younger.

Here are a few shots of the gathering this year.

A Visit with Sarah in Richmond

On Wednesday and Thursday, the 22nd and 23rd, I drove to Richmond to visit my daughter Sarah. As I was driving down the highway a couple of rocks hit my windshield from a passing truck full of gravel. One bounced off without causing damage, but the second put a ding in the windshield just to the right of my sight line. This meant we’d have to replace the windshield before we left the country.

Sarah was thrilled to get the cheap butter dish of ours that she had admired in Costa Rica. She must have reminded me 10 times not to forget to bring it home in our luggage. She gave me a cowboy t-shirt from Bozeman, Montana, where she had gone for her brother Nick’s wedding.

We promptly went out for a carry-out sushi at Yellow Umbrella Provisions, eating outdoors in front of the market. Then we went on our regular shopping spree at Short Pump Mall, getting some stuff at Gap, H&M, Anthropologie, and dropping in to Madewell and Free People.

Later, we relaxed in Sarah’s apartment and then went out to dinner at Stock Bistro & Bar, a Nordic restaurant located in a restored railroad freight terminal that is also home to a stylish modern furniture gallery – Txtur. It was a delicious meal and a lovely setting in the midst of the furniture store. We enjoyed complimentary Fried Green Tomatoes (with house smoked salmon and dillsås), as well as Swedish Meatballs (Lamb and beef meatballs, gräddsås, cucumber salad and lingonberry jam), Smoke In Chimneys Trout (Pan seared Smoke In Chimney Rainbow Trout, herbed potato hash, braised leeks, “everything seasoning”crème fraîche and purple dulse), and finally, Smørrebrød, a traditional 0pen-faced rye bread sandwich served with Cucumber Salad (topped with Roasted Mushrooms, braised leeks, Goat Lady Dairy chèvre, crispy shallots). It was fun to get a preview of what Mike and I might encounter food-wise in our upcoming Scandinavian trip.

On Thursday morning, we enjoyed coffee and chit-chat and then went to Forest Hill Park for a walk and a run for Sarah. It was rather hot and humid, but we enjoyed the lotus blossoms and the heron at the pond on the property.

After showering, Sarah prepared a delicious burrata with sliced fresh peaches and tomatoes from her local farmer’s market, drizzled with a balsamic vinegar glaze, and served with warm crusty bread and watermelon. It was a lovely light lunch to top off our short time together.

Friday Night Live! in Herndon

On Friday, July 31, we went with the family to Friday Night Live! in Herndon. Allie had a blast running around with the other children and throwing beach balls randomly about.

Two bands played: The opening set by 8 Track Jones played favorite pop/rock tunes from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and today. The second set featured keeton, a northern Virginia cover band; the band played ’90s alternative hits such as Pearl Jam, Weezer, Foo Fighters, New Radicals, Eve 6, Better Than Ezra, Green Day. We left about a half-hour into their set because it was getting close to our bedtime! 🙂

Family Happenings

After Mike got bitten by a dog in Managua when we were there in late April, he didn’t worry much about rabies because Adam and his friend Manja had never heard of anyone having rabies on the island of Ometepe. Also, the clinic next door to the police station said it was a superficial wound and immediately cleaned it and gave Mike antibiotics. When we got home, our daughter Sarah mentioned that if someone is infected with rabies, it can lie dormant for 1-3 months, and even for years in rare cases. Because of this unpredictable timeline, it is critical to seek medical attention for immediate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) if a person has been bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal.

This information disturbed Mike and when he got home, he went on a quest to find out whether he should get the post-exposure rabies vaccine. Apparently nowadays the shots are not given in the stomach, but are given in the arm over a period of weeks. However, after calling his doctor, emergency care clinics and the Fairfax County Health Department, he found the only place to get the vaccine is in the emergency room at a hospital. He talked with the Health Department and was told that he should find out if the dog is still alive; he was told that if the dog was infected with rabies, he would have died within 10 days. Before Adam went to the gymnastics event in Managua he tried to make some calls to find if the dog was still alive, but he couldn’t get any information. So, after Maria returned to Ometepe, she took a taxi to Altagracia and got a picture of the dog, which is luckily still alive.

Thus, Mike decided he won’t bother getting the post-infection vaccine.

We got some other photos of the family, with one adorable one of a fashion show in which the girls dressed up Mikey in different outfits. Alex and Jandira went on a few outings without us and shared photos of Allie sitting in a police vehicle in the City of Fairfax. They also went for a day outing to Calvert Cliffs State Park and Solomon’s Island.

My Summer BINGO card

This month, I completed a few more things on my Summer BINGO card. We didn’t get many of the things I hoped to get done while home in Virginia, as Mike was in Managua for almost half the month, and I was too worried and upset about Adam to feel like doing much of anything.

  • Pedicure: Lavender (“sassy enough for you”) (July 1) ✓
  • Pedicure: Bright coral (MOD-ERN GIRL) (July 31) ✓
  • Pool dates with Allie ✓✓
  • Hair straightening with Jian. ✓
  • Visit Sarah in Richmond ✓
  • Haircut with Tisa (no highlights). ✓
  • Book Norway: Bodø ✓, Trondheim ✓, Geiranger ✓, Lillehammer ✓
  • Out with Karen and Michael at Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge ✓
  • Attend a music festival or outdoor concert (Friday Night Live! in Herndon on July 31) ✓
  • Finalize sale of Mitsubishi with Suzanne in Costa Rica (Received final payment but she will close on August 3 when she arrives in Costa Rica) ✓
  • Read 6 books: Lonely Planet Norway by Gemma Graham; The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson; The Arc of the Swallow (Søren Marhauge #2) by S. J. Gazan; The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking; Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum; and The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. ✓
My Summer BINGO card as of July 31
*********

I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the summer.

How did your July go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family?   Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter or holiday getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you created a Winter Bingo Card or dream list? Have you made any new friends? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?

Please share your July with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.

the june cocktail hour: home again after a year away

wanderessence1025's avatar June 30, 2026

June 30, 2026: Welcome to our June cocktail hour. Let’s have a nice summer cocktail like a Hugo Spritz, which takes me back to memories of Italy and the Via Francigena. If we’re lucky, we can venture outdoors as the weather has been warm, humid and mostly sunny with some clouds tossed in. We’ve arrived back home right in time for the typical miserable Virginia summer, so if it’s too sticky and uncomfortable outdoors, we can easily wander inside into air-conditioning. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see the Strawberry Moon on the 29th. Sunset in Virginia is at around 8:35 in June and we can mingle on our screened-in porch and sip our drinks.

I have a variety of soda or seltzer water for those of you who don’t drink.

June marked our first of two months back in the U.S. before we leave again, hopefully this time for Europe. However, Adam has developed a serious infection and is being moved today (June 30) from a “hospital” in Moyogalpa, on the island of Ometepe, to a hospital in Managua. We are very concerned about this infection, so Mike got a flight from D.C. to Managua and will arrive there at 7:30 p.m. tonight, the last day of June. (see below under Family Matters for more details).

Returning home from Costa Rica

We made it through steps 1-4 of departing from Costa Rica on Monday morning, June 1. Mike moved our Mitsubishi up to Edificio 2 at Lake Arenal Condos, where our buyer Suzanne will arrive at the end of July to take possession of the car and live for 1-2 years. We vacated the condo (except for things we were told we could leave behind), and then squeezed our 6 suitcases into Chuli’s car. Chuli drove us safely 1 1/2 hours to the Liberia Airport, where we checked 4 of our bags and went through security. Finally, we took our 12:35 American Airlines flight to Miami.

Somehow a toucan stowed away in Mike’s backpack. I think it wanted to meet little Allie.

We flew to Miami and made it there by about 5:20 EST, with just enough time to go through immigration (luckily we have Global Entry), unload our luggage and then recheck it to go onward to Reagan in DC. We only had a 1 hr 40 minute window to do all that so I was worried we wouldn’t make our next flight. Our flight was at 7:17, but sadly because of thunderstorms in Miami we got in a traffic jam that held up our departure until 8:05.

We took a very expensive taxi to our house from Reagan National, and arrived at the house at 11:45, well after the family had gone to sleep. We quickly zonked out ourselves. We were happy to be home!

Here is the final wrap-up for our year in Costa Rica: costa rica wrap-up: final thoughts.

Homebody stuff

As usual when we return home from a long time abroad, we have to take care of a lot of business. We knew there was a problem with our garage door before we left Costa Rica; Alex had informed us that it wasn’t working and when Academy Garage Door came out to look at it, they told us that the problem wasn’t with the door itself. It wasn’t working because the ceiling drywall was falling down on the garage door mechanism. Mike had been talking about drywalling our garage for probably 10-20 years, but we had never done it. So, he arranged for our contractor José to drywall the entire garage on June 8.

When the contractors were working on the drywall, they tried to close the garage door and it somehow came off the track and came crashing down; coming to a stop, partway to the ground, in a lopsided manner. Then, a piece of the glass in the upper part of the door came crashing to the ground. This time Academy Garage Door had some fixing to do. Somehow the repairman singlehandedly managed to replace the track and reset the garage door to straighten it out.

Finally the drywall was finished and Alex and Mike were pleased with the results. Mike spent a lot of time cleaning out junk from the garage and now there is a lot of space there. Alex uses it as a gym for now. We haven’t used it to actually store our cars in decades. We can consider parking our cars inside only after Alex and Jandira move out.

Besides that house project, we had a big mess in the living and dining rooms where Alex and Jandira had moved a lot of our stuff when they moved their household into ours. Our house is not big enough to store two households’ worth of stuff, so we tried to organize as best we could to clear out the clutter from the main level. That meant of course that a lot of stuff went into the basement, and much went to Goodwill or the dump.

Then of course were the medical appointments. I found out immediately, when I went to see my dermatologist on June 4 that I had two Actinic Keratoses (rough scaly patches caused by sun damage), one on the end of my nose and one on my upper lip. The doctor froze those two off. These are precancerous lesions found on the skin, and many experts believe they are an early form of Squamous Cell Carcinoma. In addition, the doctor did a biopsy on a spot on the bridge of my nose; the biopsy showed it was Squamous Cell Carcinoma. We scheduled a Mohs surgery on June 24 to have the cancer removed. I was stressed for almost three weeks as I had to wait for the procedure; I had no idea how extensive it would be.

On the 24th, I showed up in the office, preparing myself mentally for a long stay. I wore a “GOOD GOOD VIBES” t-shirt, trying to visualize a positive outcome. The doctor Jeffrey Scott, who looked like a very young Ed Sheeran with a buzz cut, cut out the cancerous piece of skin and sent it to the lab. I waited in the waiting area for the results, which they had told me could take 1-2 hours. If any area on the edge of the piece they cut had cancer cells, they would map and follow the cancer, cutting more skin until no more showed on the edges. They had told me to schedule the whole day in case I had to go in multiple times.

I was lucky that in a half-hour they called me back and said they had gotten all the cancer on the first cut. It turned out to be a small spot. The doctor, after jabbing me with more local anesthesia, put in internal stitches, which would dissolve, and external stitches, which I’d return to have removed on July 1.

The day after the first dermatology appointment, I went to renew my driver’s license/Real ID, and my face was swollen and askew from all the things the dermatologist had done. That was before the Mohs surgery, which was more disfiguring.

I went to see a new doctor for my Annual Wellness Check because I had so much trouble with the billing last year from my old doctor. One of the things they did was to give me three words to remember. Then they had me draw a time, 11:10, on a blank circle. After drawing the clock, I had to repeat the three words back. The words were village, kitchen and baby. After drawing the clock successfully, I only remembered two of the words: village and baby. The nurse said, “That was good!” I said, “That was good?? I only got two words right.” She said, “Most people have trouble drawing the clock face!” It’s funny that now, almost three weeks after the appointment, I can still remember the three words, but I couldn’t immediately after drawing the clock face.

We babysat Allie on Saturday, June 6, taking her to the pool where she showed no fear and bounced around happily in the pool in the midst of older boys playing war with water guns.

On the 15th, Mike and I both had appointments with the ENT doctor. They cleaned out our ears and did hearing tests. I have mild-to-moderate hearing loss and the doctor recommended I get hearing aids. But when I found that the cost isn’t covered by insurance and can be anywhere from $2,000-$7,000, depending on the model, I decided my hearing is not impacting my life enough to warrant those just yet. I’ll wait to return to the doctor in two years and see if the deterioration warrants hearing aids at that time.

One night we played Code Names. Alex treated us to some homemade bread. I made snack plates for lunch inspired by a Substack post and bowls with kale, salmon, chick peas and farro. We spent a lot of time simply hanging around the house with the family and little Allie. Allie is talking up a storm, although we can’t always understand what she’s saying. But she is so easily entertained, especially by her silly Dido (what she calls Mike). Allie has a tendency to put food into her cheeks like a chipmunk and simply hold it there for a while before chewing and swallowing. One day she helped Dido in the yard, using a small toy earth-mover. On Sunday afternoon, the 28th, we played a game of Ticket to Ride and I won!

I finished 7 books in June bringing my total to 34/48. I especially enjoyed Something Wild by Hanna Halperin; The Dinosaur Feather by Sissel-Jo Gazan; and The Searcher (Cal Hooper #1) by Tana French. I also enjoyed The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly by Margareta Magnusson. We watched three movies: the idiotic film The Breadwinner (what a waste!), The Travellers, and Hamnet, which was excellent. We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: The Four Seasons (S2); Alice and Steve; AnotherSelf (Zeytin Ağacı) (S3); When Life Gives You Tangerines; The Bear (S5); Sommerdahl (S1); and Marriage. We finished watching Finding Ola (S2); Made with Love (Luka, Makan, Cinta) (S1); Grantchester (S5); Paradise (S2); and Virgin River (S7). We continued watching Thank You Next (Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti) (S3); Imperfect Women; Your Friends and Neighbors (S2); Grantchester (S6); Wallander (S2); Love Life (S2); and The New Adventures of Old Christine (S3).

Dining Out

We took the family to Artie’s on June 3. It was fun to go back to the place where we took them while Jandira was pregnant with Allie on August 12 of 2023. Below are the pictures from our earlier visit, while Allie was still inside of her mom.

We sat in a booth right next to the one we sat at the first time; this time 2 1/2 year-old Allie was bopping about in the booth. We enjoyed our fabulous meals at Artie’s; the food is dependably delicious.

Mike and I went by ourselves to eat at Yama Chen’s Sushi after seeing the horrible movie The Breadwinner on the 10th. The sushi was just as bad as the movie, and we definitely won’t be returning there.

On Friday the 12th, we took the family to Enatye Ethiopian Restaurant, where Allie had a grand time chasing and being chased by two other little girls in the restaurant. There was a lot of screaming and squealing. I’m sure the patrons in the restaurant weren’t too happy with all that screeching!

Mike and I enjoyed a Thai lunch at Saao Thai and Sushi after our ENT appointment on the 15th. We hadn’t been able to get Thai food in Costa Rica, so it was a real treat.

On Sunday, June 28, we met Mike’s sister Barbara for dinner at Sweet Ginger in Vienna. We hadn’t seen Barbara since we were home in October. Since then she had taken a nasty fall off her patio step, but she seemed mostly healed from that. It was good to catch up and of course we had to commiserate about the degraded condition of our country under the orange goon.

Walks

I took up my old walks upon returning home. Some days were miserably hot and humid and definitely NOT enjoyable, especially a few days when the temps were in the high 90s and very humid. At least some of the walks are flatter than what we encountered in Costa Rica. I was trying to make a goal of walking 91 miles from April 1-June 30, but I missed the goal, only walking 84.6 miles by June 30.

Father’s Day

On Saturday the 20th, which coincided with the first day of summer, we took the two dads, Mike and Alex, out to Flying Ace Distillery & Brewery in Loudoun County. It was a beautiful day, in the 80s and not humid. We had fun watching Allie play on the playground and enjoyed drinks and delicious food. It was a great celebration of two wonderful fathers.

On Sunday, we babysat Allie while Jandira and Alex went out to a movie and dinner on Father’s Day.

Finishing up my Spring BINGO card

my Spring BINGO card

This month, I completed a few more things on my Spring BINGO card.

  • Book Sweden: Stockholm ✓, Gothenburg ✓, Malmō ✓
  • Annual wellness check appointment ✓
  • Pale pink pedicure “Mod About You” ✓
  • Go for bike rides x4: 1 x ✓
  • Renew Real ID/Driver’s License ✓ Received ✓
  • Tony Tenorio meeting ✓
  • Spring playlist: Spring in Costa Rica ✓
  • Read one book:  Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas ✓

Starting my Summer BINGO card

I checked off a few things on my new Summer BINGO card.

  • Father’s Day with Alex and Mike (and family) at Flying Ace Distillery & Brewery ✓
  • Book Norway: Oslo ✓
  • Mohs surgery ✓
  • Game nights with family: Ticket to Ride ✓
  • Farmer’s Market ✓
  • Read 6 books: The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You by Margaret Magnusson; Something Wild by Hanna Halperin; The Dinosaur Feather by Sissel-Jo Gazan; The Searcher (Cal Hooper, #1) by Tana French; All Fours by Miranda July; Travel with Style: Master the Art of Stylish and Functional Travel Capsules by Anastasia Pash. ✓
Summer BINGO card

Family Happenings

We found out Adam and his friend John fenced in his entire farm so the animals can’t escape.

On June 21, Adam got a splinter in his left hand that got horribly infected; he eventually saw a doctor to have the hand drained (twice) and was put on a course of antibiotics. He seemed to be improving and went with the family to Managua for a gymnastics competition for the girls on the last weekend in June. While he was in Managua, Adam started having pain in his hip and femur and brushed it off thinking it was just some pulled muscles. But by Monday afternoon, he was in severe pain, had developed a fever and was having trouble breathing. Someone came to his home to give him an IV with antibiotics and painkillers; before long, he and Maria took a taxi to the hospital in Moyogalpa because he was having trouble breathing. We were extremely worried about him because the facility in Moyogalpa seemed rather ramshackle; it ran out of water in the middle of the night Monday. When Adam called us on Tuesday morning, his breathing sounded labored and he was upset because the doctors said, according to the pulsometer, he didn’t need oxygen. He felt he definitely needed oxygen. They hooked him up to an IV with antibiotics and pain killers.

We are panicked over this situation, of course, and began to push for them to arrange transport for Adam to a hospital in Managua. Maria and Adam’s friend Clinton rented a car to take Adam to Hospital Militar Escuela in Managua. Of course this involved taking the ferry and Clinton driving them two hours to Managua. Adam was taken off of the IV to be transported and was given an oral antibiotic. We got a message that he had slept for two hours in the car and his body hurt all over. He arrived at the hospital in Managua at about 5:30 Managua time, was admitted to a room, and the doctor began tests on him by 6:30 p.m.

We worried that he was in sepsis due to the original wound on his hand that had never fully healed.

Mike decided to take a flight this afternoon to Managua; because of a 2-hour delay in Miami, he arrived in Managua at 9:30 p.m. (Managua time) today, the 30th. By then Adam was settled into the Managua hospital and was on painkillers and antibiotics. The doctors scheduled an MRI and believed the infection had settled into his hip, but they wanted to confirm that with the MRI. If it was confirmed, they would take him into surgery to drain the infection in the hip and proactively clean up any other spots where the infection had spread.

I couldn’t travel because I was told I was not to travel for 2 weeks after my Mohs surgery; I am due to have the stitches removed on Wednesday, July 1. I also have another medical appointment on Thursday that I had to wait nearly a month to book. I will see how things go in Managua and will decide if I should travel down there later this week.

While Adam and Maria were making their way to the hospital in Managua on Tuesday June 30, Cristy and her siblings and friends were busy celebrating her 15th birthday, known as Quinceañera, a significant cultural celebration in Latin America which marks a girl’s transition from childhood to womanhood. I hope she’ll get a more formal celebration once her family is back together.

Most of the pictures below of Allie are from outings to the bookstore and the mall with her mom.

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I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the summer.

How did your June go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family?  Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter or holiday getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you created a Winter Bingo Card or dream list? Have you made any new friends? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?

Please share your June with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.

the may cocktail hour: our final month in costa rica

wanderessence1025's avatar May 31, 2026

May 31, 2026: Welcome to our May cocktail hour. Let’s have a nice spring cocktail like a Vodka with SanPellegrino Peach & Clementine (Mike’s concoction). If we’re lucky, we can venture outdoors as the weather has been warm, breezy, and mostly sunny with some clouds tossed in; some days it has been rainy and windy but still warm. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see one of the month’s two full moons: The Flower Moon or the Blue Moon. You can meet our son Adam, who came for a short visit. You’re welcome to come along on our last short trip to Hacienda Guachipelin where you can soak in the Oropéndola waterfall or the Río Negro thermal pools; you can also watch the Montezuma Oropendola build and tend their lantern-like nests or enjoy a relaxing massage. You can come along with us to the Desfiles de Boyeros (oxcart parade) in Tierras Morenas or simply relax at the pool. Sunset is now at around 5:58 every night and we can mingle on the balcony and sip our drinks while watching painterly skies at sunset.

I have a variety of soda, seltzer water, or bebida de aloe for those of you who don’t drink. I also have some kombucha made by my friend Farida. Mike can also whip up some excellent smoothies. Thanks for joining us in our escape into a peaceful corner of the world.

May marked our twelfth and last month in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Even though our last month was quiet, it was still lovely just to enjoy our temporary home for our last month in the country.

The last few days of Adam’s visit to Costa Rica

The first of May was our last day with Adam in Costa Rica. We took him to the Subasta Ganadera Tilarán (Tilarán Livestock Auction) as he had never been to a cattle auction before. Sadly, we took our sweet time going there, so we missed the auction because of a new law that requires all cattle to be tagged on both ears; many cattlemen hadn’t had time to properly tag the cattle under the new rules, so the auction had been short because there weren’t many cows. He still enjoyed seeing the set up.

On our way back from the auction, we stopped at Lake Arenal Brewery to have a few brews and play some pool.

Later that evening, we went to Tilatacos where Adam was able to meet Mike’s swimming buddy Ivan.

Mike drove Adam back to the Nicaraguan border on the 2nd and he made his way slowly to his lonely house on Ometepe.

A short overnight escape to Hacienda Guachipelin

On Wednesday the 6th, Mike and I drove to Hacienda Guachipelin Volcano Ranch Hotel & Hot Springs, not far north of Liberia. We went for a one night stay. We visited the Oropéndola Waterfall on the Río Blanco, taking a short walk over hanging step bridges and then dipping in the refreshingly cool water.

After the waterfall, we went to the Río Negro Hot Springs where we soaked in hot pools, cooling off in the river between the steaming soaks. It was hot and humid in this area, so we enjoyed the cool river best. Though there were two tour groups there when we arrived, they eventually left and we had the whole hot springs to ourselves.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Nekajui Restaurant at the hotel.

On Thursday morning, we had coffee on our front porch and watched the Montezuma Oropendolas building and tending their lantern-like basket nests. Then we enjoyed relaxing massages at Simbiosis Spa. We showered, hung out by the hotel pool for a bit, ate lunch at the cafe, and were on our way back home.

Homebody stuff & Mother’s Day

We missed the Flower Moon on May 1 because it was too cloudy to see. We spent much of the month with me finishing up this blog and continuing to book our Scandinavian trip. We played Scrabble five times with Mike winning three times and me two.

I got sick with a bad head cold on Saturday night before Mother’s Day on May 10, so I was miserable all day on Sunday. I had a long and sad chat with Adam who was depressed as no progress was being made toward reconciliation with Maria. Sarah also called and we had an upbeat talk. As a mother, I always feel deeply for whatever my children are feeling, so I was depressed talking to Adam and then cheerful after Sarah’s call. Mike had gone for a swim with Ivan in the cove on Sunday morning and I stayed in bed sick. Mike cooked all the meals for the day, making a nice dinner of tilapia with green curry sauce, rice and shredded fresh veggies.

I got another round of lowlights on my hair with Sofía Barrientos on Wednesday the 13th while Mike went to the dentist for a filling. On Thursday, I had a turquoise pedicure with Paulina Miranda of S.O.S. Beauty Center for the last time; she has done all my pedicures in Costa Rica.

And we finally ran into Cilantro Man, the deaf-mute man from Tronadora who sells fresh cilantro in front of the MegaSuper; we hadn’t seen him in about a month and were happy to find he was okay. He was happy to pose for a picture with Mike.

I finished 6 books in May bringing my total to 27/48. I especially enjoyed Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Makioka Sisters by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, and The Places in Between by Rory Stewart. We watched four movies: a silly Italian movie called Buen Camino and the adorable movies Je m’appelle Agneta, Remarkably Bright Creatures, and Faraway, set in Croatia. We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: Thank You Next (Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti) (S3) and Imperfect Women. We finished watching Big Mistakes (S1), Love Life (S1), Lincoln Lawyer (S4), and Wallander (S1). We continued watching Finding Ola (S2); To Love, To Lose; Made with Love; Love Life; Virgin River (S7); Your Friends and Neighbors (S2); Grantchester (S5); Wallander (S2); Love Life (S2); and Paradise (S2).

Dining Out

Friday night the 8th, Darrell and Farida came by our house where we enjoyed beers and wine and then we drove to Nuevo Arenal to have dinner at Restaurante Tinajas. We have only ever been there at lunchtime, and it was a bit strange being there at night because we were almost the only patrons there and our lake view was obliterated by darkness. Still. It was fun as always.

Once we got the deposit for the car from Suzanne on Thursday morning the 14th, we felt relieved of a huge burden. To celebrate, we went out to lunch at El Corral just to get out of the house and away from our worries. I had shrimp with rice and Mike had a grilled chicken fajita-style.

On Saturday night we drove to Nuevo Arenal to try one of the few remaining restaurants that we’d never tried, Restaurante la Casa de Doña Celina. What a pleasant experience. For one, the weather was refreshing and breezy. The Costa Rican family who ran the restaurant was super friendly and the food, though typical Costa Rican food, had little twists that gave it a one-up on most comida tipica.

We met our friend Bruce for dinner at a place he recommended but we’d never tried. We wanted to say goodbye and thank him for all the help he gave us when we first arrived and when we lived in Buena Vista Condos. He said he enjoys helping people; his parents taught him that if he could help other people, he should “get off his lazy ass” and help them. We had lunch at Lava Lake Cafe in Tronadora to enjoy “American food at American prices” (according to Anne), and said goodbye to Eden. Finally, we went out to dinner with Darrell and Farida at Ginger Indian Restaurant, where, as usual, we shared a lot of laughs.

On Monday the 25th, Memorial Day in the U.S. but nothing special in Costa Rica, we went with our friend Carol to Restaurante Tinajas for lunch, where we talked about grandparenting duties and boundaries. Carol told us about a boa imperator that got into her house and slithered over the “Whispering Skulls” puzzle we had given her. On Tuesday, we went to Pop’s for an afternoon ice cream cone. On Thursday the 28th, we met Farida and Darrell at Moya’s Place. And on Saturday the 30th, we had a pizza at Gutierrez Family Pizza.

Drives, walks and local explorations

We took a 3-mile walk up from Sabalito on Sunday the 3rd. On Tuesday the 12th, we walked up from Sabalito and saw the cows lining up for their morning milking. On a cloudy, windy and humid Saturday (16th), we walked for what I told Mike would be my last walk on the gravel road up above the pickleball courts, near Cinco Esquinas (Five Corners). On the 21st, we walked once again from Sabalito. On Tuesday the 26th, we walked our final walk on Peninsula 1 in Tronadora. On Saturday the 30th, Mike swam in the cove while I walked a 3.12 mile loop around Tronadora. And on Sunday, our last full day in Costa Rica, we walked uphill from Sabalito and then back down, around 3 miles, seeing some calves and some final beautiful views.

Selling our 2014 Mitsubishi ASX Outlander Sport

Most of the first half of the month was spent trying to sell our car before leaving Costa Rica. Mike got the DEKRA inspection, on Monday, May 4, which we passed, and replaced brakes and brake pads, as well as the battery. He posted the car for sale on Saturday, May 9. I was feeling a bit stressed about this as that only left us 3 weeks to sell the car!

Luckily, Carla, the manager at Lake Arenal Condos, had put us in touch with a woman from Colorado, Suzanne, who is planning to live in Lake Arenal Condos beginning in late July. She was looking to buy a car for her 1-2 year stay in Costa Rica. Mike and Suzanne have been in touch frequently; during this time, Mike gave her a lot of information about the car, general car prices and comparisons in Costa Rica, what the DEKRA entailed, everything that is known about our car, and so on. Being a finance guy, Mike is very detailed and thorough in these kinds of transactions. He had numerous online face-to-face conversations with Suzanne.

Finally, on Thursday the 14th, we agreed to the terms of the deal and she gave us a decent deposit on the car. At first, we had hoped to get Suzanne to give a POA to Carla so we could close the deal before we left, but we found out that for someone in the U.S. to give a power of attorney to a Costa Rican for Costa Rican legal matters, they must do it in a Costa Rican consulate. As Suzanne lives in Denver, where no consulate is nearby, that plan of action was impossible.

On Wednesday the 20th at noon, we met with Ximena Sánchez Castro, an attorney who lives right next door to us in Lake Arenal Condos. She had drawn up a special power of attorney in which Mike and I granted power to Carla Alexandra Rojas Murillo, the manager at the condos, to finalize the sale of our car for us. Carla will be here on July 29, after we are long gone, and will sign in our stead to turn over the car to our buyer from Colorado, Suzanne.

Until the car has actually been transferred to Suzanne in late July, I will feel a bit uneasy, although I think Mike and Suzanne have established trust for one another. It’s hard to buy a car sight unseen, but we did it when we arrived in Costa Rica (or at least we committed to it with a deposit before arriving). And we didn’t have even a fraction of the information that Mike has provided to Suzanne.

Traditional Desfile de Boyeros (oxcart parade) in Tierras Morenas

On Friday at noon, we went to Tierras Morenas, not far from our condo, to see the traditional Desfile de Boyeros (oxcart parade). The celebration combines faith, culture, and agricultural work, and represents one of the most vibrant expressions of the canton’s rural identity.

Tierras Moreas is a rural community where agriculture and livestock have been the foundation of the local economy. The oxcart parade tradition is celebrated as part of the patron saint festival of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers, usually around May 15. Residents pay homage to their patron saint, giving thanks for the harvest and blessing the animals that have been part of their daily work.

An afternoon at the condo pools

After the Desfile de Boyeros in Tierras Morenas on Friday, we hung out by the pool at the condos and enjoyed playing around with the friendly resident iguana (by splashing water on it, which it didn’t seem to mind), dipping in the cool pool, looking out over the lake, and reading our books. I was reading the interesting Japanese book, The Makioka Sisters by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki.

My Spring BINGO card

This month, I completed a few more things on my Spring BINGO card.

  • Book Finland: Tampere (✓), Vaasa (✓), & Turku (✓)
  • Book Norway: Bergen (✓), Cruise with Hurtigruten from Bergen to Svolvær (✓), Hotel in Svolvær (✓), Ferry from Svolvær to Bodø (✓) (Do the rest in June)
  • Book Sweden: Malmö (✓)
  • Sold our car (part 1 with deposit on Thursday, May 14) ✓. Final transfer to take place at end of July.
  • Celebrate Cinco de Mayo (sort of) ✓
  • Finished our “Succulent Plants” puzzle ✓
  • Overnight trip to Hacienda Guachipelin ✓
  • Dentist appointment ✓
  • Pedicure: Bright Turquoise ✓
  • Tried the third of 3 new Costa Rican restaurants” – Restaurante la Casa de Doña Celina ✓ as well as a 4th, Marisqueria Guayo ✓
  • Try a new ice cream flavor at Pop’s: Crema con almendras (cream with almonds) ✓
  • Read six books: Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World by Steve Crawshaw; The Places in Between by Rory Stewart; Anxious People by Fredrik Backman; Pachinko by Min Jin Lee; My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman; and The Makioka Sisters by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. ✓
Spring BINGO card as of May 31.

Family Happenings

Here are a few pictures of the family with some great photos of little Allie. I can’t believe we will be home to see her soon. Alex and Jandira’s third anniversary was on May 18.

This was a busy month for the Nicaraguan family. Adam & Maria’s third anniversary was on May 13. Luckily we felt some relief as Adam called us on Monday the 11th to let us know he and María had finally had a two-hour talk with their mutual friends Manja and Horacio moderating. It was the first time they’d talked face to face since they separated three weeks before. He said it was very emotional and that Maria wants to return home but Cristy said there was no way she would move back.

On the 13th, their 3rd anniversary, Adam, Maria and Mikey spent time at the beach and Adam said it went very well. On Thursday, Adam said he and Maria had a good talk with the girls. Little Mikey turned two on May 15. On the 15th, Adam sent videos of Mikey’s birthday party with friends and family. The family got together for a cookout with Adam’s friend John and Adam on the last week of May after Adam and María had another two hour talk with Manja and Horacio. As of Sunday the 31st, the entire family has moved back in and so far, things seem to be going well. Keeping fingers crossed.

On my Costa Rica blog, you can find my weekly recaps of our lives in Costa Rica for the month of May:

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I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the spring.

How did your May go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family?  Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter or holiday getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you created a Winter Bingo Card or dream list? Have you made any new friends? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?

Please share your May with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.

the april cocktail hour: easter, sunsets with friends & our last (sad) trip to nicaragua

wanderessence1025's avatar May 5, 2026

April 30, 2026: Welcome to our April cocktail hour. Let’s have a nice spring cocktail like a Basil Cucumber Gin Cooler, or a frisky glass of Prosecco. We can finally venture outdoors as the weather has been beautiful, warm, sunny and breezy. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see rainbows or the Pink Moon. If you like suffering, you can even come along vicariously on our last trip to Ometepe, Nicaragua, where we took Adam a carload of stuff from our Costa Rica home. We had hoped to visit the family but instead supported our son after his wife moved out with all four children. After our difficult visit, we brought Adam to Costa Rica with us for a change of scenery and a bit of relaxation time. Sunset is now at around 5:52 every night and we can mingle on the balcony and sip our drinks while watching painterly skies at sunset.

I have a variety of soda, seltzer water, or bebida de aloe for those of you who don’t drink. Mike can also whip up some excellent smoothies. Thanks for joining us in our escape into a peaceful corner of the world.

April marked our eleventh month in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Luckily, we finally experienced some wonderful weather, and even though it was quiet, it was still lovely just to enjoy our temporary home for our next-to-the-last month in the country.

Homebody stuff

We caught a glimpse of the not-so-pink Pink Moon on April Fool’s Day. We spent much of the month with me finishing up my Guatemala posts, Mike completing our tax returns, and me starting to plot out and book our Scandinavian trip. We booked our return tickets to and from Copenhagen, an onward flight to Helsinki, and a flight from Helsinki to Bergen, Norway. We also booked our Denmark stays: a week in Copenhagen and a week in Aarhus, as well as a week in Helsinki. We went to the eye doctor here, Dra. Ana María Álvarez at Optical Murano, to get eye exams and order glasses, which are much cheaper here than in the U.S. We played Scrabble three times and Mike won twice. We also played Scrabble against Adam when he came to visit, and each of us trounced him.

I finished 7 books in April bringing my total to 21/48. I especially enjoyed The Woman Who Fell From the Sky by Jennifer Steil, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, Delirium by Laura Restrepo and Lab Girl: A Memoir by Hope Jahren. We watched six movies: Is This Thing On?; The Sunlit Night (Norway); The Best You Can; Off Track 2 (ute och cyklar) – a Swedish movie; The Threesome, and Sonunda Sen (Love at Last – Turkish). We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: Love Life (S1), Paradise (S2), Wallander, Big Mistakes, Made with Love, and To Love, To Lose (Ayrilik da Sevdaya Dahil) (Turkish). We finished watching Ripple (S1), Leanne (S1), Ponies (S1), Shrinking (S3), and Entre tierras (Between Lands), which I loved. We continued watching Virgin River (S7), The Lincoln Lawyer (S4), Grantchester (S4), Finding Ola (S1), and The New Adventures of Old Christine (S1).

Celebrating Easter

On Easter Sunday, we made a beeline for Chafi’s Restaurante to eat lunch. Mike had grilled chicken with jalapeño sauce and I had camarones con arroz (shrimp with rice). Their servings are gargantuan, so we only ate half our meals and took the rest home. After lunch, we took a Sunday drive up to La Piedra del Indio Waterfalls, where we had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

Dining Out

In early April, we tried out the delicious Ginger Indian Restaurant in Nuevo Arenal on April Fool’s Day. The restaurant is cutely decorated with colorful hanging umbrellas and other Indian decor and the menu was unusual in that it offers many items without tomato-based sauces. I enjoyed my dish of Paneer Do Pyaza (paneer cubes, onion, chopped masala, yellow gravy, Indian spices). Mike had Murgh Korma: chicken, brown onion, cashew pesto cream, garlic, onion and green cardamom. After lunch, we went to Tinajas and enjoyed mellow tunes, sweeping views of the lake, and glasses of wine. On the 3rd, we went to Cevichera la Pasadita, where they messed up my order and gave me a mixed shrimp and fish ceviche (I hated the texture of the fish and left that half behind). We sipped on beers and chatted with Anne and Jack on their last night in Costa Rica as they headed off to Spain for at least 3 months; we won’t see them again unless we run into them somewhere in the world.

I had on my Spring BINGO card to enjoy a “spring-themed” cocktail, so we went to DrinKing at Paseo del Viento on the 9th where I found the closest thing I could find: a mojito frutos rojos. I thought it would be a strawberry drink, but it was only a mojito with a sickly sweet red fruit syrup. Oh well, the night was lovely, we saw a sunset and we ate some huge hamburgers because the sushi restaurant was closed.

We enjoyed sunsets and pizzas with Darrell and Farida on the 14th, ate at Restaurant Guacamole in Liberia after Mike visited Dr. Ugalde to follow up on his carpal tunnel surgery, and then had pizza with Carol at Restaurante Cielo’s Pizza after enjoying a sunset and wine from her front porch near Quebrada Grande.

Drives, walks and local explorations

We took two 3-mile walks up near Sabalito and on the Saturday before Easter, we walked up near the pickleball courts where we found they’ve created a new gravel road, which we explored. We found some beautiful views there. On Good Friday, it finally looked warm enough to swim in the cove, so Mike and I both swam. I swam further than I’ve swum before in open water; I still get nervous doing it, so I did one lap about 2/3 of the way across the cove and back; while Mike did 2 1/2 laps. On the 17th, we enjoyed another calm lake day by swimming again; this time I made it all the way across the cove and back (713 yards in 27 minutes). I stop a lot to rest and to see where I’m going, and I also change strokes often – from freestyle to breaststroke to backstroke. Mike swam further and faster as always. We walked one day on Peninsula 1 in Tronadora, and one day at Parcelas, on the ridge near the wind turbines.

Our last trip to Ometepe, Nicaragua to visit the family while in Costa Rica

On Friday the 17th, we got a call from Adam telling us that Maria was moving out of his house with all the children. They had had a huge falling out with all of Maria’s family involved. So we were heartbroken and didn’t know what to expect on our upcoming final trip to Nicaragua. We had to go to drop off our household goods from Costa Rica with Adam and we also saw it as an opportunity to support our son through a difficult time, even though we had no idea if we would even see our grandchildren.

Wednesday, April 22: We crossed the border into Nicaragua with a car full of household items we’d bought in Costa Rica. This time we had to pay a handler $60 to avoid waiting in a 3-hour line with an endless line of trucks to have our car scanned. After crossing the border, we spent a night in San Juan del Sur since it is difficult to make a reservation on the car ferry without knowing how long the border crossing will be. We stayed in a new place for us, Villas de Palermo Hotel & Resort, where we spent a lovely afternoon lounging by the pool and having a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. This was our first and last pleasant day in Nicaragua.

Thursday, April 23: We took the 10:30 ferry to Ometepe. We had lunch with Adam at Pan de Mama, where Adam filled us in on the whole story. The details are in my Costa Rica blog post (see the link below). Adam had fully expected the police to be called but at that point they hadn’t shown up. We had a nice lunch but we could see Adam was devastated. We took the household goods and dropped them at his hollowed-out house. Adam came to our hotel and chatted more with us on our porch and then he and Mike took a dip in the lake. Later Mike and I ate dinner on our own at Xalli, serenaded by a playlist of Jack Johnson songs and topped off with a brownie and ice cream.

Later in the night, the power went out on the entire island. With no air-conditioning, no fan, and no breezes at all, we slept fitfully and were drenched in sweat. Adam had experienced the same in his house and on top of that was hit with horrible stomach pains, possibly due to stress.

Friday, April 24: We woke up to a miserable, humid and heavy atmosphere; there was still no power on the island and now we were deluged with swarms of chayules, tiny non-biting midges. It was like a plague of biblical proportions. I told Mike, “This place is a hellhole. How am I going to survive five more days of this?” Once the power came on, I stayed in the air-conditioned room much of the day, reading and doom-scrolling and thinking we were in the world’s final days. I was so depressed by the whole family situation, the poverty of Ometepe, and the travails of the world at large.

Because Adam was sick and exhausted, we ate lunch on our own at Bûstavö and then, after some stress-reducing massages at 3:30, we went to Café Campestre for dinner.

Saturday, April 25: It was still hot and humid but Mike and I took a walk on the beach. I immediately stepped on a dead branch covered in thorns, puncturing my heel. I continued to walk to the end of the beach and back and by this time was hobbling. Adam came by the hotel to hang out and then we went to Totoco for lunch and a dip in their pool.

Adam and Maria had set up a meeting to talk with their friends Manja and Horacio but while at the pool Manja called Adam with a double dose of bad news. First, Maria had cancelled the meeting and second, the police were looking for Adam. Adam was hit hard by this news, and we immediately drove him to Manja’s house. Manja agreed to come with Adam to the police station in Altagracia, so Mike drove them all after dropping me at the hotel. It turned out that when Mike stepped out of the car to go into the police station, he was bitten by one of the police dogs. The police shrugged as if it was no concern of theirs. Mike went next door to a a clinic where Freddy Espinoza gave him a tetanus shot, iodine, bandages and antibiotics. The police said the dogs were required to be vaccinated against rabies yearly. Manja and Adam said they’d never heard of rabies on the island.

Adam made a statement to the police that he never laid a hand on anyone during the family altercation. They seemed satisfied but they asked that both Adam and Maria come back to the station on Sunday to talk to the police together.

Adam felt good that he had been proactive with the police and we talked a while at Xalli and then went to dinner together at Pizza Mediterranea, where we shared two pizzas between the three of us.

Sunday, April 26: Mike went to help Adam clean up his kitchen which had been left a mess when Maria left. Then Adam came by the hotel and we had lunch together there. Then Mike drove Adam to the police in Altagracia while Manja came with Maria and they all met at the police station. Mike gave Maria a hug when she arrived. They had to wait a good hour to see the police, and then they gave their statements to the sergeant. Maria reamed out Adam for mentioning that the only people throwing punches during the altercation were Maria’s adult son Johnny and her brother Dennis, who had both punched Adam in the face (he said they punched like little girls and he never punched them back). Dennis had been arrested before so the police were familiar with him.

Adam and Mike came back to Xalli where we talked some more and then we all went back to dinner again at Pizza Mediterranea, where this time we shared two pastas.

Monday, April 27: Mike went to Adam’s to finish cleaning the kitchen and despite my misery at being in Ometepe, I got an affirmation in my inbox: “I am right where I am supposed to be.” Adam came by and we had lunch together at Bûstavö; later, we all played several games of pool at Xalli. Adam had decided to come back with us on Tuesday to Costa Rica for a change of scenery and to clear his head. He went to the house to coordinate the care of the animals with a neighbor and to hand over the balance of cash he owed to the person he’s buying land from; he wanted to avoid leaving any cash in the house.

Maria and the kids came down the street to meet us briefly at Adam’s request, so we got to see the grandchildren briefly. We gave Maria and all the girls hugs, but Mikey was clinging to Maria and wouldn’t really interact with us. We then took Adam for one last dinner at Café Campestre and I ate the green chicken curry, which did affect my stomach the following morning.

Tuesday, April 28: We got to see Maria and Mikey when we picked up Adam from his house. Then we drove to the port in Moyogalpa, took the ferry to San Jorge, and crossed the border in a record time of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Back home in Costa Rica, we ate a roasted chicken and relaxed in our condo.

Adam comes to Costa Rica

Wednesday, April 29: Adam stayed with us in Costa Rica for four nights. On Wednesday, we took him to Monster Gym where he overexerted himself with the kettle bells and paid dearly for it the next three days. We took him to Liz’s goat farm; we have been buying her goat yogurt every Friday since we arrived in Costa Rica. Liz speaks a rapid-fire Spanish that I can’t understand, but Adam with his fluid Spanish was able to ask her a million questions about her operation and understand most everything she said. She was happy to have someone so interested and Adam was thrilled to have the experience of seeing a fully functioning goat farm.

After visiting the goat farm and showering, we went to Soda La Macha for lunch. We were able to enjoy the almost-Flower Moon two days before the actual full moon.

Thursday, April 30: When Adam left the U.S. in 2020 just before the world came to a grinding halt due to COVID, he landed first in Costa Rica and stayed in hostels in La Fortuna. Ultimately he found Costa Rica too expensive and crossed the border into Nicaragua with a new group of friends. He has been in Nicaragua ever since, six years now.

I had suggested we could go to La Fortuna together to soak in some thermal pools and he remembered a rope swing he had loved there called El Salto (the jump). We found it and he spent an hour swinging on the rope swing while Mike hung out with him and took pictures. I went into La Fortuna to my favorite store, Wandering, where I had fun shopping without anyone looking over my shoulder.

We all met at Kappa Sushi at noon, and enjoyed sushi rolls together.

Then we went to Relax Termalitas Hot Springs to hang out in the thermal pools. It was a less expensive place than others we’ve been to but it had a nice jungle setting. Mostly Costa Ricans were there. It was just the kind of place Adam loves, nothing fancy with a more natural setting. Some of the pools were very hot; one marked at 38C (100 F) seemed a lot hotter than the posted temperature. We had fun going from pool to pool and soaking and chatting. At the end, we sipped beers in one of the cooler pools.

My Spring BINGO card

I checked off a few things on my Spring BINGO card in April:

  • Got a lilac pedicure ✓
  • Easter Celebration (of sorts) ✓
  • Tried Ginger Indian Restaurant in Nuevo Arenal as the 2nd of 3 new Costa Rican restaurants ✓
  • Visit Nicaragua family ✓
  • Eye doctor in Costa Rica ✓
  • Enjoy a spring-themed cocktail ✓
  • Make a strawberry recipe: strawberry shortcake ✓
  • Booked plane tickets to Scandinavia: round trip tickets to Copenhagen, Denmark; onward ticket to Helsinki, and another onward ticket to Bergen, Norway ✓
  • Book Denmark: Copenhagen and Aarhus ✓
  • Book Finland: Helsinki ✓
  • Read 7 books: Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackerman; Delirium by Laura Restrepo; Deacon King Kong by James McBride; The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: An American Journalist in Yemen by Jennifer Steil; The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen; Lab Girl: A Memoir by Hope Jahren; and Lonely Planet Sweden by Anna Kaminski. ✓
Spring BINGO card as of April 30

Family Happenings

We got a few pictures of Allie this month. I also took some screenshots of pictures Maria posted since we didn’t get to see much of our grandchildren in Nicaragua.

On my Costa Rica blog, you can find my weekly recaps of our lives in Costa Rica for the month of April:

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I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the spring.

How did your April go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family?  Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter or holiday getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you created a Winter Bingo Card or dream list? Have you made any new friends? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?

Please share your April with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.

guatemala city: exploring mayan museums

wanderessence1025's avatar April 9, 2026

We stayed in Guatemala City for three nights (1 1/2 days) during our trip. Our first night on Wednesday, March 11, was after returning from Antigua and Lake Atitlán, before catching a flight to Flores, Petén. On that afternoon, we were able to explore one museum, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (National Museum of Mayan Art: Archeology and Ethnology).

After visiting Flores and San Ignacio, Belize, we flew back to Guatemala City on March 16, where we stayed two nights. We had one day to explore two more museums: the Museo Popol Vuh and the Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena, both on the beautiful campus of Universidad Francisco Marroquin.

Guatemala City: Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología

Wednesday, March 11: Our friendly hired driver Eliseo drove us 3 hours back to Guatemala City from Panajachel and we arrived at the Barceló Guatemala just before 1:00. We checked in and then immediately headed out.

Our early arrival time gave us an afternoon to explore one museum, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (National Museum of Mayan Art: Archeology and Ethnology).

Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (National Museum of Mayan Art: Archeology and Ethnology)

We learned about Mesoamerica, a cultural melting pot that started at the Sinoloa River in Mexico all the way to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, depending on the period: Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic. Different pre-Columbian civilizations cohabited in Mesoamerica. Though they spoke many languages, they shared cultural traits. The Maya, Aztecs and the Olmecs shared practices and customs:

  • grinding corn with ashes or lime
  • use of grinding stones or metates
  • use of carved obsidian tools
  • making of pyrite mirrors
  • similar clothing: sandals, turbans, feather costumes worn by warriors and use of blowpipes as weapons
  • architecture: staggered pyramids, stucco flooring and coatings, Maya ball game fields, and steam baths, used for ritual and medicinal purposes
  • buildings arranged around plazas
  • complex organizational systems with clear social stratification and political heirarchies

The cultures boasted outstanding scientific developments: a glyph writing system, a numeral system, books or codices, calendars containing both 260 and 365 days, ritualistic use of paper and rubber, the flying pole dance or voladores, human sacrifice and self-sacrificial ceremonies, some widespread deities and a system of specialized markets.

The Classic Period (AD 250-900) revealed an abundance of hieroglyphic inscriptions that provided detailed information about ruling dynasties. They recorded historical events such as warfare, marriage alliances, and family relationships among Maya royalty.

The Late Classic Period (AD 600-900) was a period of great demographic growth with intense political rivalries among the principal cities of the lowlands.

Guatemala’s ancient Maya are known for continuous engagement in rituals, ceremonies, textile traditions, and gastronomy. These were transmitted through generations and blended with Spanish traditions.

In the museum, we found cultural artifacts such as polychrome vessels and plates, lintels, vessels with lids, a jaguar heads necklace (Post Classic 950-1524), mosaic masks, anthropomorphic figurines, mosaic vessels of jade from Tikal, along with obsidian and shell, zoomorphic bowls, incense burners with zoomorphic effigies, a huge crocodile sculpture, devil and jaguar masks, textiles and indigenous clothing.

The museum has numerous stelae from various Mayan sites throughout the country and monuments from Tikal.

We were impressed by the huge model of Tikal: The City of the Voices. We saw this before we actually went to Tikal.

We learned about Jasaw Chan K’awil (682AD- 734AD), known for bringing about the resurgence of Tikal after defeating the commonwealth of Calakmul. His remains were found deep in the Great Jaguar Pyramid at Tikal, wrapped in fabrics and jaguar hide, surrounded by pyrite, metal mirrors, ceramic offerings and bone collections, seashells, pearls, and an ostentatious funerary jade trousseau.

One section of the museum displayed cultural items such as clothing and masks.

We learned about Semana Santa in Guatemala (Holy Week), which was inscribed as an Outstanding Universal Value by UNESCO on November 30, 2022. It represents a celebration of culture and religiosity in all 22 departments of the country as it has been celebrated for centuries.

Semana Santa contains multiple representations of ancestral Maya, Afro-descendent, and Mestizo worldviews, which have undergone numerous transformations and show the sociocultural diversity of Guatemala.

Semana Santa in Guatemala (Holy Week)

Encircling the final room in the museum are painted panels created by Roberto González Goyri which show “spiritual syncretism” based on the sacred book of the Maya, the Popol Vuh, the events of the Spanish conquest, and the fusion of present-day manifestations. Another panel shows the ancient Mayan world.

Kyoto Restaurant at Barceló Guatemala City

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Kyoto Restaurant in the Barceló Guatemala City, a huge hotel not far from the airport. We shared hot sake alternated with cold sips of Sapporo along with some gyoza. I had a King Dragon Roll (roll with tempura shrimp, crab meat, avocado, cucumter and masago with spicy mayo). Mike enjoyed the Spicy Tuna (roll with tuna, avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayo). My roll was heavy and I vowed when we returned to Guatemala City on the 16th, I would order the Spicy Tuna Roll that Mike had ordered.

Thursday, March 12: This morning, we flew to Maya Mundo International Airport in Flores on a 6:00 a.m. Avianca flight.

We were in Flores by 6:45. From there, we explored Flores/Tikal in Guatemala and San Ignacio/Xunantunich/Cahal Pech in Belize.

Guatemala City: Museo Popol Vuh

Monday, March 16: We arrived back in Guatemala City late at night on Monday, March 16 and didn’t waste any time going right to bed.

Tuesday, May 17: On our last day in Guatemala, we spent the morning going to two museums on the beautiful campus of Universidad Francisco Marroquin. We were greeted by jubilant hordes of jacaranda trees in purple bloom and greenery everywhere.

Museo Popol Vuh is one of the major collections of Maya art in the world. The museum is known for its extensive collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art of the Maya culture. It is named after the Popul Vuh, a book written soon after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, that narrates myths and pre-Columbian history of the K’iche’, whose kings dominated a great part of the Western plateau of Guatemala. The collection at this museum includes many objects related to the narratives of the Popol Vuh book in which the Maya world was conceived as being populated by numerous gods and spirits that interacted with human beings. The Popol Vuh was originally preserved through oral tradition until about 1550, when it was recorded in writing.

Museo Popol Vuh

“Beauty, Ritual, and Power”

The main exhibit was titled “Beauty, Ritual, and Power,” focused on pre-Hispanic concepts or standards of beauty. For the Maya, beauty was closely tied to ideals of harmony, proportion and a connection with the divine. Physical appearance had a central role in this world.

The pre-Hispanic Maya practiced a series of permanent bodily modifications to conform with their society’s ideals of beauty. Cranial modification was foremost, usually carried out in infancy by women using rigid tools such as a cradleboard or a pair of loose splints, accompanied by constricting bandages. Imagery shows this being performed by elderly women (possibly midwives), but colonial accounts suggest it was carried out by the mother. Women wore elaborate hairstyles to emphasize their cranial modification.

The Mayans also modified their teeth through filing and inlaying, typically performed on the most visible (labial) surface of incisors, and less frequently on the canines. Tooth filing was a deliberate abrasion of specific areas of the tooth to achieve distinct shapes. Some teeth were inlaid with precious stones or minerals. This practice dates to the early Preclassic Period and continued possibly for centuries, until the arrival of the Spanish.

Tattoos, marks and body painting were widely used; they marked people as brave and valiant because they were painful processes.

Bodily modifications and garments reflected prevailing ideals of beauty, religious beliefs, and ritual practices, as well as personal rank, wealth and prestige.

Ceramic figurines show what men and women looked like: most represented courtiers, members of royal families and nobility, or functionaries like priests, warriors, and ball players. Many are figures of women, often accompanied by children or animals. Some depict gods or personages dressed as gods; likely these had religious significance.

I was fascinated by this exhibit which showed me two things: that people have been modifying their bodies for centuries to meet some random ideas of “beauty” conceived by the societies in which they live; and that no matter what the time period, people have always stratified themselves into some kind of caste system, in which people are ranked by imagined hierarchies: in other words, people are always trying to make themselves better than others, and to dominate others they see as “other” or “lesser.” I don’t have hope that these aspects of human nature will ever change.

The Permanent Exhibit

The rest of the museum showed the Mayan culture through various periods.

Throughout the Early Classic Period, the urban center of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico maintained close contact with the Maya Region. It influenced Tikal culturally and politically. The presence of a Teotihuacan governor in 378AD and immigrants from the city spread the culture to Tikal. Domestic and ceremonial ceramic objects attest to Teotihucan’s influence. Most significant were incense burners and tripod cylindrical vases decorated with Teotihuacan warriors, gods and figures.

By the end of the Preclassic Period, the city of Teotihuacan had become one of the largest cities in the world at the time.

One diorama showed the building of Tikal, which required large numbers or specialized workers or artisans. These workers quarried stone, cut trees for wood, made lime, and transported materials to the building site. This was all done with human labor using stone instruments. Buildings were often built atop older ones. Temporary walls and stairs were built, and layers of fill were carried up and deposited in an orderly manner. Facades faced with cut-stone masonry were covered with stucco. Then decorative elements were added and buildings were painted in bright colors.

building of Tikal

Río Azul in the northeast corner of Petén once belonged to the city state of Tikal. It may have served as a fortress or military outpost. There is also evidence it was a commercial center.

Río Azul

The ancient Maya made books from the inner bark of a native fig tree, called amate. Long strips of paper were made from processed bark, covered with fine layers of stucco and folded like screens, so it was possible to open the books and read several pages at once. The Dresden Codex is the oldest and finest example of the three Maya books still preserved from the the pre-Hispanic period. It is estimated to have been written in the 13th century. It includes a series of omens and calendars with predictions for each date based on the actions of the gods. Tables track the cycle of the planet Venus and solar and lunar eclipses, and prescribes rituals for celebrating the New Year.

Cacao was one of Mesoamerica’s most prized products. Cacao gods and goddesses personified the cacao tree with abundant pods.

The museum had a display of artistic depictions of Mayan symbols on fabric that were quite beautiful.

Before going to the Museo Ixchel, next door to the Museo Popol Vuh, we stopped at an outdoor student cafe where we gobbled down some Ramen noodles and admired the pretty campus.

Guatemala City: Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena

Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena presents the evolution of Guatemala’s textile tradition from pre-Hispanic times to the present. It illustrates the origins, variations and continuities that the costume has experienced over time, as well as the weaving tools, materials and techniques. The museum’s four rooms present the history of Maya clothing and weaving in Guatemala going back to 200 BC. The collection comprises thousands of weavings.

Museo Ixchel

Clothing reflects the way different eras, cultures and technological advances are linked to the construction of identity. Dress is considered a “second skin” that can denote heirarchy, economic standing of the wearer, whether from a village, municipality, region or country. The elite wore prestigious feathers such as those of quetzal birds and macaws, and fur from rabbits and hares. Jade was made into neck ornaments, earrings or earplugs, and pendants; they also used shells and other materials. The top ranks of the military wore garments of jaguar skin and capes from strips of bark.

Men wore máxtlatl or loin cloths, hip-cloths, belts, military shirts (xicolli or xapot), and cotton cloths or capes; women wore skirts, hip-cloths, sashes, and huipiles or native blouses. Construction was simple: garments were not cut out but were simple squares or rectangles. The elite decorated their heads with complex headdresses and wore high-heeled sandals as foot wear.

The key instrument in Mesoamerican tradition was the backstrap loom from 200 BC to 1531 AD. Cotton was the main fiber, as well as the fibers of agave. Dyes and colorings were extracted mainly from seeds, flowers, leaves, roots, bark, and fruit, with which threads were dyed or superficially painted.

A bobbin winder from the Cantel Factory, Quetzaltenango (1926) was incorporated into the final process of winding the thread for the fabrics. This Guatemalan firm started operations in 1874 and was a major enterprise in the manufacture of thread and fabrics in Central America. The factory closed in 2008.

bobbin winder from the Cantel Factory, Quetzaltenango (1926)

The Ixchel Museum’s collection includes examples from 126 towns and 30 hamlets, the majority of which are situated in the highlands of Guatemala.

One display features the backstrap loom technique, which is an ongoing ancestral practice, as well as huipiles made with modern technologies. It also includes skirts made with the jaspe (ikat) or resist-dye technique, mostly designed by male weavers who use the treadle loom. These sets express the ethnic identity conveyed in traditional and ceremonial attire. They follow the display of threads, which in weavings take on a life and shape of their own. Threads have always been the key link to begin the weaving process. Together with the skilled hands of weavers, they give distinction and texture to each piece.

Andrés Curruchich (1891-1969) painted the traditions of his town, San Juan Comalapa, first on pieces of wood and gourds, and later on cotton cloth, using paints he prepared himself with vegetable and mineral dyes. Around 1960, the Guatemalan government recognized his merits by granting him the Order of the Quetzal. The paintings on display show the town and nearby villages, the Comalapan attire and different everyday and ceremonial activities from decades ago.

Another exhibit displays apparel worn by the cofradía members organizing religious ceremonies devoted to a patron saint, who is celebrated by a mass and then carried in procession through the streets on the feast day, accompanied by marimbas, dancers and the faithful. These rites, for which blessings will hopefully be received, help participants to bond with each other.

Carmen G. de Pettersen (Guatemala, 1900-1991) painted detailed watercolors in which she portrays people wearing ceremonial, cofradía, and everyday indigenous attire from different Guatemalan regions. Women and men are pictured in different locations, adorned with traditional silver jewelry and complemented with insignias and other luxury items. In addition to the paintings, some of the original garments depicted in the artist’s paintings are displayed.

Carmen Gehrke was born in 1900 in Guatemala. Her father was a London merchant and her mother was born in Mexico to German-Spanish parents. After going to London with her parents at the age of 4 and taking up painting, she returned to Guatemala in 1923 and a short time later married Leif Lind Pettersen (León), originally from Norway. They moved to a coffee and quinine plantation in Guatemala, where they lived the rest of their lives.

Seeing that the Maya textile tradition was changing rapidly, Carmen dedicated five years to a new project. She started it at the age of 70 after losing the sight of one eye. In a collection of 61 watercolors, she depicted the distinctive dress from communities mostly located in the Highlands of Guatemala. She documented the costumes worn between 1940 and 1975.

I especially loved these last two museums set on the beautiful university campus I learned much from both of them.

Dinner at Kyoto Restaurant

On our last night in Guatemala City, we ate dinner once again at the wonderful Kyoto Restaurant in the hotel. It was a good ending to our two weeks in Guatemala and Belize.

**Most information presented above was gleaned from the museum’s displays and informational plaques, which luckily were in English as well as Spanish.**

a short jaunt to san ignacio, belize: a saturday market, an iguana project & the mayan sites of xunantunich & cahal pech

wanderessence1025's avatar April 3, 2026

Saturday, March 14: We went to Belize in search of the exotic, but it took some digging to find it. Mostly, I came up empty-handed. I had included it on our itinerary because we would be so close to the country when we went to Tikal that it seemed a shame not to visit it and check off our last remaining Central American country (except Honduras, which we didn’t intend to visit).

What I didn’t know when I first conceived of the idea was that Belize was once known as British Honduras (from 1862-1973). It was a British Crown Colony before changing its name and gaining independence in 1981. The name was changed to Belize to establish a distinct identity and to declare its sovereignty. However, Belize’s official language remains English. We found in actuality that most Belizeans speak English, but feel more comfortable conversing in Spanish, their native language.

The history of the British involvement in British Honduras (now Belize) mostly revolved around the wood they could extract from the land. The first was a swamp-loving tree known as logwood, whose heartwood could be boiled down to a blue-black dye, an alternative to indigo. When demand for logwood died off, the British moved on to mahogany, spurred by demand from Chippendale’s high-end furniture. So, the British “came for the wood, and when they took the last tree, they left.” (The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird” by Bruce Barcott).

We took an early morning shuttle to the Belize border, where we crossed easily and quickly. Then we were on to San Ignacio, a small town about 20 minutes from the border at Melchor de Mencos.

Saturday market in San Ignacio

Now that I was in my 43rd country, I could search out the exotic. What, I wondered, would delight me? What would the evidence be that I was elsewhere? Unlike Guatemala, there was no traditional dress like the women’s huipil (traditional blouse worn by indigenous women there). The colors were more muted. People wore regular Western clothes: jeans, shorts, t-shirts. I think of traditional dress I’ve found in other parts of the world: the sari, kalwar sameez, and kurta in India; the djellaba and kaftan in Morocco; the traditional kimono in Japan as contrasted with the black or navy suits and white shirts worn by almost every Japanese man and woman when going to work; the dishdasha and mussar for men and the burqa and colorful headscarves in Oman; the kebaya and sarong in Bali.

The first thing I noticed as we walked through the Saturday farmer’s market was that the people were more mixed than Guatemala’s indigenous Mayans. The country is mostly made up of Mestizos (53%) but 26% are Creole and 11% are Mayan. Garifuna and East Indians make up almost 10%. The Garifuna are an Afro-Indigenous people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifun, an Arawakan language. Creole can refer to a diverse array of backgrounds, including Afro-Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. There were even a group of Mennonites at the market; apparently there is a large community. So, the people of Belize seeemed diverse.

The fruit and vegetable offerings looked similar to those in many Central American markets: varieties of peppers and squash, potatoes, mangos, plantains, pineapples, watermelons, and turmeric. The market seemed rather tired and shabby. The prepared food stalls didn’t look appetizing and there were no souvenirs worth perusing. It lacked the color and vivaciousness of many of the world’s markets. I think of Barcelona’s amazing central market, and Moroccan, Thai, and Turkish markets, which offer huge arrays of exotic spices, foods, textiles, and beautiful items such as lanterns, ceramics, silver and gold jewelry, swords, and paintings.

The Iguana Project at San Ignacio Resort Hotel

Someone on our shuttle told us of the Iguana Project at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. Maybe we would find the exotic there. It was rather exotic to see iguanas up close, but we see many iguanas in Costa Rica, even on the driveway leading up to our condos on Lake Arenal. The exotic thing was being able to touch them and hold them, which I would never consider doing to one of the wild ones wandering around in Costa Rica. They felt scaly and these, who see humans every day while in captivity, didn’t shy away. In reality, they were not that exotic, considering they were for the most part domesticated. The iguanas we could pet and hold were Black Iguanas that couldn’t be released back into the wild because of injuries or other problems.

What we found most exotic were the facts that people told us or that we read about. Iguanas were called Itzamna by the ancient Mayans. The guide told us that all snakes in Belize are poisonous and that there is little serum to treat snakebites available in hospitals. That sounded scarily exotic. I knew I didn’t want to encounter any snakes.

Two ecologists, Miriam Roberson and Daniel Velasquez, launched the Iguana Project in 1996 because they were concerned about the alarming decrease in the numbers of iguanas. The purpose is to conserve and look after the endangered Green Iguana species in Belize. Green iguanas are hunted in Belize but like all game species there is a closed season (February 1- July 1) to allow for breeding season and thus protect them from extinction. There is no faster way to bring a species to extinction than by killing pregnant females.

Maya Mountain Lodge

We were finally able to check into the Maya Mountain Lodge at 2:00. Our room was weathered but clean. Dark curtains covered the windows. There was no way to open them until Mike finally figured out on our last day that he could tie them in knots to let the sunshine in. We hung out by the pool in the afternoon, where we were able to commandeer the only two hammocks. Not many chairs were available and the few available weren’t lounge chairs, but uncomfortable slightly reclining plastic chairs. Mike had asked our last taxi driver to stop at a market where he bought some local beers: 501 Stout Break Loose, which we sipped while reading in our hammocks.

So far, I didn’t feel that we’d found anything super delightful or exotic. The only thing that caught me off guard was when the people spoke to us in English, which was always a surprise. And the price of taxis was outrageous. No Uber was available in the small town, and the taxis charged a whopping $8 for every trip, no matter how long or short. We paid an Uber driver about $5 to drive us in Guatemala City, sometimes for half-hour drives through heavy traffic. For such a small town this was outrageous. Exotic? Certainly not, but it was aggravating, especially since our hotel was not within walking distance of town.

Sunday, March 15: Maybe we would find the exotic as we explored the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich or Cahal Pech. Maybe we would find it in the food. We were open to any surprises that might await us.

Xunantunich

We arrived with a driver to the Mopan River, where we took the whimsical hand-cranked ferry across the river. We had to exit the car and walk on to the ferry while Rodolfo drove the car on to the ferry. It only took a few minutes to get across. Then Rodolfo drove us about a mile to the parking lot, where he would wait for us for two hours. I have to say, this cute little ferry was rather exotic.

Xunantunich means “Maiden of the Rock” or “Stone Woman.” The “Stone Woman” refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. She was said to be dressed completely in white with fire-red glowing eyes. She most often appeared in front of “El Castillo,” ascended the stone stairs, and vanished into a stone wall.

The story seems exotic (if not the stuff of pure fantasy), and the site seems exotic, as most Mayan sites are. There are many more of such sites we could see, if we had endless time to travel — all through Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and southern Mexico. Of the three we saw, Tikal felt the most exotic because of the effusive jungle surrounds, and the pure scale of the site. For Xunantunich, the findings have been insubstantial to prove it was a site of importance.

The ancient Mayan archeological site of Xunantunich sits in western Belize, right up against the border with Guatemala. The core of the city occupies about one square mile, with a series of six plazas surrounded by more than 26 temples and palaces. It sits 183 meters above sea level atop a ridge above the Mopan River. It served as a Maya civic ceremonial center to the Belize Valley region in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (c. 700-900 AD). At that time, when the region was at its peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in the Belize Valley. There is much evidence of trade and communication. Pine was a valuable commodity controlled by elites and rulers; it was used in ritualistic and building purposes for the upper class.

The pyramid “El Castillo” is one of the site’s better known structures. It is the second tallest structure in Belize (after the temple at Caracol) at some 40 meters (130 feet). It was actually a large multi-complex building that served as a dwelling, shrine, and administrative hub for the elite rulers of the center, rather than the primary temple. A series of terraces leads to a fine stucco “frieze” depicting the birth of a god associated with the royal family, gods of creation, as well as the tree of life (which extends from the underworld, the earth and the heavens).

We were able to climb El Castillo for magnificent views of the entire site, as well as the countryside extending into Guatemala. Because we were the first people to arrive, we had the place almost to ourselves.

In 750 AD, Xunantunich was left in a state of abandonment due to an unknown violent event. It did not reestablish itself as a strong presence until the Tsak’ phase in 780-890 AD.

Interestingly, while most Maya civilizations were crumbling, Xunantunich was expanding its city and power over other areas within the Valley. It lasted a century longer than most of the states within the region.

The site was first explored in the 1800s by a British medical officer, Dr. Thomas Gann. There have been continuous excavations and restorations since 1990 by the University of California (ULA).

Here’s a short video of the view of Xunantunich from El Castillo.

Cahal Pech

Cahal Pech is another Mayan site located within the city of San Ignacio. A rendering in the museum at the site looks like this:

The Museum at Cahal Pech is chock-full of information about the Mayans, including a map of all the archeological sites in the Upper Belize Valley, a Chronology of the Mayan civilization, and summaries of all the developmental periods from Middle Preclassic to Post Classic and Colonial. The museum also had a useful map that showed where the Mayans lived in what are now numerous countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and several states in Mexico.

Cahal Pech is translated “Place or City” from the Yucatec and Mopan Maya. The name was coined in the 1950s when the reserve was still a cattle pasture.

Cahal Pech was first occupied in about 1200 BC, in the Preclassic Period, and is one of the earliest known Mayan villages. Houses were simple low platforms with tamped clay floors and thatch roofs. The people planted corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers in the rich alluvial soils. They also hunted local game, collected freshwater snails, and caught fish, iguanas and crocodiles in rivers. Contact with other groups was indicated by the presence of obsidian, jade acquired from Guatemala, and objects produced from coastal Caribbean shell.

In the Middle Preclassic period (900-300 BC), Cahal Pech increased in size and the people began to construct monumental architecture. Obvious differences in the social status emerged. Ceramics became more standardized due to communications with other communities. Structures were built for ritual use; five of these are found at Cahal Pech.

In the Late Preclassic (300 BC to AD 300) Cahal Pech became one of the primary centers in the Upper Belize River Valley. At this time, Maya civilization, with its hieroglyphic form of writing, solar calendar, base-20 numeral system of mathematics, complex art, and monumental architecture became fully established.

In the Classic Period (AD 300-900), Cahal Pech competed with other cities for local affluence. Many violent conflicts were recorded. Most of the site’s large temples and palaces were built between 600-800 AD. An estimated 10,000-20,000 people lived in Cahal Pech during the late Classic Period, with the majority being farmers on the periphery with elites in the site’s center.

Contact with other sites such as Caracol were evident. At Caracol, about 82 km south of Cahal Pech, a common ritual involved the offering of human fingers in small bowls. More than 200 of these finger bowls were discovered in a tomb at Cahal Pech.

Despite the Mayan’s accomplishments, the Maya system in the lowlands eventually failed and people began to abandon the once-thriving cities. Scientists believe the collapse was a combination of social and environmental stresses and the inability of the political and economic system to deal with the changes. At the end of the 9th century, Cahal Pech was gradually abandoned. Strangely, other sites in the area continued to prosper after the fall of Cahal Pech.

In the Postclassic period (AD 900-1500) Maya rulers no longer enjoyed the godly stature and power they once had. Carving of monuments and building of large scale architecture ceased. New communities were founded along coastal regions and maritime trade thrived, leading to a powerful and influential merchant class.

The Colonial Period (1500-1800 AD) saw the Spaniards dominate the Maya area. Spanish friars ventured into the interior to convert the Maya to Catholicism.

Scientists and researchers have suggested reasons that the Maya developed such an advanced civilization. Guesses include many far-fetched ideas such as the following: 1) the civilization was purely the result of external forces (Phoenicians, Carthaginians, people from Atlantis); 2) extra-terrestrials taught them their astronomy, mathematics and calendrics; 3) seafarers from China, Japan or North Africa brought them more advanced knowledge. Most archeologists believe that the development of the civilization was a gradual process that combined ecological adaptation, trade and interaction with other communities, the elite’s desire for exotic status symbols such as jade, quetzal feathers, and marine products, and their use of writing and calendrics for propaganda, along with a strong belief in the power of their gods and religion.

We enjoyed walking around Cahal Pech, which is more extensive than appears at first sight. The trees growing on the ruins reminded me of the Angkor Wat ruins in Cambodia, but less exotic-looking.

Food adventures in Belize

San Ignacio Resort Hotel & The Famous Marie Sharp’s Habanero Pepper Sauce

At the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, after visiting the Iguana Project, we found something exotic. While eating a lunch of chicken salad (decidedly NOT exotic), we found a bottle of “The Famous Marie Sharp’s Habanero Pepper Sauce.” According to the bottle: “Her secret homemade recipe utilizes the potent red habanero pepper. Produced in the fertile paradise of Belize, her red habanero is considered to be one of the hottest peppers known to man.” Her factory is based on Stann Creek Valley Road in Belize. Apparently it is one of the exotic things to be experienced in Belize. We sprinkled some on our chicken salad, but it didn’t burn our mouths as we feared it might.

KO-OX-HAN-NAH (Let’s Go Eat)

We stopped at the well-known KO-OX-HAN-NAH (Let’s Go Eat) after sweating away at both Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. I felt and looked like something the cat dragged in. However, we did enjoy the atmosphere and a common Belizean dish: Coconut Rice and Stew Beans with Chicken. It was delicious, especially the tender chicken with its delicious sauce. We also ordered some deep fried jalapeños stuffed with chicken that didn’t thrill me.

Fiona’s Cafe at Maya Mountain Lodge

We were happy to find exotic food choices at the hotel’s onsite restaurant, Fiona’s Cafe. Our first night, I ordered Garifuna Sere: Coconut soup, prawn and snapper fillet with hints of cilantro and local yams. Served in an asymmetrical white bowl, it introduced me to delicious flavors that felt very exotic. Mike had a Maya Fish Fillet: red snapper with onion, tomatoes and bell peppers wrapped in an obel leaf (mint flavored leaf). It was very tasty indeed. Both were brimming with unusual flavors and textures. To top off our meal, we ordered Sweet Jacks for dessert: deep fried cinnamon fry jacks drizzled with golden plum jam on flavored ice cream. Fry jacks, a traditional dish in Belizean cuisine, are deep-fried dough pieces usually served for breakfast; they can be shaped as circles or triangles.

Our second night, we figured we would eat at Fiona’s again. After all, it would cost us $16 round trip to go into town. Plus, the food had been wonderful on the first night. We ordered the same Maya Fish dish to share but this time the fish wasn’t snapper. I can’t remember what it was. We also shared a Beet Root Salad: crispy greens, roasted beet root, carrots, cherry tomatoes, orange wedges, caramelized almonds, coco chips and citrus dressing. The beet salad was delectable but the Maya Fish somehow didn’t seem as good as on the first night. I don’t know if it was because the fish was different or the novelty had worn off.

The two breakfasts at Fiona’s were not too exotic other than the fry jacks. The first day’s Belizean Breakfast was scrambled eggs, refried beans, bacon, fry jacks and a side of fruits.

Waiting for the shuttle and returning to Guatemala

Monday, March 16: Our last morning, we took our sweet time, lingering in the apartment in the morning and going for a late breakfast. We waited until the last possible moment to check out, 11 a.m., because our shuttle wouldn’t leave San Ignacio until 2:30 to cross the Belize border and return to Flores in Guatemala.

Mike had Huevos Rancheros and I had an “Omlet con todo.” During breakfast our last day we talked to a young Belizean man who led early morning birding walks at the hotel. He told us the national bird of Belize was the Keel Billed Toucan, which we see often in Costa Rica. Then he informed us that the National Bird of Costa Rica was the boring little brown clay-colored thrush, known locally as the yigüirro. We were surprised it wasn’t something more exotic since Costa Rica has an abundance of beautiful birds. But apparently the clay-colored thrush is one of Costa Rica’s most common birds and is found throughout every region. It was designated the National Bird in January of 1977. Discovering this fact about Costa Rica from a Belizean birder was surprising, and a bit exotic!

The waitress told us on our last morning that her daughter had been bitten by a poisonous snake the day before. She gushed about her brother, who always drops everything when she needs him, as he was on a quest to get some serum for her daughter. We of course don’t know the outcome, but we hoped the best for her daughter.

We hung out by the pool until our ride picked us up until 2:00. It was hot and rather boring, as waiting for anything usually is. The ride back to the Belize border was quick and the border crossing was easy. And then we returned to Flores, where our shuttle driver dropped us directly at Maya Mundo Airport in Flores for our 8:45 flight back to Guatemala City.

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One of my intentions on this trip was to write about: What do you find exotic?  What delights you? What is the evidence that you are elsewhere?

I did this above, though it was difficult since I didn’t find that much of the “exotic” in Belize.

the march cocktail hour: a trip to guatemala & belize, a “No Kings” protest, and el gran tope de tronadora

wanderessence1025's avatar March 31, 2026

March 31, 2026: Welcome to our March cocktail hour. Let’s have some traditional Guatemalan beverages such as Gallo beer, Ron Zacapa Centenario rum, or “Rosa de Jamaica.” We can finally venture out to our sprawling balcony as the dry season has finally arrived! Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see Volcán Arenal or the Worm Moon. You can even come along vicariously on our trip to Guatemala and Belize where we explored colorful Guatemalan culture and Mayan ruins. Sunset is is now at around 5:50 every night and, hopefully, we can enjoy some magnificent painterly skies at sunset.

I have a variety of soda, seltzer water, or limonada con soda or horchata for those of you who don’t drink. Mike can also whip up some excellent smoothies. Thanks for joining us in our escape into a peaceful corner of the world.

March marked our tenth month in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Now that the month is over, we have two remaining months here. I’m looking forward to one more visit to Nicaragua to see the family and then returning home for June and July to see the family in Virginia and take care of some business. I hope the chaos in the world won’t ruin our hoped-for trip to Scandinavia (August-October). We’ll return to our pariah country for another two months in November and December to *VOTE* (!) and to spend the holidays with the family.

A trip to Guatemala & Belize

We drove to San José on March 3 and flew to Guatemala from March 4-18, with 2 nights in Belize (March 14-16). We loved the colorful Mayan culture found in Guatemala, but traveling there was cumbersome and a bit grueling at times. We needed a lot of rest after our trip! I was happy to add two more countries to my list; I’ve now visited or lived in 43 countries.

A long grueling drive to San José

On Tuesday, March 3, we drove a grueling 4 hours to San José where we spent the night at Hotel Aeropuerto; they allow us to leave our car there (for $10/night) if we stay either the night before or the night after a trip. I hope that will be the last time we have to drive to San José. We sat by the pool and read, and later enjoyed beers and ate a Mexican dinner at the on-site Cactus Beer Garden. The next day, we flew from San José to Guatemala City.

Antigua, Guatemala

In Antigua, we were bowled over by the celebrations, unfurling purples, and alfombras de aserrín (sawdust carpets) of Cuaresma (Lent). We met my nephew Seth who would climb Volcán de Acatenango the following two days, and just as we met him, we witnessed the death of a baby right in front of us at Al Tueste Coffee House. We popped into churches, as well as ruins of convents and monasteries destroyed ultimately by the 1773 earthquake; this catastrophic event led to the capital being moved to Guatemala City. We wandered through the colorful Mercado Local and the Mercado de Artesanías, where I bought a couple of Guatemalan tops and pants. We stopped for drinks each afternoon at Red Zebra with its mellow music and vibe. Finally, we sampled authentic Mayan cuisine at Itzam.

Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

Around Lago de Atitlán, we went from our Airbnb base in Panajachel to the Sunday market and the colorful town cemetery in Chichicastenango, where colorful tombstones and mausoleums encourage Guatemalans to accept the inevitability of death. We zipped across the lake in lanchas (water taxis) to various towns around the lake: San Pedro la Laguna (the hippie backpacker town), San Juan la Laguna (the Tz’utujil town filled with colorful Mayan-themed murals), and San Marcos la Laguna (the “spiritual nurturing” town). We took a tuk-tuk to Santa Catarina Palopó where houses are painted in blues and greens with Mayan symbols. We ate several times at Lena’s Atlantis Restaurant decorated with colorful Mexican perforated banners called papel picado, representing the fragility of life and the element of wind.

Flores & the Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala

We arrived early to Flores after a short flight from Guatemala City and spent our first day exploring the colorful island town, visiting the Cristo Negro (Black Christ) at Catedral Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios y San Pablo Itzá, taking a boat ride on Lake Petén Itzá, eating delicious lunch and dinner at Nativo, and soaking in the hotel pool. Our second day, we took a shuttle 1 1/2 hours north of town to Tikal Ruins and National Park, where we spent nearly 5 hours and close to 19,000 steps traipsing through the huge site in hot and humid tropical jungle. We learned all about the Mayan city, once the capital of what became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya, reaching its heights during the Classic Period, c. 200-900 AD. When we were able to relax after our exhausting day, we had fun watching little boats and a small ferry putter back and forth across the lake as if in some video game.

San Ignacio and the Mayan sites of Xunantunich and Cahal Pech in Belize

We took an early shuttle from Flores across the Belize border and onward to San Ignacio, Belize. Our first day, we wandered through the town’s Saturday market; visited an iguana project, where we were able to pet and hold the iguanas; ate lunch at San Ignacio Resort Hotel; hung out by the pool at Maya Mountain Lodge; and ate a delicious dinner there at Fiona’s. On our second day, we visited the Mayan sites of Xunantunich and Cahal Pech, ate lunch at the wonderful Ko-ox-han-nah, and then relaxed in the afternoon at the hotel pool and ate another fabulous dinner at Fiona’s. We checked out at 11:00 on Monday but had to wait around by the pool for our 2:30 shuttle back across the Belize border to Flores, where we caught a flight at 8:45 p.m. back to Guatemala City.

Museum-going in Guatemala City, Guatemala

We had an afternoon in Guatemala City after a private driver brought us back from Panajachel to Guatemala City, where we would catch a flight early the next morning to Flores. On that afternoon, we visited the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología where we saw hundreds of items collected from Mayan sites all over Guatemala, including Tikal. That night we ate dinner at Kyoto Restaurant, where we enjoyed sake, Sapporo and sushi. After we returned from Flores/Tikal and Belize, we spent another day exploring two museums on the beautiful campus of Universidad Francisco Marroquin: Museo Popol Vuh (museum with Mayan art and relics) and Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena (cultural museum focusing on indigenous dress). We ate another dinner at Kyoto, and left early the next morning (5:30 a.m.) to fly back to San José.

Dining Out

Once we returned home from Guatemala, we went to Moya’s Place to listen to the debut of the band Deep Cover; we are acquainted with two of the members. I enjoyed a Pad Thai with shrimp while Mike had a Fajita Bowl with chicken. We also have on our Spring BINGO card to try three new restaurants before we leave Costa Rica, so we tried Dond’Liz, a restaurant in Tronadora that we discovered has a great lending library. I enjoyed my grilled tilapia with garlic sauce while Mike ate a hamburger. I picked up a book, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You I’m Sorry by Fredrik Backman, adding additional pressure on myself to finish that PLUS all the books I brought from Virginia. I would prefer not to haul any of them back home. After going there for the first time, we ended up going there twice in the same week, the second time just before we attended El Gran Tope de Tronadora. On Friday night we went out with Darrell and Farida to Casa Italia in Nuevo Arenal, where we had a wild night filled with laughter. 🙂

No Kings Day protest in Costa Rica

On Saturday, March 28, we met a group of about 75 like-minded folks to wave our NoKings signs and get photographed by phones and a drone. It’s always uplifting to find how many people throughout the world are against our current fascist administration. I was also encouraged by the turnout in over 3,000 locations in the U.S. and in other locations throughout the world.

El Gran Tope de Tronadora

On the 28th, we went to the festivities in Tronadora to celebrate the town’s 50th anniversary since it was rebuilt on higher land after the dam that created Lake Arenal forced the town to move. It was billed as the “Gran Tope de Tronadora (The Great Tronadora Horse Parade).” It seemed a bit chaotic and disorganized, but we enjoyed the crazy atmosphere.

Homebody stuff

We saw the moon the night before we drove to San José; the 4th was the night of the Full Worm Moon but we couldn’t see it from our hotel in San José. We played Scrabble four times, with each of us winning twice. Mike got the car washed so he can start putting feelers out to sell the car in May. I finished 4 books in March bringing my total to 14/48. I especially enjoyed My Friends by Hisham Matar and The Women I Think About At Night by Mia Kankimäki. We watched one fabulous movie, the Norwegian Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value). We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: Finding Ola (located in Cairo) and Virgin River (S7). We finished watching Younger, Emily in Paris (S5), The Upshaws , and the fabulous Danish series Families Like Ours (Familier som vores). We continued watching Leanne, Ponies, Between Lands (Entre tierras), Ripple, Grantchester (S4), Shrinking, The Lincoln Lawer (S4), and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Drives, walks and local explorations

On Sunday morning, March 1, we went for a breezy walk from Tronadora down Peninsula 1. It was a gorgeous day, and we met a lot of calves, horses, and friendly Costa Ricans along the way. The only other walk we did was a loop around Tronadora, where we saw some pretty spring flowers.

Finishing up My Winter BINGO card & a new Spring BINGO card

I wrapped up my Winter BINGO card and made up a new Spring BINGO card. I was finally happy to put away my 2025 bullet journal, which held my Winter BINGO card.

Finishing up my Winter BINGO card

I checked off a number of things on my Winter BINGO card in March, achieving 5 BINGOs:

  • Got a pine green pedicure.
  • Created a Winter playlist: Winter in Costa Rica
  • Visited San Ignacio, Belize and Xunantunich
  • Visited Antigua, Guatemala and Guatemala City
  • Visited Flores & Tikal
  • Visit Lago Atitlán and Chichicastenango in Guatemala
  • Made the last of my “comfort foods”: Chili Mac
  • Finished reading The Nickel Boys.
Winter BINGO card – wrapped up!

Beginning my Spring BINGO card

I completed a few things on my Spring BINGO card already:

  • Went to El Gran Tope de Tronadora wearing a cowboy t-shirt
  • Tried a new restaurant: Dond’Liz
  • Finished The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes by Mia Kankimäki, My Friends by Hisham Matar, and On the River Styx and Other Stories by Peter Matthiessen (the last of which I absolutely hated).
Spring BINGO card

Family Happenings

We got pictures of Allie at home and after drawing all over her face with markers. We also got to celebrate Alex’s 35th birthday vicariously as the family went out to a Mexican restaurant. We also got to see photos of Allie at her day care.

On my Costa Rica blog, you can find my weekly recaps of our lives in Costa Rica for the month of March:

Here on this blog, you can find everything I’ve written so far about our trip to Guatemala & Belize.

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I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the spring.

How did your March go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family?  Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter or holiday getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you created a Spring Bingo Card or dream list? Have you made any new friends? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?

Please share your March with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.