These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post 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.
Thursday, September 17- Sunday, September 20: We boarded the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS Vesterålen on Thursday afternoon, September 17. We sailed 4 days (3 nights) up to Svolvær and the Lofoten Islands in the Arctic Circle, with stops in Ålesund and Trondheim. This was the first cruise we had ever taken.
All aboard the MS Vesterålen in Bergen
Thursday, September 17: Thursday afternoon in Bergen, we boarded the MS Vesterålen, a passenger vessel operated by the Norwegian-based Hurtigruten. The vessel was built in Harstad, Norway in 1983. She was refitted in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1989 to increase passenger capacity, and then later in 1995. As of 2010, the ship operates cruises primarily along the coast of Norway without venturing into international waters.
Freshly refurbished in 2025, MS Vesterålen is Hurtigruten’s classic coastal ship offering passengers a more intimate way to sail Norway’s historic route, with space for just 274 guests.
Our first night, after moving into our #205 berth, we attended safety meetings and then enjoyed a buffet dinner on board. We met the delightful Susan from Melbourne, Australia, a lively and fun-loving lady who loves the color orange; she was traveling further north on the cruise than we were. She would get off in Tromsø on Monday, whereas we would disembark in Svolvær late Sunday night. We also met Max and Liv from Melbourne; the young couple was traveling with Liv’s family; her mother is originally from Norway.
Sailing down the Hjørundfjord
Friday, September 18: Friday morning, we woke to some blue skies. After eating breakfast we had time to relax and do some things on our computers. The ship set sail down the Hjørundfjord, surrounded by the Sunnmørsalpene mountain range; it has mountain peaks reaching 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) straight up from the fjord, including Skårasalen and Skopphorn. Both sides of the fjord are heavily wooded due to frequent rainfall.
Port stop in Urke
Urke is a village locaed on the Råna peninsula by the Norangsfjord, an arm of the Hjørundfjord. It has between 30-40 permanent residents but other people have cabins and holiday homes there. At Urke general store you can buy groceries, fuel and medicine all year round. The general store also runs a campsite that is open during the summer months.
We disembarked from the anchored ship and took a tender to shore in Urke, where we strolled around the bucolic village for a couple of hours.
Urke to Ålesund
After leaving Urke, the ship cruised back out of the fjord and headed north to Ålesund, a historically important fishing harbor and gateway to iconic fjords such as Geirangerfjord and Hjørundfjord. After the city’s 850 wooden houses were destroyed by a devastating fire in a single night in January 1904, leaving 10,000 residents homeless, young visionary Norwegian architects, heavily inspired by Europe’s Art Nouveau movement, rebuilt the city in 3 years. This Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture defines the city today. That and its dramatic landscape spread across several coastal islands in a fishhook-shaped archipelago reaching out into the Norwegian Sea/Atlantic Ocean make the city a picturesque destination. Ålesund is completely framed by water, islands, and the rugged, snow-capped Sunnmøre Alps.
The scenic Brosundet Canal cuts right through the historic heart of the city, lined with beautiful old fishing warehouses and Art Nouveau buildings.
It rained during our entire outing. 😦
Ålesundto Trondheim
Saturday, September 19: On Saturday morning, we headed toward Trondheim, passing Munkholmen (Monk’s islet), an islet near Trondheim that has served as a Viking execution ground, a Benedictine monastery, a fortress, a prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station. Today, Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site.
Meet and Greet sister ship
Just after passing Munkholmen, we passed one of Hurtigruten’s sister ships leaving Trondheim. The crew distributed Norwegian flags that we could wave as the two ships passed each other, jubilantly blowing their horns.
Trondheim
We arrived in Trondheim at around 10:oo on Saturday morning and had about 3 hours to walk around the town. Trondheim was founded in 977 Ad by Viking King Olav Tryggvason. The city, originally called Nidaros, served as the capital of Norway through the Viking Age until 1217.
Right after getting off the ship, we saw the hotel where we will stay on Friday-Monday, September 25-28, Clarion Hotel Trondheim.
We saw the huge German cruise ship, AIDAprima, with a capacity of 3,286 passengers, in port. Passengers must have been allowed to disembark in shifts, as we saw groups coming and going at different times during their port stop from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
AIDAprima is the flagship of AIDA Cruises, built by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan.
I personally would never take a cruise with that many people on it.
We crossed the Ravnkloa canal and then walked quite a distance to the world’s northernmost medieval cathedral, Nidaros Cathedral. It was built over the burial site of Saint Olav and has served as Northern Europe’s most crucial Christian pilgrimage site and the traditional coronation site for Norwegian kings.
We chose not to go into the church as we had plans to return to Trondheim for two days on September 25-28 when we can spend more time there.
Trondheim to the Arctic Circle
Evening cruise from Trondheim: We had an easy evening after our port stop in Trondheim. We saw the Kjeungskjær Lighthouse which sits on a tiny island at the mouth of the Bjugnfjorden. The 17.5-metre (57 ft) tall lighthouse is made of stone with an octagonal-shaped tower that is painted red. Some people claim it looks like a Moomin House. The lighthouse is lit every year from July 21 until May 16. It is dark during the late spring and early summer months due to the midnight sun.
We sat up in the Panorama Bar and had drinks with our new Australian friend Susan. Then we had dinner with assigned tables. We sat with Paul and Julia from Dorset, England and enjoyed our chat with them. I had salmon with a dill sauce and Mike had reindeer shank and we each had cheesecake with lingonberry sauce.
Arctic Circle Crossing
Sunday, September 20: Sunday morning, we crossed into the Arctic Circle at 7:56:06 a.m.
Arctic Circle crossing on the M.S. Vesterålen
After breakfast, we continued our cruise down the coastal waterway while waiting for the onboard celebration for crossing the Arctic Circle.
On deck at 10:30, we had the ship celebration for crossing the Arctic Circle. The captain came out as did Njord, the god of the seas from Norse mythology. The man who had guessed the time closest to the actual crossing got a prize: the ship flag signed by the crew as well as a bucket of ice poured over his head and down his back. Anyone else who was willing to get ice and melting cold water poured down their backs, got a free drink to toast the crossing. Of course, where a free drink is involved, I will do most anything, so I submitted to the ice pour. Shiver me timbers!
Arctic Circle toBodø
At 1:15, we arrived in Bodø and exited the boat to stroll through the town for two hours. With Susan, we searched for the street art that the town is famous for.
In 2016, the street art festival UpNorth was the source for a number of street murals in Bodø. Several professional grafitti artists were invited to paint the city. Most of the works are inspired by the nature and culture around Bodø. NorlandiART is another project designed to encourage street art in Bodø, with a focus on celebrating the history and traditions of the county Nordland.
“Malstrøm,” painted by Spanish artist David de la Mano, was directly inspired by Saltstraumen, the world’s strongest tidal current located just outside the city. It depicts a swirling mass of human silhouettes resembling a whirlpool.
“Insomnia” is by the Italian artis Millo. It reflects Bodø’s 24-hour summer light. This mural shows everyday figures and buildings in crisp black and white lines, with only occasional touches of color. This dreamy and surreal mural takes place under the midnight sun.
“After School” by Russian artist Rustam Qbic covers an entire wall and shows a child spraying the northern lights into the sky with a spray can.
Phlegm is a British graffiti artist who first developed his art in self-published comics. He often features menacing storybook characters. This mural is reminiscent of mythical Norse characters and traditional troll images. His monochromatic work is equally charming and menacing.
“Butterfly” by Norwegian stencil artist Martin Whatson is a vibrant, multi-textured piece that blends classic grayscale imagery with a massive burst of colorful, graffiti-style abstract details inside a butterfly.
Bodø to Svolvær
After boarding the ship at 3:15 to continue our journey, we had a long afternoon ahead since we’d had to check out of our berth by noon and we wouldn’t arrive in Svolvær until 9:20 p.m.
We had also been assigned the 7:45 seating for dinner so we had a lot of time to kill. We were out in a wide expanse of water and it was raining, so going out on deck wasn’t appealing. Mike and I whiled away a few hours on our computers until Susan came down to see if we wanted to join her in the Panorama Bar for a drink. Mike hadn’t been feeling good, so he relaxed in the lounge for a while until he got bored and joined us. We had a fun time having drinks as we were joined by George and Sandy from California who despise Trump as we do. They were quite funny so we all had a grand old time.
We ate dinner at our assigned table (#27) with Paul and Julia from Dorset, England. This was our second night eating dinner with this lovely couple. We all share a love of reading, so we talked about favorite books and movies, and also about our methods for planning travels. We found out they will be on our 10-hour train ride from Bodø to Trondheim next Friday. Like us, they got off in Svolvær, but they planned to rent a car and stay in different places in Lofoten.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner. I had a Norwegian Vegan bowl with herbal oil and beetroot chips, Ling fish with beetroot barleyotto, kale and brown butter with mushrooms, and a dessert of cloudberry cream with crisp waffles and hazelnut brittle. Mike had Bidos (a reindeer bean soup), Herb-Roasted pork fillet from Horns Butchery with charred cabbage, fennel and radish crudités, and Choron sauce, and the same cloudberry cream dessert.
After dinner, we said our goodbyes to the friends we had made. We docked at Svolvær at 9:20, at which time Mike and I disembarked and walked about 1 minute to our hotel, Thon Hotel Svolvær.
What a fabulous experience our short cruise with Hurtigruten was! 🙂
These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries 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.
Thursday, September 10– Thursday, September 17: This week we moved from Turku, Finland to Bergen, Norway.
Turku, Finland to Bergen, Norway
This morning, we left our apartment in Turku at 7:30 and took the 2-hour VR train (8:34-10:34) from Turku to Pasila in Helsinki. We then took a commuter train another 20 minutes to the airport. At 1:55 we took a Norwegian Air flight to Oslo-Hardermoen Airport after a 1 hr 10 minute flight. Then we took another flight to Bergen at 3:40 for less than an hour, and then the light rail for 45 minutes to the next-to-last stop from the city center, at Nonneseter. We checked into our apartment at 5:45 (equivalent to 6:45 in Finland). After our 11-hour travel day, we were exhausted.
Now that I’m in Norway, I’m visiting my 46th country! 🙂
Our Airbnb apartment: Condominium in Bergen, Norway on Veversmauet 2 H 103, Bergen, Vestland, Norway
The next three weeks will be a challenging time for us as we squeeze into rabbit hutch accommodations. We have a tiny attic apartment, basically one room, here in Bergen. The selling point for this one was its location in the heart of Bergen’s city center. Also, the price was a factor, as every place in Bergen is outrageously expensive. After this, we’ll spend two weeks in tiny accommodations including a small cabin on the Hurtigruten MS Vesterålen for three nights, and mostly tiny hotels in Svolvær, Bodø, Trondheim, Geiranger and Lillehammer. Once we arrive in Oslo, our apartments for the last month of our time in Norway and Sweden should be normal-sized accommodations.
I knew our place would be small, but I have to admit I was disappointed that it is as small as it is. But Mike reminded me that I’ve lived in much smaller places, such as I did when I worked a year in South Korea and a semester in Japan. I lasted a whole year in Korea in a tiny apartment, so I guess I can survive a week in this tiny place in Bergen!
a few tidbits about Bergen, Norway
Bergen sits on the west coast of Norway and is the country’s second largest city after Oslo. The mountains surrounding the city have earned it the nickname of “city of seven mountains.” What remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site.
According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, ‘the green meadow among the mountains.’ The city has been hit by numerous fires over the years.
Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. From the 1300s, Bergen was a major port for the export of dried fish and cold liver oil. The Hanseatic League controlled Bryggen and long dominated the trade of dried fish from Norway. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between the northern part of the country and abroad, and it was the largest city in Norway until the 1830s when it was overtaken by the capital, Christiania (now known as Oslo).
The city is an international center for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Bergen Port is Norway’s busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year. Most of the passengers are said to be British or German, but we ran into many Americans and Chinese from the cruise ships.
Bergen has a mild winter climate with significant precipitation; on average the city experiences around 200 days with over a millimeter of precipitation during a year.
Bryggen& Vågen (Bergen Harbor)
Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the city’s beating heart since the Middle Ages when it was a major trading center. Today, it’s mostly packed with tourist shops and tourists from the cruise ships.
Vågen is the central harbor of the historical core of the city of Bergen. There is a lot of coming and going by ferries and cruise boats of various sizes and shapes. We wandered through Bryggen and the harbor area in a steady rainfall.
Bergen City Center: General City Sights
On our first day it was raining quite steadily but we had to go out anyway because what else does one do when traveling? We walked through the old city and stopped for our usual shared cinnamon bun and latte and talked to Mike, a Swedish-born Ugandan who works in both Sweden and Bergen as a traveling nurse.
We passed by Korskirken (The Cross Church), believed to have been constructed from 1130 to 1150. This makes it Bergen’s oldest surviving church: Korskirken was originally a simple single-nave long church in Romanesque style likely built without a tower. Its current tower and cruciform floor plan are the result of post-Reformation alterations.
The church endured at least seven fires between 1198 and 1702. Each restoration left a mark on the building resulting in its current eclectic mix of architectural styles. In the 1500s, Korskirken featured multiple towers. The characteristic south and north transepts were added during the 1600s. The current stone tower was built in 1594 and attained its present form in the 1720s In 1732, the church was limewashed externally and whitened internally, a practice that continues to this day.
We were able to go inside but no photos were allowed. I always think that is the stupidest rule imaginable, unless a service is in progress.
The Sailor’s Monument in Bergen salutes Norway’s maritime heritage by honoring Norwegian sailors throughout the ages. Located at the northern end of Torgallmenningen, the city’s main square, the monument was unveiled on June 7, 1950. It serves as both an artistic and historical reflection on Norway’s long-standing relationship with the sea.
The monument features 12 bronze statues and four relief panels representing different eras of Norwegian maritime history. The west-facing side depicts Viking Age adventurers whose violent nature is depicted with swords and a spear. The north side celebrates early modern (17th and 18th centuries) seafarers, the east side features 19th-century seamen, and the south side represents 20th-century sailors. Each group is symbolically divided into societal classes: the poor, the middle classes, and the elite.
We walked past the Bergen Opera House (Bergen Nasjonale Opera) one evening purely by accident.
Mariakirken, or St. Mary’s Church, which lies behind Bryggen, is the city’s oldest parish church as well as Bergen’s oldest preserved building. It was built sometime between 1130 and 1170.
Evening stroll around Bergen under a bit of sunshine
The evening sunlight, which we didn’t see much in Bergen, gave the town a halo effect. We passed by Bergen Domkirke (Bergen Cathedral), almost 900 years old. It started as a church dedicated to Olav the Holy, Norway’s patron saint, in around 1150. We found it open but some kind of event was going on so we couldn’t take pictures.
The Norwegian flag was still flying at half mast for Harald V, King of Norway, who died in August 2026.
The KODE museums
Rasmus Meyer, KODE is named for the local businessman whose children donated his collection of Norwergian artists to the city after his death in 1916.
We love to visit art galleries to see creations by artists from the countries we are visiting. Local artists reflect in their work the main focus of life in their country. In Norway, it is the landscape, which absolutely governs life here; the sea, including fishing and maritime activities; the weather; hardship and deprivation; bucolic scenery in spring and summer; religion; and family rituals.
The museum’s collection includes fine works by renowned artists from Norway’s so-called golden age of painting (1880-1905) as well as historic interiors.
The highlight of the museum is the extensive collection of works by Edvard Munch (1863-1944). Munch was a Norwegian painter whose childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inheriting a mental condition that ran in the family. In his paintings, he told deeply personal stories that still touch people a century after the pictures were painted. He explored the various stages of human life and the cycles of nature, as well as the universal aspects of existence: emotions, relationships, and worldviews.
The exhibition traces the artist’s progress from the naturalistic paintings of his younger years in the early 1880s through to his defining artistic project, The Frieze of Life, a focus of Munch’s attention for several decades beginning in the 1890s.
The exhibition in KODE builds on a collection assembled during the early 20th century by Rasmus Meyer in close collaboration with the artist himself.
Stenersen, KODE hosts temporary exhibits of contemporary art, architecture, handicrafts and graphic arts. The day we visited, there was one exhibit called “They Live” where artist Vibeke Tandberg explored the meaning of the question: “How do we come into being through our meeting with the world and the images in it?” She dramatized how gazes and cultural expectations shape the relation to our selves and one another.
I personally didn’t connect with this exhibit, although there were some interesting images in it.
Mt. Floyenhike
Sunday morning brought a forecast of heavy cloudcover but no rain, so we took advantage and did the hike up 2 1/2 miles from the Fløibanen funicular station to Mt. Floyen. Though the funicular ride is only 2 minutes, the walk up takes about 1 1/2 hours. The panoramic view from the summit encompasses the city center, the harbor, and the surrounding islands and mountains. Whereas most people seemed to take the funicular up and walk down, we did the opposite. We walked up and then took the funicular down. We liked walking through neighborhoods and seeing the homes where people live. We also loved the mossy pine forest near the top of the mountain.
At the top, we encountered the Fløyen cashmere goats primarily known for their very fine wool undercoat. Rather than grass, the goats prefer to eat bushes and trees, so they are particularly good at clearing and controlling vegetation growth. They are herd animals and enjoy each other’s company. They wear “NoFence” collars, a kind of virtual fence that vibrates if they try to leave the circumscribed area on Mt. Fløyen.
Gamle Bergen Museum
We had read that the Gamle Bergen Museum‘s last day for the summer season was on Sunday the 13th, so we bought tickets so we could visit the 55 wooden buildings, dating from 1700 to the early 20th century, that have been moved to Sandviken, north of the city center, mostly from downtown Bergen.
In 1702, a great fire destroyed much of Bryggen and tore through other parts of Bergen, wiping out 80% of the city. As a result, Bergen doesn’t have many wooden buildings built before the 1700s. However, after the fire, a flurry of construction ensued with many new buildings erected throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
The houses are arranged as a reconstructed town with different buildings representing parts of the city’s history. There is a sea captain’s house from 1758, a merchant’s house, a sailor’s house, a silversmith workshop, a glazier’s house, a plumber’s shop from the 1860s and a photographer’s studio from around 1900. We stopped into the old schoolhouse, the barbershop, the bakery, the dentist’s office and the printing press.
At 2:00 was a humorous 10-minute performance by the maids of the stately homes, where the maids were up to all sorts of shennanigans and making fun of their dour masters and mistresses.
Galleri Nygaten Museum of Figurative Art
The unusual Galleri Nygaten Museum of Figurative Art was right around the corner from where we were staying on Marken Pedestrian Street. It is apparently one of the largest private collections of paintings and other artwork of the controversial Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum (born in April of 1944) and his students, including a wide variety of classical art, large format paintings and quirky furnishings. The art seems to have an otherworldly, erotic and sensuous theme.
The gallery is used often for special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries and corporate parties to conferences, meetings and informal gatherings. We had seen people dressed to the hilt on Friday night going into the gallery, and we were told by the director it had been a costume party. The place intends to create a setting where art meets festivity. There is also a kitchen renowned for its culinary quality and a nightclub with a DJ and bar.
We had a fun time wandering around this quirky place and taking photos of ourselves in the ceiling mirrors in one room.
Half-day Fjordcruise from Bergen to Mostraumen
We took a half-day Fjordcruise with Rodne Fjord Cruise from Bergen to Mostraumen through narrow fjords, steep mountainsides and waterfalls. We sailed up the 27-kilometer long Osterfjord towards Modalen, the country’s second smallest municipality with only around 380 inhabitants. Along the way, we navigated through strong currents in the shallow and narrow Mostraumen straits.
It was a rather gloomy day, but it was good to be out on the water exploring our first fjord. We chatted with an Indian woman named Rahda from Raleigh, N.C. who felt as disgusted by what is happening in the U.S. as we are.
Fantoft Stave Church
Originally, there were about 1000 stave churches in Norway, but over time they had to make way for larger and more contemporary church buildings. In the 15th and 16th centuries, many stave churches underwent changes that caused them to lose some of their old character. Originally, there were no pews in the church, and people stood during the service. However, pews gradually became common in stave churches as well.
Fantoft Stave Church was originally erected around the year 1200 in the small village of Fortun in Sogn; it served as the church there until the end of the 19th century. The church became too small and a new church was built in Fortun. When Norway fell on hard economic times, the old church could no longer be maintained and building components were removed and reused; the church’s baptismal font was repurposed as a feeding trough for livestock on a farm. The church was threatened for demolition until the owner of Fantoft farm financially supported the relocation of the church to Fantoft in 1883.
Fantoft Stave Church was completely destroyed by fire in 1992, and it took about 6 years to rebuild it. The timber for Fantoft Stave Church comes from 350-400-year-old pine trees growing at approximately 400 meters altitude in Kaupanger in Sogn, not as far into the ford as Fortun.
The old stave churches contain elements that reflect the conflict between Norse mythology and the Christianization of the country. In the 1100s, older symbols were often used in churches. On Viking ships, there were dragon heads at the bow and stern. The belief was that dragons could keep evil powers at bay, and they served the same purpose on the churches. The carvings on the pews illustrate motifs from the old heroic sagas from the 9th century, in this case, from the saga of Sigurd Faavnesbane. In the tales, several gods are involved, and humans transform from humans to animals and vice versa. This is part of the background for the distinctive character that stave churches have acquired.
Norway Fisheries Museum (Norges Fiskerimuseum)
At the Norway Fisheries Museum (Norges Fiskerimuseum) we walked through the timbered rooms and slanted corridors of old Bergen stockfish warehouses. Bergen merchants needed waterfront warehouses from the mid-1600s, so they built sea sheds in Sandviksbukten. The sheds were especially used for storing fish but also much more.
By the end of the 1800s, nearly 150 such buildings lined the waterfront, with many on supports jutting into the sea, allowing boat access on all sides. This earned Sandviken the name “The Venice of the North.” Today there are fewer than 40 sheds still standing.
The museum explores growth of the herring fisheries and cod fishing in Lofoten. The Lofoten fishery from January to April is the world’s most important cod fishery. During this period, mature spawning cod swim from the Barents Sea to the Vesterälen and Lofoten Islands. This time provides optimal conditions, not too cold (frost) and not too hot (flies, maggots). The right amounts of wind, sunshine and rain produce the best stockfish, a durable and protein-rich food.
The museum also tells about how fish farming has developed into Norway’s second largest export industry.
With its fjords, sounds, islands and rock islets, Norway’s coast is 102,937km long. That’s the equivalent of twice around the earth. The Gulf Stream is the reason why Norway and Northern Europe have a relatively mild climate. It transports 50 million cubic meters per second of water that has been heated up by the sun in the Gulf of Mexico, and splits into several branches that distribute the water’s heat through northern Europe. That is more than all the world’s rivers put together.
A most interesting film in the museum had three fishermen discussing their life-long love of fishing and the challenges faced today by younger generations wanting to become fishermen. There is a high cost to buy quotas which makes it cost prohibitive for new fishermen.
Troll Museum Bergen
The Troll Museum in Bergen is dedicated to Norwegian folklore and trolls. High technology displays mingle with handcrafted dioramas and wood-carvings to tell the stories of trolls and the fairy tales behind Norway’s dramatic landscapes. Five areas in the museum include: Norse Mythology, The Hall of Trolls, Activity Hall, Huldrefolket, and Hidden Beneath the Waves.
Visiting markets
On our first day, we wandered through the Torget Fish Market with its casual red tents on the harbor. Here, one can buy fresh fish, sea urchins, clams, oysters and langostinos, as well as prepared foods that can be eaten at tables and chairs under the tents.
Beside the Torget Fish Market is the more polished Fisketorget Mathallen which has restaurants only and offers a variety of traditional Norwegian foods.
Dining in
This week, we made another pot of hamburger soup with zucchini, fusilli, tomatoes, avocado and Parmesan cheese. We have resorted to making this meal in the last two places because it makes enough for several servings so we can enjoy 2-3 meals at “home” without doing any extra cooking. One night we had a smorgasbord with Reindeer Sausage, Jarlsberg Cheese, hummus and shrimp salad on crackers. Another night, Mike made a most delicious fusilli pasta with broccoli, tomatoes and lots of garlic.
Dining out
Dinner #1: We ate our first meal the night of our arrival at a Chinese restaurant less than a block from our apartment called Guangdong House. It was billed as “Favorite Dinner in Marken” by our Airbnb host, Marius. I enjoyed Scampi with exotic chili sauce and Mike had Beef with blackbean chili sauce. It wasn’t the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, but it was decent enough and it saved us from cooking dinner after a long day of travel.
Dinner #2: We had an outrageously expensive dinner at Villani Trattoira | Osteria, which was too close to the harbor and Bryggen to have any semblance of reasonable prices. Everything in Bergen is expensive, but the closer one gets to Bryggen the more outrageous it is. We paid about $30 for a Burrata Caprese with heirloom tomatoes and nectarines and $46 for a Zukki pizza (mozzarella, zucchini purée, ham, gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts) that was good-sized for us but might have served one person with a bigger appetite. The atmosphere was lively and lovely, with a great soundtrack, including French songs such as “Quand j’étais môme” by Nicolle.
We ended up in this restaurant quite by accident as Mike and I set out in pouring rain looking for a pizza place we’d seen the night before. However, we couldn’t find it and we got drenched (our pants were soaked from the foot to above the knee) and by the time we happened into the restaurant, we were desperate to get out of the rain. To spend over $100 on a meal and to be sitting in misery with wet pants was not the ideal date night!
Dinner #3: We figured we had better take advantage of our two days without rain to go out to eat one last time before we left Bergen on the 17th. We stopped near Bergen’s Opera House (Bergen Nasjonale Opera) at Oki Doki, a mezcal and taco bar. There we enjoyed one pour of mezcal each, and a couple of tacos, outrageously priced as is everything in Bergen. We continued our dinner at home by topping it off with a bowl of tomato soup.
Lunch #1: At the fish market on the harbor, we got a shrimp sandwich to share with some French fries. It may look like there is a lot of shrimp on this sandwich, but believe me, most of it is lettuce.
shrimp sandwich
Lunch #2: We had seen people lining up at this hot dog stand, 3-Kroneren – byens beste pølser (the best hot dogs in town), with people standing in the rain eating their hot dogs. So we decided to try it ourselves one drizzly day. What can be better than standing in the rain to eat?
Homebody Stuff
Every morning, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, Furious, Broadchurch and Ride or Die. We started watching a Dutch series called De Eetclub (The Perfect Lie). I finished reading a detective book set in Norway, Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum; I had read Eva’s Eye, the first in the series, earlier this year. I’m starting to make progress on The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama. I just started The Summer Book by Tove Jansson which has a kind of melodic and hypnotic rhythm to it.
In Bergen I found a scarf and accessory shop where I found a couple of scarves, which is about the only thing that will fit in my suitcase. There are lots of menswear shops everywhere we go, and Mike found a soft lightweight grey corduroy shirt. I also bought a pair of Levi’s jeans because the only pair of jeans I brought are wide-leg jeans that are dragging on ground and getting wet in the rain. I had taken out a pair of jeans before leaving home so my suitcase wouldn’t be so heavy, and now, here I am replacing them. Even though they say they are 30″ length, I still have to cuff them up. I’ll have to hem them when I return home.
Mike never found a swimming pool nearby to swim as he did in Aarhus, Helsinki and Vaasa. He hoped to find one in Bergen, but the only one he found was some distance away and charged $20 for a one-day admission (no pensioner prices as he found in Finland and Denmark). We enjoyed a bit more down time in Bergen as it rained a lot and some days we just couldn’t muster the energy to go out into the deluge. Plus, many museums were closed either for the season, for renovation, or closed permanently. We decided to take advantage of our 7-day stay by being homebodies as for the next two weeks, we’ll be on the go a lot, with no longer than 3-night stays until we get to Oslo on October 3.
Thursday, September 17: We boarded the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS Vesterålen on Thursday afternoon, September 17. We will sail about 4 days (3 nights) up to Svolvær and the Lofoten Islands in the Arctic Circle, with stops in Ålesund and Trondheim. This is the first cruise we have ever taken.
These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries 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.
Friday, September 4-Thursday, September 10: This week we moved from Vaasa to Turku, Finland.
Vaasa to Tampere to Turku, Finland
We took the 10:35 VR train to Tampere, arriving at 1:51 p.m. There we had to wait 1 hr 19 minutes before our next train from Tampere to Turku at 2:10. We each had a quiche in a bakery at the Tampere Railway Station. We arrived in Turku at 3:50 and had to make our way about 15 minutes carrying our luggage over bumpy and difficult pavement to our apartment in the Turku city center.
Our Airbnb apartment: Stylish Studio Posthouse on Humalistonkatu 1 B 73, Turku, Finland
This apartment is the first one we’ve stayed in where it doesn’t seem anyone lives here full-time. It was hosted by Virpi K, as well as several other hosts. It is on the 6th floor of a set of apartments that surrounds a parking lot courtyard. It has an elevator, washer and dryer, central air conditioning and heat, and a balcony. This is the first apartment in Finland that doesn’t have a sauna. It is comfortable, with a great kitchen that is well-stocked.
Visiting markets
Upon arriving in Turku, of course we had to go to a supermarket to get some groceries. We always stock up on too much food and end up having to leave some behind when we move.
Turku Market Hall
Locally known as Kauppahalli, this historic 1896 indoor market is the perfect spot for coffee, artisan pastries, and traditional Finnish lunches. Here we bought chili skagen, beet salad, and whitefish croquettes. We also had a mediocre lunch at Tasa kotikokki.
Dining out
Lunch #1: Tasa kotikokki at Turku Market Hall. The salmon soup and the stuffed cabbage leaves looked good but they were already prepared. When they were served, they were lukewarm and quickly got cold. We have got to learn to stop buying any prepared foods in market halls or restaurants.
Lunch #2: On the day we went to Naantali, we stopped for lunch at Ravintola Trappi, where Mike enjoyed a Black Angus Bronco Burger (with crispy bacon, chili mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, pickles, onion rings) served with French fries, aioli and salad. I had a Crayfish Caesar Salad that was yummy.
Lunch #3: On a rainy Tuesday, we stopped for lunch at the cozy Ristorante Pizzeria Dennis where we shared a thin-crust chorizo pizza and even had some to take home in a doggie bag.
Dinner #1: On our last night in Turku, we went out to dinner for the first time at Di Trevi Wine Bistro & Tapas Bar. We had La Coliflor (Deep fried cauliflower & chili garlic oil); Pimientos de Padrón (Roasted green peppers and aioli); Pil Pil (Chili-garlic king prawns and focaccia); and Carpaccio (Finnish beef tenderloin, tuna creme, crispy capers, arugula, and parmesan). It was delectable. We’re two for two on excellent tapas meals in Finland!
After dinner, we enjoyed a stroll down the Aura River.
Stopping for drinks: On the way to get groceries our first night in Turku, we stopped at Hemingway’s Bar for a beer. We thought it was quite humorous to stop at a bar named for Hemingway who almost certainly did not visit Turku, Finland. After exploring Turku Castle and the Maritime Centre, we stopped for drinks at rento.
Dining in
One night we made orecchiette with pesto and broccolini and another, we made hamburger soup with zucchini, carrots, garlic & orecchiette, which made enough for three dinners. We sat on our balcony and admired a gorgeous sunset.
Activities and Sights in Turku
Turku, founded in 1229, is Finland’s oldest city. It has a long history with Sweden and Russia and is now an important city in an independent Finland. In its history, it has burned down more than 30 times.
Turku played a pivotal role as part of the Kingdom of Sweden during the Middle Ages. In 1809, it came under Russian rule with Turku serving as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Russians moved the capital to Helsinki because it was too close to Sweden, dealing a blow to the city. However, the fire of 1827 was more devastating as three-quarters of the city was destroyed in the largest fire in the Nordic countries.
After World War II came years of reconstruction and population growth. Turku’s shipbuilding industry was a major beneficiary.
Population has grown steadily through the city’s history, mostly due to immigration in recent years. The Turku region is the 2nd most ethnically diverse metro area after Helsinki.
During the 20th and early 21st centuries, Turku has flourished as a hub of commerce, academia and tourism.
General City Sights
Wandering around the town, I try to capture snippets of interesting sights that tell something about the culture. We saw odd little signs on the streets, students in their patch-covered overalls, the Aura River, and schoolchildren out and about for the one day a week that they are required to study outdoors. We saw the city’s grand buildings and boats along the river lit with white lights on a dreary, rainy day.
On the way to a Banksy exhibit, we saw a giant metal ball and found it to be a piece of art called “Window of the Sun;” it was historically a gas ball built in 1937 for extra storage of household gas. The ball was hand-riveted together from 24 identical steel plates. When the popularity of gas diminished, the ball stood useless until it was repurposed into art by Mauri Kosonen.
Market Square
Our apartment was not far from Market Square where there was always a bustle of activity going on.
Taking the Vesibussi toRuissalo Island
Saturday morning, we took the Föli water bus (Vesibussi) down the Aura River to Ruissalo, an island perfect for strolling, cycling, visiting a Botanical Garden (which we never saw), and relaxing on sandy beaches like Kansanpuisto. We perused the art exhibition strapped to the trees on the island, enjoyed jam-filled doughnuts at a cafe, and wandered around the beach area.
It was a good thing we took the water taxi on the weekend because, as of September 1, it only runs for 3 more weekends in September. If we had waited until Monday, we would have been out of luck.
Ruissalo’s history is one of agriculture, recreation and natural values. To this day, Ruissalo’s lands are cultivated and livestock is kept in the summer, especially for scenic reasons, to preserve the island’s unique character.
The island became the property of the city of Turku in 2005, when the state and the city reached an agreement requiring that Turku protect the island’s unique nature and cultural and historical values. This meant that the island could not be used for large-scale construction or other activities that would endanger its current character. Ruissalo will remain a recreational oasis and nature paradise for future generations.
On this first weekend in September, the Turku Human Photography Club was celebrating its 10th anniversary with one of a three-part exhibition. The exhibition examined overlaps, levels and structures formed over time in nature, culture and human life. Below the surface, fragility, connections, origins, or something authentic and primal could be found. In addition to the experiences and memories that shape us, the works communicated the possibilities of the future and awakened each person’s own images in the present.
The artworks were spread out in the area between Villa Promenade and the water bus pier.
Turku Castle
Turku Castle: Dating back to the 1280s, this massive medieval fortress is Finland’s largest surviving castle. We roamed through the grand banquet halls and dungeons and checked out the historic exhibits.
There is a medieval part of Turku castle and a Renaissance part. We visited the Medieval Castle first.
Medieval Castle
During the Middle Ages (5th to late 15th century), Sweden annexed a large part of what is now Finland, which was divided into nine administrative regions known as slottslän or castle fiefs. The castle was built not only to defend Turku but also to bring the then “Österland” more firmly under Swedish control. The battles at Turku Castle were often related to political issues in the entire Baltic Sea region.
Castles were built as the centers of fortresses, the first of which were Turku, Häme and Vyborg castle. The site chosen was a rocky islet in the mouth of the River Aura, which was considered favorable for defense. From there, it was possible to monitor the trading posts along the river and the traffic to Turku.
The Sture Church, built in the 1480s, is one of the last monuments of Turku castle’s Catholic period. Today, Sture Church is used for exhibiting sculptures of saints from the collections of the Museum Centre of Turku.
Renaissance castle (around the 14th to 17th century) and beyond
After the disintegration of the Kalmar Union, the crowned King of Sweden Gustav Vasa visited Turku Castle in 1530 and in winter 1555-1556. He found the medieval military castle unpleasant and even planned to dismantle it. Building a new castle was cost prohibitive, so instead he decided to renovate it.
Gustav Vasa established the hereditary monarchy and divided the kingdom into duchies ruled by his sons. John became Duke of Finland. Court life was at its most glamorous in the 1550s and the 1560s under Duke John’s rule, but internal family struggles forced John to surrender in 1563. Conflicts with the family continued and the castle was under siege again in 1597 and 1599.
The castle served as the governor’s official residence in the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was used as a military barracks and a warehouse. The bailey became a prison in the 19th century. The Castle Museum was opened to the public in 1885.
The main castle was destroyed in the bombings in 1941. The renovation and restoration of it were completed by 1961.
The castle has 164 rooms enclosed in stone walls up to three meters thick. Walking through this castle felt like an endless walk through labyrinthine passageways , halls and rooms, and we wondered if we would ever find our way out!
Forum Marinum
Forum Marinum is a maritime center and museum on the Aura River that features historic tall ships, naval vessels, and interactive exhibitions on Finland’s seafaring history.
40,000+ exhibition & Finnish shipbuilding
The 40,000+ exhibition explores the interplay between humans and nature in the world’s largest archipelago, a mosaic of some 40,000 unique islands and islets. Roughly 100 of the Archipelago Sea islands are inhabited.
The average depth of the Baltic Sea is 54 meters whereas the average depth of the ocean is several kilometers. Some 90 million people (about 12% of the European population) live in the Baltic Sea catchment area.
The Baltic Sea is polluted by nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture, forestry, cities, industry and traffic. Most of these are stored in the sea’s bottom layers, i.e. sediments. This results in eutrophication which depletes the seabed of oxygen.
The Finnish shipbuilding exhibition explores the history, beginning in 1737, from the era of wooden sailing ships, the transition to industrial shipbuilding, and modern shipbuilding.
Finnish shipbuilders have thrived through specialization, creativity, innovation and design skills for high-level vessel types. Cruise tourism has led to new opportunities: high quality passenger ships have become a successful product.
Meyer Turku is a Finnish shipbuilding company whose main products are cruise ships and cruise ferries. The company’s shipbuilding facility is Perno Shipyard in Turku. It has a 365m-long dry dock and two bridge cranes with capacities of 600 and 1200 tons. Modular units for cruise ships are constructed elsewhere.
Working at Sea
The Working at Sea exhibit showcases maritme work through real individuals. It explores the history of the Naval Forces and merchant shipping within the Southwest Finland area. It also delves into the activities of maritime authorities, professional fishing, peasant sailing and archipelago culture.
Sigyn – The Lucky Ship explores the experiences of Captain Ludvig Jönsson on the cargo ship Sigyn and the relationship between humans and the sea.
Passengership Bore
The museum has a number of ships one can explore during summer. Since it is now September, most are closed to visitors except for Passengership Bore. We climbed aboard. The ship was completed in 1960 for journeys between Finland and Sweden. It was seen as the flagship and most advanced ship of the Bore Shipping Company, so it was not given a number but was simply referred to as “Bore Zero.” It was owned by Bore Shipping until 1977, after which it had multiple operators over the years..
In October 2010, Bore was towed to Turku. In May 2011, it was moored at Forum Marinum’s pier as part of the maritime center’s museum fleet. The ship houses a hostel with 130 cabins for 1–4 people. Reception is open 24/7, and laundry, storage service and wireless internet are all part of the hostel’s services.
At the beginning of 2018, Turku Vocational Institute began providing educational activities on board the Bore, offering a multidisciplinary learning environment for students in fields such as hospitality, restaurant and tourism, hair and beauty care, technology, security, and cleaning and property services. The ship also provides opportunities for media and business studies, as well as various entrepreneurship projects.
Going aboard this passenger ship gave us a taste of our upcoming cruise on the cruise ship MS Vesterålen through Hurtigruten, from Bergen to Svolvær beginning September 17.
Day trip to Naantali
We took a bus with 31 stops to Naantali, one of the oldest towns in Finland. Naantali was founded around the medieval Brigittine convent Vallis gratiae (or Nådendal Abbey), the church of which still dominates its skyline. The abbey operated in then-Swedish Finland from 1438 to 1591. It was one of six monasteries in Finland during the Middle Ages, and, as a double monastery, the only one which accepted women.
We wandered around the town which was pretty deserted on a Monday in September. It seems some places close only on Mondays and others were actively shutting places down for the autumn and winter. We enjoyed wandering around the town until we stopped for a nice lunch along the harbor at Ravintola Trappi.
The Mystery of Banksy “A Genius Mind”
We went to see the fascinating art exhibit that is traveling all over Europe, The Mystery of Banksy “A Genius Mind.”
The Banksy exhibit is featured in the historic shipyard halls of Telakkaranta in Turku. “The Mystery of Banksy” is a collection of the Bristol-born and still anonymous graffiti artist and painter’s works. His art challenges the boundaries of art and questions the status quo on themes such as needless, destructive and violent wars; migration; climate crisis, pollution and destruction of the planet; and out-of-control consumerism. He questions the wisdom of those in power, often comparing them to chimpanzees or apes. He criticizes the oppressors, as well as those of us who live our lives comfortably oblivious to other people’s suffering. His powerful and impactful work is supportive of the innocent civilians suffering in the Palestinian and Ukraine conflicts.
The exhibit includes graffiti, photos, sculptures, video installations, and prints on various surfaces such as canvas or plexi-glass.
All of the work is thought-provoking. Here are a few of the stories behind the works from the exhibit:
Girl with Balloon (2002): The work shows a girl whose hair and dress are blowing in the wind and who is reaching for a red, heart-shaped balloon. The meaning can be interpreted as the loss of innocence or the arrival of new hope and love. The work originally appeared in London’s South Bank in 2002, but was later painted over by the city council. Banksy then produced a small edition as an unsigned and signed screenprint. One of his framed prints from 2006 was up for auction. Moments after the painting sold for 860,000 pounds, the shredder secretly built into the frame triggered and destroyed half the canvas, at which point the shredder malfunctioned. On 14 October 2021, the half-shredded “Girl with a Balloon” changed hands with its new title “Love is in the Bin.” At the London auction house Sotheby’s, the work sold for 16 million pounds.
The Suicide Bomber represents an adaptation of Michelangelo’s David figure as a suicide bomber. The statue of David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble by Italian artist Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504, and is symbolic of freedom and strength. The sculpture depicts the biblical David at the moment when he has already placed the slingshot on his shoulder and takes up his fight against the giant Goliath. Banksy’s version is an exact replica of David but with an explosive waistcoat and a cloth in front of his face. Here Banksy transforms a classic work into a contemporary piece and questions the glorification of war.
Back in 2010, Time Magazine put Banksy on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, alongside the likes of Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga.
Turku Cathedral
Turku Cathedral: Consecrated in 1300, this is Finland’s national shrine and the mother church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Sadly it was closed.
Aboa Vetus Ars Nova
Aboa Vetus Ars Nova (Museum of Archeology and Contemporary Art) is a combination medieval underground museum and a contemporary art museum. Aboa Vetus, the only archaeological museum in Finland, is a town quarter discovered underground. The ruin area of Aboa Vetus includes the remains of medieval houses.
On the other floors are art works from the recent history of Finnish and Western art. The collection’s oldest works date from the end of the 19th century, but the emphasis is on works originating from after the 1950s to the present day.
I have to say there wasn’t much that captured my attention at the this art gallery, but they did have a nice and modern cafe with a lot of offerings.
Turku Art Museum
On our last day we discovered the best treasure of all, the Eggert Pétursson (b. 1956) exhibit titled “Millefleurs” at the Turku Art Museum. The exhibition title “Millefleurs” celebrates the abundance of floral spendor in nature and in the decorative styles of art history. Pétursson is one of Iceland’s most beloved artists.
At the Turku Art Museum, we also perused some of the regular collection organized under the theme of “What (A) Color.”
Homebody Stuff
Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, Furious, Broadchurch and Ride or Die. I am enjoying reading a detective book set in Norway, Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum. I’m having a little more trouble making progress on The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama.
Mike never found a swimming pool nearby to swim as he did in Aarhus, Helsinki and Vaasa. He expects to find one in Bergen, where we head next. We did some stretching and exercising some mornings in our apartment. We actually enjoyed more down time in Turku as the city is very compact and the public transport makes places easily reachable.
Thursday, September 10: We sadly left Finland behind, taking a train from Turku to Helsinki and from there a flight on Norwegian Air to Bergen, Norway, where we will stay for seven nights. We will be in Norway for a month.
These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries 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.
Sunday, August 30-Friday, September 4: This week we moved from Tampere to Vaasa, on the west coast of Finland.
Tampere to Vaasa, Finland
On Sunday at noon, we caught the bus from Pasila and took it directly to the Tampere train station, where we caught the 1:02 p.m. VR train directly to Vaasa, arriving at 3:17 p.m.
It seems the public transportation options in Vaasa are very limited because we had to walk about 17 minutes with our luggage to our Airbnb apartment.
Our Airbnb apartment: Condominium in Vaasa; Kirkkopuistikko 1, Vaasa, Finland
Our apartment in Vaasa is near a bay off the Gulf of Bothnia. It has plenty of light, a decent living area, kitchen and bedroom, and probably the largest bathroom we’ve had so far. It also has a sauna and a washing machine, but no dryer. Interestingly, every apartment we’ve rented in Finland has a bidet.
Visiting markets
It was cloudy upon our arrival in Vaasa, and of course we had no groceries so we had to go out to the nearest market, which was the modern City Market in the heart of downtown.
On Monday morning, we went to the Vaasa Market Hall, which was mostly empty. We don’t know if the modern City Market (which reminds me of a Target or Walmart in the U.S.), only a block away, has ruined the Market Hall, or if it was slow because it was a Monday. Many of the stalls seemed permanently vacated. It was a bit sad to see the old market hall usurped by the modern supermarket.
Vaasankauppahalli(Vaasa Market Hall) is a Gothic-style market hall in the city center. It includes only seven different shops, including the fish store Ruostsala Snickars and the café Wasa Konditori. It is much smaller in scale than the Tampere or Helsinki market halls. The lower hall was completed in 1902 and the upper hall in 1927.
Dining in
After picking up Arctic Char and pike perch at the Vaasa Market Hall, we cooked in, making the Arctic Char, cabbage with red onion, and Ben’s Original Thai Style Sweet Chili Rice. Another night, we repeated the same meal, except with pike perch, a flaky and moist white fish. One night we ate leftover mushroom soup we’d had for lunch accompanied by crackers with salmon spread and Brie. On our last night, trying to get rid of food before we moved to Turku, we had greens with Skagen, and sauteed spinach with cherry tomatoes, garlic and cubed cheese in chili oil. That concoction was actually pretty good!
Dining out
Dinner #1: For dinner on the day of our arrival, we went to Tom Yum Thai Restaurant for a buffet in a modern shopping mall downtown because we had to get groceries after. Also, it seemed most restaurants were closed on Sunday. The food was cold and not very good; it seemed they were in a hurry to close down for the night. And we usually know better than to get buffets. We can never eat enough to make it worth our while and the food is never hot enough. Oh well, we win some and lose some.
Dinner #2: Faros Restaurant Ship & Terrace is an old lightship that came to Vaasa in 1989 and has ever since worked as a restaurant. In 2018 the restaurant expanded and opened a second restaurant, FYR, on its adjacent terrace. FYR has high ceilings and a panoramic view of the sea.
I wanted to eat on the ship, but it was closed for special events, so we ate at FYR. The menu was the same one as the ship menu. I had a Cava and Mike a beer, and Mike ate Baked potato with skagen and salad, while I had whitefish fillet, potatoes, dill crème fraiche and roasted vegetables. This was another one of our top dining experiences during our travels!
Lunch #1: For lunch, we stopped at Pharmacy House Café and Bakery where they had a salad bar for 14 euros. It looked good so we got that for lunch. We were loaded down with groceries from both the Vaasa Market Hall and the City Market, so we didn’t feel much like looking around too much for a lunch spot.
The one bad habit we’ve picked up is stopping for pastry and a latte each morning or afternoon. While in Jakobstad, we got out of the rain by stopping for a while in Fika Cafe. How can one blame us for coming in out of the rain?
After zipping around on our scooters, we stopped at Aveny Café in Vaasa for more pastries and latte.
Activities and Sights in Vaasa
Vaasa is the provincial capital of Ostrobothnia, a province in western Finland located on the Gulf of Bothnia. After Vaasa was destroyed by fire in 1852, the city was moved closer to a better harbor location due to the rising land. Vaasa is a university city, a major port city and a significant center of Finnish-Swedish culture. In Vaasa, 62% of its 71,000 citizens speak Finnish, while 23% speak Swedish.
General City Sights
An impressive building in the downtown area is the former Vaasa Joint Stock Bank, now occupied by Bank Food & Wine. The restaurant offers modern, clean Scandinavian flavors in the middle of Vaasa.
The Z. Topelius sculpture memorializes Zacharias Topelius (Jan 14, 1818 to March 12, 1898), a Finnish writer whose first language was Swedish. In modern-day Finland, both Finish and Swedish are official languages. Topelius today is known as a prolific writer of poetry, prose and children’s books.
The city is laid out on a grid pattern with wide boulevards and tree-lined medians, so it is quite a pretty and easy-to-navigate city.
The Statue of Liberty is a monumental bronze sculpture complex located in the Market Square of Vaasa. The statue celebrates the victory of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War in 1918. It was unveiled in 1938.
A day trip to Jakobstad & the Kvarken Archipelago – of wine and gold wooden buildings
We rented a Volkswagen Golf for 24 hours so we could explore a town north of Vaasa, Jakobstad, as well as the Kvarken Archipelago.
Maxmo: Klemetsgårdarna
Outside the small town of Maxmo, we found the closed-for-the-season Klemetsgårdarna, a museum with a cluster of typical west Bothnian houses. The farm group, dating back to the 18th century, is preserved for visitors. Many of its residents had fled to Sweden during unrest during the Great War, so Klemets’ homestead stood empty. The oldest cottage dates to the 1730s and others were built between the 1730s and 1760s. We had fun posing in front of the yellow doors of the cottages.
Jakobstad: Skata
Jakobstad (Pietarssari in Finnish), founded in 1652, has about 20,000 residents. The town is bilingual: 53% speak Swedish and only 30% Finnish. Industry drove migration in the town; by the end of the 18th century the city was Finland’s largest ship producer.
The city is a peninsula bordered by the brackish waters of the Bothnian Bay to the west, the mouths of two rivers to the east, and the freshwater basin of Lake Luodonjärvi. The town center has wide streets and esplanades separating city districts.
The city is the birthplace of the national poet, JL Runeberg.
Skata is the largest continuous wooden housing district in Finland. With the exception of a few stone houses, it was the only one to escape the city fire of 1835. It has been a protected district sine 1981.
Jakobstad Church
Jakobstad Church is a Lutheran church built in 1731; it was built of wood in the shape of a like-sided cross. It was one of the first churches in Finland built like a cross.
Pedersöre kyrka
Pedersöre kyrka is one of the oldest medieval churches in Ostrobothnia. The church lost its medieval design when it was rebuilt into a cruciform church in the late 18th century.
It has a 65m high spire modeled on the tower of Storkyrkan in Stockholm from the 1490s. In July of 1985, the spire was destroyed in a fire, then completely renovated and reopened in Advent 1986.
Replot Bridge
We drove over the Replot Bridge, a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa. It is 1,045 m (3,428 ft) long and it is the 2nd longest bridge in Finland. Its two supporting pylons are both 82.5m (271 ft) high. It was inaugurated in August of 1997.
Svedjehamn
Svedjehamn is a picturesque little harbor with rust-painted boathouses on Björko’s north coast. We found this place to be atmospheric and photogenic; it reminded us of places we visited in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2022. Again, we loved posing in front of the golden doors of the boathouses.
The main fishing harbor was the village of Björköby back in the 1920s. However, the harbor became too shallow as a result of land uplift, and the villagers gradually moved their boathouses to the new harbor at Svedjehamn. These days Bodback and its old boathouses and storehouses are a museum area.
Kvarken Archipelago: the Bodvattnet Nature Trail
We walked a short distance on the 4km loop through the Kvarken Archipelago on the Bodvattnet Nature Trail. On the trail, former sea bays, De Geer moraine ridges and land uplift forests are evident. On the land uplift shores, plants take over land areas that have been under water since the last Ice Age.
The plants grow in a specific order on the emerging land. Sedges and hay grasses grow on the shoreline. A little further away from the shoreline are bushes and grey alder. Birches and spruce forests grow on the highest land areas that have been above water the longest. Pine forests may also grow in the drier areas.
Kvarken Archipelago:Saltkaret Observation Tower
Kvarken Archipelago is Finland’s only natural heritage site on the UNESCO World Heritage List; it was added to the list in 2006. The area is unique because of the continuously and rapidly rising rocky archipelago formed by the Ice Age. The region’s land uplift is the best seen in the world due to its speed.
During the Ice Age, northern Europe was covered by a continental ice sheet. The center of the glacier laid in the Kvarken region, with an ice mass up to 3 km high depressing the earth’s crust by approximately 800-1000m.
In the final stages of the Ice Age, the margin of the melting continental glacier retreated north-westwards, creating ridges up to 5m high and up to 100m wide on the seabed, along the margin of the ice. These are known as De Geer moraines. They form the characteristic landscape of the World Heritage site, being reminiscent of an old-fashioned washboard, emphasized in the village by the fields cleared between the ridges and stone walls.
The land will continue to rebound gradually, at an increasingly slow rate over thousands of years. At Kvarken, the present rate of land uplift is 8-9 mm per year.
We climbed the Saltkaret Observation Tower which overlooks the De Geer moraines. The tower is 20m high, corresponding to around 2000 years of land uplift. About 2000 years ago (AD 1), the land was lower than now by around the height of the tower. In the next 2000 years, Kvarken – the shallow strait between Sweden and Finland – will be almost cut off. However, this process may be slowed down by climate warming, which is raising sea levels.
We loved the amazing views from this tower! When we reached the top of the tower, the sun came out, so it was especially beautiful.
Björköby Church& Björköby
Björköby is a village on Björkö in Korsholm; the settlement has 294 inhabitants while the whole village has around 380. The pretty red Björköby Church was built in 1859 and was named Maria after Alexander II ‘s wife.
Ostrobothnian Museum (aka Pohjanmaan museo)
We went to the only museum open in Vaasa: The Ostrobothnian Museum (also known as the Pohjanmaan museo). The museum building was completed in 1929, and in 1967 a new modern exhibition wing was added.
We started in the Terranova: the Kvarken’s Nature Centre constitutes the museum’s permanent natural science exhibition and demonstrates how plants and animals took over the new land arisen from the sea.
The historical basic exhibition offered stories and items from the Ostrobothnian peasant and merchant culture, as well as the history and folk art of Vaasa.
The Hedman collection consisted of art and antiquities. The nationally significant art collection included the works of masters from the golden age of Finnish art, as well as domestic impressionists and expressionists.
Trinity Church
Vaasa Holy Trinity Church is a 900-seat red brick church in the English Gothic style. It was inaugurated on September 5, 1869.
a stroll down City Bay Trail &University students in Vaasa
After dinner at FYR, we strolled back to our apartment along the City Bay Trail (Kaupunginselän reitti in Finnish, Stadsfjärdsleden in Swedish).
Vaasa is a major university town that boasts four (some sources say six) universities, so it has a youthful vibe. Degrees are offered in Finnish, Swedish and English, attracting a diverse local and international crowd. Apparently every 5th person in the city is a university student. We saw new students in groups playing bonding games. When school starts in September, many student associations organize their own “fuksi-kastajaiset” (Finnish) or “gulnäbbinstagning” (Swedish) involving a series of small competitions and challenges for the new students.
One trademark of student life at Finnish universities are durable overalls (called haalarit in Finnish or halare in Swedish) in bright colors decorated with imaginative patches and badges, intended to convey a sense of community. Students usually acquire these overalls during their first year of studies. The color depends on the university and the field of study. The overalls are plain when they are bought; they are a clear canvas onto which students can pour their personality. They usually get patches for participating in student events, then stitch or glue them onto the overalls. They become a cherished memory from their university years.
our first Ryde scooter experience
I was hoping I wouldn’t end up with broken bones or dead when Mike suggested we rent the Ryde scooters on which we saw the students zipping around town. Luckily, I got the swing of it rather easily. However, Mike did crash into me from behind early on and caught me before I hit the ground.
We rode first to Hietasaari island, where we saw the public sauna, Vaasan Pingviinit (swim club & sauna). We had read you could only pay with Mobile pay, which we cannot get because we are not Finnish or EU citizens. However, when we got there, we discovered we could have paid any number of ways. Sadly, we didn’t have our bathing suits with us.
We rode by a marina and then to Pyhän Nikolaoksen kirkko (St. Nicholas Church), an Eastern Orthodox church in Vaasa. The church was surrounded by a well-preserved area of 19th century wooden barracks.
Homebody Stuff
Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, Furious, Broadchurch and Ride or Die. We enjoyed watching The Summer Book based on the book of the same name by Tove Jansson, about a young girl and her emotionally-distant father staying on a Finnish island with the girl’s grandmother.
We did a little shopping one rainy day in Vaasa at a men’s store called Aukia. There Mike bought two pairs of pants and a flannel shirt. We returned there another day to look for a black long-sleeved shirt, which he found and bought.
Mike went swimming the morning before we returned our rental car because the swimming facility, Vaasan uimahalli, was a long distance from the apartment. He also got a haircut our last afternoon in Vaasa by a Palestinian guy at Turkkilainen Parturi who said he’s a university student but doesn’t much care for his studies. He enjoys being a barber. We both thought, I’m sure his parents will be pleased to find out he wants to be a barber after spending thousands of euros on his education!
I’m in the midst of reading two books: Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum and The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama. 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, plotting out our transport options, and keeping touch with the family at home. We had a long chat with Alex after Jandira wrote a letter to her new boss about defining her role more clearly and she wanted our feedback on the letter.
Friday, September 4: On Friday, we made our way to Turku in Southwest Finland at the mouth of the River Aura.
These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries 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.
Tuesday, August 25 – Sunday, August 30: This week we moved from Helsinki to Tampere, which is in the Lakeland area of Finland.
Finland is called “Land of a Thousand Lakes” but there are actually 188,000 of them. Of those, 187,888 are over 500 square meters. These lakes originate from the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago, when moving glaciers acted like sandpaper; they scraped and gouged the bedrock. This left behind a flat, impermeable landscape where meltwater pooled into depressions, valleys and basins.
The topography of Finland is very flat and about 200 meters above sea level. Because of this, water flows slowly, pools easily, and has almost no mechanism for escape.
The lakes define Finnish summers with people enjoying cottage life, swimming, fishing, and saunas by the water.
Helsinki to Tampere, Finland
We left our Helsinki apartment at around 10:15 on Tuesday morning and made our way to the Pasila train station, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. We took the VR train to Tampere at 11:06 and arrived in Tampere at 12:53. We had bought our tickets ahead of time on the VR app. The train ride was comfortable and efficient and had free WiFi on board.
Our Airbnb apartment: Uittotunnelinkatu 7B 15, Tampere, Piirkanmaa, Finland
Our apartment, hosted by Sari, is referred to as a “Holiday home” and is located in Ala-Pispala near the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. The apartment is compact but cute and super well-organized. This may be the most efficient place we have stayed so far. We have a balcony, a sauna and a washing machine.
Pispala is a distinctive residential area and popular outdoor spot known for its narrow streets, colorful houses and gardens.
In order to check in, we were told to walk from the train station to a bus stop to catch one of many buses to Pispalantori. At the bus stop is a pizza restaurant called Koti Pizza; at that restaurant, I was to pick up an envelope with my name on it and a key inside. Then we walked downhill to the apartment, which is on the second floor of a yellow wooden building.
We had talked with Adam and Alex & family over the weekend, so we called our daughter Sarah and had a nice long chat with her. Then we took a stroll down by the lake. There was a swimming dock but it looked rocky underneath and didn’t look that inviting for a swim. Mike found out the water temperature in the lake was even colder than the temperature in the Helsinki harbor. Also, the boats all around the shore looked as if they hadn’t been used in quite some time.
Visiting markets and dining in
We checked out Tampere Market Hall our first day in Tampere, ate lunch there, and then returned at the end of the day to stock up on goodies. When we returned later we got fresh pike, veggies, cheese, berries, sliced smoked reindeer & blackberry jam.
Tampere Market Hall
Tampere Market Hall, opened in 1901, is in the heart of the city of Tampere. It is the largest market hall in the Nordic countries. Inside are 174 sales outlets, of which about 40% are cafes and restaurants. The most popular restaurant is 4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”) which is a hit with both locals and tourists.
Dining in
We ate in a number of times; one night we had a delicious pike fish with fresh cheese bread and broccolini, but I forgot to take a picture of it. We also had leftover pizza one night, which wasn’t very exciting. We had grilled bread cheese on bread and shrimp spread on crackers and olives for snacks. Our last night, we had orecchiette with havarti cheese, cherry tomatoes and chopped olives (Mike’s concoction). Mike added sliced turkey to his.
Dining out in Tampere
Since we were only staying in Tampere for five nights, we didn’t eat out as much as on our 7-night stays.
Koti Pizza
Dinner #1: We’re a bit far out from the town, about a 12 minute bus ride, so on our day of travel we were too lazy to make a trek for dinner. We strolled uphill to the same Koti Pizza where we had picked up our keys and ordered a “Mexican Pizza” which had jalapeños and, for some strange reason, pineapple. It was good and easy for our first night, and we also had leftovers for another meal.
Inez Tapas Bar
Dinner #2: We enjoyed drinks and the vibe at Inez Tapas Bar after returning our rental car to Sixt on Friday night. We loved our tapas meal of meatballs in tomato sauce, shrimp in garlic butter, sweet & spicy halloumi and pomegranate, sliced beef, roasted beetroot & goat cheese. Yum! It was an all-around scrumptious and delightful experience.
Kahvila Aniitta
Lunch #1: We ate lunch at Kahvila Aniitta at Tampere Market Hall. For lunch, we had a salmon salad sandwich with dill pickles, Karelian pasty with egg salad stuffing, and toast with sliced hard-boiled eggs and fish (sardines or herring?).
4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”)at Tampere Market Hall
Lunch #2: We returned for lunch on Saturday to Tampere Market Hall, where we ate lunch at 4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”). We had pike, potato croquettes, broccolini and tomato sauce.
Kahvila Runo
We found a old-timey cafe, Kahvila Runo, on a street corner and popped in for some delicious sweet treats and a latte.
Activities and Sights in Tampere
Tampere is considered the most important urban, economic and cultural center in the whole of inland Finland. It is wedged between two lakes, Lake Näsijärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi with an 18m (59 ft) difference in the water levels. The rapids that connect them, the Tammerkoski, has been an important source of power throughout the city’s history, most recently for generating electricity. The city is known as the “Manchester of the North” because of its past as a center for Finnish industry.
The city was long known for textiles and metals industries but those were replaced largely by information technology and telecommunications in the 1990s.
Tampereen Raatihuone (Tampere City Hall), Tampereen Teatteri (Tampere Theater), & Vanha kirkko (Tampere Old Church)
We started in the Central Square, the heart of Tampere, surrounded by the important buildings of the city:
Tampere City Hall (Tampereen Raatihuone) is a neo-Renaissance building; the original building was built in 1890. The palacial building has many halls and the City hosts many events here. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called “Red Manifest” was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall.
Tampereen Teatteri (Tampere Theater) is one of two main active theaters in Tampere, along with the Tampere Workers’ Theatre. The building was designed in the National Romantic architectural style and was started in 1904.
Vanha kirkko (Tampere Old Church) was built in 1824 and was the first church in the city of Tampere. The church was designed by the Italian-born Charles (Carlo) Bassi (1772-1840). The Old Church is one of the sixteen churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes of Tampere. Its style is that of a Neoclassical cruciform church.
General city sights
Tirkkonen House is a three-story commercial building in Tampere that was completed in 1901 in the Art Nouveau style. It housed the owner’s fabric store and his mother’s yarn store; the family lived on the top floor.
We found a statue honoring Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872), a Finnish writer.
Finlayson Area
The Finlayson Area is a historic industrial setting in the Tammerkoski river area.
The city’s industrialization in the 19th century was greatly influenced by the Finlayson textile factory, founded in 1820. By 1850, the factory employed 2,000 people while the city’s population had grown to 4,000. Many more industries flourished here as well.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Tampere was a city of workers and women, with one-third of the population being workers and more than half of those women.
The textile industry was heavily focused on bilateral trade with the Soviet Union but, in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the industry lost most of its customers. The red brick Finlayson building has now been put to other uses such as museums, galleries and restaurants.
Mike in front of the Finlayson factory building
Finnish Labor Museum Werstasin the Finlayson factory building
The Finnish Labor Museum Werstas is a national museum of working life and social history situated in the heart of the old Finlayson factory area.
Kalle Kaihari’s life
We saw an exhibit about Kalle Kaihari (1899-1989) who came from a working class family and became a major influencer in many areas of life. He made his career as a successful merchant. Nationally, he was known as a versatile sportsman and one of President Urho Kekkonen’s closest friends. He has been described as a common-sense man with the ability to inspire confidence and create networks. He was particularly determined to advance projects in his home town of Tampere.
The businessman didn’t forget his humble beginnings. In an interview he reminded readers that “If you get rich in business, you have to give back, not pocket everything.”
He seemed like a moral and generous man who was utterly unlike the money-grubbing leaders of today such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk and so many more.
Finnish Labour Museum Werstas
We dipped into Finland’s largest free museum, where we learned stories of the working class and the labor movement in Finland.
The Industry Museum tells the 200-year-old story of Tampere’s industry. The exhibition describes how Tampere became the largest industrial city in the country, and thus became the center of the labor movement. Inspired by the general strike of 1905, the factory workers also became involved in the activities of the workers’ association and local trade unions. In the following years, the factory workers took radical industrial action, demanding wage increases and eight-hour workdays.
An exhibit called “Punished Without a Crime: How Finland Dealt with its Undesirables” tells the history of Finnish correctional labor facilities. Surrounded by barbed wire, the correctional labor facilities chastised and disciplined debtors, promiscuous girls and other undesirables from the 1920s to the 1980s. Freedom could be earned by collecting points, but many had to spend years in these institutions.
TallipihaStable Yards
Tallipiha Stable Yards is an old wooden district with artisan boutiques (mostly geared toward children), handcrafted chocolates and a cozy cafe. We were there on weekday where things seemed rather lackadaisical.
Vapriikki
Sitting along the Tammerkoski rapids is Vapriiki, now a diverse museum center with changing exhibitions which explore a wide variety of topics from history and technology to natural science. We walked into the building but were burned out on museums, so we didn’t explore the ones here.
We were surprised that there were no rapids; the river looked rather dry, maybe because of the time of year, at the end of summer.
A country drive north of Tampere: Ruovesi, Helventinjärvi National Park, and Virrat Harbor
We rented a Volkswagen T-Roc for two days so we could take some country drives around the Lakeland area of Finland.
Ruovesi
We drove north through magical pine and birch forests to the small town of Ruovesi.
Ruoveden kirkko ja hautausmaa (Ruovesi Church and Cemetery)
Ruovesi Church, officially known as Sofia Magdalena Church (Sofia Magdalenan kirkko), is a historic wooden cruciform church in the town of Ruovesi. Built between 1777 and 1778 by master builder Matti Åkerblom, the church was named in honor of Queen Sofia Magdalena of Sweden and opened on August 25, 1778. It seats approximately 1,100 people.
The adjacent cemetery contains graves dating back to the mid-19th century, a memorial for the victims of the steamship Kuru disaster, fallen soldiers from Finland’s wars, and a traditional church boat housed in a shed.
Unlike most nations during WWII, Finland’s military leadership mandated that fallen soldiers be evacuated from the front lines and returned to their home parishes for burial, regardless of rank. The graves of those lost from 1939-1945 are laid out in simple lines in a designated area.
During Finland’s 100 Centennial Celebration in 2017, young men were recruited to stand guard at graves of fallen soldiers, with each recruit matched to the age of the fallen soldier when they died. The visual impact of so many young men (mostly in their late teens and early 20s) brought a heartbreaking reality to the horrors of war.
Ruovesi marina & swimming beach
We enjoyed warm fried doughnuts at a cafe beside the Ruovesi marina and then strolled along the shore to look at the boats and the swimming beach.
Helventinjärvi National Park
We made a brief stop at Helventinjärvi National Park but I lost interest quickly in walking the 4km loop walk through forest to see a gorge that probably looks similar to Mather Gorge in Northern Virginia at Great Falls. We found a yurt sauna and pier to the lake, but I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we didn’t stay long.
Virrat Harbour
We continued north to Virrat Harbour, where we found a swimming beach and diving platform, plenty of boat moorings, and some gorgeous cloud reflections.
Virtain kirkko ja hautausmaa (Virtai Church and Cemetery)
Built between 1772 and 1774, Virtai Church and Cemetery is a historic wooden Ostrobothnian cruciform church featuring a unique renaissance-style bell tower (completed in 1776) that serves as the main entrance, linked via a narrow connecting corridor. The church is one of the most prominent masterworks of the famous self-taught Finnish church builder Antti Hakola.
The cemetery was first established in 1702. It features a large military cemetery (sankarihautausmaa) containing the graves of 336 fallen heroes from World War II, complete with a hero’s cross.
Red flowers at Finnish cemeteries are most used to decorate graves of soldiers who fell in Finland’s wars. Begonias, geraniums or roses symbolize sacrifice, honor and blood shed for the country’s independence during conflicts like the Winter War and the Continuation War.
Day trip to Hämeenlinna
With the rental car, we took another day trip southeast to Hämeenlinna to see Iittala Village and Häme Castle rising on the shores of Vanajavesi lake.
day trip to Hämeenlinna
Iittala Village& Naivistit Iittalassa
Iittala Village is the center of Finnish glass-making and home to the only Finnish glass factory operating in Finland and the home of the Iittala brand. The first glass was blown in November of 1881.
In Iittala Village, we found a wonderful Naive Art Exhibition (Naivistit Iittalassa) that featured 50 naive artists and over 500 new works. This is an annual summer exhibition in the village.
Naive art depicts everyday life, celebrations and people with a gentle and often humorous touch. It is characterized by clear expression, bright colors and subjects drawn from daily life. Realism or accurate perspective are not main concerns. What matters is personal expression and an individual way of seeing the world.
The movement took place in Western Europe in the 20th century and arrived in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s and has since become a distinctive field of art.
Häme Castle&“Carnival – IT Art at the Castle”
Häme Castle was most likely built during the late 13th century to serve as a military base in the border zone between Sweden and Novgorod, the capital of the Novgorod Republic, a city-state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northwestern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east.
The castle got its current appearance in about 1520.
Hämeenlinna was declared a city in 1639. During the Great Northern War the castle fell under Russian rule (1713-1721) but returned to the Swedish crown later. In the 1770s, the castle was fortified with bastions and a moat by order of Gustav III of Sweden.
In 1837 the main fort was converted to a prison for women. The castle was opened to the public in 1979 after 20 years of restoration.
Today, the castle was setting up for a wedding. In addition, the second floor was hosting an art exhibit titled: “Carnival – IT Art at the Castle” which showcased contemporary visual folk art. The artists drew their material and themes from their own living environment and personal worldview.
The works in the exhibition were full of joy, the courage to try new things and the boldness to challenge the establishment. The laughter, mockery and criticism that are part of the carnivalesque tradition resonate particularly strongly at a time when freedom of speech and expression are being curtailed in many places.
Vanaja Church&Holy Cross Church
Vanaja Church is a 15th Century stone church with excellent acoustics, making it a popular venue for choirs. It is renowned for a rare outdoor pulpit, which we couldn’t find.
Holy Cross Church in Hattula was built at the end of the 15th century and is dedicated to the Holy Cross. It is built of a distinctive red brick, unusual as most churches built at that time were built of grey stone.
Sadly the church was closed and a construction crew was working on the exterior. The grounds were overgrown and unkempt.
The church is famous for its 200 historical paintings done in al secco technique: the pictures are painted on a dry surface with colors dissolved in lime-water. We were sorry not to be able to see these paintings.
Lepaa Manor
Lepaa Manor was established as early as the 13th century although parts of the current main building were built in the late 17th C. We could never identify which building was the Manor House. In addition to the stunning manor grounds, Lepaa also features a horticultural college, a garden museum, and a winery that produces wines from its own harvest.
Pyynikki neighborhood and its hill with a viewing tower
Pyynikki is a scenic ridge area just outside of the Tampere city center. At the Pyynikki Observation Tower, visitors can enjoy the famous freshly fried doughnuts and coffee while enjoying views.
The attraction has the cafe set up for success. In order to buy the ticket to the tower, one must stand in line at the cafe, where, heck, after standing in line you might as well buy the doughnuts with the tickets. Mike and I have been eating way too many Danish and pastries of various types on this trip, so we got one to share. It was of course delicious!
We took the creaky elevator to the top and enjoyed cloudy views of Tampere.
World’s only Moomin Museum
Tampere-talo (Tampere Hall) is the largest concert and congress center in the Nordic countries and hosts hundreds of events, concerts, meetings and other occasions every year. It is home to the Tampere Philharmonic and the Moomin Museum, among others.
The Moomin Museum showcases experimental art for Moomin fans and art lovers of all ages. The museum reveals how the Moomins came to life and what happened next. Although I have never read any of the Moomin books by author and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001), we enjoyed diving into the adventures of the Moomins through the artist’s original illustrations.
Tove Jansson created the Moomins and their whimsical valley as an escape from the anxieties of war. Her art and stories celebrate diversity, empathy and togetherness. At the museum, one is able to follow the full Moomin story – from the great flood that first brought the Moomin family together to their mysterious disappearance one grey November.
A special exhibit at the museum introduced the 2.5m tall Moomin-house tableau built in 1979 by Tove Jansson, Tuulikki Pietilä and Pentti Eistola. The house has dozens of different windows, carefully crafted miniature objects, and hidden secrets.
Tampere Cathedral
Tampere Cathedral (The Church of St. John) was built out of natural stone in the quarter of Kyttälä between 1902 and 1907 to meet a need for a church on the east side of the Tammerkoski rapids.It is one of the city’s most significant monuments in the National Romantic style in Finland. It is famous for its remarkable interior artworks, which hold a place in Finland’s cultural history.
Artists Hugo Simberg (1873-1917) and Magnus Enckell (1870-1925) carried out the decorative work of the cathedral. The altarpiece Resurrection, a fresco by Magnus Enckell, depicts the central theme of Christianity in a timeless, simple manner.
Simberg designed a sharp-thorn garland to surround the gallery edge. The Garland of Life is carried by 12 naked boys. The children represent the disciples of Jesus.
The Wounded Angel fresco’s factory chimneys reveal that the painting is set in Tampere. The Garden of Death portrays Death as a considerate figure, tenderly caring for his plants.
Biblical themes come to life in the stained glass windows as well.
When we arrived at the Cathedral, a wedding was in progress and we almost left before seeing the interior. But a man from the church had seen us peeking in the back window and came out to tell us the wedding would be over in 20 minutes and then the church would open to visitors. We waited and were richly rewarded by the stunning interior.
We figured that the turquoise car outside the church would be used for the bride and groom after the wedding.
Homebody stuff
Sauna culture
Tampere was officially declared as “Sauna Capital of the World” because it has the most public saunas in the world. We were going to go to a public sauna in Tampere but time got away from us and we ended up simply using the sauna in our apartment.
The public saunas in Tampere are many, including: Kuuma sauna (modern city-center sauna, open all year); Rauhaniemen Kansankylpylä (lakeside bathing facility dates from 1920s and heats up every day); Kaukajärven sauna has a long platform for dipping into the lake; and Kaupinojan sauna (open year round and has a kiosk to buy Finnish sausages to grill over an open fire).
Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, and Furious. We started Ride or Die on the recommendation of my friend Mona Lisa. In Tampere, I finally finished reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (it was mediocre) and I continued reading Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4) by Elizabeth Strout. Strout’s book is a hard one to read because it takes place during the pandemic and the political upheaval of January 6, 2021, when neo-Nazis and Trumpers attacked the U.S. Capitol.
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, plotting out our transport options, and keeping touch with the family at home. While in Tampere, we had a good long chat with our daughter Sarah and a Saturday chat with Alex and Allie.
Sunday, August 30: On Sunday, we made our way to Vaasa near Finland’s western coast.
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. 🙂
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.
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:
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.
Denmark ↓
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Midnight Witness by Sara Blaedel
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen: Childhood, Youth, Dependency
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.
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.
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.
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 ASXOutlanderSport
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.**
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