Author: reissmd

I am a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, doctor and traveler but most of all at this stage of my life I am a follower of the mantra of Madeline Albright: "Some people pursue enlightenment by sitting quietly and probing their inner consciousness; I make plane reservations."

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #13 “Adjø (goodbye) to Scandinavia”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway

Today was our last full day in Norway.  Tomorrow I will finish up as usual with a collection of photos that speak for themselves (but of course, I will speak for them).  Today we started with another massive buffet.  That has been the recurrent theme of this trip.  Small rooms but massive buffets.  

We then met the group for a bus/walking tour of the city.  One thing I have learned from this trip is that I don’t like to be led around by a guide hearing tons of facts about a city.  I prefer to explore by myself (with Patrice of course) and meet locals rather than hear about things that happened 1000 years ago.  Sorry if I sound like a heathen but that is who I am. 

We are in Bergen, which as I mentioned yesterday, is the 2nd most populated city in Norway.  We found out today that it is a sister city with Seattle.  You might know that Seattle averages about 37 inches of rain per year.  Well its Norwegian sister averages 89 inches.  I wonder if they know about Sitka, Alaska which receives 100 inches of rain per year?  My Los Angeles friend, Linda, tells me she loves rain.  I think relocation to one of these 3 cities would be in her best interest. 

We were on our own for lunch and the afternoon.  Patrice and I only ate a snack for lunch (bringing our average lunch calorie count for the trip down to about 1800). We then walked the city and decided on going to the Kode museum.  It was a worthwhile stop so I would recommend it.

At night, we met the entire group for a farewell dinner.  This has been a really good group of travel buddies.  It is hard to imagine that you would get 24 people together and not one of them would be a jerk making the trip less enjoyable.  Patrice pointed out there was one jerk on the trip and she had to room with him. 

Tonight we toured a local farm with the group and saw some interesting animals.  Have you ever seen a Fjord Horse?  See below.

Fjord horse mommy and her 4 week old son.

I was not looking forward to this dinner since I thought the main attraction was the farm and the dinner would not be very good.  I was wrong.  I would say this was the best meal of the trip. 

A lovely trout for dinner.
Wait, what’s this? The trout was just a starter? This is veal for your main course. I decided just to have one bite but it was AMAZING and I ate the whole thing.
A swan for dessert? No, sorbet with meringue and whipped cream with raspberry sauce. I’m not a big whipped cream or meringue guy but the sorbet was yummy.

I always have mixed emotions about an end of a trip. I love traveling but it will be good to be home. I always like to learn things on our trips. I definitely learned something on this trip. See below.

I NEED A HAIRCUT!

I will send you my photo post from the airport or possibly from the plane. 

Adios, oops, I mean adjø

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #12 “Bergen”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway, Uncategorized

Our trip is almost over.  We left the fjords this morning and the beautiful scenario that every way we turned looked like a picture used in a jigsaw puzzle.  Yes, beauty that you would think only existed in someone’s imagination. If you think this is just my imagination, come to Norway, experience the fjords, and see for yourself.  Here is one last fjord for the road.

Fjord with a salmon farm.

There has been some downtime during the trip during which I have read my book group selection for the month. It is a non-fiction tale about about Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the Diesel engine.  At first glance it might sound like a boring story.  In reality it’s quite interesting and what’s more, it is very pertinent to the trip. 

Diesel was a peer of Alfred Nobel from Nobel prize fame.  As you might recall we visited Stockholm where the majority of the prizes are awarded and Oslo where the peace prize is given. This tidbit was a footnote in the book and was very illuminating: 

[When Ludwig Nobel (Alfred’s brother) died in April 1888, French newspapers incorrectly reported the death of Alfred, who was in fact alive and well. Alfred then read his own obituary, which was a scathing critique of his life and work. The obituary named Alfred a “merchant of death” and declared that his invention, dynamite, “killed more people faster than ever before.” Alfred was so disturbed at this potential posthumous reputation that he later changed his last will and testament to bequeath his entire fortune to a new foundation that would award a series of prizes to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”]

I’m sure this was horrifying for Nobel but I’ve often mused that funerals are a waste because the one person who would really enjoy hearing what was being said is dead and can’t enjoy it.  That’s why I’m planning to have my funeral long before I die.  

We left the Fjord country and headed to our last stop, Bergen (of course not before stopping for bathroom breaks which just happened to be in gift shops). Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, with a population of about 292,000 with about 20,000 of those people being students at the University of Bergen.

We arrived late and only had a chance to use the funicular to see a panoramic view of the city.

A view from the top.

I also was excited to to see someone with a nose bigger than mine. See below.

Handsome chap, isn’t he?

In addition we saw one of my favorite travel sights. See below.

Oh yes, another bird on a statue’s head.

After returning from the furnicular we found an excellent Spanish restaurant for dinner and then on to home.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the trip. Until then adjø (goodbye).

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #11 “W.T.F. Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords”

by reissmd, posted in Norway, Uncategorized

Travel can sometimes make me confused.  Yesterday I said TGIF but it was only Thursday.  Well today was (is) Friday and we had a another great day of looking at the fjords.  We had an early start, lots of great food, and transportation to lots of great sights.  In other words we are on a Tauck tour.

Our coach driver (by that I mean our bus driver, not someone who is telling our driver what to do) did a great job transporting us from location to location.   Our coach is large and comfy, but the roads are at times a bit narrow. 

This is a two lane highway. Luckily traffic coming the opposite direction was light and drivers were very considerate (in other words they weren’t from Los Angeles or New York).

Our first stop was Dalsnibba where supposedly the view is breathtaking unfortunately for us, all we could see were clouds and snow flakes. 

Except for the coach, is there much you can see?

But then we had a series of stops where we saw lovely waterfalls.

Patrice posing with me in ‎⁨Oppstryn⁩, ⁨Norway⁩.
Together in front of a fjord. ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
In front of a run off from another waterfall. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
And another. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Finally Patrice had enough and told me to go take the picture by myself. I asked our guide if Tauck would give me a substitute for me to use in my picture. I was told, they would send a young thing to pose with me instead. YES, I LOVE YOU TAUCK.

Tauck, that was not exactly what I had in mind. With travel buddy, Matt, in ‎⁨Hellesylt⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Back in the hotel now and getting ready for a lecture on the history of Norway (just the first 10,000 years) followed by…….. DINNER!

Talk to you soon. But since this was entitled Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords, I feel obligated to give you at least one Troll (other than me). See below.

See you tomorrow as our trip rapidly nears its end.

Skol! Our Trip To Scandinavia Day #10 “TGIF: Thank God It’s Fjord-day”

by reissmd, posted in Loen, Norway, Norway

Today was totally devoted to experiencing the fjords of Norway. As I mentioned before this was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this trip.  I hate to say this but in spite of today providing some beautiful sights I have to say I was a bit disappointed.  

My vision was that I was going to see mountains of ice extending from a water base all the way to the heavens. I was thinking about what we had seen in Alaska and Patagonia and that this would be similar or hopefully even more spectacular.  Today reminded me of when we saw geysers in the Atacama desert in Chile.  The guides prepared us to see spectacular geysers but instead we saw things that guides at Yellowstone or Patagonia wouldn’t even bother to point out.  

The day started out with me being cold on a ferry. Do I look happy?

Cold and alone.

That being said it was still an enjoyable day. It warmed up after the morning and we didn’t have any rain. I even had to take off my jacket because it was warm. And we got to hang out with 22 new friends who are all wonderful travel partners.

Warmer and happier in front of one of the glaciers and fjord.

Heading to one location we met with a delay. Traffic was blocked by some locals crossing the highway.

Line of cars waiting for goats to clear the highway.
A close-up of our new travel buddies.

But more fjords were to follow.

In the coach passing by a lovely fjord.

Our next fjord/glacier was a bit more spectacular (see below).

Nice view of a glacier.
Same glacier but close-up view to better see the snow and ice.

We also had the opportunity to see two Norwegian movie stars.  I only got their first names.  They were obviously special since numerous people were among their entourage.  Here is a photo of Sven and Ingrid.

Such gorgeous movie stars. Her English was amazing. His needs a lot of work.

We then returned to the hotel to be greeted by another massive dinner buffet. Good thing my pants were loose fitting when we left Los Angeles. They feel just right now but I predict they will be snug by the time we get home.

I did another magic trick tonight asking one of our travel mates, Jayme, to assist me and it worked like a charm. They are a great magic audience.

See you tomorrow.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #9 “Fjords Ahoy!”

by reissmd, posted in Norway, Balestrand

We had an early morning start today.  The buffet at the Grand Hotel was fantastic again. I noticed some chocolate chip cookies.  I had one and later went back for another.  A fellow traveler (Deb) asked me if they were good.  I told her they were excellent “…but not as good as my sister, Annette’s”.  Deb said “Oh, how sweet, you should put that in your blog.”   So there it is. 

The early start required us to have our bags ready for pick up at 7 AM and we had to be on the bus by 8 am.  Tauck is quite militaristic when it comes to the schedule.  Some vacationers might not like that but I love it.  If our schedule calls for us to leave at 8 and I’m on the bus at 8 it would irritate the heck out of me if we don’t leave until 8:15 because someone else is late. 

That reminds me of one of our fellow travelers, Marshall, who has been very fun to talk to.  He told me the 3 main life lessons he has tried to teach his children, grandchildren, and apparently anyone else who will listen.  That would include me so here they are:

1.  If you’re not early you’re late. 

2. Leave things as you’ve found them. 

3. Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story (my personal favorite)

All good lessons to live by. And here is a picture of the sage person who shared them with me. 

I’m taking life advice from this person?

Today we headed to the fjords.  This was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this vacation. During today’s road trip, our tour guide, Dean, relayed a number of interesting facts and stories.  For example did you know the name Bjorn means bear?  Or that the Vikings didn’t wear horns? (I guess Marshall isn’t a Viking after all).    

Today’s trip was very long so we had some bathroom stops.  The first was at 10:00 AM at this roadside restaurant with a very interesting roof.  

This is called a sod roof and I don’t think it will become popular in Southern California.

Lunch was in Gol, Norway where the  average high temperatures in July are 60° and in August 58°.  In spite of these “high” temperatures they have this in Gol. See below. 

A water slide when the high temperatures in the summer reach 60°? No thank you.

We finally approached the fjords and then we were just two ferry rides and a short drive away from our hotel for the night. I could not believe the ferries. They were incredibly stable and exhibited no sway at all. I didn’t realize we were moving and then saw we were about to arrive. Very nice.

We are staying at the Kviknes Hotel (Kviknevegen 8, 6899 Balestrand). The hotel looks just average and the room is nothing special either but the buffet was something of which I don’t think I have ever seen before. We were told to get to the dining hall 15 minutes early for a lecture. I was prepared to hear a boring lecture about vikings or some celebrity who spent a night at the hotel 25 years ago. Oh no, not at all. Instead we were introduced to the head chef who walked us around the entire buffet and explained every dish. I am sure you are thinking, no big deal, he described 4-5 dishes and said “Bon Appetit!”. Uh, no. I can recall the following: Herring in mustard sauce, tomato sauce or pickled. Crabs legs, shrimp, seafood salad, Caesar salad, potato salad, cole slaw, tomato and cheese salad, crayfish soup, smoked and 2 other types of salmon, trout, halibut, venison stew, cold cuts (ham, roast beef, salami, et.al.), grapes and other fresh fruit, cauliflower, broccoli, root vegetables, olives (yuck), potatoes, a variety of cheeses, blueberry pie, ice cream, cheese cake, eclairs, creme brulee, flan, panna cotta, cookies, crackers, brownies, etc. Just writing this sentence is making me feel stuffed.

I am tired and need to get to sleep. We have another early start tomorrow. Speak to you then.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #8 “Oslo, I Will Miss You”

by reissmd, posted in Oslo

We were up early this morning and after an amazing breakfast at the Grand Cafe (part of the Grand Hotel) we headed for the bus.  Excuse me, we headed for the coach (Tauck doesn’t call it a bus).  It was not raining when we left but it was, soon after, when we arrived at our first destination.  This would have been a great time to explore a museum but unfortunately, no such luck this morning.  Our first stop was the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Garden (aka Frogner Park).  Yes, outdoors of course.  Tauck can’t control the weather?

Visiting the Vigeland Sculpture Garden was a beautiful and wonderful experience in spite of the rain.  The park is full of works of art created by the Norwegian sculptor, Gustav Vigeland (1869-1941).  The park claims to have 1 million visitors per year.  There were a number of visitors today in spite of the inclement weather.

The first piece we saw was “Lischjulet” (The Wheel of Life). It is a wreath of men, women, and children.

Livshjulet (Wheel of Life)

I love seeing statues in parks. One of my favorite things is seeing birds perched on the head of someone or something famous.

Doesn’t the bird really add to this piece?

After the sculpture park we went to another boat museum (remember the Vasa boat museum honoring a boat that sunk 23 minutes into its maiden voyage). This was the Fram Museum which is dedicated to Norwegian Polar explorers and it documents how crazy these guys were. Patrice and I have considered going to Antartica on a trip but it seems a bit too challenging. That is with tour guides and all the luxury conveniences typical of a travel vacation. Can you imagine the same trip going to an uncharted location with the technology available at the turn of the century (and I am talking 1900 not 2000). These guys were crazy and many of them paid the ultimate price.

We then had another wonderful lunch (I think Tauck means food in some foreign language). Following lunch we left the group to do our own thing. Patrice and I opted to go to the National Museum and see Edvard Munch’s famous painting, “The Scream”. I am sure you all know it, but see below to jog your memory.

Wait! That’s not it, that is a magnet we saw in a store.
The Scream by Edvard Munch painted in 1893.

The museum was a real treat and I would recommend it to all. We then set out to find a “kokospollen”. This is a pastry that our friend, Linda, said we had to try. We went to a nearby coffee shop and they didn’t have it but a customer overheard our request and sent us to a nearby bakery. The bakery didn’t have it either but while waiting for Patrice I started to chat with another customer. When the bakery couldn’t help us my new Norwegian friend sent us to another location which also didn’t have the heralded treat. At this location we met a woman who spoke perfect English. She knew exactly what we were looking for and not only told us where to find it but helped us find the store. On our way, we found out why her English was so good, she is from Arizona. She is here because of her Norwegian husband. I bet we would have found out that there are some sad Arizona parents if we had talked to her further. Unfortunately her recommendation did not have the pastry. But we were sent to a local market but they too did not have what we were looking for. We then saw it was getting late and we wanted to visit the Nobel Center. We gave up our quest and headed over to the Center and found out it was closed for the day! Tauck failed us here. The handout we received from Tauck said the the Center was open until 6 pm but when we arrived at 5 pm they were closed for the day. Oh well, a reason to return to Oslo.

We went back to the hotel to rest and then had what I think was the best meal of the trip. The Grand Hotel Concierge recommended that we eat dinner at Brasserie Hansken (Christiania Torv 4, 0158 Oslo). In an attempt to experience the local culture we had herring for an appetizer followed by Veal (Patrice) and Cod (Robert) for our main courses. Our apologies to Eric, no dessert.

Crispy bread covering the herring.
Herring, potatoes, and a poached egg. Just looking at the herring is making my mouth water.
Patrice’s veal. I didn’t ask to try it because…………………
I didn’t want her to ask for any of my cod. I did offer her some and unfortunately she said yes.

We leave Oslo tomorrow. I have really enjoyed this city and would like to stay longer but I am really looking forward to seeing the fjords which is next on our itinerary.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #7 “Happy Birthday King Frederik X, Good Bye Copenhagen and Hello Oslo”

by reissmd, posted in Uncategorized

Today is May 26, 2025 and it’s the birthday of King Frederik X, the King of Denmark.  Prior to this trip I didn’t know we would be in Copenhagen on his birthday.  Actually before this trip I didn’t know that Denmark had a king let alone, who he was or that today is his birthday.  Apparently he is a very emotional guy.  We saw a video of when he was being introduced as the King following the abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe II. In the video you can see he gets teary eyed.  Obviously my kind of guy. 

Patrice here: For those of you who don’t know Robert, he cries at Disney movies. All you have to do is have him watch Kevin Costner’s character in Field of Dreams playing catch with his dad, and Robert will lose  it.  You don’t even need to include the dialogue.  

Enough about the King.  After breakfast this morning we had some free time to do some more sightseeing then it was off to the airport for our flight to Oslo.  Everything went smoothly at the airport once I realized that I was trying to use my boarding pass for my flight to Stockholm rather than the one for today’s flight.  How embarrassing.  But at least I gave the security guard a good story to share with his wife when he gets home.  

We had a quick bite to eat at the airport.  It was surprisingly good and looked very appealing.  See what you think?  See below. 

Airport food? Really? Shrimp and eggs on the left and Plaice on the right

The flight to Oslo was short and sweet.  Our bags were driven to Oslo early this morning so we didn’t need to wait for them at the airport and they were in our room when we arrived.  Nice going Tauck 

The hotel looks fantastic.  Well if you think Murano Glass chandeliers are nice (I DO!).  Check it out.

Murano glass chandelier in the dining room.

We then had a brief walking tour of the downtown area.  For some reason I really liked this tour.  Our guide told us some very interesting information rather than filling us with details that I didn’t care about.  One thing she told us that was both interesting and sad was they have these very large planters on the city’s main walkway.  The reason for the planters is only partly for decoration.  The main reason they are there is to prevent some nut driving into the many people who walk there. 

This planters are placed so as to impede a car driven by someone attempting to do harm.

We saw a bunch of other things of interest. Here are some.

Statue honoring women who have had breast cancer and telling them they still look beautiful with only one or no breasts.
The Nobel Peace Center. This is the site of the offices of the Nobel Peace prize. It houses lots of information about the various past winners. The prize ceremony is at city hall in Oslo and the prize laureate stays at the Grand Hotel while awaiting festivities.
Pay toilets given by France in 2005 to honor Norway’s 100th anniversary of independence from Sweden.

Wouldn’t you have loved to have been in on that discussion? “So what should we give Norway to honor their 100th anniversary of independence?” “Well we gave the USA the Statue of Liberty.” “Yes, but we were a little late on that (given 1886) so had to make it special, we don’t have to go that big.” “What do you say about giving them some Red, White, and Blue toilets? And let’s make them pay toilets so they can make a few bucks.” “Great idea, let’s make sure we are on time with this one”

Sorry, but can I add just one more photo?

I have no idea who either of these people are but I just love seeing a bird atop a statue’s head.

After the tour, we then went to dinner at the hotel restaurant.  They were not very busy but they took forever to get us our food. Our meal was spectacular but I think their strategy was to take so long to bring us the food we would think a Big Mac was fine dining.  It took about 90 minutes to bring out the main course.  Is that acceptable?  Our 7 pm meal didn’t finish until 10 pm.  Don’t these people realize I have a blog to write?

Tomorrow is our main day of touring Oslo.  Good news, they were wrong when they predicted 100% chance of rain tomorrow.  The most recent forecast states the chance for rain tomorrow is only 95%.  

Hopefully we will have good news for you tomorrow.  

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #6 “Don’t Come Here (Copenhagen in May) For the Weather”

by reissmd, posted in Copenhagen

Today was billed as a day with a lot packed into it “Don’t be late, we have lots to do”. And we were not deceived. We did have a very full day but got a great start by having a wonderful night’s sleep. After breakfast we met our local guide for the day and headed onto the bus. We were told that we would be doing a lot of street walking. The tour guide warned us when crossing the street be careful of the “Psychopaths”. We asked him to repeat himself and without hesitation he again warned, “When crossing the streets be careful of the psychopaths”. We remained bewildered and our expressions must have revealed our confusion so he further explained, “Yes, the bicyclists have the right of way so you will need to be aware of their location on the CYCLE PATH”. Okay, got it.

The morning tour was complicated by rain and cold weather. We did a short walk before getting on the bus. During the drive we passed a number of historical sights and then found this one:

The Little Mermaid.

Our guide said that the statue has been the victim of multiple cases of vandalism including twice having her head cut off and once being completely demolished with explosives. Why would anyone want to hurt this sweet thing?

We did some more touring from there but I have to tell you being on a boat or bus hearing a tour guide go on and on about fact after fact just doesn’t do it for me. Patrice said she disagrees and likes that aspect. Hmmmm, see below.

Robert and Patrice taking in every word the tour guide is saying on the boat portion of the activities.

We were given a midday break to have some lunch and get some rest. We found a nice place where we could get some authetic Danish cuisine.

Can you get any more authentic Danish food than some good old Italian pasta with burrata cheese?

Then we were back on the road with our guide making sure to avoid the psychopaths. Our next stop was a bit out of the city. We passed some gorgeous homes on our way to Frederiksborg Castle. This place was beautiful inside and out. Here is a picture approaching from a distance.

Frederiksborg Castle (Frederiksborg Slot 10, 3400 Hillerød). The picture doesn’t adequately show its beauty.

After the castle we headed to dinner for an authentic Danish meal (unlike the Italian food we had for lunch) at Gamle Humlebæk Kro (are you impressed I could type the Danish letter æ?). The dinner was great but the highlight for me was a mindreading/card trick I performed for the group. People laughed at the jokes and were blown away when I picked the correct card. I promised to do my calculator trick the night before the trip ends and people were very excited. My magic ego got a major boost today.

The master magician and his assistant.

Tomorrow we fly to Norway.

Til i morgen.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #5 “How About a Little Danish?”

by reissmd, posted in Copenhagen, Denmark, Stockholm, Sweden

Last night we had a lovely dinner in Toftaholm preceded by some “entertainment” at the hotel.  Frequently on tours we are subjected to, I mean entertained by locals dressing up as people from the past.  It’s like seeing a history lesson on “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”.   I suppose people like this type of diversion because we commonly see it.  Personally. I would take a pass.  Last night they had some woman pretending to be a queen from the past.  As I mentioned this is not my cup of tea so I really can’t tell you much because I zoned out.    

The Toftaholm Herrgard hotel was more like a bed and breakfast.  Our room was small but adequate.  The bathroom was tiny with a shower that was small even by European standards.  Check it out.

Notice the doors are folded into the shower. This is necessary because the bathroom is too small for them to open out.
This is what the shower looks like when it is ready for use.

This morning we were taken by bus south to the Sofiero gardens in Helsingborg, Sweden.  The gardens were gorgeous but the rainy weather was not optimal for viewing.  We had a very sweet guide who kept giggling during her presentation.  I am not sure if she thought what she was saying was funny or was it that she had this group of stupid Americans willing to pay a lot of money to stand in the rain.   Yes, it rained a lot while we were traversing the gardens.  So a beautiful stroll through a gorgeous garden turned into  a “When will this thing end?” event.  Of course it stopped raining as soon as we went indoors to have lunch.  After lunch we were driven through the beach community of  Helsingborg.  I am not quite sure how popular a beach resort would be if the average summer high temperatures are in the low 60s.  

Just a fraction of the gorgeous Rhododendrons at the Sofiero gardens. There were a lot of beautiful plants but I chose this so I could show off that I knew how to spell Rhododendron.
This was an area we were standing while listening to our guide in the rain. Would a grove of trees been better?

The park had a classy bathroom. See below.

Could you imagine seeing real towels in a USA bathroom?

After Sofiero we headed further south across the Øresund Bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark.   I am sure you are thinking why does he bore us with that small bit of info?  I have to confess, the real reason is that I thought it was real cool that I figured out how to type, “Ø”.    Just don’t ask me what it is called.

We entered Denmark at the capital city of Copenhagen.  After a brief stop at the Phoenix Hotel to drop off our things we headed to the famous Tivoli Gardens.  This was much anticipated by me especially since I always thought they were in Italy.  As it turns out I am not a total dufus.  The gardens were opened by Georg Carstensen in 1843 and he named it Tivoli after the town in Italy.  

The Tivoli Gardens was actually more of an amusement park with rides, games, and lots of places to eat.  Most importantly the weather cooperated and let us enjoy the beauty without getting wet.  It is said that Walt Disney got his idea for Disneyland after visiting this lovely park.  

We had dinner at a restaurant in the park where we ran into two couples from our tour. They invited us to join them. It was a great time for sure. After dinner we walked back to the hotel. I wanted to use the hotel stairs to work off some extra calories and saw this in the stairwell.

That is not an illusion. The stairs and much of our room is on a slant.

We spoke with others on the trip and they too have uneven floors in their rooms. I spoke to the people at the front desk and asked about the hotel history. The clerk wasn’t able to tell me much except that the hotel was designed by a very famous architect from the Italian city of Pisa.

That is more than enough for tonight. I need to get in some magic practice. I promised the group I would do a magic trick during dinner tomorrow. I need to figure something out quick.

Godnat

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #4 “Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia!)

by reissmd, posted in Stockholm, Sweden, Toftaholm

Yesterday we finished the group tour in the morning and had the afternoon to ourselves.  We opted to go to the ABBA museum.  I was not crazy about the idea but numerous people had said it was a must see attraction.  I thought it was okay but not spectacular.  I think Patrice liked it more than I did since she got the opportunity to audition to be the 5th member of the group.  See below. 

Clever effect but Björn Ulvaeus (far left) is 5’7″. If the body images were accurate it would mean Patrice is about 4’2″ (by the way, she isn’t).

I’m sure many of you know (I didn’t) that ABBA is named using the first letters of the first names of the 4 group members (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-frid).  All I can say is that it’s a good thing that the female members joining Benny and Björn weren’t named Olivia and Olga.  Can you figure out the rest?

We then had a lovely dinner at Bistro Bestick just footsteps from our hotel (Bryggargatan 8, 11121 Stockholm).  The food and service were excellent.  We shared an appetizer of “Mushroom Toast” and it was great. For the main course Patrice had the Char and I had the Cod.  She made the better choice. 

Typically when we share things Patrice will take a bite or two leaving me the rest.  This can be dangerous because if I am not careful I will find myself eating 2 meals instead of one.  Last night Patrice definitely had her share of the appetizer and did a great job on her main course as well. 

“Mushroom Toast”. Not really toast but it was delicious.
Char ordered by Patrice. Spectacular.
The Cod. Very good but didn’t measure up when compared to the Char.

This morning was a travel day and we were driven to the town of Toftaholm which is about 250 miles from Stockholm and we made a variety of stops on the way so driving time was a little over 8 hours.  We are in a nice hotel that is more like a bed and breakfast.  The room is fine and tonight’s dinner was very good.  

Tomorrow we get an early start so see you then, when, after a morning tour of Toftaholm we leave for  …….. Wait one second, let me ask Patrice where we are going tomorrow. 

Patrice WHAT ARE WE DOING TOMORROW?   She doesn’t seem to be available. I will get back to you on that…………… tomorrow.