drive back to sweden

we decided to rent a car in copenhagen and drive back to stockholm.  it was so magical.  we stopped at a field of yellow flowers to walk around.  there were patches of these yellow flowers all over sweden, it was so pretty.  we then stopped at a castle to look around.  right next to the castle was a graveyard so we walked around looking for family names.  i'm pretty sure we are related to some of them in there.  we also stopped at a little cafe right on a lake.  it had the cutest deck with a swing on the tree.  there was also the cutest little store.  we hung out there for a bit and did some swinging.  it was such a fun drive!

copenhagen

ryan and i LOVED copenhagen.  we knew we wanted to go somewhere else while we were in stockholm, we just didn't know where!  we had thought about going to norway or copenhagen.  once we were there we figured copenhagen would be best!  so we got up one morning and took the train there.  we got there in the afternoon and just walked around the city.  the weather was beautiful and it is such a charming city.

the next day we got up and took some bikes from the hotel and just rode bikes all. day. long.  our favorite way to see a city.  and copenhagen is the bike friendliest city.  they have a huge bike lane with turn lanes just for bikes and stop lights just for bikes.  it was so fun seeing families all on one bike.  we found a gorgeous park and walked around for awhile.  then we rode to a castle and checked that out.  we found the church that has the original Christus statue, which was really cool to see.  then we found another chapel and climbed to the very top (which is always my least favorite part, i hate heights, but i'm only there once so i do it).  we ended at tivoli gardens to walk around and go on some rides.  

it was such a fun couple of days.  both ryan and i would love to go back.  one of the best things about copenhagen was the food.  it was so dang good.  i love how europe takes meal time very seriously.  when you go to dinner in europe (especially in italy and in copenhagen) plan on eating for a good 2-3 hours.  our first night in copenhagen we went to dinner and got the 9 course meal!!  we were there for three hours and i still dream about that food.  probably one of the best meals i have had in my life.  

another cool thing about copenhagen is that ryans great grandpa was the dock master there and assistant to the king.  he then was baptized and came to america.  it was really cool learning little things about our ancestors while in sweden and denmark.  after spending a couple of days in copenhagen, we decided to rent a car and drive back to stockholm........

sweden

i have a serious traveling problem, i love traveling.  i am always plannin our next trip.  so, when i found cheap flights to sweden i had to do it!  ryan and i both have a lot of ancestors from sweden so it was really interesting to find cities where they came from and learn a little more about them.  what i also loved about this trip is that it was really laid back.  most places we have visited there are places and things we have to see and are rushing around everywhere.   there weren't any major historical sights we needed to see so we just wondered to churches, a few museums and just checked out the charming streets.   i posted way too many pictures but it was just so pretty.  one crazy thing about sweden is that it didn't get dark until 10:30/11 at night!!  and it never even got pitch dark.  it was crazy.  the first few days we were there we just explored. 

we saw this sign and sent this picture to the kids.  they think anything that has to do with farts is hilarious :)

the second night we went to an ice bar and had some virgin drinks!  it was so fun but i didn't last long.  my fingers went numb pretty quickly.  everything was made out of ice, the tables, chairs, cups, walls, it was crazy!