We were so delighted to be invited to spend time with friends during Sweden's annual midsummer holiday. It's very much a rural festival, as city-dwellers escape to the countryside to celebrate the longest day of the year. So we, too, found ourselves in the Skåne countryside, near the south coast. For midsummer itself, we went to the most southernly point in Sweden to partake of traditional foods (salmon, potato salad, strawberries), and traditional singing and dancing around a maypole. Afterwards, there was a barbecue and games of Kubb and still more strawberries, deep into the long, Scandinavian evening. The days
View from our window: The countryside outside Trelleborg, Sweden, 9:06 pm, 23 June 2023 Midsommar and still bright sunshine at 9pm at night.
We left our trusty vehicle behind for the journey to Stockholm, since we were going out and back again. So after a short flight, we arrived at the most northerly spot of our trip. Despite the extremely bright evenings causing havoc on the kids' sleep schedules, we had a wonderful time in the city, and felt like we could have stayed at least a week longer. It was welcoming, pretty, and had plenty of interest for all age groups in the party. After some pampering for Father's Day, we explored Gamla Stan, the old town. We spend a few hours
View from our window: Sodermälm, Stockholm, Sweden, 8:34 am, 20 June 2023
It's not true to say that this has been an adult-centric trip. We schlepped to Belfast and are on our way to Stockholm because our kids wanted to visit museums in those cities. We have visited any number of kid-friendly museums and playgrounds over the last six months. But everything we have done so far also held appeal for adults, even if that appeal was just "sit on bench, drink coffee, and read" while kids play. Legoland is in a different category. It was a special trip to an out-of-the-way place for two full days of kid-focused fun in a
When we were planning this grand adventure, one of the things the kids really wanted to see was the Vasa, a famous 17th century battleship, now on display in Stockholm. Meanwhile, we had a friend who had moved to southern Sweden who invited us to come spend the Midsommar holiday with him and his wife. And since we were going that way, why not add in a little side trip in Denmark to take the kids to Legoland? And that's how it came to pass that we drove over 1,350 kilometres in 5 days. As itineraries go, it one
View from our window: Legoland, Denmark, 9:43 am, 16 June 2023
View from our window: Haderslev, Denmark, 8:46 am, 15 June 2023
Düsseldorf was our inflection point as we turned north from France towards Scandinavia. My mother's home town, it was somewhere I went to annually as child to visit my grandparents. It's probably not on most itineraries for the Ruhr region (nearby Köln/Cologne is bigger and cooler) but it's a lovely place to stop, accessible and welcoming, with just that right amount of familiarity (at least for me). We were only there for a couple of nights, but that was enough to go for an evening stroll along the banks of the Rhine, snag some bargains in the city's excellent clothes
View from our window: Düsseldorf, Germany, 10:10 am, 13 June 2023