Swedish Cabin Adventures
Last March, my friend Kris emailed me to see if I might be interested in driving to her husband's family cabin in Sweden for two weeks. She would be taking her kids, Simon (5) and Ebba (21 months), and then her husband, Martin would meet them later as he didn't have as much time off work. All I had to hear were the words Sweden and cabin and road trip and I was in!
Our plan was to drive from Amsterdam (where Kris lives) to Århus, Denmark and stay for two days at her friend's house, then continue to the northern tip of Denmark and take the ferry to Oslo. From Oslo, we would have a three hour drive to the cabin. We left Amsterdam one early July morning with the hopes for no carsickness and happy, non-screaming children. Amsterdam to Århus is about an 8 hour drive and we were also planning to stop in Fredericia, Denmark to have dinner with my cousin Britta. We had a great day in the car full of rocking out to the Dixie Chicks and Dave Matthews (in between listening to the Frozen soundtrack for Simon), lots of me passing lots of snacks to the backseat, and two instances of carsickness which were sad but also a comedy of errors as we were swerving to pull over and clean up on the side of the road.
Our plan was to drive from Amsterdam (where Kris lives) to Århus, Denmark and stay for two days at her friend's house, then continue to the northern tip of Denmark and take the ferry to Oslo. From Oslo, we would have a three hour drive to the cabin. We left Amsterdam one early July morning with the hopes for no carsickness and happy, non-screaming children. Amsterdam to Århus is about an 8 hour drive and we were also planning to stop in Fredericia, Denmark to have dinner with my cousin Britta. We had a great day in the car full of rocking out to the Dixie Chicks and Dave Matthews (in between listening to the Frozen soundtrack for Simon), lots of me passing lots of snacks to the backseat, and two instances of carsickness which were sad but also a comedy of errors as we were swerving to pull over and clean up on the side of the road.
After two restful days in Århus full of carsickness recovery, Principal School paper writing (for me), and playing in the backyard, we packed up the car again at 5am and head for the Danish town of Frederikshavn to get the ferry to Oslo, Norway. The ferry was to leave at 9:30 and we wanted to make sure we got there in time in case we had to stop for more comedy-show-car-puking! Getting on the ferry was an adventure for all of us and it was definitely a weird sensation to drive the car onto a boat!
We got a stateroom for the day so that we could have our own space and a place for baby nap time. The ferry ride was to be approximately 9 hours to Oslo and having our own space was important for that long of a time. I was also nervous about getting seasick on a smaller boat than the cruise ship that I had been on earlier in the summer. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful sunny day and the ship had many areas for kids to play. There was also an excellent duty free shop so I stocked up before hitting land since the prices on the ferry were tax free!
We got a stateroom for the day so that we could have our own space and a place for baby nap time. The ferry ride was to be approximately 9 hours to Oslo and having our own space was important for that long of a time. I was also nervous about getting seasick on a smaller boat than the cruise ship that I had been on earlier in the summer. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful sunny day and the ship had many areas for kids to play. There was also an excellent duty free shop so I stocked up before hitting land since the prices on the ferry were tax free!
As it turned out, once we got into the open ocean, the seas were quite rough and it was actually a bit hard to even walk straight through the ship. I immediately started to feel seasick, took meds, and then had to be horizontal in order not to truly be sick. Having the stateroom was a perfect idea and we all took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon- a good time filler when you have 9 hours to fill on a boat with two small kids.
Once we woke up, we went upstairs and hung out on the open deck in the sun. There was a band and at this point we were making our way through the very, very long Oslo Fjord so the seas were completely calm. The Oslo Fjord wasn't as dramatic as the ones I had passed through on the cruise as it does not have cliffs on both sides, but it was absolutely beautiful nonetheless. The food on the ferry was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive and we blew through about $50USD just buying ice creams and drinks.
Once we woke up, we went upstairs and hung out on the open deck in the sun. There was a band and at this point we were making our way through the very, very long Oslo Fjord so the seas were completely calm. The Oslo Fjord wasn't as dramatic as the ones I had passed through on the cruise as it does not have cliffs on both sides, but it was absolutely beautiful nonetheless. The food on the ferry was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive and we blew through about $50USD just buying ice creams and drinks.
From Oslo, we had another two and a half hours to get to the cabin near the town of Torsby, Sweden. Having been on the go since 5 am meant we were all tired and that Ebba was really tired of being in her carseat. Pleasantly, for the rest of us, she screamed bloody murder the last hour of the drive....but, we finally pulled into the yard at about 10 pm that night!
This cabin has been in Martin's (Kris' husband) family since about the 1950s. His grandfather built most of it himself and Martin spent many summers there as a child himself. It is approximately a 5 hour drive from Stockholm where his family is from. Our long journey was worth it in the morning when we woke up to a gorgeous blue sky, bright lupine flowers everywhere, and a silent neighborhood where you could only hear the bees buzzing and the birds chirping...and whatever loud noises we were making!
Each morning there, we woke up, had a long breakfast, played in the yard, hunted for wild strawberries, went for walks, took naps, read books, and built campfires for dinner and smores. Kris and I started to get pretty inventive with the open-fire cooking and one day even cooked three meals in a row on the open fire. In between all of this delightfulness, I also wrote papers for Principal School and managed to read all of my book club books for the year!
This cabin has been in Martin's (Kris' husband) family since about the 1950s. His grandfather built most of it himself and Martin spent many summers there as a child himself. It is approximately a 5 hour drive from Stockholm where his family is from. Our long journey was worth it in the morning when we woke up to a gorgeous blue sky, bright lupine flowers everywhere, and a silent neighborhood where you could only hear the bees buzzing and the birds chirping...and whatever loud noises we were making!
Each morning there, we woke up, had a long breakfast, played in the yard, hunted for wild strawberries, went for walks, took naps, read books, and built campfires for dinner and smores. Kris and I started to get pretty inventive with the open-fire cooking and one day even cooked three meals in a row on the open fire. In between all of this delightfulness, I also wrote papers for Principal School and managed to read all of my book club books for the year!
Being at the cabin, though it was in Sweden, mostly just felt like we were in Minnesota or Wisconsin. We were by ourselves, so not really around Swedes (other than Simon and Ebba!) and Kris spent her summers in Minnesota cabins. So, to me, it just felt like that's where we were- until we'd go to town and I got to explore the huge variety of food in tubes that is so popular in Sweden.
Each day we would drive the ten minutes into town, go to the supermarket, stop by the local lake (which I wimped out and could never swim in but those Minnesotan Swedes did just fine in the cold water!), and found different playgrounds for the kids. We listened to Let It Go from Frozen approximately 56 times on this trip and each time we were in the car, both kids started begging for it!
We laughed a lot and sang a million camp songs. The songs I learned at camp are FOREVER burned into my brain and I even remembered some that had been deeply buried in the recesses of my brain for the last 25 years! We made up games, played frisbee and soccer, and I did the dishes after every meal by hand like a champ. I realize now that before dishwashers women basically had to stay home because doing that many dishes takes up half of your day! We enjoyed all meals that we could eat outside as it cut down our clean up time. We referred to Ebba as the Tasmanian Devil as she just leaves a hurricane-like trail wherever she goes. Kris says that she has "Ebba-tude" and she is seriously one of the funniest kids I've known. Simon is up for anything and even jumped off of a 10 foot platform into the cold water like a super-swimming champ!
Each day we would drive the ten minutes into town, go to the supermarket, stop by the local lake (which I wimped out and could never swim in but those Minnesotan Swedes did just fine in the cold water!), and found different playgrounds for the kids. We listened to Let It Go from Frozen approximately 56 times on this trip and each time we were in the car, both kids started begging for it!
We laughed a lot and sang a million camp songs. The songs I learned at camp are FOREVER burned into my brain and I even remembered some that had been deeply buried in the recesses of my brain for the last 25 years! We made up games, played frisbee and soccer, and I did the dishes after every meal by hand like a champ. I realize now that before dishwashers women basically had to stay home because doing that many dishes takes up half of your day! We enjoyed all meals that we could eat outside as it cut down our clean up time. We referred to Ebba as the Tasmanian Devil as she just leaves a hurricane-like trail wherever she goes. Kris says that she has "Ebba-tude" and she is seriously one of the funniest kids I've known. Simon is up for anything and even jumped off of a 10 foot platform into the cold water like a super-swimming champ!
Finally, after 8 super fun days at the cabin, it was time for Martin to arrive from Amsterdam. So, Kris, Simon, Ebba, and I piled back into the car and headed to Oslo again. I was staying in a hotel for the night there before being picked up by other friends for my next adventure in Norway. We walked around in the downtown, saw the royal palace, took a quick tourist train trip, paid $40 for two sandwiches, and enjoyed the harbor.
It was such a fun and relaxing trip with two silly kids and one great friend! Getting to have a bit of camp for the summer made my heart happy!
One last thing I forgot to mention. Kris and I took 'smores to a whole new level on this trip with our multi-national ingredients. This wasn't just your plain 'ole Hershey bar and Nabisco graham cracker creation. Oh, no...these were special. Swedish cookies, American marshmallows (of course!), Swiss chocolate...and....the pièce de résistance....Dutch peanut butter! We now consider ourselves connoisseurs of the international 'smore. Klassy.
It was such a fun and relaxing trip with two silly kids and one great friend! Getting to have a bit of camp for the summer made my heart happy!
One last thing I forgot to mention. Kris and I took 'smores to a whole new level on this trip with our multi-national ingredients. This wasn't just your plain 'ole Hershey bar and Nabisco graham cracker creation. Oh, no...these were special. Swedish cookies, American marshmallows (of course!), Swiss chocolate...and....the pièce de résistance....Dutch peanut butter! We now consider ourselves connoisseurs of the international 'smore. Klassy.