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August 17, 2006
Hooray! Angel won a photo contest and her photo now appears on the Living North magazine. The call for entries was for photos of people and their pets. Of course we jumped at the chance to enter this contest! We love taking photos of little Gidget. Angel & I both had ideas for photos, and we both entered. I had Angel & Gidget pose in the Rose Garden and Angel had me riding my bike with Gidget in the backpack. She loves riding on our backs and it sure shows in this photo. We were hopeful to place in the top three, and we saw an ad for the magazine with Angel's photo on it, and we started to get excited. While we were on our vacation, we received an e-mail from my brother say that we did win, and we very excited! We'll make Gidget a superstar yet!

July 26-27, 2006
It is a very exciting day today. We are about to embark on a two week Scandinavian adventure. The planning has been taking months it came up on us pretty quickly. Our flights were going great until we got to Oslo. We arrived late and we ran to our next gate, but the plane was just pulling away from the jet way. Then we had to wait six and a half hours for our next flight to Finland. At least we were given vouchers to have a meal, but we soon learned the steep prices of Norway. We had two beers, a bowl of fruit and a water, and it priced out at about $24. Talk about sticker shock!

Well, we finally made it to Finland, most of us did. My luggage was lost in transit and they had no idea where it was. That was not good news to hear. I did pack a few essentials into my carry-on, so at least I could get through a day. Angel's mother and Lee were on a different flight from the beginning, so they were waiting for us in Finland.

Our Finnish cousin, Kari, met us at the airport and we they took us to their home. It was really nice to be off an airplane and out of the airports. We arrived to their home with a warm meal on the table. They also have a little French Bulldog, Saara, and she was great comfort since we missed our little Gidget. It was great to be Finland at last.

July 28, 2006
We spent the morning walking around Henna and Kari's neighborhood. They live in a beautiful little country town. Soon we were off for a two hour car ride to the southwest coast town of Turku to where the family reunion would be taking place. We spent the evening walking around the harbor and getting a feel for the city. That night, we spent the night at Henna's sister's house. It was a little uncomfortable and awkward. We are not sure if it was the language barrier with these other relatives, but it was a very quiet evening.

July 29, 2006
Today was the day of the big reunion. It is going to be fantastic to see Pia, Pauli, Pasi, Pilvi, Liida, Leo & Leo. We have been getting to know these Finnish relatives over the past few years. The best part of the day was taking a sauna and then swimming in the Baltic Sea. It was very relaxing. After that, we had sausages and mustard, eaten out of a napkin. Angel was put on the spot for an impromptu concert. The Finnish relatives really enjoyed the music.

July 30, 2006
The second and final day of the reunion was bittersweet. It would be a couple of years before we see some of these relatives again, so that was sad. But we made the most of it and enjoyed the day.

In the afternoon, we were given a private tour of an exquisitely designed church. It was great Scandinavian architecture, made with clean lines and natural wood. If we were to have a studio, this would be the perfect model for it.

July 31, 2006
This was out last day in Finland, but we had the day to tour around Turku. We had an appointment at the YLE Radio station downtown. We met up with Iiro Anderson and he conducted an interview about us and our coffee art. I think it was the first time we have been interviewed on the radio in a foreign country. It was a lot of fun and we hope that our Finnish friends were able to listen.

Then we explored the city and downtown. We came across a museum about an old part of the city that was rediscovered underground. It was very interesting to see this long forgotten neighborhood.

For dinner, we ate at a Viking themed restaurant. It was magnificent! The décor was very fitting and the dinner was delicious. It ranks right up there for being one of the best meals of the vacation. After dinner we made our way down to the ferry in the harbor. We are taking an overnight cruise to Stockholm. Our cabin was beautiful, but the view out of our window was even more breathtaking. The scenery at sunset was something that we will remember for a long time.

August 1, 2006
We arrived in Stockholm early this morning. Our friends, Harold and Jean, would be our gracious hosts on this leg of the journey. After calling them from Central Station for directions, we made our way to their home, but we got lost the last four blocks from their place. But, they found us, and were happy to be with them. It was great to see them again. They know my fascination with the Vikings, and they said that there was a runestone in their neighborhood. After talking to a few locals, we found the runestone and had our photo taken with it. It was really interesting to see first hand.

August 2, 2006
Today, Harold and Jean took us to downtown Stockholm. It is one of our favorite cities and it was nice to be back here. Most of the morning was spent bumming around and looking for a magazine office. Last winter, we were contacted by a Swedish coffee magazine regarding our coffee art. The article was published and we requested a copy, but we had not received it. So, since we were in Stockholm, we searched out the office only to find they had moved. But, we managed to track down their new address, but when we arrived there, no one was there. So, we left a note in the mailbox saying that we had come to visit, and when we arrived home, our magazine was waiting for us in the mail!

After that, we went to the Stockholm City Museum where they had Swedish Design on display. They had everything that would be found in the city: lampposts, mailboxes, benches, telephones and other every-day objects. It was quite interesting.

We then took it easy that evening and studied Harold’s new paintings. He has a show coming up next year and it was very nice to get a sneak preview of his new works. You can view his paintings here.

August 3, 2006
It was time to say goodbye to Harold and Jean. They were such great hosts and we had a really nice time with them. We are now heading to Oslo via train. It is a nice day and the view through the Swedish/Norwegian countryside was beautiful. We arrive late afternoon into Oslo Central Station and our hotel is a block away. It was a good day to relax.

August 4, 2006
Today is our Norway in a Nutshell tour. We begin quite early in the morning and take a train through the countryside and up into the mountains. It was really beautiful, and it kept getting better! Up in the mountains, we watched lakes, glaciers and little cottages go by. Flam is our first destination and we take a train down a mountainside down to the base of the fjord. After a picnic lunch, we hop onto a ferry and cruise through the fjords for a couple of hours. It was spectacular and probably one of the best highlights of the vacation. After a bus ride and another train ride, we arrive to Bergen that evening. We wish we could have spent more time there; it looks like a beautiful city. We had fish and chips at a restaurant near the harbor before taking the night train back to Oslo.

August 5, 2006
We arrive in Oslo early this morning and back to our hotel to freshen up. After looking at the bus schedule, we map our route to go to the Viking Ship Museum. It was one destination that I was really looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. It was quite fascinating to actually see a real Viking ship up close and with my own eyes. We spent a good amount of time here and has inspired some future paintings.

After seeing the Viking ships, we took the bus towards Aker Brygge part of town. This section is along the harbor and there was quite a bit of activity. But one of our favorite parts was watching a street performer in all silver posing as a metal sculpture. We watched as children would put coins in his cup and he would come alive and shake their hands and wave good bye to them. I also wanted to shake his hand!

This evening, we thought it would be fun to see a movie in a foreign country. We find a theater and saw that ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ was playing and decided to go to that show. We purchase our tickets and sit down. While we were waiting, we noticed that people were looking at their tickets as they went up the aisles. Then a couple comes up to us and asks us (in Norwegian, of course) if we were in the wrong seats. Our confused looks by not understanding what they had just said, the smiled and spoke to us in English. We now know why people were looking at their tickets: theaters in Oslo have assigned seats for movies. We blush, but we were only three seats away from where we needed to be, so at least we were close!

August 6, 2006
This morning we decided to go check out the Edvard Munch Museum. It was quite interesting to see his works. It is still sad to hear that ‘The Scream’ and “The Madonna’ are still missing after a brash museum theft a few years ago. But it was still nice to see his works up close.

Then later that day, we headed up to Vigeland Park where we saw dozens of human sculptures. There were many unique poses and we were in awe of the size and scope of this park, it was enormous. It was a nice way to end the evening.

August 7, 2006
Today, we are departing Norway to go to Iceland. We were really looking forward to our last part of our vacation. It was very hot in Scandinavia and when we arrived in Iceland, it was cloudy and the temperature was 55 degrees. It felt so good!

We arrive late afternoon and spent the evening strolling through downtown Reykjavik. Since we have been here so many times, it was nice to be somewhere where we were familiar with.

August 8, 2006
Every time we are in Iceland, we must stop in at the Blue Lagoon. This was first on our agenda for this morning. The air was a little cool and there was mist in the air, but the water in the Blue Lagoon was hot and relaxing. It is easy to lose a couple of hours there, just floating around and taking it all in.

This past Autumn, when we attended the Sigur Rós concert and meeting the band afterwards, we mentioned that we were coming to Iceland in the summer. They invited us out to their recording studio and for a visit. That is what we did this afternoon. Angel wanted to get some yarn to knit an Icelandic sweater and the outlet store was right across from their recording studio, so that worked out perfectly. We went shopping for yarn and also purchased a nice wool blanket and a little sweater for little Gidget. As we were checking out, I saw Kjartan outside his studio and we rushed over to see him. It took him a second, but he remembered us and our coffee painting we gave them. It was really nice to visit with him and Orri, the drummer. They were finishing up recording a track, and we didn't’t want to bother them in their creative process. It was still nice to chat with them for a few minutes at least.

We spend the evening exploring the area and then back to downtown for a Haunted City walking tour. It was very interesting and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Reykjavik. Our guide was quite knowledgeable and was outspoken about what is happening to a part of Iceland under development of a new aluminum smelter. We were aware of this construction, and he was pointing out to the other tourists about the land damage and loss of animal life with the construction of this dam to power the aluminum smelter. It was the other day that the press heard what he had to say and there was some controversy of how he shouldn’t be telling the tourists about his project. In light of that, the national Icelandic radio station, RUV, sent a reporter along this walking tour to get feedback about the tour. She came up to us and asked if we were scared during the walking tour if we had seen any ghosts. We said that we weren’t scared from that, but we a little scared about the whole aluminum smelter project and how protesters there were arrested a day before. She didn’t expect that out of us! We listen on the segment when we arrived home on the web, but our little interview didn’t make the final cut. Oh well.

Also, during the walking tour, we went through the cemetery. There were many fascinating stories about people and spirits, but we were lead to a Viking runestone. We are not sure if it was an actual runestone, or a modern replication of one. Either way, it was still captivating to see another one close up.

After the tour, we went to our favorite little coffee house in Reykjavik, Ommucafe. This is one of the first places we ate at when we first visited Iceland. We got to know the owner fairly well and we are sad to hear that he is selling his business and moving back to South Africa. We did a couple of coffee paintings for him over the years, and they are still hanging on the wall. We hope to visit him in South Africa someday.

August 9, 2006
Since we have been to Iceland so many times, we wanted to do something that we haven’t done before there, and this time it was horseback riding. We arranged for a couple of hour tour in the countryside of Iceland. The Icelandic horse is quite gentle and very kind. This was my first time on a horse, and it was a very enjoyable experience!

August 10, 2006
We wake up and turn on CNN to find out that there was a terrorist threat at a Great Britain airport and is causing a ripple effect on travelers worldwide. We are traveling home today, or that is the plan at least. Our flight doesn’t leave until four or so, but we weren’t going to be taking any chances. We arrive at the airport around noon and wait until the flight. Security was extra tight, but we were glad that we were in a smaller airport. Everything went smoothly and our flight was nice. We flew over Greenland and it was spectacular! We were able to take a few photos of the icebergs, glaciers and mountains. That might be another destination for the future…….