europe 2013: day ten

The next morning, most of the family left really early to catch the ferry back to Sweden and then hop on planes to their next destinations. David and I had already been to London before we met up with the family and we were headed home on Friday, but we had one last day to spend in Malmo, Sweden. We took the ferry back to Malmo with David, Diane, Peter, Darin and Mark and Sarah and enjoyed a low-key day. We loved Malmo! I wished we had a few more days there cause the shopping was wonderful and it is such a beautiful city.

First, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and then wanted to get some lunch. Senja had told me that Sweden has really good falafel so I asked the concierge where to go. She directed us to the Middle Eastern area of Sweden and to Falafel No. 1. We took the long walk there and it was worth it! David and I shared one and he just ordered the same thing as the guy in front of us. It had some sort of fried cheese in it along with the falafel that was really unique and awesome. 

enjoying our falafel on the street.

Then we walked around the city for a few hours. If you ever go to Malmo, go to the Lilla Torg (which means "little square" with cute little restaurants and shops) and go to the Form Design Center to browse through the top floor shop. It has the most beautiful stuff that I wanted to just scoop into my suitcase and bring home with me. Especially this diaper bag.

At one point we ended up at a church that had beautiful stained glass. It was stunning and David and I both loved that each of the windows like this were dedicated to an apostle and each square told a story. I love little details like that.

It was a lot of work to get this picture of us taken. I had tried to set my camera up and take the picture remotely from my phone but it wasn't working at the moment and there were a lot of people around so I ended up having someone take it. After I got my camera back, I about died laughing at the guy photo-bombing in the back there. Haha!

We continued our walking expedition to the waterfront area of the Malmo. This is the newer area of the city and we got lost for a minute and even found our way into a Swedish "Wal-Mart" where we bought a ton of chocolate. Marabou - I love you! We walked by a few office buildings and saw this spinning wheel so the boys decided to try it out.

We finally reached the edge of the city and got to the ocean. It was so beautiful and picturesque. Definitely worth the long walk there. I can imagine how fun the waterfront/boardwalk area is in the summer.

Peter and Darin left us to get on the train for Copenhagen so they could fly to Italy. We said goodbye and finally found our way to an Italian restaurant recommended to us by our concierge, called Epicure. It was very good and we enjoyed talking and enjoying our last night in Europe.

We went back to our hotel, packed up and went to bed knowing we were in for a long day the next morning.

europe 2013: day nine

We were afraid that the weather was going to turn on us for our last day in Bornholm because the forecast predicted rain (but it ended up being another beautiful day - we were so lucky!) so we changed our plans from riding bikes in the morning to sight-seeing some of the best sites on Bornholm.

Our first stop was the Østerlars Church (which is the largest round church on Bornholm - built in the 1100s). The round churches are thought to be connected to the Knight's Templar which is really fascinating to imagine (and maybe my imaginings involve Nicolas Cage and Tom Hanks). It was a fascinating building that was so beautiful and the gardens were beautiful too. I also got some pretty watercolor paintings there of the four round churches on Bornholm that I want to frame in our next house.

Along the way, we stopped in Gudhjem and had lunch and browsed the cute, little shops. We went to a caramel shop and watched them make black licorice caramels and tasted their lavender blossom caramels too, which were delightful.

enjoying hot chocolate in Gudhjem by Stephen.

Then we kept going towards the tip of the island to Hammershus (northern Europe's largest medieval fortress).

taken by Stephen.

Of course, we had to recreate this picture taken in 2006 from the last time I was in Europe with my brothers, Stephen and Marcus. I am very embarrassed at my pathetic jumping skills (it's considered a jump as long as you can slip a dime under there, so I think I barely made the cut). We were trying to do the exact same jumping pose as the last time so that's my excuse . . . and I'm sticking to it.

And another awesome jumping picture in front of the ruins because it's really fun.

And here's a great shot of David bear hugging Jay as they looked at the view of the ocean from the ruins. No, but really, he was cracking his back. Why do guys love to do that, or is it just my family? Then we had a picture taken of my parents and most of our siblings (missing a couple who had already gone on ahead of us).

Most of us still wanted to rent bikes and ride around the island for a while but our hotel only had 7 bikes so three couples went and the rest of us took a rest before dinner. It was nice to just relax for an hour or so since we had been on the go for several days. We had raved about our dinner at Poul P to everyone else so we decided to go back there for dinner.

The braised pork cheeks with red onion and apricot saute, baked root vegetables and red wine glace was delicious. And this was my roasted cockerel on stewed apples and celery, roasted mushrooms and tarragon sauce.

We also convinced everyone to get the bleeding heart molten chocolate cake with apple ice cream because it really did make both our eyes cry, it was so good! :)

europe 2013: day eight

This was our first full day in Bornholm and it was definitely one to remember. We had breakfast together in the hotel and then hopped in our cars and drove to Bodilsker, which has a small church (Bodils Kirke) that my 3rd-great-grandfather, Peter Nielson, was christened (we think).

The church itself was built in the 1100s (which still blows my mind that things are that old there) and there was also a bell tower which was built in 1610 with a bell in it that the caretaker still rings every day. He was so nice and let us all go up there and talked with us and answered our questions. It was really interesting.

taken by Stephen.

We were the only people in the church that day and my dad had brought some excerpts of his great-great grandfather, Peter's, diary. We each took turns reading a bit. I've never been a big "family history" buff, even though my parents have always told us interesting stories about our ancestors, but being where he lived and where he immigrated from made him very real to me. It was really special to have this experience.

taken by Stephen.

Something he said in his journal really made an impression on me. He wrote about how he and another man had made a business deal involving Peter owing this man his cart in a few months time. The man came to Peter several weeks before he was required to give him his cart per their agreement but the man was angry and "told him off". Peter wrote that after thinking about it, he decided that "it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong" and gave the man his cart. Just this simple story tells me so much about the kind of man he was and I am proud to be a descendant of his.

Then we drove to some of the beach towns and ended up at Dueodde Beach (the largest beach on Bornholm). The sand is bright white and is so fine (they use it for hourglasses) that it squeaks when you walk on it. It was really cold and windy, but sunny, so we hung out there a while and took pictures (I'm borrowing several that my brother, Stephen, took as well as my own).

taken by Stephen

taken by Stephen.

Dueodde has a few little shops and stands at the parking area that are probably really busy in the summer but we were some of the only people there. David got some nougat ice cream from Bornholmer Soft Ice and I thought their colors and logo were cute, so I took a picture.

I also took this picture of David in front of the Baltic Sea (which he later "polar plunged" into with my brother and brothers-in-law) and I love it so much that it is my iPhone wallpaper. I really love this guy and his cute, happy smile.

Then we all headed back to the hotel to change for dinner at Restaurant le Port in Hasle. I had found this restaurant on Trip Advisor and wrote to the owner, who wrote back with a delicious prix fixe menu. It was a lovely restaurant and we had a beautiful sunset with delicious food and the best company.

on the patio of the restaurant before sunset.

For those who care (and for me to remember), the menu was Norwegian lobster soufflé in a creamy turbot soup, veal served with morel sauce, new potatoes and vegetables (we also had some fish-eating vegetarians that got halibut and they said it was delicious) and white chocolate cake served with marinated rhubarbs and rhubarb sorbet.

europe 2013: day seven

Our last day in Copenhagen we spent enjoying Stroget some more. David and I walked around the streets and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and stopped at the Royal Copenhagen shop to buy some gifts. I saw this adorable ice cream cart and just had to take a picture. I wanted to hop on the bike and peddle as fast as I could away with it! Isn't it dreamy?

And I enjoyed another crepe with Nutella. Yum! By the way, this post is going to include a LOT of pictures of food! Oh, let's get real! Almost half of the 400 pictures I took on this trip were of food. I'm not ashamed (very much)!

Then, of course, we had to stop at the Lego store. Did you know that legos were created by a Danish carpenter? It only seemed fitting to get William his first set of real legos in Denmark! I'm so glad we did! 

The coolest part was that this entire wall was made of legos and this lady and her motorcycle were also made of legos. It was pretty awesome and everyone wanted a picture on it so I had to smile awkwardly while everyone waiting, looked on. 

I also loved this lego display of the Nyhavn buildings. It was so beautiful!

We met the rest of the family back at the train station with all our luggage to go to Ystad so we could catch the boat to Bornholm. Unfortunately, we had a bit of an issue with our train schedule so we ended up having an hour or so to kill. Fortunately, Sarah bought a pack of cards and we played game after game of Kemps to pass the time. I really love hanging out with my family. 

taken by Stephen.

Also, while we were waiting for our train, there was this adorable bakery across the street next to Tivoli Gardens called Andersen Bakery. We each took turns with the luggage and ran over there for some treats. I asked the lady behind the counter which was the "most Danish" and she said this one - tebirkes (flaky puff pastries filled with marzipan and sprinkled with poppy seeds). It was soooooo good but I had to brush off about 3/4 of the poppy seeds. It was a lot!

Once we arrived on the island of Bornholm, we picked up our rental cars and each went our own ways for dinner. Funny side story: when my brother Stephen made the reservations for my dad, he had the lady book six cars (two couples to a car). Before we left on the trip, he called to confirm and the lady said that she had cancelled five of the reservations. Stephen asked why and she said very frankly, "One person cannot drive six cars. It's just not possible." We laughed and laughed at that! I guess she's right!

We had no plans for dinner so everyone was on their own. Most of the family had dinner at the hotel (which they said was very good) but Stephen, Leone, David and I were in one car and we found Restaurant Poul P on Trip Advisor so we stopped there. We sat down at the table and just as we were ordering, my brother Peter and his wife, Darin and my sister, Heidi and her husband, Josh, walked in! It must have been kismet because it was one of the most tasty, fun dinners I've ever had. 

As we sat there eating our delicious food, laughing and talking, I couldn't help but think "You know. I really love my family but I also just really like them." I know a lot of people don't feel that way about their siblings and I feel really blessed to have them in my life. 

David's hamburger - with black hummus and amazing roasted potatoes.

my delicious salmon with house made pasta and saffron sauce.

As we were eating our dinner in this very tiny and artsy restaurant, this big guy kept coming over and saying unusual things to us in a very excited, boisterous manner. I was fully convinced he was totally sauced but as we talked to him more and more, I figured out that this was just his friendly personality. Turns out he is the owner/artist of the restaurant and had his art studio next door. After we ate our dinner, Poul had asked us to come check out his art studio so we walked over there and browsed around. When he was telling us about his artwork, he mentioned that Pamela Anderson and Lindsey Lohan were really fond of his work. I thought that was funny. He was a nice guy and had some really sweet sayings on his art work. Later, I found this picture on Pinterest and turns out - he wasn't exaggerating about Pamela!

The best thing Poul said that night was when he was telling us about dessert. He mentioned that they had something called a "bleeding cake" (which turned out to be a molten chocolate cake). When he described it, he said, "Your right eye will cry when you see it and your left eye will cry when you eat it." We laughed at that but he had the last laugh, because it was epic! It was so cool because the cake crackled and popped as we were eating it. We were so full from our dinner that we got it two to share and it was gone in 60 seconds. And yes, that is apple ice cream if you were wondering!

It was a sweet way to end the night . . .