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Sweden 2001
A buffet featuring marinated Baltic Sea Salmon along with potato salad, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tossed salad, rolls and a special cake made by Tex were all enjoyed along with coffee and wine being served. An outdoor and indoor patio surrounded by a garden of beautiful flowers was the ideal setting for our …first view of Helsingborg. Tex had an American flag flying over his home and a large welcome sign over the patio. Jet lag started to creep up on us and it wasn’t long until we all were in our host’s homes snoozing away for the night. The next day, Wednesday, was a special day as we all gathered in the main square in front of the Town Hall. In front of the building were three large flag poles, one flying the flag of Sweden, the second flying the City of Helsingborg flag, and the third pole proudly flying the American Flag arranged by Tex. After a wedding party had left the city hall, we were ushered into an assembly room to view a …lm explaining the history of Helsingborg. The city of Helsingborg is over 900 years old. At the legislative chambers, champagne, sparkling water and chips were presented to our delight prior to walking into the chambers where each ambassador was individually greeted by the Mayor. After a brief talk by the Mayor, as our exchange director, I presented the Mayor with a letter and a proclamation from the Mayor of Lincoln and the key to the city. We then went to Sofiero Castle and Gardens where enormous and beautiful rhododendron bushes lined the paths everywhere. We had lunch in a glassed enclosed porch overlooking a large ravine …lled with flowers and the waters of the Strait of Oresund (Baltic Sea). Our host families then took us to various places and afterwards home for the evening. Thursday was a bus tour through the beautiful country side of Skåne, the southern tip of Sweden. We sat on the upper level of our two level bus which made it ideal for viewing the colorful fields of grain , green grass, forests, farm animals and many birds. Their well kept homes and …elds were a sight to behold. We made several stops along the way, viewing some of the natural preserves, then ate lunch beside the sea being served a delicious baked flounder meal. A magnificent amber craft shop was our afternoon stop. The curator/artist informed us about amber and its origin and uses, then we freely toured the museum shop. Friday was Midsummer Eve, the summer solstice and one of the biggest holidays celebrated in Sweden. Many of us went with our host families to area parks where women and girls with flower crowns danced around the maypole decorated with birch leaves and wild flowers. At one or more times during the day we all participated in eating the three special foods traditionally served during this festival time: herring, new boiled potatoes and strawberries. We were told these foods are a requirement for the holiday! Our host families escorted us to various historical and scenic places during the remainder of our home stay. On Monday, our last day in Helsingborg, the farewell party boasted a buffet of boiled shrimp, all you could eat. We boarded a large ferry ship and sailed to Denmark, which was about 45 minutes away. We stayed on the ship eating, talking, and having fun as the ship made three crossings. Bob Wittstruck entertained us singing several songs and I later presented a picture book of Nebraska to Tex for the club. I also presented Tex with a letter from the Mayor of Lincoln and a proclamation and a key to the city. Tex was overwhelmed, almost to tears. The end came too soon and on Tuesday morning we all were transported to the departure location, Folks Park, to board our bus for the 11-day tour of Scandinavia. Our smiling and always very careful driver, Jon, helped load the luggage and our super guide, Birgit, welcomed us aboard as we settled in. Again we had another two level bus which allowed us to see the beautiful and scenic country side from a level far above the cars and fences. We headed for Stockholm, Sweden and on the way stopped for refreshments, lunch, a visit to a glass factory and also a candy factory. Scattered throughout the meadows we saw many deer, cattle, and sheep. We also gazed at the many unique homes and farms of the area before …nally edging through the traf…c in Stockholm to our hotel. Stockholm is built on 14 islands with 50 bridges crossing them at various points. It was no easy task for our driver to maneuver the large bus through the narrow and one way streets. The next day was a tour to the Royal Palace to see the changing of the guards, then to the museum to see the warship Vasa which sank to its watery grave on the maiden journey in 1628. Then to the Blue Hall with its Nobel banquet room The guide pointed out that Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, wanted to be remembered for his interest in knowledge and peace; hence, the awarding of the Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics. The Nobel peace prize is awarded in Norway. As we crossed into Norway, we were met by several toll roads. The toll money helps them to maintain their highways. Many tunnels helped us to speed along without taking the hairpin turns over the mountains. Oslo was our next major stop with a visit to the famous Vigeland Park, home of 192 sculptures with more than 600 figures, all modeled in full size by Gustav Vigeland. He didn’t explain the meaning of his work because he wanted each person to interpret it for themselves. On to the home of the winter Olympics to view the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. Here we ate lunch in the shadow of the towering jump with a warm sun shining down on us. The afternoon gave us our first rain, but we were inside most of the time with visits to the Kon-Tiki museum and the polar ship “Fram” museum. The long day’s bus ride to Bergen, Norway was cloudy with a bit of rainy weather. We traveled over the mountains to glide by the Hardanger Glacier. Due to the absence of restaurants, except one that wanted an exorbitant price for lunch, our guide stocked up on hot dogs, soda, water, beer and sweet tarts. We stopped in the parking lot of that particular expensive restaurant, set up the table, and boiled the wieners while a few of the ladies went to powder their noses. The ladies found out there was a charge to use the facilities and then the owner of the establishment came out to the bus to inform us that we could not park and eat on his property—King of the Mountain! We quickly loaded the bus and drove down the road about a mile and pulled off at a small roadside turn off. It was here that we devoured our delicious hot dogs and brown bag treats. It was a very cool damp day, but our tremendous group of ambassadors adjusted with a positive attitude to the happenings of the last hour. Bergen, a city founded 931 years ago, yielded the contrast of new buildings and some old houses 250 years old. Plantings and flowers were viewed everywhere and especially eye catching in boxes along the windows. The market along the water front was an interesting sight with all kinds of fresh fish for sale. There were also vegetables, sandwiches, flowers, crafts, and many other items. It was Bergen where we visited the home of the famous composer, Edvard Grieg. The home was built on a lake in 1885 and today it is maintained as a museum in his honor. The furnishings in the house are of the family’s heirlooms including his 1892 Steinway Grand piano front and center in the living room. There were original scores of Grieg’s that were found in some cupboards when the kitchen was remodeled on display. We said goodbye to Bergen as we traveled along the fjord, through 50 tunnels. On the highway we passed mountains, high cliffs that dipped into beautiful valleys with lush and fertile farm land. We stopped along the way for good old hot dogs again cooked at the bus by our guide. Arriving in Oslo we went directly to the waterfront to board the DFDS Seaway ferry for a night trip to Copenhagen. We enjoyed a delicious buffet of salads, seafood, beef, pork and …ne deserts in the huge dining room. It was a very pleasant meal as we watched the water glistening in the setting sun. In the morning the ship made a stop at Helsingborg and standing on the dock was none other then Tex waving a Swedish flag and his wife, Ethel, waving an American flag. One other club member was there taking pictures. What a wonderful example of true friendship! Because of large conference taking place in Copenhagen, we were situated at a hotel on the edge of the main part of the city. We were afforded bus transportation exclusively and our driver took us into the city on several occasions at our request. We had an interesting visit to Christiansborg Castle and the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory. On the 4th of July we spent the evening in the famous Tivoli Gardens, a large amusement/entertainment park that has been in the center of Copenhagen for years. It’s a very popular place for the natives and visitors as well, I might add. There were numerous concerts, scary and exciting carnival type rides, many restaurants, flower gardens, vaudeville acts and just folks “people watching.” We didn’t want to leave Scandinavia, but after 18 days away from home, all of us were ready to board our flight back to Lincoln, Nebraska arriving Friday night. |
©2008 Friendship Force of Lincoln. All Rights Reserved. |
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wenty ambassadors embarked on a grand expedition to Sweden, Denmark and Norway on June 18. Arriving in Copenhagen the next day, we were met by Tex, the exchange director and president of the Helsingborg, Sweden Club. He helped us gather our luggage and climb aboard the bus that was to take us to Helsingborg. The route took us along the new highway, bridge and tunnel under the Baltic Sea. Our host families were waiting for us at Folks Park and whisked us away to Tex’s home for the welcoming party.