catch up

I guess I should jump back on the blog train. It moves way too fast for me most days. But for today, full steam ahead! (Read: Lots of photos.)

Mark and I went to Santa Barbara, CA for a weekend trip he won at work. It was wonderful: great weather, great company, great food. We ate at Jeannine's bakery twice. The glazed banana french toast was so good!

We spent an afternoon in Solvang, just 45 minutes from Santa Barbara. It's a 100 year old town settled by Danes and it has retained it's Danish charm. (Lots of Swedish influence here too). It is very touristy, but pretty fun, and I found more of my favorite Marabou chocolate (for a pretty penny).

We missed the upcoming annual Danish Days celebration by a week. I hear they have a parade and lots of good Danish fun.

 Mmmmmm. Aebleskivers.

We went to church in Santa Barbara and then headed back to the cutest airport ever. Virtually empty. Beautiful Spanish architecture and art. And a darling old painted piano right smack in the middle of the baggage claim area.

Yep. I played, by request of a fellow passenger: "The Rose" and "God Speed the Right." No, he did not request those particular songs, but when I sat down, he did convince me to perform. It didn't take much. Let me be clear, I do not actually play the piano. I just have a few songs tucked away for special occasions.

  Love these tiles.

 And the murals.

A week later, I threw a little 40th surprise party for Mark at The DUCE. He was totally surprised and thrilled! YAY! I can't believe I pulled that off.

Malmo: The end of the road.

Most of our group headed home, or off to other distant lands, after our Denmark adventure. But eight of us took the short ferry from Bornholm to Malmo, Sweden instead. My great great grandmother was from Malmo and she was baptized in the Baltic Sea (as a young adult) around 1860. She was disowned by her family for joining the LDS church and eventually came to America on her own. I imagine she was very familiar with this 14th century church, St. Peter's Cathedral, and the nearby town square that we walked through several times. Cool.

 Love the stained glass!

The cathedral was so striking with the ornate gold against pure white walls and arches. But then we found this room, which has been restored to uncover the original ceiling artwork. It was gorgeous! At some point, this whole church was covered in these beautiful paintings.

photo via liz

We walked all over Malmo and were impressed that it was so clean and modern, and rich in history as well.

Twisted building.

This merry-go-round was in the middle of the business district.

Cool rocks on the Baltic.

We ate falafel in the Middle Eastern district, bought lots of fabulous chocolate at a Swedish Walmart-type store, then we walked Peter and Darin to the train station so they could get back to the airport (Italy bound).

There's that new green scarf. And of course, the peach sweater.

For dinner, our destination was Epicure. It was seriously the most amazing Italian food I've had. Even my Italian brother-in-law was raving. Who would have thought we'd find drool-worthy Italian in Sweden?

That night I was the beneficiary of a small miracle - eight hours of sleep for the first time in eight days. HEAVEN! I didn't even care that we were flying home the next morning and I would have to start the whole jet-lag process all over. Sleep is never to be taken for granted.

Cute bikes in front of the hotel.

jump

Yes, I am still blogging about Denmark. I know, it's getting painful. But I cannot not finish the journey when I've come this far. 

On our last full day on Bornholm, we visited the Osterlars Round Church: The largest of the four Round Churches which are connected to the Knight's Templar from as far back as the 12th century. Don't ask me what all that means. I do know these churches were used as fortresses as well as places of worship. We also found two of the other round churches, but gave up on the fourth.

It was pretty neat to climb up inside the narrow stone stairwell and then into the rafters. These churches have such history! I bought some cute notecards depicting all four churches so I can frame them.

We made our way to the darling port town of Gudhjem, which was relatively quiet, but when the cruise ships come to port, it fills with tourists. There were lots of cute shops, some open, most not. I think summers would be so fun here! We visited a heavenly-scented candy store where they were making licorice candies and I wanted to buy up the whole shop!

We found another shop that sold scarves. And they were beautiful! Mostly locally made and designed. I bought a green one with a herring head motif. I know, sounds weird, but it is so pretty and Bornholm is famous for its smoked herring. I am sure I will never find another scarf like it and I am so glad Mark and Ashley pushed me to get it. You can see a little peak of it in the photo above.

Mark and Josh and David also bought matching wool scarves. (I will probably borrow this in the future too.) I would love to live where the weather necessitates scarves all the time. But not heavy coats; just scarves and a light sweater, please.

Our next stop was the impressive castle ruins of Hammershus, Northern Europe's largest medieval fortification. It is on the northern tip of the island of Bornholm and it is believed to have been built in the 12th century. Everything about it is stunning: the vast green expanse, the Baltic Sea as backdrop and the impressive structure itself.

With all this space mostly to ourselves, we decided to do a little jumping. 

Jay was first to show off his skills. We were impressed. 

A few more of us joined in. Then some more.

photo by Stephen

photo by Stephen

And don't forget the pregnant one in red.

That tree!

Later a few of us rode bikes through the beautiful town and neighborhoods of Ronne. I loved it! I felt like a real Dane. I am one sixteenth, you know.