Skagen Denmark

Our next stop was Skagen, Denmark.  A busy little vacation town with charming older neighborhoods with distinctive yellow houses, great museums and many art galleries.  Harbor side restaurants were serving fish right off the boats.

Once back on the boat we figured out how to really relax in the evenings.  While everyone was in the dining room or their cabins we had the back of the boat to ourselves.  We ordered room service and ate on the back of the boat-it was like having our own boat.  And much more relaxing than eating in the restaurant in spite of the fact that the restaurant was not very dressy.  I also liked that we could order cobb salad or fruit and cheese plates and the girls ordered burgers, steaks and one night K had her new favorite lobster.

Look-nobody else around!  It is quite late in the evening but still very light out.  That is my wine, not K's.

Watching the sunset on our "private boat."

Oslo

Our next wonderful surprise was Oslo.  One day was not enough.  There are so many things to do in Oslo and it is a beautiful city with beautiful parks, amazing neighborhood and pretty homes.  I loved the architecture.  We wandered around Vigeland Park which has 200 sculptures done by Gustav Vigeland.  I would loved to have had time to see The Scream and go to the ski museum.

We stopped for lunch at the Grand hotel.  K had a hot dog from the kids menu and I had a cheese sandwich and a beer.  $50.  This was our first exposure to how expensive things are in Norway.

Opera House

I did not Photoshop this little boat!

Leaving Oslo was beautiful.  Miles and miles of fjords with little islands covered in cute, brightly colored cottages.  This was our view for several hours.

The girls ended the day in the hot tub on the back of the boat

Kristiansand, Norway

Our first full day on the boat was spent crossing the North Sea.  I had envisioned the boat pitching and rocking, queasiness, fear and misery.  Although we had fog and light rain it was amazingly calm.  Serene, even!  It was nice having a day to relax after our three previous hectic days.  The girls played chess, I worked out, we read and got to know our way around the boat.

We woke up to the darling little town of Kristiansand, Norway.  It reminded of a coastal New England town.   Beautiful flowers, sparkling blue water and beautiful blue skies.

The girls petted every dog in Scandinavia.

I loved the black tiles roofs that we saw frequently

People pulled up in their boats for lunch or ice cream

Loved the fish market

Beautiful wooden boat

K and our boat

Leaving Kristiansand

I loved how boats followed us as we left port

Our Big Summer Adventure

Our big summer adventure had a bit of a rocky start-our flight leaving Atlanta was over 4 hours late and did not leave until 3AM.  The good news about that was we fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were almost landing in London.  We were further delayed because we had to change our tickets to Edinburgh and then that flight was delayed.  We missed the entire first day of our trip!  But we got to Edinburgh and had a great dinner and went to bed.  We woke up feeling great the next day.  Our friends C and E had already been there for a couple of days.  K went with them to some museums and I went on a walking photography tour.

What a beautiful city!  Friendly people and great food.

Photo of an apartment complex taken on my photography tour

The afternoon of our first day I drug K on a Hop On Hop Off tour.  We were pretty tired but had booked a Cadies and Witchery tour.   We tried to talk C into going with us but she was tired.  We soldiered on and were so glad we did.  K said it was the most fun tour she had ever been on.  The two guys who led the tour were so funny and clever.  One kept showing up in different costumes-usually jumping out and scaring the group.  We laughed so hard our faces were sore the next day.

Dinner at Wagamama-K's favorite!  Oops, this was taken at Harvey Nichols.  Men in Missoni kilts at the Missoni Hotel where we stopped for a drink.

The second day it was very rainy and foggy.  We hit some museums in the morning and then went to Harvey Nichols for some shopping and lunch.  I am kicking myself for not ordering the haggis and not taking any pictures.  The restaurant was on the fourth floor and the view was beautiful even in the rain.

After lunch we boarded our boat in preparation to sail across the North Sea.

I drove-obviously not, since that is probably not even the right word.

K and C on the back on the boat as we were leaving