SCANDINAVIA

07/24/19 - 08/07/19

DAY 1

Day 1 - Time to go to the Airport! Our Scandinavian adventure started with a direct overnight flight from Boston to Copenhagen. After arriving in Copenhagen, we picked up our rental car and headed to Billund, Denmark - the world's home to Lego. The scenic drive took about 2 hours from CPH airport taking us through the rural countryside of Denmark.

DAY 3

Day 3 - After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we stepped out the door of the hotel into the Lego Land amusement park. This was a fun park with lots of Lego-themed rides including one where kids get their very own driver's license and take to the race track! The track even had a car wash and gas station to navigate through. We spent the whole day on all the Lego themed rides; from boats to trains to roller coasters, Legoland has you covered. Ready to get a little wet, then try their rapids ride, where you are on a big circular float with 8 other Lego fans navigating the rapids and waterfalls. We ended the day with one of Michael's favorites, Pizza and then headed back to our room for some relaxation!

DAY 5

Day 5 - We had planned a full day on our own before the kick-off of the AbD tour. After breakfast, it was a bit rainy, so we decided to take a quick ride. A quick ride to Sweden! We headed to the IKEA Museum in Aimhult, Sweden. It had a great historical interactive museum of both Sweden and IKEA. There was even a set where you could model to be in a mock IKEA catalog and they printed you a copy. It was so much fun. After having some Swedish meatballs (of course), we started the return trip to the hotel to do a quick preview of the famous Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park in the middle of central Copenhagen. Lots of fun rides, games, and food!

DAY 2

Day 2 - Once in Billund, we checked into the Lego Land Hotel. To keep the momentum from jet lag, we headed to the Lego House! The Lego House is a fantastic interactive museum for Lego lovers. Each section of the house has a different Lego theme, as well as a detailed history of everything Lego. Plus, plenty of building stations, some where your creations come alive. Build a Lego fish and watch it swim away in an aquarium or be a Lego film director for your very own short Lego film. After touring the house, we ate at their signature restaurant, where you place your order by building a customized Lego and can watch a Lego robot deliver it to you. A great start!

DAY 4

Day 4 - We fueled up with breakfast at the hotel before spending some more time at the Legoland Park. We all really enjoyed exploring the miniature Lego world. Want to visit the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, or the Las Vegas Strip, they are all here in Lego form at Legoland Billund. After a few hours in the park, it was time to head into Copenhagen. We packed up and took a two-hour drive into Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, we had an arranged Adventures by Disney tour; so we headed to the hotel where our tour would start from. Mom & Michael were pretty beat from the day, so stayed in the room to rest - while Dad checked out the rooftop bar for some sushi and mojitos!

DAY 7

Day 7 - Our tour was in full swing. After breakfast at the hotel, we started a walking tour of the city. The AbD tour guides brought in a local guide who helped give us a great overview of the history of Copenhagen while we walked around the city. The group enjoyed lunch together and then it was off for a Canal boat ride along the picturesque city canals into the harbor of Copenhagen. After the Canal tour, the group headed over to Tivoli Gardens where we all rode the oldest roller coaster in existence! Each coaster was hand-driven. It was so much fun! After the group coaster, we were on our own to explore all the fun attractions of Tivoli Gardens. Day 1 of the tour was a success, and we all slept well that night!

DAY 9

Day 9 - It was time to leave Copenhagen. After breakfast and a little packing time, AbD arranged private transport to the port terminal. Here we loaded a small cruise ship heading to Oslo. We were in absolute shock when we checked out our room. It was amazing. Not only was it extremely large, but it also had a private balcony with a hot tub. I think Dad stayed in the hot tub, the whole ride. He did get out for dinner at the ship's Italian restaurant where we enjoyed some delicious pizzas and pastas. The sunset (very late!) and we headed to bed and when we woke up (god morgen!!) we were in Norway! Time to explore Oslo and Bergen. A new country for all of us. The adventure continues...

DAY 11

Day 11 - Another beautiful Summer day. Norway was off to a bright and sunny start! After breakfast, we checked out the famous Oslo Opera house. The architecture of the building was very unique. All white and glass with a waterfront observation deck on the top of it. We got some great pictures! Then we headed over to Akershus Fortress for some Norwegian history and finished our tour checking out a stave church. Stave churches are made of wood and built between 1150 and 1350. Definitely an interesting site to see. After dinner, we headed to the hotel early for a good night's sleep before our long journey to Bergen began the next day. Oslo was an impressive city!

DAY 13

Day 13 - Bergen is built in two sections on a mountain, so you have the lower waterfront section at the bottom and then you can ride the "Floibanen" up to the top section. We started our day with a ride to the top. Once at the top, you have a great view of the entire area filled with every color you could think of from the sea to the mountains. There was also a nice playground at the top filled with Trolls and a great walking path which we spent some time on. Coming down there were stairs, but also the option to take a few slides to skip some levels. Michael loved that! After a little break, we explored some local shops and had dinner at an authentic Norwegian restaurant. It was delicious, (well 2 out of 3 of us thought so!)

DAY 15

Day 15 - We have reached our last day in Scandinavia. It was a great trip for all of us. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are beautiful, friendly countries. Each has many unique qualities and its own special history and culture. Our flight path home had us returning to Copenhagen Airport (from Bergen) for a short layover, then it was on to Boston! Let the unpacking and next trip planning begin!

DAY 6

Day 6 - Our tour was set to start later today. Very exciting! This was our first time taking part in an organized tour group. For the morning, we explored Nyhavn. Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront section of Copenhagen. It's lined with brightly colored buildings, townhouses, and restaurants. It's beautiful. We found a great little pizza place and enjoyed lunch on the waterfront. After lunch, we returned to the hotel and met our tour guides and a few people on our tour. After a quick shower and change, we met the entire group for our welcome dinner, where everyone introduced themselves and the tour guides went over the logistics of the tour. They also gave us some fun Disney Copenhagen pins!

DAY 8

Day 8 - For the 2nd full day of the tour, we explored some things outside the downtown area. First, we navigated through centuries of history at the Viking Ship Museum in Rosklide. The museum had many historical vessels. Our 2nd stop was the beautiful Frederiksborg Castle. This was a quick photo stop before our private tour of the Kronborg Castle. Both castles were amazing and very old! The Kronborg castle was constructed in 1420. After a quick picture stop at the "Little Mermaid" statue, we headed to our Farewell Dinner at an authentic Danish restaurant. After we were initially seated, the group was in for a surprise when the building fire alarm went off. No worries though, the group grabbed their wine glasses and enjoyed the outside while the false alarm was taken care of! Dinner was great.

DAY 10

Day 10 - What says welcome to Norway, then a quick McDonald's lunch? Little Michael's choice! After a quick snack, we started a little walking tour of Oslo. It was a bright, beautiful Summer day perfect for checking out the famous Frogner Park, gardens, and playgrounds. Frogner Park is the largest park in the city and has many interesting statues and sculptures! It must be hot in Norway, because many of the sculptures forgot their clothes! :-) After walking around we had another great meal at Oslo's new waterfront area. This area seemed very newly developed with tons of great restaurants and bars! ...And a great area for people watching and dreaming about a new luxury waterfront condo and boat!

DAY 12

Day 12 - Today we planned an exciting cross Norway tour called "Norway in a nutshell". The tour starts in Oslo (or Bergen, if you take it the opposite way) and involves multiple trains, buses, and boats to follow a scenic path ending in Bergen. The tour takes most of the day and has several highlights, such as the scenic Flam Railway - one of the world's most beautiful train journeys, a fjord cruise on Nærøyfjorden and Aurlandsfjorden viewing the amazing Nærøydalen valley, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a short bus ride down a mountain and plenty of photo stops in between. Once we arrived in Bergen, we checked into a beautiful room at the Radisson Blu Hotel on the historic waterfront. Time for a quick snack and bed!

DAY 14

Day 14 - For our last full day in Bergen, we visited the RosenKrantz Tower (an old fortress) and gardens. Another amazing piece of history. After a few more shops; we had our last lunch outside on the waterfront, savoring in the fresh Bergen air. We ended the day checking out a local Fish Market. Lots of amazing colors and seafood in there! We are not major seafood eaters, so we found Michael's favorite find, Olivia's, which is a great Italian restaurant we saw throughout Norway. I think we ate there three times, but none of us minded! After dinner, we grabbed some ice cream and headed back to the hotel for our final packing. I can't believe it is the end of this exciting trip!