Great Sweden Adventure of 2016 – Part I

In November 2015, Jon registered to ride in the world’s largest cycling event in terms of combined kilometers of each rider- The VätternRundan . There are 28,000 people that ride 300km- over 8 million kilometers ridden (5.2 million miles). This set in to motion our Great Sweden Adventure of 2016. Following registration, Jon made all of the arrangements for this trip, and did a fabulous job I might add. It would contain a hostel, two cabins, and a tent.

A friend of mine has lived in Hamburg for 3 years, and we had yet to see them. With just a few months left in Germany, and driving right through there, we took the opportunity. They opened their home to us, ate a delicious dinner and had a great time. We both have 4 kids that are almost identical in ages (our oldest are 8 days apart) and they all had so much fun playing together and talking with friends in English- something their kids don’t get very often. It was a true blessing to spend the evening with them.

We then drove to the Airport Hostel that we stayed at. The hostel met our needs for the night and for the price. We had a family room that had 3 bunk beds (6 beds total) and a private shower and toilet. The internet and lift to the 3^rd floor (4^th American floor) did not work, but that was the only negatives. Breakfast was pricey at the hostel, so the next morning, we found a grocery store and got some bananas and muffins for breakfast for what it would have cost 2 of us to eat at the hostel.

Then we headed to the Miniture Wonderland. Before we moved to Germany, Jon use to play this video for our oldest two and promised this was one of the many places we’d go while in Germany. Now that we’ve been here almost 5 years, we still hadn’t gone, so we finally made the trip. It was so fun and amazing. It cost us about €40 because we booked tickets online. We also got there before 9am. I strongly recommend it because the later it got, the more crowded it was and hard for little ones to see. It’s a huge miniature train exhibit. Jon and I were paying close attention to the people to see what they were doing, which had many risqué things like a nude beach, arresting people, peaking Tom, a murder scene, fire, and even a couple engaged in an intimate act. There were also planes that landed and took off at the airport and we all loved watching that. Also, every so often the whole building would slowly go dark and the lights of the cities would go on, and then slowly come back up.

Image of the protests at the Berlin wall- They had an entire exhibit of each
step of the building of the wall to the tearing down.

The murder scene

All of these women climbing out of this tiny 2 person car.

tiny porta potties

After this, I had found information on the Cathedral in Hamburg with a set of Holy Doors for the Year of Mercy. We knew the general direction, so headed toward a steeple. As soon as we walked in, we knew it was not a Catholic Church, so we headed toward another steeple. This time, it was an old Catholic church that was destroyed during WWII and they had left the ruins as a memorial. It was really neat to look at. So then we went toward another steeple thinking “This has to be it.” Our directions said the Domplatz (Dom Square). We finally arrived and were so happy. The church was beautiful outside. Then we walked in, and again, immediately realized it was not a Catholic Church.

We walked outside, so discouraged. There was one more we thought it could be but realized the top of the steeple wasn’t really a cross, but a moon and sun type thing, and knew that wasn’t going to be a Catholic Church either. We later realized that the name of the church had Domplatz in it, but it was not in the domplatz. AHH! Fail on Aimee’s part. I kept telling the kids we were on a pilgrimage to look for the Holy Doors, just like when Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem when pregnant, but they didn’t buy it. Instead of finding Holy Doors, we did find the Hofbrauhaus and decided to go there for lunch. It wasn’t anything too exciting. Sausages and beer- they only sell schnitzel and hamburgers (Which I wanted in Hamburg!!) Monday through Friday, and it was Saturday.

More to come in Part II and Part III.