Today was a day to connect to our past. On this date in 1891 my maternal grandfather Carl Gustaf Adolf Anderson (age 7) and his family boarded a ship from the harbor in Goteburg for their trip to the new land. So by mid morning we had directions on how to take the tram to the harbor so that I could honor that crossing and all it meant for the Anderson family. We easily found our way (the tram system is incredibly easy to use). We walked across a huge walkway that took us over the freeway and down on the other side right next to the Goteburg Opera House. There is was. The Harbor. I tried to imagine what things would have looked like 117 years ago. I tried to imagine what feelings of fear, excitement and panic they were faced with. Did my great-grandmother really want to board that ship bound for "who knew where" with three children under the age of seven? What was she leaving behind? Who was she leaving behind? Dick went about taking many pictures while I stared at the water thanking God for their safe journey and the life they made in Central Minnesota. I felt so good about being able to be here to mark that date.
Then - back by tram and into our little VW Polo and off to see more of the world. Now it was Dick's turn! We headed north/northeast to Trollhatten, where his mom's family was from. We followed the Gota Canal all the way (about two hours) of lovely scenery. Again - lots of farms, lots of birch and pine and huge rocks. We wondered why after all these years are there still rocks all over the farmlands? Hmmmmmm. It looked alot like northern MN.
Trollhatten blew us away. I had read some about it and thought it would be a good sized industrial city on a river. It was gorgeous. A huge river, a falls, locks, and lovely parks taking advantage of all the water. We drove around from sight-seeing spot to sight seeing spot with camera at the ready. After exhausting all the overlooks we parked alongside the canal in center city and had lunch of a brie and salami sandwiches on crunchy homemade bread, with Fanta and a Swedish "sweet." We wandered the streets abit and then finally bid farewell to this really pretty place.
On to Orebro - about 3 hours on good roads - again with lots of lakes and farms. All the farms are red - red houses, red barns, red out-buildings, with just a few bright yellow houses thrown in for good measure. We arrived tired in Orebro and found our hotel in the center city. Got parked and settled and then wandered a bit. Found the castle, the church, and wonderful pedestrian walkways that Europe does so well. Pizza for dinner. (Carolyn Marie, I know you are reading this and your twin was at the same restaurant as we were for dinner. We were tempted to ask if we could take her picture but decided that wasn't very cool so we didn't. Trust us though...she exists!)
Now home to read maps for tomorrow as we zoom into Stockholm. What a treat it was today to remember with gratitude those brave souls of both our families.
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