Recap of the Last Week of the European Adventure 2025

I know I'm writing this late as hell. I debated if I should write it at all, being that it's been two weeks and two days since we returned. But I feel like I have to finish the story.

Copenhagen, Roskilde (Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden)

June 2-6 

By the time I got to the second week in Denmark I was a little tired, even though I tried to practice "slow travel." My left foot, that has been bothering me since I twisted it six months ago on and off, decided to start hurting after the first week of walking on average 10,500 steps per day. 

Monique and Henning were wonderful hosts and gave us keys so we could come and go as we wanted, especially since Monique was working some of the days we were staying with them. I've known Monique since kindergarten, but we became best friends when we were placed in the same first grade class at Sanderson Elementary. 

The first day we set out on an adventure to Roskilde, Denmark. Thirty-nine Danish monarchs are buried in the cathedral that dates back to 1275. 

Roskilde Cathedral, 1225

When we arrived in Roskilde we took the bus to the Viking Museum first. It was a really cool and interesting experience. They have partly reconstructed several Viking ships with pieces that they found in the bay off the coast of Roskilde. The archeologists have studied these remains, and the museum has reconstructed models that they have out on the water, outside the museum. It's an ongoing archaeological study. 

After the museum we made the 30-minute walk through a beautiful park towards the cathedral pictured here. The sarcophagi are beautiful pieces of art, each one unique and amazing. I don't know which one was my favorite because they were all so beautiful. 

We returned to Copenhagen and delicious a wonderful lasagna dinner made by Henning. 

The next day was all about Copenhagen. We set out in the morning and stopped in at their amazing department store Magasin du Nord. Monique had pointed it out when we passed it at the subway level the day we arrived. We just wanted to peek in, but when we discovered the cafe, we had to stop there for coffee and something light for breakfast. I made friends with the guy who worked the cafe and found we both had a love for old architecture. We made a plan to return on our way home that afternoon to buy gifts. I'm so glad we did because unbeknownst to us everything was going to be closed the next day for Constitution Day. 

After breakfast we set off to see one of the most famous landmarks in Copenhagen. The Little Mermaid. 

The Little Mermaid

The walk to get to her was long and through another beautiful park and old fortress. Later Monique told me there was a bus we could have taken all the way up to the statue. That would have been great, to save time, but we wouldn't have had the great experience of the park and the beautiful things we saw along the way, statues, a great old church, fountains and interesting historic fortress. 

The Little Mermaid is beautiful. Interesting trivia about her. She was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of Carlsberg Beer. When we were in Roskilde we learned that the statues around the sarcophagus belonging to Christian the 9th and his wife Lousie are known as the Little Mermaid's sisters and were created by the same artist and sculptor, Edward Erikesen. 

We returned with just enough time to do some sightseeing around Magasin. The store building itself is breathtaking and historic. The architecture style is French Renaissance Revival. It took the "du Nord" part of its name from the "Hotel du Nord" that stood there first. When the store got its start in Copenhagen they had rented space in the hotel. As they grew, they were able to take over the entire hotel. They demolished the original hotel, where Hans Christian Andersen had once boarded, and built the department store that we now see, in 1894.

The store is across the street from the old opera house, known as the Royal Danish Theatre.  In front of the theatre is Kogens Nytorv, the largest square in the city. Several important buildings face the square. I took pictures of all of them because I loved all the beautiful architectural styles. 

After shopping, we made it back just in time to go to dinner with Monique and Henning. We had Chinese food and great conversation. It was the end to a great day.

On our last day we took a day trip with Monique to Malmo, Sweden and Monique's daughter Danielle met us at the Malmo Central Train Station. She lives in another town not too far from Malmo. 

Malmo Central Station

We saw another beautiful church, had lunch, and walked around looking at all the historic buildings. We ended the day in a comic bookstore, where we found a book in English, originally written and published in Swedish, for Miranda's nephew Anthony. 

I was tired by the time we were at our 12th travel day. I didn't do my usual research of the top historic things I wanted to see, so I missed out on some interesting things in Malmo. But it didn't really matter because it was wonderful to finally meet Danielle in person, after watching her grow up on Facebook. The visit in itself made the trip well worth it and I know it was special for Monique because she doesn't get to see her daughter as often as she'd like. 

We flew home from Copenhagen on Friday morning. 

I now have plans for a whole Scandinavian tour, starting in Copenhagen and traveling up through Norway, Sweden and Finland. I would like to be strategic on where I visit, and I'll only spend two days in each city with a couple of "break" days in between, so I don't get too tired. 

Other trips I'd like to plan are: a trip through all the countries in the United Kingdom, a trip to Portugal and Spain (for Miranda because I've been to Spain many times) and a trip to Greece. 

I just got back two weeks ago and I'm already plotting my return! More than, that I'm writing out my goals on how I can retire in five years so I can keep traveling. 

P.S. When the boys left us in Amsterdam they proceeded on an adventure through Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland and on to Venice, Italy. Ethan left Italy the same day we left Denmark and Seth stayed on in Italy for another week.