Denmark, England, Scotland 2026

The family decided on another beach holiday in southern Denmark, specifically Marielyst, close to where we had been two years ago for a few nights. First we spent a few days in Copenhagen with my friend, Corinne. The girls walked and walked to some of the major sightseeing sites. They decided their favorite place to be was the harbor swimming pool where they could jump high or low off a tower. 

Our summerhouse was not too far from the beach so the girls managed to swim three times a day; (the adults happily swam once a day in the cold North Sea). The girls busied themselves with art projects, especially painting rocks. 

They consumed gallons of yogurt that was easily poured from liter cartons and muslei. After ten days,  I went to England, and the other families met Jim at the airport and then went to Aarhus in Jutland. Later they visited relatives and found more beaches..I went to Berwick-upon-Tames to visit friends, Jane and Lars. I had taught English with Jane for many years in Copenhagen. 

I flew from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, then took the train south to Berwick One day we explored the Holy Island which is separated from the mainland by a causeway. One has to be sure to plan ahead or else one might get stuck on the island when the tide is in. It's a lovely peaceful place with a castle, ruins of a priory and a church. We ate delicious crab sandwiches. The permanent residents are fishermen and they also depend on tourism. We spent a day in York visiting a friend and reminiscing about the intense English weekends course on York that Jane and I taught. Another day we took a boat trip from the town out to the ocean. It's a very beautiful old town with a majestic 400 year old bridge. Jane and Lars know a great deal about the history of the town.

From there I took the train to Inverness in northern Scotland where my friend, Lynda, lives. She is part of the traveling five Chile teacher group, now four with the passing of Glenda. Lynda lives in a lovely cottage, part old and part new. Her daughter with her two teenage sons live in the large country home. It's a beautiful property over looking a loch. We picked plums, then cherries and finished off with blueberries. Lynda has two robots that speed around the property cutting the grass occasionally greeting each other. In the kitchen she has boiling water that comes from the faucet. I was impressed.

We went to a Highland Games competition which takes place in August and September. We watched Highland Dancing and listened to bagpipes.There were strength competitions: shot put (a stone weighing 20-26 lbs), hammer throw (metal ball of 2lbs attached to a wooden pole), caber toss (a long pole is lifted up then flipped over, tug-of-war, jumps, running  races, cycle races, kids races. Some of t;he men were very big and strong. It was a fun afternoon. 

Another day we took a two-day trip to the northeast stopping in Cullen for Cullen Skink, a cream soup made of potatoes, leeks and smoked haddock.We continued south hoping to see gardens, but they were closed. We went on to the Haddo House where we walked around the very formal gardens. The roads were always very narrow. There were shining fields of cut barley that shimmered golden brown in the sun, in contrast to green fields of potatoes and grass. Towns were small with grey stone buildings. We followed the directions which were quite complicated, turn right, turn left, continue left, then veer right.We couldn't find our hotel inspite of contacting them three times. Somehow we kept missing the illusive road to the village of Lunphanan and the Hotel Macbeth Arms. Finally we made it and were cheered upon our arrival. The next day we visited the Crathes Castle and  climbed the forever spiral staircase, then walked in the gardens with their many flowers and plants. On the way home we drove among the hills covered with purple heather, absolutely gorgeous. All in all it was a lovely tour of the Scottish countryside and it was very nice being with Lynda again.

                                                                        Heather

France and Portugal - September 2025

 Antibes on the French Riviera

Mussels

Mussels, baby clams, octopus

Red wine, white wine

Croissants, crepes

Warm sunshine, sandy beach, very swimmable Mediterranean water

Narrow streets with attractive doorways and plants, gift shops 

Antibes on the French Riviera was a great relaxing week-long holiday with my friend Kitty.

She returns to Antibes again and again.

It’s a lovely town and is great for people-watching.

We were there in mid September and there were still plenty of tourists.

We had a wonderful time.

Atalaia, Portugal 

From France I flew to Portugal where my friends, Blaire and Dale, are living in a small village about an hour north of Lisbon. I had been in Lisbon and Porto before so I decided I would just be with my friends in their area. It's beautiful with rolling hills and white villages scattered about. Roads are narrow and there are many roundabouts and 90 degree turns. It’s an agricultural area - cabbage being the main product, then pumpkins. There are olive groves which often are trimmed to be more like bushes. Atalaia is close to the coast, down a steep cliff with sandy beaches stretching on and on. It’s a tourist area with cold water; people come here to learn to surf, not that far away is Nazaré where surfing championships are held in the winter.   

Porto d Mós with Blaire  

Dale and Blaire

                                     

View from their house

We made daily excursions to museums, castles, fortresses, beaches, and a wine tasting. The Museum of Resistance and Freedom in Peniche traces the history of the dictator, Salazar who ruled Portugal for 46 years, 1932-68. (Franco in Spain 1939-75). The museum is located in a 16th century fortress and  became a prison in the 1960’s. There are video interviews of former prisoners and relatives. One man talked about escaping by swimming for an hour and a half in December. I can’t imagine. It’s an excellent museum.

A dinosaur museum is close to Blaire and Dale’s in Lourinhã. Dinosaur bones have been found in the cliffs and continue to be found. One exciting find were two groups of dinosaur eggs (the size of tennis balls) in a “nest.” Research continues on the finds. We visited a textile museum in Porto de Mós that had many historic looms and tools used for weaving. There were some beautiful woven fabrics on display. We also wandered in the 13th century castle which was once a Moorish settlement.

Castle

Porto de Mós 

Odidos is a lovely medieval  tourist town surrounded by a city wall. To explore  the town. you start with a glass of sour cherry liquor, then wander the attractive narrow streets. It’s a cute little town with nice shops; flowers and plants decorate the buildings. Starting in 1228 Odidos became part of the dowry for the queens. The castle there is a luxury hotel.

We walked on several beaches, long stretches of sandy beach where it was usually windy and  wavy. Walking on the beach was good for this Minnesota girl. 

The market has beautiful fruits and vegetables, a red pepper the size of a small cantaloupe. We also got cheese and fish. The fish salesman surprised us by speaking excellent English. Blaire and Dale are doing their best to learn Portuguese. 

My favorite food in Portugal are the custard pastries, but even better than those was the sour dough bread that Dale made. It was very special and very beautiful. It was a very relaxing and pleasurable time that I spent in Portugal.

View my whole album here.

Denmark Trip, August 2024

My daughters, Anne and Sarah, granddaughters (Anne’s girls: Lauren 10, Emma 8, Sarah’s: Maya 8, Gemma 6) and I had an exciting vacation in Denmark. We were seven, driving to different places and staying mostly for three nights. Since the girls don’t see each other very often, it was a wonderful time for them to be together. Anne, her girls and I were in Copenhagen about a week before Sarah arrived. We stayed with my dear friend, Corinne, and Jørgen in their comfortable home in the old city. We did some sightseeing: Rosenborg Castle, Round Tower, Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg, the Little Mermaid, the modern Royal Library. We also visited a number of playgrounds. We took trains, subways and water taxis. We joined Corinne for a swim in the cold harbor in a protected area 70 meters in length. I joined Corinne and swam up and back and Lauren jumped off a platform. There are no dressing rooms, so you change at the side of the pool. 

After Sarah arrived with her daughters, we drove  north of Copenhagen to Helsingør to visit Anne’s and Sarah’s cousins nearby, their children and grandchildren. We were invited to a garden party to celebrate a baptism. We toured the famous Hamlet castle, Kronborg, in Helsingør which Shakespeare used as the setting for his play in 1602. It dramatically sits by itself on an island with impressive spires, moats, and walls. 

We then drove to Marielyst, a beach town, where my daughters had spent time with their father every summer. The water was cold but the girls played in the water, and I swam. One day there were many iridescent jellyfish floating up on the beach. At first the girls were afraid of them, but eventually they were poking and prodding them. We drove to the southernmost part of Denmark by Gedser where the paternal grandparents had lived. 

We sought out four of the huge trolls by Thomas Dambo, made of recycled wood. They were great and the girls enjoyed climbing on them. One you had to access by pulling yourself across a small body of water on a raft. Another we searched for because it was not easy to find. He recently constructed six trolls in Detroit Lakes in northern Minnesota.

From Marielyst on the way to Jutland, the westernmost part of Denmark, we stopped in Odense, the birthplace of H. C. Andersen. The girls had an exciting time in the kids section of the museum trying on different stunning costumes and then “performing” on stage.

We drove west to Jutland, crossing some very impressive bridges. Our destination was Billund where Legoland is located and legos were invented in 1932, and the first factory built. Legoland is a big amusement park where everything except the rides are built of legos. The heart of Legoland is from the 1960’s with knee-high Danish towns and cities. This is what I saw in 1962. It’s amazing all the lego structures: animals, villages, waterfalls, mountains and people. The girls went on a number of rides and the adults went on several. The next day we spent the morning in a water park and in the afternoon went to Lego House where in different stations you are provided with an experience which encourages creativity. In one area they built custom mini-figures with appropriate clothing and props. The creations were then scanned and animated on a tv screen.

                                         

Danish town of legos.

From Billund we drove north on very narrow country roads with 90 degree turns to arrive at the summer house where we would stay five nights. Once close to the coast, we saw endless sand dunes that followed the coast. We got to our spacious house with four bedrooms and the bonus, an indoor swimming pool, just the right size for four little girls. The girls ended up spending a lot of time in the pool - the temperature was definitely warmer than the ocean. We walked ten minutes on a road, over a sand dune, and to the beach several times a  day. There were some lovely flowers and wild rose bushes with huge rose hips.  Because of the wind there were waves. Mostly Anne and the girls held hands and jumped the waves. Great fun! There were many attractive summer houses with thatched roofs. Besides swimming, the girls painted rocks they had found, played with their new legos, and of course were on their iPads. The Olympics were on so the adults watched them. One day we climbed the Lyngvig Lighthouse - a great view, but very windy. At each of the houses where we stayed, and all over Denmark, food compost is collected weekly along with the trash. 

                                                                                       Our summer house.

We ate a lot of ramen, pizza, spaghetti, french bread, and bakery goods. The girls also ate "chocolate sandwiches," a thin piece of chocolate on bread. Everyone consumed huge quantities of yogurt with muesli; the yogurt is so much better than American yogurt. It comes in a liter carton, as do other delicious dairy products. All plastic caps are attached to the spouts so they aren’t loose. We also consumed gummi candy including strong salty black licorice. On several occasions when we were out and about we treated ourselves to “gammeldags is” old-fashion ice cream in crispy waffle cones with whipped cream on top.

Everyone left and I had made arrangements to take the bus to Aarhus, the happiest city in the world, and the second largest city in Denmark. I went there especially to visit the ARoS Art Museum which has an upper floor with a skywalk with multi-colored glass, a fun way to view the city. I also wandered in Old Town with structures from three different eras. After Aarhus, I returned to Copenhagen and to my friend, Corinne, always a gracious host. I also had the opportunity to visit my other friend, Jacqueline. I went to several museums, and Corinne and I went swimming again in the harbor. With Corinne and Jørgen I watched part of the official PRIDE parade, and then people parading by themselves in wild and crazy costumes. Thousands of people were out and about.

Aarhus

       Pool within canal

All in all it was a fun holiday with great weather, but sometimes challenging for the moms, but I was impressed with the patience of each of my daughters. I was well taken care of. It was nice not being in charge. In our self portraits there was often a child missing. They took turns being mad about something (hunger, cold, wrong clothes, broken rock) and therefore refusing to be part of the photo. The cousins got on really well and had fun together. It was an adventure for all of us.

Peru

                                                                   January 2023

My friend, Glenda, and I decided to escape winter by going to Peru from mid-January to mid- February where temperatures are in the upper 20’s C/ 70’s and 80’s F. We had planned a four week trip, and it was a great trip until the very end when the day before we were leaving Glenda fell and fractured her hip in two places and her femur. For over a week Glenda was in a private clinic in a nice suburb of Lima receiving care. After six days, I returned home because I didn’t feel that I could help Glenda anymore, and she returned to Victoria, BC several days later with an attending nurse. She is home in Victoria, BC recovering.

After we purchased our tickets the political demonstrations began, some violent. I had been both in Kenya and Chile when there were political demonstrations and managed to avoid them, so we carried on with our plans for Peru. We changed our tentative itinerary to avoid the areas where the roads were blocked. We both had been to Machu Picchu before so that had never been on our itinerary. I had been in Peru several times before, especially when I was teaching in Santiago.

Peru has a long coastline which consists of sandy desert and scrubland stretching from Chile to Ecuador. Inland are the Andes and then on the eastern side of the mountains the rain forest begins, and the Amazon basin. Peru became independent in 1824.

Probably the best and most interesting part of our trip was the first part when we were in the jungle and on the Amazon River. Iquitos is far away from any roads so we flew in. Most of the traffic in Iquitos is “motos” (tuk tuks), a three-wheeled vehicle driven by a motorbike and with room for passengers in back.The rubber boom hit Iquitos in the 1870’s and continued for about 30 years. There was great wealth at that time, but also extreme poverty. Many natives in the area suffered from disease and abuse. There are some mansions from this time covered with tiles and even a building by Eiffel that was exported piece by piece from France.

Glenda in moto

Former mansion with tiles

From Iquitos we went on a four-day, three-night jungle tour on the Amazon. On the tour, it was just the two of us, our young indigenous guide and the boatman. We stayed in a very nice ecolodge high up on the river bank and went out everyday exploring the Amazon, tributaries, villages and jungle trails. We saw gray and pink dolphins. Our guide studied medicinal plants with his shaman grandfather so we learned about some of the plants. We saw beautiful huge lily pads - the largest in the world - on a pond, and I paddled a canoe by them. We interacted with the Yahua tribe, learning about their life and dancing with them.

Our guide

Everything was so green, a lush lush green, and it was hot and humid of course. I love seeing large healthy tropical plants growing in the wild that at home we struggle to grow in pots. I went swimming in the Amazon, nice temperature, but rather muddy where we were. We also fished for small piranhas and later ate them for lunch. Peruvian food isn’t exactly gourmet but the food at the lodge was excellent with delicious fish, salads and fruit. Another time we had a wonderful seafood meal at a very good restaurant in Trujillo. Peruvians eat a large amount of rice, manioc or cassava, and beans. The mangoes were incredible as were the avocados. We visited several villages where all the houses were made of wood and on stilts. The river rises three meters, almost ten feet in March and the only way to get around at that time is by canoe. When the water recedes the villagers plant crops (manioc, sugarcane, corn). Fruit trees are abundant, and of course they fish. All the villages have kindergartens and primary schools but for further education, students must go to Iquitos. The villages we saw had houses and a municipal building built around a large rectangular grassy field which also served as a soccer field. Other houses, all very open and primitive were further on down lanes.

Village houses

Our boat is the green one

One afternoon we visited a monkey rescue center, Monkey Island. Any number of tame monkeys climbed all over us, especially Glenda who was more patient. It was fascinating interacting with different monkeys and we saw many in the wild who hang out near the center.

We returned to Lima with just enough time to organize a flight to Trujillo, north of Lima. We were still avoiding the highways because of a chance of road blocks. This would be the beginning of our archeological trip. We explored a number of cities north and east of Lima. When we first arrived in a city, often after a long bus ride, we sought out the Plaza de Armas, the main square and the center of the city with the cathedral and perhaps some colonial buildings if they still existed. It’s a place where people gather, always a great place to people-watch.

Plaza de Armas, Trujillo

We traveled by bus from Trujillo to Chiclayo to Chachapoyas, then to Cajamarca before returning to Trujillo and Lima, a total of 1,870 km/1,162 mi. There are an endless number of archeological sites in the area; we only visited a few of the major ones. Site information is organized historically.

Therefore the first site is Cumbemayo, located outside Cajamarca at 3,500 m/11,500 ft, a beautiful area with high dome-shaped basalt towers. The Chavin culture was there from 1500 - 1000 BC. The aqueduct system is most amazing. Water flows for 9 k/5.6 mi through smooth volcanic rock much of which was cut smoothly and which also makes right angle turns. It was used for irrigation and flowed into a reservoir. There is also a ceremonial altar, caves and shelters with petroglyphs in stone that archeologists can’t decipher. It was a fun area to hike in.

Cumbemayo

Kuélap, a colossal sandstone walled city, at 3,000 m/10,000 ft was in the cloud forest near Chachapoyas. Unfortunately it is closed for restoration so you cannot enter the city but the walls are impressive. The walls form an oval 600 m/656 yd by 100 m/109 yd. The Chachapoyas were there from 500 AD - 1490 (built 500 years before Machu Picchu). Within the walls are 400 round dwellings with straw roofs. It is estimated that 3-4,000 people lived there. A gondola was built by the French several years ago so it is easy to ascend the mountain. After the 20 minute gondola ride, there is a a half hour hike further up the mountainside. The Chachapoyas placed their dead on cliff ledges wrapping them first in clay, then a mixture of mud and straw, finally they were painted cream and brightly decorated. These special clay containers are called sarcophagi.

Kuélap

Sipán is a site outside of Chiclayo with 14 tombs from the Moche period, 50 AD - 700 AD. The tombs were found under a huge mound of adobe bricks and earth. The Lord of Sipán was buried here and adorned with copper, silver and gold jewelry, a headdress, face mask, necklaces, nose and earrings. He was accompanied in death by his wife, two concubines, a boy, two guards whose feet had been amputated (perhaps so they wouldn't escape), a military chief, a flag bearer, two dogs, and a headless llama.There were many ceramic jugs and other treasures, a total of 451 ceremonial items. Another tomb contained a Moche priest. There is a fabulous museum, Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán, in another town north of Chiclayo, Lambayeque, which has the original valuable pieces that were found in the tombs.

Looking down into a tomb from above

Huacas (mystical sites) del Sol y de la Luna are near Trujillo and attributed to the Moche Period (100-800 AD) and more than 700 years older than Chan Chan, the other major site near Trujillo. The Huaca de la Luna was the ceremonial center, while the Huaca del Sol was the administrative center. They were built over six centuries to 600 AD. There were six generations and each generation completely covered the previous structures. The two huacas are separated by 500 m/547 yd of open desert where dwellings and other buildings of common people were located. There are many rooms that contained ceramics and precious metals and there are beautiful polychrome friezes with stylized figures on every level. This site was the most impressive because of the beautiful friezes with bold colors.

Frieze, Huaca de la Luna

Within Lima and close to where I was staying in Miraflores I visited the site Huaca Pucllana where the Lima culture first occupied the site (500 AD) and later the Wasi culture (700 AD). It covers an area of 22 sq m/72 sq ft. It was primarily a ceremonial site, but also administrative with a large pyramid and plazas and patios below. The people held religious ceremonies, fiestas and ritual banquets here. Young women were sacrificed, as were babies who were wrapped, no doubt to appease the gods and to perhaps ask for rain. There are niches for storage and ceremonial pits. On a large vessel there are aquatic scenes. Sharks played an important role and they no doubt ate shark at their banquets. The blocks of adobe bricks are built up vertically (like books on a shelf). This makes the structure more stable in an earthquake. The Lima people moved away and the Wari took over the site.

Pyramid, Huaca Pucllana

Chan Chan, near Trujillo, the largest adobe city in the Americas, was the capital of the Chimú. I visited this site in 1969 when very little of it was uncovered. The Chimú were there from 900 AD until the Inca conquered them in 1470. The city covers an area of 20 sq km/7.7 sq miles with 15-18 m/ 50-60 ft high walls. There were ten walled citadels within the city with plazas, storerooms, chambers for treasures, royal courtyards, and burial platforms for the royalty. One is available to visit. The population of the city was 40-60,000 people. An irrigation system for agriculture was formed from run off from the mountains. They also depended on fish from the nearby Pacific Ocean. The walls consist of adobe brick and mud. On the walls are stylized reliefs of waves, fishing nets, pelicans, sea lion/otter. There was a place for craftsman, an administrative section, and a large restored courtyard.

Administrative center, Chan Chan

We took a walking tour of historic Lima one day. There was definitely a police presence in the city, and especially in the main square. We also visited the Museum Larco with a wonderful collection of Moche pottery, portrait vessels, and ceramics showing everyday life, people, crops, wild and domestic animals, marine life, architecture, and much more.

Traffic in Peru is dangerous. The drivers are very aggressive and don’t stop for pedestrians. Often the roads are very crowded and drivers swerve in and out of traffic, especially in roundabouts. Many highways in the countryside are narrow and death defying because of huge drop offs. There were many times when I didn’t want to look out the bus window. One time when we were in the rain forest on our way to Cajamarca women were on the road selling small mangoes. Each vendor had an endless number of mangoes selling them for 1 sole (25 cents) for a kilo which was six mangoes, or so. What they need in this area of endless mangoes is a factory to make chutney or juice. Many mangoes must go to waste.

All in all it was a good trip until the very end. We had fun and met some very nice people. I enjoyed eating tropical fruit again, and a new fruit for me called granadina. It was good speaking Spanish and getting to know different aspects of Peruvian culture.

Granadina

Museum Courtyard, Lima

Sunset on the Amazon