Field Trip!

Mom and I just got back from a trip to Holland and Denmark! We spent one week in Amsterdam and another in Copenhagen! Of course we didn't get to see or do everything that we wanted, but I would gladly return to either city. We had a great time visiting museums, chapels, towers, markets, monuments, etc. There were also plenty of knitting points of interest! Here are just a few pictures for the time being!



We saw the Rembrandts and Vermeers and Van Goghs in Amsterdam, including a recently discovered early painting "Rembrandt Laughing" that will soon be returned to a private collection. We traveled to outlying areas in the Copenhagen area to see Roskilde Cathedral, the Vikingship Museum, and Karen Blixen's home.

I parted with a lot of money in the yarn shops, fabric stores, haberdasheries, department and grocery stores and BankRot-caliber stores found along the way! These are the prized souvenirs I seek out for myself! I'll post pictures of my plunder later!

One of my favorite discoveries from this trip was this collection of knitting spools we saw in a window on our way to The Houseboat Museum. I remember making these with old wooden thread spools and larger versions with pencils and oatmeal canisters. We call them a Knitting Nellie and I know in Norway they are called Strikke Lise, but I found a Strick Liesl in Holland and a Stricke Sussel in Denmark!

We got to see The Little Mermaid on the waterfront. I had seen pictures of her since I was a little girl, so it was neat to see her up close. You'd never guess from this picture that there were about 5 tour buses worth of people clambering around on the rocks next to me!

We also went to Kronborg Castle, better known as Hamlet's Castle, in Helsingor. We traipsed through the apartments, chapel, and finally the casemates where we met Holger the Dane! Legend has it that if Denmark is ever threatened, he will rise from his slumber and defend the nation. And all through Denmark, jeg snakket norsk med alle jeg traff--og de SVARTE meg pa Dansk! That was SO rewarding to me! I haven't been able to interact like that since I was last in Norway in 2001. Jeg elsker meg i Skandisk land!