July 4th - Karen flew to Dallas where Theresa's friends gave us a Bon Voyage lunch at Olive Garden. Then we flew overnight to Berlin.

July 5th - Arrived in Berlin and spent the day touring the sites including Brandenburg Gate where the Berlin Wall was and is now trees; Kaiser Wilhem Church ruins; Victory Column; the Berlin Zoo; and The Reichstag building where the Weimar Republic was proclaimed Nov. 9, 1918. 

That night we took the train out of what was the East Berlin train station to our next stop.

July 6th - We spent the night on the train in a Eurail Compartment on our way to Oslo, Norway.

There were stopovers in Varberg and Götenburg, and a 2-hour layover in Malmö, Sweden.

We arrived in Oslo at 7:42pm and were met by Theresa's college friend, Monica Faye.

July 7th - Monica was our tour guide  and we spent 2 nights in her home.

We went to Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Sculpture Park), the world's largest sculpture park with over 200 creations by Gustav Vigeland. We also saw the 1956 Olympics Ski Jump, the King Olaf Memorial, the Norweign Folk Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum, and experienced sunset after midnight and sunrise before 4am!

July 8th - Departing Oslo in the morning we headed for Bergen, Norway via a 6.5 hour train ride. Views included snowy areas (in July) and waterfalls. In Bergen, we took a cable car to one of the highest of Bergen's seven mountains. Too bad it was foggy. The views in town were much better.

July 9th - We left the Bergen youth hostel early in the morning and took a city bus to catch a 5 1/2 hour ferry ride along the Sognefjord (aka the King of the Fjords, the longest fjord in western Norway) to Flam, Norway.

From Flam we took a train to Lillehammer via Myrdal and Oslo.

In Lillihammer we toured the city and eyed their preparations for the 1994 Olympics.

July 10th - From Lillihammer, Norway we took a 10-hour train ride to Stockholm, Sweden where we were greeted by Karen's friends, Doug and Anne Marie and baby Jessica, very late at night.

July 11th - Wandering around Stockholm we saw the Changing of the Guard, took a ferry to Grona Lunds Tivoli amusement park, watched Traditional Glass blowers, toured the Skansen Open-Air Museum, watched reindeer and other animals, and ended the evening with a BBQ at Doug and Anne Marie's.

July 12th and 13th - We left Stockholm and took yet another train to Karlskrona, Sweden. Here we stayed with Ingrid and Krister Ekman and their sons Mikael, Torbjorn, and Magnus. We didn't know them, but Ingrid was an exchange student with a friend of Theresa's who made the connection.

The Ekmans

took us on a boat ride and showed us all around their fair city. We stayed with them for two nights.

July 14th - Leaving Karlskrona, we headed for Amsterdam with a few stops along the way:

•  In Helsingør we visited Sankt Mariæ Kirke (Church of the Virgin Mary), the Danserindebrønden (Dancer's fountain),

   and Kronborg Castle.

•  We took a train that drove right onto built-in tracks on a very large ferry from Halsingborg to Helsingør.

•  In Hillerød, Denmark we saw Frederiksborg Castle and Old Town Hall.

•  In Copenhagen we saw City Hall, the Gefion Fountain, and the Marble Church (Marmorkirken). And we walked to the

   Little Mermaid statue (a bit of a disappointment) then took a cab back to the train station.

July 15th - After spending the night on the train we arrived in Amsterdam at 10am.

We took a boat tour of the city and spent the night in a hostel in The Hague.

July 16th -  Every 10 years the Netherlands hosts an international garden exhibition. In 1992 it was held in Zoetermeer. Since we were going to be in the area we decided to check it out.  (And 30 years later we returned to 2022 Floriade in Almere.)

Later we went to Rotterdam for a quick stop then on to Brussels. All the hostels were full so we stayed at an authorized private home. Homeowner Joe took us to the Grand Place for an 11pm music and light show then a night tour of Brussels.

July 17th - A day in Brussels included a walking tour to see the Grand Place, Parliament, the Palace, churches, the biggest cinema in the world (29 screens, 7,000 seats),

"

The Atom

"

(102 meter replica of an iron atom built in 1958 for the Worlds Fair), and

"

Mini Europe

"

(all European landmarks scaled to 1/25 real size),

July 18th and 19th - Paris! We found Natre Dame and walked the champs-Elysees to L'Arc de Triomphe. Did a quick tour of the Louvre.

And we isited the Euro Disney resort (not the theme park).

Then Karen left for London on an overnight ferry and Theresa stayed in Paris for a calligraphy workshop.

In total, we covered 3384 miles in about 2 weeks!