stockholm & copenhagen day 3:: trehorna and marbacks

The last photos of Nic's "Motherland Tour."


Our second to last stop on Nic's "Motherland Tour" was in Trehorna.


Another beautiful church in a beautiful location.





There was an older gentleman who was tending to a grave who tried talking with me, and got quite upset when I asked him if he spoke English. Thank goodness Maddie was there to talk with him about why we were stomping through the graveyard.

Here, Nic's great great grandmother, Anna, was born.





Right next to the church was Trehorna Wardshus, a hotel, restaurant, cafe, spa, gym and event center.

Only one thing mattered - they had beer, and we were all in desperate need.



We enjoyed them out on the deck, enjoying an incredible view.







Our last stop was Marbacks.

Nic's great-great-great grandmother, Eva was born here.



Upon walking through the church gates, we had three kids on our heels the entire time. They had ridden their bikes to the church from their house just down the road. Again - thank goodness for Maddie and her ability to speak with the locals!

















Here's a quick riddle for you:: how can you tell you've been in the car too long, and have waited about 27 seconds too long to locate a place to eat dinner?

answer:: you are able to catch Mom eating something from McDonalds.

Yeah...after this night we vowed to always have a plan in place for meal times. The first restaurant/pub we stopped at had nothing, absolutely nothing, that I could eat. The second restaurant was promising, but the service was terrible, so we walked out before our waitress took our order, and the third restaurant...well - there was a McDonald's two doors down, and it was already 10PM with another 90 minutes in the car looming ahead of us. We had to eat and get going....



...get going to the roach hotel in Gothenburg.

I was not a happy sleeper.

stockholm & copenhagen day 3:: rykelsby & rinna

After our visit to Ekeby, we stopped in Rykelsby on our way to Rinna. After almost not stopping, we decided to ask a local couple (total bikers!) if they knew where a cottage was that was listed in Nic's family history information.

They did - and it was very awesome.



It was on this farm that Nic's great x 4 grandma and grandpa lived in cottage #61.

















Such a beautiful area - and clearly the weather could not have been any better.

Rinna was our next stop.









Here, we wandered through the cemetery in search of Nic's great x 5 (?) grandpa who was born in 1762 in Ostergotlands and died in Rinna.



And what'd ya know - behind an overgrown shrub, we found the family grave.



Sven died in 1833. It was really neat to find the tombstone.



After Rinna, we stopped at two more towns with some family history attached before caving in to the fading daylight and making our way to Gothenburg.

stockholm & copenhagen day 3:: ekeby

Today was the start of our two day road trip to Copenhagen.

It was also the day for visiting towns where Nic's ancestors lived. What we thought would be a scenic drive through the country side, turned out to be an awesome trip visiting churches, talking with a few locals, and seeing some amazing views of the Swedish countryside.

We kind of wonder why they ever left these parts for the States (but we guess the promise of free land had something to do with it.)

The day started early with an amazing breakfast buffet at the Scandic Hotel, followed by a stroll around the city with Mom, while Nic and Maddie went to pick up our rental car.









Our first stop was in Linkoping at Steve's Coffee for lunch, which was recommended by three random girls we stopped on the street. The food was excellent - I ordered a vegetarian bagel that came overflowing with greens and veggies dressed in an olive oil + balsamic dressing.













We then made our way to the first stop of Nic's "Motherland Tour" - Ekeby.













Nic's great-great-great-great grandparents were married in this town and died in the area. His great-great-great grandma was born and married here. It was his great x 3 grandma, Anna, who emigrated to the United States in 1878.

His great x 4 grandpa, Anders, was a solider from 1808-1843 and was the caretaker of the church (in Ekeby?) in 1850.