Tour- part deux

Warning - this is a LONG post and picture heavy too!

Week two of the tour kicked off with Jen and I battling our way across from Helsinborg to Copenhagen, by train....it was such a fight as we were loaded up with so much baggage and to make life even more difficult for ourselves, we hopped on to the wrong train!! Opppps!
After one stop we were booted off by the ticket inspector and found ourselves in Lund, not really 100% sure where we were, or how we should make it to Copenhagen - anyways I spotted a friendly face in the crowd and thankfully for us he was an English guy who set us straight and finally Jen and I arrived in Copenhagen - tired but happy.

Copenhagen is such a beautiful place that no matter how tired we were we knew we had to go explore. We jumped in to a taxi and the driver (Dan) took us on a guided tour of the city.



We saw the Palace, Stock Exchange, the Opera House and a whole variety of other buildings before stopping off to see the Little Mermaid before she makes her departure to China in just a few weeks time.

Dan drove us over to the new harbour and there we sat and ate whilst we watched the world pass us by.

The next morning we had some spare time, so we took a canal tour of the city.....

before heading off to go teach at Jeans Scrapstue for the rest of the day.


The next morning we woke early to jump on a flight to Norway, where we taught at Hobby Norge Steffens in Oslo.

We were only at the store for a few minutes when the streets were filled with the Royal Procession of the King and Queens Soldiers.



It was a pretty amazing sight to be seen and of course Jen and I couldn't resist taking a few photographs. The King waved as he passed by the gathering outside the store....it really made our day.

Our classes were full and we both really enjoyed our time at the store thanks to Siv and her amazing team of staff.

The following morning we were meant to take a quick tour around the city - but tiredness beat us down and we spent the morning relaxing in our Pj's before we headed off to another store for the day.

Bikuben has to be every scrapbookers shopping dream - the store is set over three levels and I have never ever seen so much product in one place - it was quite overwhelming to see just how many papers and embellies there were sitting under one roof...I could have spent a small fortune, but as my case was already bursting at its seams I had to resist!




Our classes went well and we had fun meeting up with so many new faces.

Thursday saw another early start, as we took a flight over to Amsterdam, where we were greeted at the airport by Jen's friends, Hetty and Lida. These two very special ladies gave me so many happy memories of Amsterdam....memories I shall treasure always - thanks you two.x.x.x.x.

As it was Queens Day in Amsterdam, the air was alive with a festival atmosphere and with a free day, Hetty and Lida took us on a sight seeing adventure - we became tourists for the afternoon as we tip toed through the tulips and took a trip to see the windmills.



And so finally the last day of the tour arrived and we headed over to teach at Scrap Art. The owners, Henk, Petra and Linda were wonderful hosts and made both Jen and I feel very at home in their store.
As my last class of the tour came to an end, I couldn't help getting a little emotional as the realisation that Jen and I would be soon parting began to hit home.....we had bonded so well over the past two weeks and in her I know I have found a friend for all time. Loves ya Jen - you are just "so lovely" ;)

With our classes over we packed up our bags and headed to another hotel for the night - opting to sleep in for a while on Saturday before Hetty and Lida collected us at noon for another afternoon of sight seeing.

As a small child I remember my Dad sharing with me his experiences of the time he spent in Amsterdam during the second world war - he told me of a story about the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the Dyke to stop the town from flooding - Hetty and Lida took me to see the statue of the boy and for me it was quite an emotional experience.


We ate traditional Dutch food whilst sitting beside the canal - then headed off to a small Dutch village where we tried on clogs and then took some time to enjoy a little sight seeing and shopping in the city.

To end our day, we took to the water as we enjoyed a canal trip around Amsterdam.

Jen's flight left early on Sunday morning - *sniff **sniff* - with me leaving late afternoon meant that Hetty and Lida took me off for the morning to see even more sights....


as well as having a fun time playing dress up!



Hetty and Lida drove me to the airport and I waved goodbye to Amsterdam late afternoon to begin my journey home. I was greeted by the guys at the airport.....its been a fun tour - Ive learnt lots about the countries we have visited and even more about myself.
Its really great to be back home - I have missed the guys sooo much and am so happy its a bank holiday here, as I am enjoying an afternoon cuddled up on the sofa with them all, before the daily routine of life kicks in tomorrow.

Thanks for popping by.
T.x.x