Welcome

Helsinki

After our tour and lunch, we went to the harbor to get on the cruise for our travel to Helsinki. It was a 16 hour cruise with a variety of options for entertainment. Some dancers performed in the center the " Jungle Rhythm" which was geared towards kids. Our youngest traveler Kendall was pulled in to join the performance. She did a great job!

We arrived in Helsinki around 9:45 am, got on the bus and picked up our local expert guide, Ulla, and toured around the city. Helsinki is on a peninsula, surrounded bu the Baltic Sea. It has only been an independent country for about 100 years. We were dropped off in the city square for lunch, and then met at the University of Helsinki around 2:30 pm. We had an excellent presentation by three of their professors. Then we all went together to an Italian Restaurant, then made our way to the hotel for worship, led by Bill.

University of Helsinki

Class presentations on the System of Higher Education in Finland

Stockholm

Leaving Denmark, we took a ferry to Sweden and continued driving through the beautiful country to Stockholm. During our drive, the tour guide told us about some of the history of Sweden. In the morning, we woke up to a beautiful sunny day! 16 degrees Celsius already by 8:00 am. Praise God! We picked up our local expert guide, Rune Lemon, who shared information about Sweden. Most buildings are 6 stories tall or less because there was a rule that buildings couldn't be higher than the royal palace. The queen of England refused to stay at the palace while visiting because it has one more room than the Buckingham Palace.

Days 3 and 4 - Enjoying Copenhagen

The day began with a 6:30 AM wake-up call, followed by another delicious Scandinavian breakfast. We had to be on the bus by 8:00 AM sharp. We almost made it! It was 8:02 when everyone was on board. Our bus was brand new! We are the very first excursion for this particular bus.

Our guide, Hazel, told us about the history of the places we visited or drove by, including the Tivoli Gardens, the Stock Exchange, the Little Mermaid, a Russian church, and the home of the Royal family. We watched the Royal Guards performing their duties. We were warned not to get too close! One tourist was getting her picture with a guard, and he barked at her that she must stay 1 ½ feet away. It was quite exciting. Hazel had jokingly warned that if we got too close, they’d aim at our knee caps. She told us that when Bill Clinton visited recently, he had 26 security personnel around him, but when the Prince of Denmark leaves his home, he only keeps 2 security personnel.

After the bus tour, we were dropped off downtown Copenhagen. We split off in smaller groups for various activities: shopping, sight-seeing, exploring. Some hiked up the Round Tower, others enjoyed an outdoor art gallery. Some enjoyed local cafes and gorgeous outdoor plazas to relax. Our youngest members, Noah and Kendall, made purchases in the Lego store, which they had been dying to go to! The bus picked us up later to take us back to the hotel, where many took advantage of the Jacuzzi hot-tub located on the top floor, outdoors, with a view of the city. All in all, it was a great day!

Saturday

We began the day with a wonderful breakfast Buffett at the hotel, then we met for church in hotel room 433 (the Marinho's). We were all snug and cozy as we sang songs together in multiple languages and heard a message from our spiritual coordinator, Renaud. Then we walked about a mile to find lunch in sunny weather.

After lunch, we were free to spend the day as we wished. Some napped, others went for a walk. The majority of us caught the train to downtown Copenhagen for dinner. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the scenery. We ate outside even though it was rapidly cooling down! The restaurant offered fleece blankets to the customers, so it wasn't unbearable. Tomorrow we will be woken up at 6:30 AM so we can eat breakfast and be ready for our bus tour of Copenhagen. Stay tuned for more information of our exciting study tour! :)

Days 1 & 2 - Welcome to Copenhagen

Rabbit, Rabbit!

By: Hilda T. Scott

Our trip is off to a great start! The best part of a “travel tour” with Andrews is getting to meet new people and make new friends. Most of us met at the Chicago airport Thursday. After moving through security together and finding our gate, each of us introduced ourselves to the group. We learned that Rozenia loves beaches, Luis enjoys talking with people, and Amilah likes to shop! We asked a kind, German gentleman to take a group photo of us. The man was suddenly bombarded with cameras as everyone brought theirs forward for the group photo. He had such a good attitude about helping us. We boarded the plane and flew to Munich, Germany, then to Copenhagen, Denmark, looking forward to meeting the rest of our group there. This was Rose’s first time flying over an ocean, and she commented that it wasn’t as bad as she had anticipated.

Little Kendal, our "Mascot," takes note of everything!

Day 2 - University of Copenhagen

We traveled through the night, to Day #2. We rested for a little bit once we got to the hotel in Denmark, then headed to the University of Copenhagen. Today was a mini-holiday in Denmark, where the young people were planning a “Street Party”. As a result, some roads were blocked, causing us to have to detour, but we got to see more of the city that way. We heard a presentation by Dr. Peter Erling Nielsen on higher education. We ended the day by riding the train to the mall for dinner, a fresh and tasty buffet restaurant, then walked a mile back to the hotel to finally find some rest. Happy Sabbath dear families and friends!