Adventures in chaos: South of the border

So, from Oslo, we headed back south. Our path took us first through Sweden, and we all know what that means...

IKEA!!!!

I was excited...

Mark was not.

Not anything like Australian Ikea!

Pleased with my purchase

I bought a cushion and a blanket, which we are now happily using in our German flat. Mark likes that blanket best, as I knew he would.

I'm certain there's more to Sweden than Ikea, but I didn't see any of it. We stopped at Ikea, a burger place (Max's!!), and that's it. In case you're curious, Swedish cheeseburgers are just like cheeseburgers anywhere. No pickled fish or anything - just artery-hardening goodness.

We pushed on to Denmark, where we searched in vain for a campground. We'd driven a very long way, and I was in the throes of Norway-withdrawal, so I heckled Mark into finding a roof to sleep under. And he did a stellar job!

I wish I could tell you the name of this place, but I can't.

He found a charming stable-type-place that lets out rooms in the summer. We barged into some family's dinner and asked them if we could stay. Happily, they said yes. (If they didn't want random Australians interrupting their meals, they shouldn't have put a sign out on the road!)

Spot the kitty!

My favorite part was the young Max cat hanging around the roof. He greeted us in the courtyard with a mouse he had caught. We said thank you, but suggested he should keep it.

Not-Max on the prowl

Southern Denmark is flat. There are interesting churches and some lovely roads, but don't go out of your way...

I'm developing a slight obsession with taking photographs of roads disappearing into the trees....

After a refreshing night's sleep (and a shower I didn't have to share with the rest of the campground!), we pressed on to Amsterdam, which, by the way, I loved. Much of what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam, but I do have a few family-friendly snaps to share.

I can't explain my love affair with horizontal stripes, but there you have it.

Flowers!

Monumental sculpture!

Rainbow selfie...

In Amsterdam, our luck with the weather turned, although it wasn't terrible. Just drizzly and cool off an on.

Luckily, drizzle can be pretty!

I loved the Rijksmuseum - it's right up there with the British Museum for me (and that's saying something) - I'm scheming about how I can get back there before we leave Europe. I've discovered a love for Dutch painting!

Paintings of the insides of houses are the best

The Dutch know how to have a good time, am I right?

Even in the paintings that are supposed to have a moral message about how you shouldn't over-indulge in the good life are full of people having fun. Gotta love those Dutch!

They also like cats...

We'd been listening to Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander novels in the car (which are awesome, by the way!), so I loved all the naval paintings, and the ship models.

And I will have a room like this in my house one day.

What should we find but a portrait of Chris in the museum!

Amsterdam leans - nothing stands up straight.

I visited a 14th century church (note the singular) that had been turned into an art space. The carvings on the back of the seats in the choir stalls were still intact though, and illustrated useful proverbs for the choristers.

Money doesn't come out of your ass.

Something about two drunks being better than one? That doesn't sound quite right.

This was my favourite art installation. I love knitted art!

We also stopped in at the Van Gogh museum. A tip - never ever buy your tickets at the door to these places. We got a museum pass that allowed us to skip the queues that stretched around the block.