Getting ready for our big adventure

Accommodations have all been arranged, timetables for comings and goings are set -up. Train tickets are bought.
I am starting to think about what clothing I will pack and what gifts I need to get for our various hosts.

Shoes.....do I have the right shoes? I think I need 1 more pair.

Planning for such a long trip is hard. Since we will be spending much time with our cousin at her home we will be able to do laundry, so I guess I don't need to bring so very much.

Almost 6 weeks I will be gone! Jan will be with me for the first 2 weeks. Tom will join us after 1 week and stay for almost 2 weeks too. So for 1 week it will be all three of the oldest Hurley siblings.

Jan and I will begin with a day in Copenhagen before we take the train to Gothenburg to stay with Carina, Johan and Alice.
We will spend this first week in the West part of Sweden with a different adventure each day.
After 1 week, we will drive to Smaland, in the south-Central part of Sweden. It is here that our Dad's grandfather and grandmother are from. Tom will meet us here and we will explore the cathedral in Vaxjo, and possibly a church that was built in the 1200's. We will stop for Fika with Carina's sister and we will visit the Kingdom Of Glass or GlassRiket. It is in this area of glass factories, tucked into the forest, where the beautiful creations of Kosta Boda, Orrefors and other Swedish Glass companies work their magic.
We will spend a day at the farm where our great-grandfather spent his youth before seeking his fortune and future in America.
The farm has been in the family since at least 1700  and remains with family today. It is worked as a wildflower seed farm today and the owners, our cousins Mats and Inger,  sell wildflower seeds all over Europe.
We will be visiting Stockholm, and one of us each night there will stay with our cousin Maria at her apartment. Maria will be our host in Stockholm as we explore the city. We hope to be able to spend some time outside of the city where our common ancestors lived too.
Back to Gothenburg we will spend a few nights in an apartment in the city.
Before Jan goes home we will meet Carina's sister and brother.

After Jan goes home, Tom and I will go along with Carina and her family to spend a couple of nights out in the country at the family's summer home. Here we will relax and pick blueberries, lingonberries and mushrooms in the forest!

Once Tom continues his trip, meeting hs family in Barcelona, we will remain at the summer home for another week, with some excursions to see the sights in that area.
My last weeks are as yet unplanned.....I will fill that in once I am there. Possibilities include a trip to Kiruna in the Arctic Circle to experience the Midnight Sun and to visit a glass artist I have met online, Or a trip back to the East coast, north of Stockholm to see where Terry's grandfather's family came from.
We have some things planned, and much time is open for decisions as we go along....
Please follow along with us as we post here about our adventure.
We will not be posting to facebook, but to this blog for those of you who have expressed an interest in our journey.
Thanks for visiting, and come back soon!

Jan and I leave the US on July 2, so mark that on you calendar so you can follow along with us!

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